Willidog

Just wanted to ask you guys a question. I ordered my bucket seat material through Legendary on 6 Feb. They told me that the stuff would take a month (if you can believe that) before it would ship out. I waited until 10 March and still nothing, so I dropped them an E-MAIL:

My name is Keith BLAH BLAH. On 6 February I placed an order for bucket seat material for my 1969 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme 2 door hard top. I was told at that time that the material would ship out on 4 March 2009. It is now 10 March and I still do not have the material that I ordered. Has my stuff been shipped and if not when will it be shipped.

Thank You
Keith Williams

I waited till the next afternoon (1 full business day for them) and had not received a reply so I E-MAILED them again:

Please reply to my below E-MAIL. I spent over $500.00 ($503.00 to be exact) with your company and now you will not reply to my E-MAILS?

Keith

The next day I get home from work and check my E-MAIL and I see this:

We are waiting on the foam to get here, that is due here tomorrow. When that arrives this order will ship out.


That's it, no greeting, no ending, just one line.
I got to thinking about it and started to get mad. I spent allot of money for this stuff and all I get is one line when in my opinion what I SHOULD have gotten is something like this:

"Mr. BLAH BLAH, first of all we would like to apologize. Your order that we told you would ship on 4 March has not shipped yet because we are waiting on the foam to arrive from our supplier. We will notify you by E-MAIL as soon as your order ships. We appreciate your business and hope you will continue to do business with us in the future.
Thank you
respectfully
The Legendary Auto Interior Team"

What do you guys think, am I being too touchy or would you be upset about this as well? I would think that during the downturn in the economy they would want to keep anyone who spends money for their product as happy as could be.

csstrux

I tend to be slow to get too upset, as far as shipping times, being in logistics. I can see how things sometimes get delayed. So I probably would have waited a bit longer to send a message (max 5 days). After waiting, I would have expected a good answer. You got an honest one. Poorly stated but you got an answer. I am guessing the man responding is either young, poorly educated or both, and uncomfortable communicating in print. Not an excuse, just a basic analysis from the bench. I would expect better yes, but don't think it is worth getting too excited about...yet. Rob got all his interior parts from legendary I think. He seemed to be happy with the quality of the product. I would save my angst for final inspection. You could contact management once you have cooled down with a copy of the exchange though. I would imagine they will want to correct the communications issue they have as rapidly as possible. Just my 2cents.

wolfman98

I have to agree with you on their lack of appreciation for your buisness. Considering the economy any company should be working hard to keep their customers happy and keep their reputation intact. If it were me I would send them an email back and express my displeasure with their lack of communication with what should be a valued customer. You could remind them that you are a member of this website which has a couple of thousand active members and they don't need to get a bad rap by pissing off you. If they knew that their supplier could not get the foam to them on time they should have passed that info on to you and explained the delay instead of just leave you wondering where the heck your order is.

Olds64

I know this isn't totally related but...

I contacted Paramount Pictures to get a new DVD for my Star Trek Deep Space Nine collection I ordered from Amazon because one of them had encoding issues (no scratches it just wouldn't play). The gentleman I received a return e-mail from gave me a phone number so I called him. He was very polite and professional and told me that he would send out a replacement DVD free of charge as long as I provided him with the UPC number on the bottom of the box. The only bad thing is that he said it would take 4-6 weeks to get the DVD. I provided the information to him last Thursday and received the DVD yesterday in the mail. THAT is top notch service. I know a DVD is alot smaller and simpler than interior parts for a car, but I thought that might communicate what a company is supposed to do to keep a customer satisfied.

Lady72nRob71

Calm down my friend... I do understand your frustration...

Normal shipping time from the soft trim products from Legendary is ALWAYS 4-6 weeks, because none of it is really "in stock" - it is all made to order. If it is in stock, it is either a customer return, oder cancellation, very popular item / color, or a machine test run or something.

Did you order online or by phone? I ordered by phone, which I was able to specify that I wanted stuff to ship as it was made and available, NOT all at once (which is their default). The shipping charge was the same. A few items took even longer than expected.

I had a few build / quality issues with a couple items, and calling them after emailing pictures and politely explaining the issues was always better.
They get hundreds of emails a day and sometimes it took 2-3 business days before I got a response. This is true with all companies. Did you include an order or invoice #? If not, then they have to research that and it takes a while... I do agree the email response you got was a bit shabby though...
See my interior makeover thread for the issues I had and how well they took care of me. A swell guy there too talk to AFTER the sale is Ron Halister (or something like that.)

