Don't Buy from SMS!!

[69Chrgr]

I called SMS and told them I had a 1969 Dodge Charger WITH A/C and I wanted a rebuilt heater core. He said the A/C one was $1395.00 and a non A/C one was $725.00. I told him I would go ahead and like the non A/C box reiterating that my car was an A/C car. He never once told me it wouldn't fit. I find this to be VERY disenginous for a supplier. He didn't mind taking my money, knowing all to well that his core would  not fit! Beware of SMS Restorations from New Hampshire!

[randy73]

I have found them to be very honest and upfront, they rebuilt my hood hinges and they came out great, plus they were cheaper then anybody else.
Sorry about your bad luck, that happens sometimes, I know from experience that good companies screw up from time to time or maybe I just got lucky with them.

[DC_1]

reiterating that my car was an A/C car.

Not to be rude but telling him your car was a/c could have him think it no longer is. Secondly, there have been a lot of people on here that have converted there cars from a/c to non a/c for various reasons. Sounds like an honest case of miscommunication to me, unless you specifically asked them during the purchase if it could be used in place of the a/c box version without any modification.

Now, if you ordered the A/c version and they sent you the non a/c box I could see why you would be pissed. To me it would appear they sent what you asked for. 

Again, I'm just sayin.........

[69Chrgr]

I just don't see how he didn't ask me if I was going to convert. I wasn't even born when these cars were produced, so I don't know every single aspect of the body configuration. If I called John Cope to order a 904 trans for my 440, he would tell me that it wouldn't fit. Not everybody is an expert on these cars, case in point me. How can I convert my firewall without hacking it up? Am I missing something? This car has been painted, including firewall($$$$$). Is it possible to convert without hacking it up?

[Brock Lee]

Have you called to see if they would exchange the unit for the right one? I would ask if they can build you a custom unit that uses the AC housing but without the AC components. It will likely still be more, but not as much as a complete AC version.

[69Chrgr]

No, I will wait until Monday. This car is all about waiting on every single dam thing. Then it seems that I don't receive the right stuff. I'm going to ship this one back and get my money back. I'll be 80 by the time I get the right stuff to put the thing together. I may just race it and forget about driving it on the street.

[tan top]

got some rebuilt  hood hinges from SMS about 9ish year back , bought them out right ,  , was very helpful phoning back & stuff & this was long before i had internet ,  can't fault their work on hinges 

[b5blue]

  I don't know them so I'm not defending them but you confused me in the first two sentences. He sent you what you asked for, a search here and you would have found lots of talk about this conversion.  Feel free to check in here with questions before ordering anything! 

[randy73]

No, I will wait until Monday. This car is all about waiting on every single dam thing. Then it seems that I don't receive the right stuff. I'm going to ship this one back and get my money back. I'll be 80 by the time I get the right stuff to put the thing together. I may just race it and forget about driving it on the street.

WAIT a minute, you blow a company out of the water and you have not called them. WOW, give them a chance before you kill them, damn man do you shoot a waiter if they brought the wrong food???

I feel your pain, yearone sent the wrong parts twice, they sent the wrong shroud the first time and then the wrong switch the second time and I will say this, that they may screw me on the price, but their customer service is pretty darn good.

[y3chargerrt]

I spent 15 minutes talking to them at Carlisle yesterday. A buddy had water leaking in his interior with the a/c on in his drive down from Detroit. They were very helpful in showing us where the drian was in the ebody ac box he had there. He never once tried to sell my buddy anything. He just wanted to help. I have bought a e brake, door hinges and a few other things from them and they are one of the best companies out there. I bet they will go out of their way to make it right even though he sold you what you asked for.

[69Chrgr]

No, I will wait until Monday. This car is all about waiting on every single dam thing. Then it seems that I don't receive the right stuff. I'm going to ship this one back and get my money back. I'll be 80 by the time I get the right stuff to put the thing together. I may just race it and forget about driving it on the street.

WAIT a minute, you blow a company out of the water and you have not called them. WOW, give them a chance before you kill them, damn man do you shoot a waiter if they brought the wrong food???

I feel your pain, yearone sent the wrong parts twice, they sent the wrong shroud the first time and then the wrong switch the second time and I will say this, that they may screw me on the price, but their customer service is pretty darn good.

