Has anyone used Apple Hydraulics?

[resq302]

The reason I ask this question is that this is the first time I have used them and I think I got royally screwed. I sent them my hold of valve for my 69 Charger as well as a distribution block off of an AMC that they might be able to use for a core for their stock. I included a note of what was wrong with my hold off valve and what I would like done and what the distribution block was for. I explained that I was trying to get the part back on my car for our NJ Region show on May 1st and the guy said they would put a rush on it. Well, their rush turned out to be the same turn around time as a non rush job but I got it back in plenty of time for our show. (so I thought) I got the part back on Tues of this past week and realized when I opened up the box, they did not touch my hold off valve but rebuilt the distribution block (which in a phone call to me, they told me they would not keep it as a core and would send it back to me so I could sell it if I wanted and mentioned nothing about rebuilding that and not the part that I wanted them to). So I call them up the following morning and complained and Lazar said to send it back which I did. Now I am out shipping the part 3 times, but Lazar said they would credit me the shipping back to them. I get the part sent out to them and since they are so close to me, they receive it the next day, Thursday. I receive a package in the mail on Friday when I am home sick and open it up looking at the exact same thing that I sent them with nothing done. To confirm this, I unscrewed the bottom plug and saw evidence of rust still in there. Tomorrow, Monday, I am going to call them up and again complain.

Just curious if I should ask for my money back or call up my credit card company and explain what happened to them and ask for the charges to be reversed?

Has anyone else had issues with them?

They have been advertising with our club in our newsletter and supporting our clubs shows for many years. Im kind of in a bind as I do not want to cause any bad blood between the club and the merchant, yet at the same time, I do not want to be taken for over $100!

[rt green]

if you are close enough to them i would try to show up in person and try to get the situation resolved. it sucks but now the situation is what it is.  my 

[resq302]

Im about a 3 hr trip each way away from them and with my newborn being sick and now my 4 yr old seems to be sick, I doubt that is a possibility.  I wish I could go face to face with them as this is totally not acceptable since when I called them on Wed morning of this past week, he said to ship everything back and they would "make it right".

[moparstuart]

i have never bought anything from them ,  but they have always sent me door prizes and coupons for my car shows every year .

[resq302]

Well, after it going back to them on Monday for the third (hopefully final time) it is on its way to be dropped off at my house today.  We shall see what comes of it. 

Anyway, this is what has transpired since the last time I updated anyone....

On Monday I call and talk to Lazar, who ends up passing me off to this guy named Bob.  Talking to Bob, he is all concerned about any quality issues and would like th part back so he can inspect it himself but did say that Jimmy (the guy who actually rebuilt the part) was rushing so he could get it back out the same day to me..  If there is any rust or crap inside the part, he said heads would roll.  At this point, he also said that his second main concern is that I can get my charger to our clubs show on this Sunday.  He suggests installing the part (which has evidence of rust and crap) and seeing if it is able to work or not.  After I calmed myself down and told him by no certain means am I putting a dirty part filled with contaminants into my clean brake system so it could contaminate other parts which would cause other headaches down the road, he said about shipping it back again.  I also had advised him that I tried blowing air through the valve and no air would even go through so something must be blocking it internally.  His reply was that I should try and take it apart and clean it out so I could get it working and back on the car.  Well, after thinking about this, I was curious to see what was inside the valve that they could have messed up.  Well, there is two seals and an o ring.  The o ring goes on the access plug which is a no brainer.  The bottom seal was in the valve so tight, I couldn't even move it or get along side it with a rounded over flat head screw driver to get the seal out.  Mind you, for comparison, I disassembled my old Inline repro valve and the thinner, more flimsy seal popped right out with a light burst of air (maybe 10 psi).  I could not get theirs out with 100 psi!  So after I take some comaparison pics, I put it all back together and get it boxed up for shipping.  Later on Monday afternoon, around 4 pm, I call up Apple Hydraulics and am talking to Jimmy again about the problem.  He said that I might have installed it backwards as it acts like a one way valve.  (uh, no, fluid has to get back to the master cyl somehow Jimmy! plus the fittings are two different sizes so it can only be installed one way).  After telling him that I had a factory service manual, he said about faxing or sending copies of the pages to them as "they don't have any actual rebuild kits, they just pull out what was in the old unit and match them up to the various assortments they have there."        Funny, White Post Restorations has kits for specific vehicles and such, they don't "match" stuff. 

So, yesterday, I call them around 3 to ask them if they got the part which I knew they did from the UPS tracking number.  I talked to Bob again and he said that yes, they got the part and the factory info I provided and tried all kinds of different seals till they could bench test it to the figures that were in the service manual.  He claims they had problems matching it up originally cause the seals were swelled "5 times" the original size and that the pictures I sent him of the comparison couldn't have been correct since the original one had a much bigger diameter where the shaft was and claims it would have never sealed.  He also told me that Chrysler was (and this is his words now) "experimenting with different kinds of stuff in 1968 and 1969 for the disc brake parts and that no 2 parts might have had the identical seals in it".  (wow, chrysler was "experimenting" with brake parts on cars and putting peoples lives at risk?!?!?!?!)  Honestly, if they were experimenting, and tried something, wouldn't there be some kind of recall so they could fix all the rest of the cars so no one got injured? I then asked what they were going to do for me since this obviously was not my fault and that I was now going to be paying for shipping 6 times now (at $12 a pop each way) when I orignally paid $110 for the rebuild!  He said that there would be a full credit for all of the shipping costs and the cost of the rebuild in with the part and if there was any problems to email them.

I get off from work at 7 pm tonight so the part should be home waiting for me to get there.  We shall see how this time went around and what all was inside the box along with the part.  Hopefully this is the final chapter in this brake woe saga.  All I know is I am getting tired of it and want it over!

[resq302]

Well, I got the part back yesterday and it is visually nicer than what it went to them so that is a plus.  Air is able to be blown through the valve as well so two out of three isnt bad.  I will try and install it either tomorrow night or Sat and see how the functionality is with it.  They did include a refund for the cost of the first shipping back to me plus the cost of rebuilding the unit however, my conversation with Bob was that all of my shipping costs were to be refunded.  So far, that has not happened.  I will be in contact with them today to see what the problem is.  All I know is that something that was sent to them originally back on April 8th is now going on 3+ weeks of headaches.

[resq302]

Well, after a phone call to them on Friday inquiring to where the rest of my credit was, Lazar started getting rude and then answering "no comment" to my questions.  He finally said "this is all over $20 for shipping?, fine! I'll send you a check and good luck with it!" then hung up on me.  Well, today I got the check with a hand written note which I will post.

Feel free to post your comments and thoughts on this as well.  All I know is that with their customer service, I will not be using them again.  I guess you live and learn.

[FLG]

Letter looks like it was written by a child. They sure don't have my business.