So be patient, and call for the status of your order.
You will be very happy with their products and if not, they will make you happy at their expense. I ended up with 80 bucks of their labor for nothing! A good attitude, friendliness, and even a little "charm" can go a long way!

csstrux

More eloquently put than I could manage.

MN71W30

If I owned the place I would like to hear this or any complaint wether it was legitimate or not. I called them last week and waited for a return call and had to call back myself. I have called more places and told them of the extra good service I recieved than of poor service. There are other interior manufactures out there but they seem to have the best reputation but things can change. I think you may be doing them a favor by mentioning it.
JMHO

Bluevista

About 15 yeers ago the president of Year One would call me at home after I got orders to make sure everything was good.
Now you order a few things and they just send you what they have.
Then you look at the invoice and it has the dreaded intitials next to the missing parts that stink no matter how you look at them....B.O..

citcapp

e-mails are a double edged sword. To many people young and old use tex style replys to questions makes a person unsure of whats going on and if you questions or business is important. I tend to always follow up with a phone call after a e-mail to insure my customers understand my intent. Its even more important to do so if an item you are shipping will be late. I hate messages that are written like the following.

how r u everything k let me kno if not. Bill . I have received several of this type of e-mail in response to my requests.

4speedBench

I agree with all stated thus far. Unfortuately, nobody seems to give a crap anymore, even in this economy. You'd think they'd be a little more sensitive to keeping the few "active" customers happy. Lets face it, restoring your hobby car is not exactly a priority expense these days when many are struggling with food and shelter.

All that said, I have over the years been pleased with Legendary's product, both quality and availablility. I would chalk this one up to an inept salesperson on the other end of your email. If you don't see results, raise holy hell.

442garage

One of the things that I try to do when I am faced with an issue such as yours is to remember a very valuable lesson that an individual once taught me and that is " I need to learn to manage my expectations!" Every time I find myself getting frustrated and angry it's because I believe someone or something hasn't met my expectations. When this happens I try to identify the fact that my expectations are out of alignment with the reality of the situation. For example, if I expect that someone will deliver my order when they originally said they would, I need to take action by either direct communication or in writing by being as specific as I can and clearly communicating what I want, when I want it, why I want it, how I want it.

Willidog

All good answers. I am trying to maintain my cool but that E-MAIL kind of set me off. I originally called in my order and I never even got an E-MAILed receipt. I did call them Friday but due to the time difference I got the answering machine. Monday will be the 17th (13 days after they told me it would ship and 39 days after my order was placed) so I am hoping to hear something from them. Thanks for the replies.

Keith

Olds64

Keep us posted, hopefully it gets resolved soon.

hamm36

Willidog, be cool and it will work out fine. I too have an order in at Legendary. I have learned not to expect to much of anything from anybody. That way I don't get bent out of shape, because of poor service, or a misunderstanding I was a part of.
Be cool, I am preaching to my self today, again.

Lady72nRob71

Although many would think that companies would treat customers better in a tough economy like this, I have really only found the opposite. When people are let go, customer service and tech support people often are let go first, forcing their roles to sales, making sales guys POed, reducing their morale and not caring if you bought from them or not, etc, etc...
It is a viscious circle.
Need proof? Try to get any cus. service from verizon after signing up for 2 years of dsl and wont even send a modem as promised. I had to get my retired neighbor out of this rotten mess. Only way to get any service at all is to cancel because their crap wont work because it is their fault. Only then will it "magically" resolve, but only when not passing through a sweatshop in a 3rd world country...

Willidog, Give Legendary a call on Tuesday to get all the details. Maybe tell them to ship what they have. They do not make the foam - I think it comes from ACI. If they cannot give an arrival date, consider cancelling the foam and getting it from an upholstery shop. It will not be custom formed, but will do the job when cut to fit.

ent72olds

I would probably be a little more patient with the time frmes and as far as them getting back to you, but the way they finally responded to you is totally unprofessional. These companies are quickly forgetting who is really putting food on their tables, especially in a bad economy! Unfortunately, I'm seeing it more and more in this industry everyday and it is very sad and disappointing! I'm in a big battle now with a major used autoparts "junkyard" in AZ who has had a large some of my money for 3 mos, and has been avoiding all contact with me like the plague. They tried to sneak some "rotten" parts onto my property so as I would have "possesion" of them but I stopped that. Still can't get my money back though even after they said they would restitute! The little guy doesn't matter anymore, if you aren't a big name restorer, or buyer on TV or at BJ you don't count for much anymore! Heck, I was searching old junkyards, and restoring cars as a hobby way before this whole TV / superstar whatever craze was even thought of yet! Sorry for venting on your thread...

west.56

loved your responce to these kids

hamm36

Willie, did you get your order yet. I got mine last week and put them on this past Friday and Saturday.

