Buyer beware / early ford ohio

I bought some lucas tires from them. a full set for a 62 Ford, then two more for the rear of a hot rod I had. EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM was out of round. And they didnt believe me (after all im just a punk kid) Its not like I spend alot of money over there or anything, oh wait I have.................. after taking them off and givig them to them so they could test them for themselves they said I could trade tires if I paid the difference (because the tires they had cost more) so I did and it was a waist of time, when it was all said and done i had probably 200 dollars more in the set of tires than I should, every conversation i had with them was just really akward and strange. I dont deal with them if I can help it(sometimes I still do in a pinch). Dont buy Lucas tires, they suck. Your better off with Cokers, they honor the deal.

 

Why not?

I would rather have the opportunity to learn from someone else's bad experience than to have to go through it myself and find out about it after the fact. My read on this is that the OP is more upset about the customer service and the lack of information up front than the fact that the fenders fit like crap.

There are several companies that seem to get bad reviews on here on an almost weekly basis. When one guy gets upset about a company that lots of other people have had positive experiences with then the problem probably lies with the individual. But, when lots of different people have the same issues with a company then there is a pretty good chance that the problem is not the individual and that the issue lies with the company.

On the flip side there are lots of companies on here that get great reviews too. I am going to be buying a set of wheels before the summer is out and I am leaning toward the wheel kid on here. I have yet to read a bad review about him. And, if it were not for this forum, I would not even know he existed.

Word of mouth is a powerful thing, especially with the world wide web available to put out the word. A small business owner cannot underestimate the importance of a good reputation.

I have not personally dealt with Early Ford and I have no stake in this at all but how much business do you think that this one upset customer has cost them? Probably more than the price of the fenders I would bet.

 

Look on the bright side, I wish that anyone made even poorly fitting repro sheet metal for a couple of my cars....

 

For that kind of money you would hope to get something close!

 

I am reading all the "make um fit posts", and yea they can be made to fit, but when sold, the retailer should have stated that they would take a lot of work to make fit, then everything would have been cool.

Fact is, the retailer was negligent IF he;

a. Sold these fenders when he DIDN'T know if they fit or not, (this not a cheap or insignificant sale)

b. Sold something that he knew didn't fit right, but offered no disclosure.

If BOTH the buyer and seller would have known about the fitment issues before the fenders were sold, then the buyer could have made (or not made) an informed purchase, and there wouldn't be a problem.

 

It's a toss up....your dealing with cars that are 60 plus years old these cars are use and abused case in point a club brothers roadster was used as an apple orchard truck(explaining all the dents inside out) and we are often piecing together cars from parts from 10 other cars you can't expect to put sheet metal on and it be 100% perfect...even original sheet metal is a gamble...I know the fenders on my 36 the rears fit like shit...and the original cars the gaps and everything weren't that good from the factory...I've heard horror stories about body gaps fender gaps being off crazy amounts

 

This made me chuckle. about 10 years ago I paid cash to have some rims built for my henry J. I was told it would take a week. after 3 month of calling and getting no where, I went back to the pomona swap meet and stood in front of their booth with a big sign. after about a half hour of people walking by asking me about the problem. the lady running the booth (owners wife) was talking on her sell phone and a low and behold I was ask if I was willing to tear up my sign if they gave me my money back. I said yes and she handed me cash and I tore up the sign. this co has sense gone out of business. I would follow this Brian to every swap meet and stand in front of his booth with a sign untill he pays up. Or you could go to small claims court. I think you would win.

 

No offense here...but the tires aren't made by them kind of hard for them to deal with something like that...I know if you call Lucas they well correct the problem...as for really tires I always expect flat spots...just go to a truck shop and have them shaved at around $5 bucks a wheel I'll deal with that I think we all live in a fantasy world where everything is perfect and every part is 100% right all the time and everything just bolts up...well that doesn't happen and if this were easy everyone would do it...so a part dent fit right...were HAMBers we fix it....isn't this the shit we live for

 

No stickers and yes...Early Ford Springfield Ohio...they always have a vendor spot set up at Carlisle Pa. shows just inside I believe gate 2.

 

I have to somewhat disagree on that. If I, as a business man sold yopu 4 out of round tires and you brought them back....you would either get your hard earned cash back or 4 new tires that were right. I would then send the 4 bad tires back to my supplier and raise hell because they put me in that position. Its good business. If you bought a new battery at an auto parts store and it was defective wouldn't you go back to where you bought it to exchange it for a good one and let THEM dealo with the manufacturer? After all...you paid YOUR cash to THem. Let them pay you back and then go after theirs.