I can see how it's not your $725.00 plus that you don't care. I was born in 1972 and don't know every knook and cranny, bolt hole, etc. of a 69 Charger, so I am guilty. However, I would expect for someone that specializes in heater boxes wouldn't offer a non a/c box for my a/c car. I apologize to the Mopar crowd for not being 65 years old or being around when they wer manufactured. However, Jone Cope didn't offer a 904 for my 440. Why should this be different. Nick at Compuflow didn't offer me a set of heads that wouldn't fit my 440. Their attitude was that they wanted me off the phone for the next customer.

[Slotts]

I know Sylvain personally. He is a class act and his restoration work is top notch. It really sounds like a communication issue. I am not pointing a finger to say who may be right or wrong on how this happened, but a simple phone call to him directly would be the best course of action to resolve your issue.  

Slotts

[69Chrgr]

The restoration quality of the box is top notch. No doubt. Yes, you're right, I'll wait yet again and hopefully resolve the issue Monday. But when you're trying to restore a car and have to get everything by mail order, it frustrates the hell out of me when I receive the wrong part. I would just expect them to make the effort to have a long enough converstation or think something through for more than 10 seconds that it might not fit before taking my money. Again, Nick at Compuflow, John Cope, Dr. Diff took the time to inquire and ask many questions before taking any of my money. Perhaps I've been spoiled by this type of customer service and expected it of other vendors. Waiting week after week, month after month to get any parts that fit are quite frustrating.

[DC_1]

I still think you are being unfair to SMS here. I do not believe they thought more of just getting money out of you than getting you the part you needed. I don't think they were desperately trying to find a buyer for this non A/C box for months and when you called they thought they could dupe you.  If you didn't buy it i am sure they have regular requests and would have sold it to someone else.  I think it is more that 99.9% of the time when someone calls and orders a box the caller knows the difference and what will or won't work.  I also think your argument that the car was made before you were born and therefore you don't know everything about it, is kinda weak. If you are restoring the car i would expect by the time you got to a stage where you were needing to restore or replace the heater box you would be familiar enough with Chargers to know the a/c and non-a/c are different. This is pretty common knowledge because of the visible differences of the firewall. I say that because you must have  looked in the engine compartment of at least a few 2nd gen Chargers to see some differences. Do you honestly think they wanted the headache of sending an unusable part that would result in phone calls and unnecessary shipping back and forth. 

Not trying to be a prick, I just think in this instance the vendor is not at fault and doesn't deserve being slammed.

[y3chargerrt]

Before you buy any part post it here and we will help stear you in the right direction. Trust me restoring these cars are expensive and frustrating!

[69Chrgr]

Before you buy any part post it here and we will help stear you in the right direction. Trust me restoring these cars are expensive and frustrating!

Thanks for one of the first positive responses. It's not just SMS. Year One was supposed to send my fuel tank brackets last week. I ordered them June 5th. They were supposed to be here the week of July 4th. When I called Year One to inquire about the brackets, I was told it would be another 6 weeks. I called AMD and they had 60 sets. I canceled my order and went with AMD. I've been told shame on my for ordering anything from Year One. It's unfortunate that I have to learn everything the hard way. I'm literally spending thousands of dollars on this car without any progress.

[Budnicks]

69charger information & knowledge is king, get a factory service manual for you specific make & model of car it will help you with most all of you questions & some/most of the stuff has illustrations & how to remove & reinstall...          I know it's difficult to deal with parts suppliers people sometimes but, it's your money so do your due diligence on your searches, it's your responsibility to get the information needed, not there to educate you...  I think it would be in there best intrest though...  The more information you can give the parts suppliers or anyone trying to help you the better. "INFORMATION IS THE KEY",  I'm not saying your wrong or the SMS was wrong but there was a lack of information on somebodies part in the transaction... A simple question like will a non-A/C core fit my A/C equip housing or something along those lines... Also Year One is good for some parts but not for all, they tend to be more expensive & slow to ship on almost everything.   I try not to buy from them unless I absolutely have to. I deal with Mancini Racing for many of my parts & do multiple GOOGLE searchs for everything else I plan on buying or installing so I'm informed of the options available for "my project"...  There are several restoration books out there for B-Body Mopars,  I would also suggest buying 1 or 2 of them... Good luck with your 69 Charger project in the future...

