|
Now it's junk from Carpenter! I have been a loyal customer and well, a fan, of Carpenter since 1973 or so.
It has become apparent that in the most recent years things are changing there. Received a pair of hood supports for a '40 today. Vintique manufactured. Had I known that, I'd never have ordered them. As most of you seasoned V8ers realize, Vintique is synonymous with "junk". The problem? I am unable to swivel ANY of the pivot points. I may not be the strongest guy alive but Lord knows I should be able to move these. I called Carpenter a moment ago and told them the issue. The fellow said they were aware of it. Really? And you still ship this garbage? Got the return authorization but absolutely NO refund for my shipping fees to return. So I am out $12 because they chose to ship a known bad product? This is BS. My wife and I own a few businesses and on the rare occasion we "goof" we suffer ALL associated "damages". It is simply unfair for a client to lose a cent for our oversight. |
Re: Now it's junk from Carpenter! Quote:
I've read how large companies run statistics on return calls on defective products vs. fixing the cause of the problem. If their number crunchers think it's cheaper to deal with returns they don't make the change. If it starts costing them money, they will. I'm sure someone like Carpenter realizes their volume is so low on these types of items/sales, they are willing to roll the dice and keep selling junk. I agree, you were owed shipping reimbursement once they told you they realized the part was junk. Shame. |
Re: Now it's junk from Carpenter! Quote:
|
Re: Now it's junk from Carpenter! Yeah, if I get something and it comes in a Vintique package I don't even try to return it. I throw it in my plastic bins for my swap meet stalls. Don't even open it.
|
Re: Now it's junk from Carpenter! It seems I'm sensing that SOME of you folks are beginning to realize that even though many of these suppliers have invested an arm and a leg to bring us peons reproduction parts, the fact still remains that some parts of questionable or unacceptable quality just cannot be justified by rhetoric and other excuses. Like Kube notes above, if the mistake, inferior quality or other inequity is NOT the fault of the customer, the honorable and ethical thing for a supplier to do is absolve the customer from any remedial or superfluous costs, including return freight. Whatever happened to the long-standing premise that the (reasonable) customer is always right? DD
|
Re: Now it's junk from Carpenter! I learned a long time ago that the two most dangerous (because of misuse) words in the English language are "always" and "never". Sure, I have trashed some things from Vintique as from Drake and Carpenter as well, but some things they offer look right, fit right, and function correctly. And those that know me know that I am fussy about such things.
|
Re: Now it's junk from Carpenter! Quote:
My comments were not directed at Vintique. I know that for the most part, they peddle crap. As such, I chose not to purchase anything with their name upon it. I bought the aforementioned hood supports from Carpenter expecting to receive the "typical" (from my extensive experience) quality part. To top it off, the guy at Carpenter readily admitted they knew of the issue with the supports. Then, to NOT reimburse my return shipping? Yeah, we all make mistakes and those of us that run ethical businesses accept the responsibility for said mistakes. |
Re: Now it's junk from Carpenter! When I talked to the Carpenter guys at Hershey last October, it was obvious they were/are going through some changes. Their display had zero new parts (catalogues only)...only used parts on display. The "sales" guys had little (none?) knowledge of early Ford V-8 cars. Sure was a different scene!
|
Re: Now it's junk from Carpenter! Quote:
|
Re: Now it's junk from Carpenter! I am not sure if this is true but I have heard Dennis Carpenter is having health issues and someone else is running the business now and it is not good.
|
Re: Now it's junk from Carpenter! My experience with Vintique is not poor quality. I bought the 40 Ford headlight surround chrome from Drake. Fit like crap. Sent them back and bought Vintique ones. Perfect fit and function. I see Drake as the worst quality of the 3 suppliers.
|
Re: Now it's junk from Carpenter! Quote:
|
Re: Now it's junk from Carpenter! Talk about misinformation!
|
Re: Now it's junk from Carpenter! Quote:
I often wish a person would read the entire thread before "piling on". Or in the case of providing misinformation, a person would simply read beyond a headline. |
Re: Now it's junk from Carpenter! Don't ya' just love posts that start out... "I haven't read the whole thread, but....."
It's especially common on the H.A.M.B. |
Re: Now it's junk from Carpenter! Quote:
A welcomed digression would be if someone said what they did to make them work. It's not what you asked but it is a solution. |
Re: Now it's junk from Carpenter! Wonder where the parts will come from when DRAKE and Carpenter are gone?
Will that be the beginning of the end of restoring old Fords? |
Re: Now it's junk from Carpenter! Quote:
Look at that situation as an opportunity for a young, knowledgeable and good-lookin' rich guy like yourself to save the day for the rest of us! DD |
Re: Now it's junk from Carpenter! Perhaps we have grown to expect excellence from the vendors. In restoring a 39 Ford Standard, I got two sets of used hood side panels (made by Ford) which differed by 1/4 of an inch so I mixed and matched to get the best fitting pair. In the late 50s most of the repro was poor quality from Argentina or functional stuff from vendors like Ricks. We made do as a NOS original was unobtainable. In restoring a 64 GTO, one vendor has noted that some of his products were not totally correct but the best he could get. So you were forewarned that some rework may be required should this be the best you can get. Maybe our V8 catalogs need such a disclaimer.
