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Incompetent ? Dishonest ? Does The Mini Have To Equal Rubbish Parts And Rubbish Service ?


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#31 AeroNotix

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Posted 13 September 2016 - 10:43 AM

Also, to the OP complaining about having their parts out of warranty when they genuinely were out of warranty but felt they shouldn't be because they weren't fitted to the car. How do you expect that to work on a macro level for the company?



#32 MIGLIACARS

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Posted 13 September 2016 - 10:57 AM

Witch Hunt!!!! good idea



#33 MontpellierVanMan

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Posted 13 September 2016 - 01:38 PM

As the OP ran a dealership and vehicle-spare-parts business, much of it by mail-order, for over 20 years, during which he was faced with this situation many times, he can confidently state that the "macro" level functioning for the company is pretty straightforward ; if my wholesaler was any good, and wanted more of my business, he would accept my account regarding - for example - failed and squashed bump-rubbers (because he'd have had dozens of similar cases) and credited me with another pair without even asking to see them. In the case of the new and boxed RHD steering rack, an item that I could re-sell in good faith the following week, I'd have taken it back with my apologies. If it was stuff we had commissioned from a manufacturer ourselves, the margins would have been comfortable enough to allow us to swallow the occasional failure outside the 12-month guarantee.

 

The 13-out-of-23 issues relate to just one supplier, who ignored my polite and detailed enquiry back in December 2014 - not worthy of their time ? - and subsequent to that I bought the next 5 thousand pounds' worth of stuff from other people ; if they don't reply to yesterday's enquiry either then I will indeed name them, and they'll have lost out twice-over.



#34 sansamn

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Posted 13 September 2016 - 01:52 PM

One of the issues for me is the inconsistency from suppliers. Some parts they provided are perfect and others are just fit for the bin. If everything you got from them was crap you just wouldn’t use them

 

Some suppliers do seem to genuinely care about the product they produce. They seem to go out of their way to accurately reproduce parts that are either no longer available or spend serious time and money creating parts that overcome problems that with originals. However this is all then undone by the rest of their stock being garbage. Why should I spend £££ on a specialist part that have been thoughtfully designed and manufactured for a premium price that I may only ever need to buy once when things that I need slightly more often fail almost instantly!

 

I get that if everyone else is selling a product for £10 and the quality is questionable it is hard to justify spending time and money to produce a superior product that is going to cosy £50 that very few people will buy. But it devalues your brand by selling crap just because everyone else is

 

Back in the late 90’s I purchased a door handle set for the Mini I had then. Bought from a major mini parts supplier and it was a genuine Rover part. Quality and fit were perfect (or as good as you would ever get from Rover). About 2005 I needed another door handle set for a different Mini  so I bought a set from the same supplier. What I was sent was a million miles apart. The casting was crude and very rough on the inside of the handles. The locking mechanism was very poor and the fit was terrible. It took  quite a bit of modification to actually get the locks to work probably and even fit the car . I called up the company to inform them of the issues I had faced and was told that they were fully aware of how bad they were and that loads of people had complained. They put the problem down to cheaply made foreign rubbish as genuine Rover produced handle were no longer available. They didn’t apologise for the or offer any kind of compensation (not that I was asking for anything). It’s not like I chose this product on price, that was all that was available to me



#35 Steve-O 2014

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Posted 13 September 2016 - 04:20 PM

Also Mini owners / sellers can also be dishonest!! Loads of minis turn out not to be how described :(



#36 1984mini25

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Posted 13 September 2016 - 10:12 PM


But the vast majority of what the OP wrote is thoroughly sound and ties in with the experiences of many others. We could digress into wheel bearings, for instance...

 

There were plenty of the named and unnamed traders happily selling those 'fake' wheels bearing at Stanford hall last Sunday.



#37 mikal

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Posted 14 September 2016 - 03:48 AM

I've been dealing with the same Mini specialist here in Oz for 30+ years. Never had a problem, excellent service. If they cannot source quality parts they simply don't sell them. It's not rocket science...



#38 1984mini25

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Posted 14 September 2016 - 09:58 AM

Hears another annoyance with a set of widely available H4 halogen headlamp kits. For whatever reason the side light isn't drilled in the centre and is offset to one side, meaning a section has to be cut out of the genuine rover bowl for it to fit. Also as the new units aren't as thick on the edges and have a slightly different shape, the chrome retaining ring doesn't clamp and retain the headlamp. Well it does of sorts, but the headlamp is lose and wobbles around. So my solution was to use some glue backed neoprene foam tape on the insides of the retaining rings.