RAMBOW

Hoping mine will arrive soon.. I put my order in on the 2nd of this month for bucket seat covers & foam. They said 3-4 weeks, so havn't worried about it. I'll give them a call next monday if they havn't arrived by this weekend.

A friend of mine just ordered door panels, front & rear seat covers, and other stuff from them, took right about 4-5 weeks for it all.

Willidog

Yea, I got my stuff on 18 March, 42 days from order to receiving them and 14 days after they said they would be shipped. I took some of the advice here and never wrote them back to complain any more but I still think they could have handled it much better than they did. Nice stuff there, did you get the burlap and cotton from them or did you use your old stuff for that? I didn't see if they sell that or not but I need it because rats pooped and peed all over the ones that came in the seats that I have.

west.56

well it looks like every body is happy now ,you have learned ,things take time,

Lady72nRob71

I thought they sold the cotton stuff, but only in huge quantities. Best thing is to obtain these from a local upholstery shop if you plan to do them yourself. If you have a shop do them, they will provide. You do not even need burlap, unless you want to stay totally stock. The shop that did mine used 80's GM velour fabric instead because he had no real use for it and it is polyester so it is strong and will not rot or deteriorate soon. A fabric shop can frovide these also. They may not have cotton, but the poly fiberfill for pillows might work.
My cotton was in good shape and was reused.

I knew this would all work out. Did you get your foam? What do you think of it? Is it firm or soft?

Willidog

West.56, the point (for me at least) was not that things take time, I understood that before I ordered the stuff. The point for me was that they told me on the day that I ordered it (4 Feb) that it would not ship until 4 March, then when I hadn't heard or seen anything by 10 March, I wrote them an E-MAIL and their reply (or lack of a reply) showed total disregard to someone who had handed them 500 of his hard earned dollars. If they would have replied with an E-MAIL showing a little respect for the customer (me) then I would have still had no problem. They chose the one line reply with no salutation or ending so I got upset. Anyway, Rob, to tell you the truth I don't know if the foam is the firm or the soft, I just know it was the expensive stuff that doesn't need to be trimmed to install. I am trying to finish prepping the car for the fun of body and paint. I have a one stall garage where I am doing all of my work so I don't have any spare space. The seat frames are setting in the trunk of the car right now and if I put them together I will have no where to store them except in my bedroom. Don't think my wife would go for that!

hamm36

I actually took Rob's advice and went to Hancock Fabrics, they had the burlap for 3.99 a lineal yard, I got 2. At the time they had a sale on foam 2x27x72 same thickness as original $35 for the bottom of seat. I went to Granger and got a roll of "music wire" they only had one roll of .029 (factory was .035)$12.50. I used all the old cotton for the seat back.
Rob's was a serous up grade. I just wanted to get it done. Email me if you want some do-it-yourself instructions and photos. I have not done the front bench yet.

hamm36

Maybe, some hooks on walls, sealing, or attic in plastic. Or better yet, a good friends place for a short time. "Necessity, the mother of invention."

wolfman98

WILLIDOG did you check out an upholstry shop or fabric store yet to see if you can find materials to replace the stuff the rodent vermine destroyed? I used the poly fibre stuffing and it was easy to work with and worked great. Not original but hard to find original for a 52 Chev. I noticed the damage to seats when i had to remove them to refinish the floor. I ordered new carpets for the floor and trunk as well and will be putting them in soon. http://photobucket.com/wolfman98

Willidog

My garage is FULL. As a matter of fact my neighbor is always making fun of me because of all the stuff I have crammed in around the car. I have not checked into finding any materials yet, I just started sanding some stuff down yesterday and haven't had time. I may just take the seats to an upholstery shop and have them do the job. I haven't decided yet but I want a professional job and I am not a pro at upholstery.

wolfman98

Well you have the new seat covers and I guess you like what you see. if money is not an issue and you want a good job done then taking it to a pro is the way to go. The thing you have to check into is making sure they are pro's and will do a good job. Check around and get references from some of their recent work. If they have no problem and you can see some of the stuff they have done that will reassure you that you will get your money's worth.

Lady72nRob71

I am thinking you could do the back seat yourself... If you get into it and you decide against it, you at least gave it a shot. The back is not complex. The front i would leave to a pro.

As for limited space, have you thought of a shed or some outbuilding in the back yard? My little workshop saved me when i was doing my interior.

Willidog

I have 9 months left here and then it's off to Japan. I am in the Navy, wife is Japanese and I retire in 9 months. Wife says we are living in Japan. I told her I'm taking my car! Can't wait to see what that costs me, I may end up having to put it in storage.