|
Re: Now it's junk from Carpenter! I wonder who made the good ones? Since 2008, a lot of restoration part and service companies have either died off or gone corporate. We all know what happens with the corporate world. It took a long time to build the restoration parts suppliers to the level that they were in 2008. It's just sad that it is now seeming to regress to what it was back in the 70s when they were few and far between. I remember the stuff available from South America back then.
|
Re: Now it's junk from Carpenter! Quote:
the supply is rising every day while the demand is lowering. |
Re: Now it's junk from Carpenter! The smaller vendors that make stuff in the USA tend to have much better quality anyway. A big company like Drake selling piss poor quality will not be missed. Now that the Corona virus has taken hold, vendors will learn they can't depend on China. Good ridens. That goes for other imports as well like new cars and parts.
|
Re: Now it's junk from Carpenter! Quote:
I think Kube's issue was having to pay for shipping back due to poor quality. |
Re: Now it's junk from Carpenter! That's a pretty widespread practice (the returnor paying for return shipping), although there are notable exceptions like Amazon.
|
Re: Now it's junk from Carpenter! Quote:
I was taught early on that although "everyone is doing it" doesn't necessarily equate to "it" being correct. |
Re: Now it's junk from Carpenter! And 'down under" to pay return shipping can many times be uneconomical.
You just have to take a hit and grin and bare it. So important to use the recommended suppliers to get the best deal. Phil NZ |
Re: Now it's junk from Carpenter! Quote:
The issue is the lack of ethics. |
Re: Now it's junk from Carpenter! Ethics! Do they exist anywhere today? Or, am I being too cynical, again? dw
|
Re: Now it's junk from Carpenter! Quote:
When Mr. Carpenter ran that business a guy could except to be treated "right". That was a primary reason I'd worked primarily with his company for the past 4 - 5 decades. |
Re: Now it's junk from Carpenter! As many of you know I manufacture and sell parts for 1933 1934 Fords. I take extra time and effort to make them correct and perfect. I test all parts for fit and finish and use NOS examples to take my measurements from. So because of all of this quality I put into the parts I have to charge more for them. So what do you think the results are. No one will purchase my parts. If I threw them together they would complain. If I put the quality in them everyone feels there to expensive. So what does everyone want. There are a few guys out there that want them because they demand only the best but that is not the norm. My goal in life is that if I do only one thing right in my life it will be to restore my car with the best parts and workmanship available.
Bill Monzo |
Re: Now it's junk from Carpenter! I applaud anyone fabricating parts as good as Ford did for any model. When I was purchasing parts for my Model A years ago, I started doing business with Bratton's for the simple reason that they would put it in there catalog what they felt about the quality of the parts available with a warning if it wasn't at least as good as Ford's OEM. Most of them don't send out catalogs like they used to since there on line catalog is there on the web-site. The warnings aren't always there anymore.
Folks should mention this stuff and tell you how it's lacking or they shouldn't offer it up. At least that way you can't blame them. They are just trying to sell the best part available to them. Few of them actually manufacture this stuff. Even if they are involved, they still farm it out to be done and results aren't always what folks want. There should be truth in their advertising. |
Re: Now it's junk from Carpenter! Quote:
Bill....Even though you're not being swamped with orders, you can damned sure be proud to offer pieces that you know require no excuses. You've endeavored to offer serious parts for the truly "serious" connoisseur. DD |
Re: Now it's junk from Carpenter! Quote:
You can now vote with your wallet with a clear conscience......buy from someone else....if there actually is someone else to buy from. Otherwise your choice is go without, make your own, or suck it up. The demographics are working against us old V-8 guys......economics realities.......hard to accept, but nevertheless true. |
Re: Now it's junk from Carpenter! You hit the nail on the head hotrodart, back in the '70s and '80s there were probably 10 or 12, V-8 Fords ether being restored or hot rodded within a 10 mile radius of my house. Some of us would visit each others shop all the time. Today, I don't know of one person in my entire area, that is restoring a car or building a street rod. Reality, but sad.
|
Re: Now it's junk from Carpenter! I bought hinges from Mac's are they were terrible. They were tight and when I tried to free them up two of the arms came off. They were formed wrong and when I checked the hole sizes I discovered the both end of the arms are punched 3/8" but they used 5/16" rivets. My originals had 3/8" for the hood end and 5/16" for the rivets. I ended up using the old arms on the new hinges. The holes in the arms weren't worn to bad and I used the new rivets. Mac's are junk too.
|
Re: Now it's junk from Carpenter! I have been buying from Carpenter for years without problems. They manufacture many of the hard to find parts, and like other vendors, they also stock parts from others. Parts made by Dennis Carpenter's company are top quality, particularly made "in house" rubber parts. I can't say that for many others.
|
Re: Now it's junk from Carpenter! Can I bitch about millennials and hair buns too? Buy a part if you can find it or deal.
If you are hanging on to 6x of something... sell it. You only need 1 backup. . |
Re: Now it's junk from Carpenter! a year or 2 ago I got Carpenter water pump gaskets witch actuality wicked coolant trough them, normal paper wouldn't even do that
|
Re: Now it's junk from Carpenter! Don't be petty.... Make your own. Gasket material is available from napa.
|
Re: Now it's junk from Carpenter! Maybe before making a purchase ask the vendor for a description of the quality. If it turns out to be rubbish just "sue the ass off 'em" ?
|
| All times are GMT -5. The time now is 03:50 AM. |
Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2026, vBulletin Solutions Inc.