[randy73]

No, I will wait until Monday. This car is all about waiting on every single dam thing. Then it seems that I don't receive the right stuff. I'm going to ship this one back and get my money back. I'll be 80 by the time I get the right stuff to put the thing together. I may just race it and forget about driving it on the street.

WAIT a minute, you blow a company out of the water and you have not called them. WOW, give them a chance before you kill them, damn man do you shoot a waiter if they brought the wrong food???

I feel your pain, yearone sent the wrong parts twice, they sent the wrong shroud the first time and then the wrong switch the second time and I will say this, that they may screw me on the price, but their customer service is pretty darn good.

I can see how it's not your $725.00 plus that you don't care. I was born in 1972 and don't know every knook and cranny, bolt hole, etc. of a 69 Charger, so I am guilty. However, I would expect for someone that specializes in heater boxes wouldn't offer a non a/c box for my a/c car. I apologize to the Mopar crowd for not being 65 years old or being around when they wer manufactured. However, Jone Cope didn't offer a 904 for my 440. Why should this be different. Nick at Compuflow didn't offer me a set of heads that wouldn't fit my 440. Their attitude was that they wanted me off the phone for the next customer.

Dude that was the wrong thing to say, just shows me how childish and petty you are. But you do not put people or companies down till you give them a chance to respond. And by the way, I did care until that last comment. Also, I was born in 63, so what and you are comparing apples to oranges, the box will fit your car, just not with a/c, that is why it is different.

[BigBlackDodge]

So in theory I should know everyting about my '70 because I was born in '68. 

Interesting.





BBD

[469 runner]

Dude, you've bashed the guy all over Moparts.com and now here too?  Send the box back and get an A/C box, whats the problem?  I will continue to use SMS as I think they do top notch work.

[68X426]

Yeah the tirade over at Moparts may reach legendary status. 

Having been told by Darren to go to hell (before I ever posted anything here or at Moparts) (well everyone at Moparts was told to go to hell) I guess it's time to post.

It's almost 11am Monday in Texas, plenty of time to make the call Darren didn't make in the first place, so Darren, what's the outcome? Did you cowboy up and call that horse you beat dead?

[DC_1]

I read the Moparts thread.

When I read this post here my first thoughts were miscommunication and honest mistake. I also thought 69Chrgr's immediate accusations that he got screwed were a knee jerk reaction and once he contacted the vendor and actually thought more clearly about things he would realize this was not intentional. I also thought he would see this is best to work out with the vendor before further commenting. After reading all his responses on MOPARTS and DAYS of slamming the vendor, blaming moparts.com members, blaming the hobby, even here basically blaming his parents for him not being born earlier because as he put it" I was born in 1972 and don't know every nook and cranny, bolt hole, etc of a 69 Charger" I come to realize he is just nuts!......also, he is of the type that once he feels he right he won't be satisfied until others bleed.

Sorry, just calling it like I see it......

[FLG]

WOW!

Ok heres how i see it, your flaming a vendor for maybe what is somewhat both parties mistake. Maybe its your fault because you werent clear that you DIDNT convert it to non A/C...maybe SMS heard it wrong, maybe they should have asked more questions....

But how the heck do you bash a vendor but you havent even talked to them yet?

You need to learn some patience, this hobby isnt going to be good if you dont have any.

[Brock Lee]

I was born in 1974. I research what I need and find out every possible angle before I buy. Yeah, sometimes it can take months of research before making on a major purchase, but I know exactly what I need when I place that order. And waiting weeks on a backordered is part of the game. If you think one of these cars just falls together, you have a lot more disappointment ahead.

[resq302]

Just chiming in here also but I am turning 35 in 10 days.  The fact that you have a car older than you is no excuse not to know the car as most of us on here have cars older than us.  The thing is that when working on these cars yourself, you get to know your car.  Also, it sounds like it could have been a little bit of a miscommunication between you and the vendor.  With everyone customizing their cars today, you kinda have to be very clear as to what you want and make sure you get across what you are wanting to order.  You told him that you wanted a non a/c heater box for a car that is an a/c car. How is he supposed to know that you didnt convert the car to a non a/c firewall or that someone else did that in the cars future.  If you wanted a heater box for an a/c car you should have just said that in the first place.   

In regards to your comparison of other people not offering you stuff for other parts, it all depends on what you are working on.  Yes, he would not have given you a 904 trans for a 440 block.  They don't go together!  Just like a 23 spline manual trans would not go with a hemi engine or a 440 engine.  They would have gotten the beefier 18 spline manual trans or the 727 auto trans.

