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Old 07-24-2019, 06:24 AM   #1
Ron McIntyre
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Default Lebaron and Bonney

I placed an order with this company that is now closed. Does anyone know if any orders will have the money sent to the purchaser for not received items ? Over 1000.00 !


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Old 07-24-2019, 09:27 AM   #2
BRENT in 10-uh-C
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Default Re: Lebaron and Bonney

Ron, I am pretty sure the date for meeting with the bankruptcy attorneys has passed. From my sources, their remaining assets were less than what was owed to creditors, and the date the Creditor's meeting was held with the lawyers was on April 25th. Unfortunately, I would expect your deposit money was spent on their overhead just trying to keep the doors open. Maybe there is some recourse with your credit card company??
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Old 07-24-2019, 10:12 AM   #3
Keith True
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Default Re: Lebaron and Bonney

If there was a record of your order you would(or should) have gotten a letter explaining how to get involved.Now,with that said it is a big legal mess,and a lot will be missed.I got a letter,with an amount I had paid,and instructions on what to do.Thing was,I had just gotten a quote,not paid anything in.I was a walk in,over the counter customer.There was a date I had to respond by,or forfeit,but I was owed nothing so I did nothing.
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Old 07-24-2019, 10:16 AM   #4
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Default Re: Lebaron and Bonney

LeBaron Bonnie & Clyde sounds like that's what is happening here
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Old 07-25-2019, 11:48 PM   #5
Mike V. Florida
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Default Re: Lebaron and Bonney

Got my letter, filed a claim and was given number 9. Nothing yet.
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Old 07-26-2019, 07:07 AM   #6
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Default Re: Lebaron and Bonney

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I feel really bad for the folks who have money tided up and it looks like they are going to have a loss over the failure of one of the longtime trusted hobby vendors. I also think we should not bad mouth the company that tried to hang on trying to the end to survive somehow. They provided thousands of nice interior kits, roofing things, and special things for our hobby for years and years. It’s a bad thing that has happened to all and not a thing to joke about. What a mess.
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Old 07-26-2019, 09:56 AM   #7
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Default Re: Lebaron and Bonney

Bankruptcy boils down to who has the largest stake in the game which was likely their creditor or plural of that. It is broken down into percentages so it gets pretty thin when it gets down to the customers who were bilked of their funds. Sagging markets, high overhead, poor business decisions, and other reasons end up with this result. The courts only give so much time for fair warning to those affected so that they can sell the assets in a timely manor. If you don't react in time then you loose out. There is nothing good to say about a situation like this.

All I can say is ask on boards like this if you think a company in on the up and up. When you find that folks are having troubles with them, I'd suggest you look to some other company. They weren't the only company in the trim business. They may have been too convenient so that folks who knew things weren't quite right with them sent them moneys anyway. The signs were there for some time.

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Old 07-26-2019, 02:02 PM   #8
BRENT in 10-uh-C
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Default Re: Lebaron and Bonney

Quote:
Originally Posted by rotorwrench View Post
Bankruptcy boils down to who has the largest stake in the game which was likely their creditor or plural of that. It is broken down into percentages so it gets pretty thin when it gets down to the customers who were bilked of their funds. Sagging markets, high overhead, poor business decisions, and other reasons end up with this result. The courts only give so much time for fair warning to those affected so that they can sell the assets in a timely manor. If you don't react in time then you loose out. There is nothing good to say about a situation like this.

All I can say is ask on boards like this if you think a company in on the up and up. When you find that folks are having troubles with them, I'd suggest you look to some other company. They weren't the only company in the trim business. They may have been too convenient so that folks who knew things weren't quite right with them sent them moneys anyway. The signs were there for some time.

No, ...but they were the only material supplier before they got into financial trouble. Only by sheer luck are any of us still able to purchase those piece goods they were having manufactured, and most people have no clue on that backstory. Just as in the case of Roy Nacewicz, the source of many items has been lost, and the fabric manufacturer could have easily been the same too.


FWIW, those of us who were inside the loop with L/B knew they were experiencing struggles however there was WAY more to this situation than most realize. Ironically, most of what was/is posted here was incorrect -or partially incorrect info anyway, so making a judgment call based on hearsay here would not have been prudent anyway.


And, another FWIW opinion. poor customer service does not always mean a company is in financial trouble. Struggles in anyone's business can come from experiencing unexpected employee turnover, suppliers unable to deliver needed product to complete their item, and unforeseen scheduling changes or delays are reasons just to name a few. Using me for example in this, -we have approximately a 1 year waiting list with 5 cars on that list at present, ...and most people are not happy about waiting that long. In the last 30 days I have unexpectantly lost 20% of my workforce due to unforeseen issues. One employee's elderly mom fell requiring her to have 24 hour care. My employee's family cannot afford to pay for that care so he has taken a sabbatical to stay with her. He may be out as long as a year. Another employee's wife unexpectantly left him and his infant child to move out of state. As of today, he still cannot find childcare, and he has no family in this area. These are both experienced employees that I have vested a tremendous amount of time & $$ into training them. Then, it seems many of the vehicles that we have in here are requiring more work than originally forecasted which is creating even more stress for me and making customers unhappy. A great example of that is a year ago a vehicle (-not Model-A) was scheduled to come in for us to replace the headliner and to get it operable again as it has been parked for nearly 20 years. Upon arrival, the brakes are frozen, rodents have made a mess of the entire interior which likely means it will all need to be replaced, the engine is apparently seized from sitting which possibly means we will need to do a rebuild, amongst the other things like a now leaking radiator, etc. So what was initially forecasted as a probable 100 hour job on that vehicle could very possibly escalate to 400-500 hours! The engine is a Lycoming and the transmission is a front wheel drive vacuum/electrical shifted unit that means repair pieces will need to be manufactured by us. This project alone will likely delay someone else's project by 60 days if theirs was scheduled behind this one. Compound this by 5-6 other projects in the shop with similar circumstances and you quickly see how the overall scheduling delays are affecting both present and future customers.


Next we must factor in delays from the chrome plater who is experiencing their own shipping delays, and/or other suppliers facing delays of their own and you quickly can see how this all affects what is perceived as poor customer service. BTW, for the majority of my time writing this I have been on the telephone with a mfg. company who has been trying to locate me something I can retrofit to replace an obsolete heating element for my jet wash machine. More unproductive time will be needed to make that unit serviceable again and customer's projects are delayed too. Ahh, the joys of owing your own small business. Gotta go to work!
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Old 07-26-2019, 05:46 PM   #9
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Default Re: Lebaron and Bonney

I would say that they were one of the larger material suppliers. Sadly, a lot of the folks that have been suppliers of parts and materials for the this hobby are going by the wayside due to age and inability to source supplies. Bill Hirsch was one that I purchased materials from too but he is gone now and I don't know if it will be taken up by a later generation or not. Some of the last materials I purchased from LB were faded some and likely had been in inventory for a long time. SMS has some good stuff but they usually stick with the later cars of the late 40s & 50s. I do my own trim stuff so I have to look around a lot to find materials. It's not an easy job anymore.

Hopefully the next generation will find a way to source parts and materials for the hobby. There are still some textile producers here in the states and in the UK but it's anyone's guess whether the torch will be taken up for production planning on the smaller scale. The production will likely get more expensive too unless it moves to Asia but quality would be a big ??? in that case. The survivors like Classtique and Cartouche will be all that's around if no others step up to the plate.
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