 

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#39 Ann-Wilson

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Posted 14 September 2016 - 06:54 PM

yep..as a member who has been restoring a car over a period of approaching 9 years now...It is frustrating how many parts I have had to re do more than twice due to poor rubber etc. and the car has completed all of 3 miles...and that was only recently.

 

Shame on our traders..Made in Britain or UK means nothing if the source components come from elsewhere...Come on someone there is a massive market for someone offering parts that actually work/fit and will last longer than the past you are replacing as a preventative measure...



#40 Spider

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Posted 14 September 2016 - 07:37 PM

This reminds me (though not in the vein you've mentioned it);-

 

 

....Made in Britain or UK means nothing .....

 

A good friend of mine had some components manufactured in China not long ago. While he was doing the rounds of the manufacturers over there, a few of them also asked what country (of origin) did he want moulded in to the parts, "we often put Made in England and GB on our parts".

 

Beware.



#41 tiger99

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Posted 15 September 2016 - 12:39 AM

If such parts, with false country of origin, are sold in the UK a criminal offence is being committed! They should be reported to Trading Standards, every time.



#42 stevestonmotorco

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Posted 16 September 2016 - 01:34 AM

This exact problem is the main reason I started building my own parts for my car. My car is certainly not the nicest mini out there but I have been building cars long enough that I don't have the patience for crap parts. I have a great mentor who specializes in Miatas (Chikara motorsports for those in the know) who inspired me with the business model of building the absolute best quality you can, and hope that potential customers realize that and are willing to pay the difference.



#43 Cooperman

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Posted 16 September 2016 - 02:13 PM

Whilst I have little sympathy with companies selling really poor quality stuff, I have to say that if you look closely at many posts on here you see a lot of "Where can I buy the cheapest xxxxxx" rather than where can I get the best quality, irrespective of price (up to a point).

The result is that the low volume parts for classic cars, and not just Minis, are made 'down to a price' at which they will sell best.

If the volumes were huge, the quality for the same price would be much better, but classic car parts are by their nature low volume. 

How many would pay, perhaps, 2 to 3 times the current prices for top quality parts. Not many I would guess. Look how many buy pattern body panels then come on here and say that they don't fit very well. So why didn't they buy the genuine Heritage ones? Simple, they are twice the price - but they fit! The same applies to engine parts and suspension stuff. I use Karl Schmidt pistons for my Cooper 'S'. They are about £500 for a set, but they are superb.

The problem is the small volumes and the low prices expected by the owners. Those two factors are not compatible. 


Edited by Cooperman, 16 September 2016 - 02:17 PM.


#44 MIGLIACARS

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Posted 16 September 2016 - 02:25 PM

Whilst I have little sympathy with companies selling really poor quality stuff, I have to say that if you look closely at many posts on here you see a lot of "Where can I buy the cheapest xxxxxx" rather than where can I get the best quality, irrespective of price (up to a point).

The result is that the low volume parts for classic cars, and not just Minis, are made 'down to a price' at which they will sell best.

If the volumes were huge, the quality for the same price would be much better, but classic car parts are by their nature low volume. 

How many would pay, perhaps, 2 to 3 times the current prices for top quality parts. Not many I would guess. Look how many buy pattern body panels then come on here and say that they don't fit very well. So why didn't they buy the genuine Heritage ones? Simple, they are twice the price - but they fit! The same applies to engine parts and suspension stuff. I use Karl Schmidt pistons for my Cooper 'S'. They are about £500 for a set, but they are superb.

The problem is the small volumes and the low prices expected by the owners. Those two factors are not compatible. 

 

Nicely worded and very true, A little off topic but have you ever used the omega pistons from MED, I use these in the racer with no issues so far !!!



#45 AlexMozza

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Posted 16 September 2016 - 02:28 PM

Whilst I have little sympathy with companies selling really poor quality stuff, I have to say that if you look closely at many posts on here you see a lot of "Where can I buy the cheapest xxxxxx" rather than where can I get the best quality, irrespective of price (up to a point).
The result is that the low volume parts for classic cars, and not just Minis, are made 'down to a price' at which they will sell best.
If the volumes were huge, the quality for the same price would be much better, but classic car parts are by their nature low volume. 
How many would pay, perhaps, 2 to 3 times the current prices for top quality parts. Not many I would guess. Look how many buy pattern body panels then come on here and say that they don't fit very well. So why didn't they buy the genuine Heritage ones? Simple, they are twice the price - but they fit! The same applies to engine parts and suspension stuff. I use Karl Schmidt pistons for my Cooper 'S'. They are about £500 for a set, but they are superb.
The problem is the small volumes and the low prices expected by the owners. Those two factors are not compatible. 


This should be made a sticky, for any new member to read, or anyone about to by nine genuine parts.




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