As for waiting for stuff..... well thats just part of the game.  Lets face it, we can't just go to the local Dodge dealership and get any part we want for our cars anymore right off the shelf.  Hell, I couldn't do that when I had my 05 Hemi Ram and it was brand new, they still had to order stuff.  My point is, our cars are old and people and places normally do not stock parts for our cars so unless it is a place that specializes in our parts, chances are you are going to have to wait sometimes in order to get stuff for our cars.  That being said, that is the whole reason why I have spare parts of hard to find stuff so I know I have at least one around waiting to the thrown into the car if I need one in a hurry.

[69Chrgr]

Rod from SMS Auto and I have reconciled and worked things out. I'm just as guilty by posting here and Moparts. However, we both agreed that we utilized poor communication. I assumed he knew about general car restoration, and he does not. Rod stated that he does not restore cars and never has. He only does component restoration. I thought that since he rebuilt these boxes, he would know all about what does and does not fit. I'm still appauled at the pirranha style behavior of some(not all) on these websites when someone doesn't know absolutely every single specific of their car. People have exhibited animal like behavior in making personal attacks on me and for some reason my profession. Pretty much why I don't post much or get on here much. Thanks to those who have responded professionally however.

[440]

At least it's all sorted now...

[Brock Samson]

 So,.. perhaps a topic title rename is warranted?.. I'm glad it got resolved (although painfully) and i understand how frustrating a Resto. - even a minor or partial one can be... 

[BigBlackDodge]

Professionalism was thrown out the window when you decided to trash the guy on the web without even trying to work things out first.



Nice.



BBD

[Ghoste]

I'm still appauled at the pirranha style behavior of some(not all) on these websites when someone doesn't know absolutely every single specific of their car. People have exhibited animal like behavior in making personal attacks on me and for some reason my profession. Pretty much why I don't post much or get on here much. Thanks to those who have responded professionally however.

So if we had all jumped on the bandwagon of agreement and went on at great length about how terrible SMS are would we still be animalistic pirranha or instead would that make us a great bunch of fella's?

[69Chrgr]

Thank you to the last two posters for substantiating my claims.
Have a Nice DAy

[stripedelete]

Thank you to the last two posters for substantiating my claims.
Have a Nice DAy

You're nuts.

[BigBlackDodge]

Thank you to the last two posters for substantiating my claims.
Have a Nice DAy

And yet you still trash SMS in the subject. 



BBD

[68X426]

Thank you to the last two posters for substantiating my claims.
Have a Nice DAy

Darren, go away.

[gtx6970]

My honest opinion.

You got lucky.

If you had done me like was done to SMS , I would have taken my part back and told you to take your business elsewhere.

[AKcharger]

We wanna help ya' out there buddy, we all love Chargers but let me tell ya'...your in for a LOT of frustration restoring an old car so you better get used to it. You'll find most suppliers are reasonable people. Yup you can be screwed on rare occasion but for the  most part everyone is reasonable. But you WILL get the wrong parts, by mistake. You WILL have new parts not fit, even though their new. You WILL find parts don't look exactly like the old ones...it happens.

May I suggest the "golden rule" in the future: "do unto others as you'd have done to you."  It's simple courtesy

Tell ya' what...let me go one step further and share the RIGHT way to "flame" someone, this is from post http://www.dodgecharger.com/forum/index.php/topic,25659.0.html

I'd like to add that any good automotive paint shop can match your interior paint as well. I had the local paint shop color match some bright blue and put it in arasol cans for my '72. Color match was perfect and was just as good as the MOPAINT I used for my 2003 '70 resto for about 1/2 the price, it's been on there for 5 years now and still good.

On a side note, when I used mopaint in 2003 it matched PERFECTLY, I was very pleased. Then when I did some touch-ups in 2005 with MOPAINT it was off...a lot. The '05 batch was more brown than burnt orange and  was "flat" where it should have been a semi-gloss. I spoke with the owner (Rob?) who apologized and sent another can...which was the same. I called again and sent some photos to explain the problem, but my repeated e-mails/calls were never answered and just I gave up. I will not use MOPAINTs again, local paint shops are just as good and cheaper

[Troy]

Looks like there's not much to add to the original topic...

Troy