 

Thanks to all for your opinions and comments. This board is a great place to inform others as well as share opinions. As stated in an earlier post....its the principle of the thing with Charlie (my buddy) and myself. We are both Old school kinda guys that believe you should get a square deal or an honest and fair resolution if you dont. Out of fairness....many vendors DO make the situation right and are fair and honest about it.

We are all aware of the crap out there that we have to sort through to get some fairly decent parts and we all agree some need tweeking here and there. This was far beyond that. Hopefully someone from Early Ford will read these posts and realize the customer should always be considered over the cash.

BTW...I was up front and did tell "Brian" that I was going to post this on the HAMB after he refused to negotiate ANY type of resolution.....so as others did not have to go through this crap.

Thanks again!

 

OK, they have been making repop fenders that don't fit for over 30 years and with modern technology there is no reason for this. If the vendor got enough of them returned and he in turn returned them to the manufacturer they would improve the product or go out of business. There is no reason for having to slice up a new product to make it fit. If I wanted to do that, I would buy a bunch of original junkers at the swap meet and slice and dice them and weld them together to make something work. A lot of you guys want to make this a dick measuring contest of who has the most skill and perseverence to make something work, no matter what. As was said, if they can make late model collison fenders to fit, there is no reason why a '34 Ford fender can't be made to fit without cutting them up. The aftermarket for late model collision stuff had such a bad reputation they had to pass though a certification process by their trade group to stay in business. There is no reason for us to put up with the same shit products because as long as they can sell junk, they'll make junk. I think $500 is plenty to pay for any fender, especially as long as they have been produced in the quanity they have. Saying that you should "suck it up, make them fit and quit whining" is bullshit! That's why we have junk aftermarket products, stand up to the resellers and insist on quality and things will get better. Brookville's first Deuces weren't perfect but they have improved them every step of the way because their reputation means something to them. And a Dearborn Deuce is NOT a original '32 Ford, it is a modern concept of a '32 Ford. It looks like one but it is not the same in many ways. You can't blame offshore producers if the importers don't demand a quality product. The HAMB is a great forum to tell others about those who are selling junk products. Not everyone wants to get screwed on what they buy. This is supposed to be fun.

As for your friends fenders, epoxy primer is not bullet proof, strip it and clean them up with a 3M pad and shove them up Early Ford's butt. They are back in bare metal and have been shined up to take the rust off that was there because they let them get wet.

 

All I got to say is if you really thought you were going to buy 1934 ford steel fenders that were ready to bolt on and paint for $500.00 each....You screwed yourself!!.....I see more believeable things than that on TV late at night....Hope you don't think I am being rude, But I myself would have known better.....For the most part you get what you pay for..

 

Yes this is true and probably the best way to go but most of the time ended up becoming a hassle for the middle man...trust me I work for a company that's one of the largest parts suppliers for metropolitans in the country. Sometimes it's easier for the customer to deal directly with the company...as for dealing with tires smaller companies like Lester or Lucas are easier to deal with...firestone is a little different....a lot has to deal with how you store them too...but shipping becomes an issue tires aren't cheap to ship like I said I'll just keep em mounted and go have them shaved it's quick and cheap...vintage tires aren't the easiest to make

You cannot compare modern fenders to 34 fenders two different animals...modern fenders are easy to stamp vintage are not takes a bigger press, dies are about 10 times more expensive to deal with thicker steel and the extreme compound curve not to mention that there is a wire edge if I'm not mistaken brookville and sar are the only two companies in the usa that have the equipment to do that...call bob drake and talk to him sometime he'll tell you look at his 40 ford front fenders he couldn't find anyone in the us that could stamp them and even then he had to put a seam on the front because the equipment is so antiquated that no one could produce them exactly original because the equipment doesn't exist anymore....yes our technologhy has advanced but as it advances old technology dies for better or worse

 

Another case in point is a buddy of mine owns the stamping dies for model a door tops if you buy them they came from his dies...brookville stamps them for him...well his dies are 30 years old and need to be replaced...the cost to replace those dies is something like $30,000 and that's just for door tops imagine what it costs for a whol fender....and unless you have a nice original to pattern there is going to be variations...along with that is the fact no two cars are exactly alike


This is a side note I did a 34 roadster 5 years ago or so for a friend who had found NOS fenders front and rear for his car still had the ford tags and stuff on them and even they fit like shit and had to be modified...so you can take it for what it is

 

If anything he is trying to warn other hambers from being ripped off as well.

 

As long as you accept poor quality, you will continue to recieve poor quality !!

 

There are a lot ot thief's out there and many you will find at the car swaps in the vendors area. Beware of the ones who wont make good there products. Piss poor fitting sheet metal is all over the place and you usualy get what you pay for if lucky.