ARE dry sumps

[Bill D]

I agree with Rob. They should make it right.

[Russ Noble]

Jim, Mesa, Bill,

Have done as you have urged

My email to ARE:-

Hi guys,

You may remember early in the year I bought a 1306 from you.

I am not very happy about it. It is effectively unusable without a lot of remedial work.

Because of markings it had on it I am convinced you deliberately sent me a reject.

Also because of the time/distance/cost factor it is not practical to return it. This is why I think you chose to unload this on me to New Zealand..

I concluded therefore that any recompense was unlikely, but I didn’t want any of my GT40 Forum friends to get caught the same way so posted a warning in the “Consumer Watch” Section of that forum.

http://www.gt40s.com/forum/consumer-...dry-sumps.html

There is also some discussion on my build thread from Post # 77 onwards

http://www.gt40s.com/forum/builder-log-forum/16138-kiwi-scratchbuilt-3.html

The guys there have urged me to draw the matter to your attention. The forum has been a big assistance to me generally so in deference to them, I send you this email.

I will publish this email on both threads, as I will any reply that I may receive.

Thank you,

Russ Noble



We'll see what happens.......



Cheers

[Bill D]

Excellent. Keep us posted

[Pat Buckley]

For the life of my I cannot understand why you have chosen to diss these guys before even giving them a chance to make it right.

What an ass.

[Russ Noble]

Pat, that's a rather sanctimonious comment....

I am here in NZ. I think they deliberately stitched me. I admit it could have been a mistake on their part, but knowing it's ultimate destination was NZ they failed totally in their duty of reasonable care.

Time is against me. Are they going to immediately supply me with a good sump AND airfreight it (US$270) to me? I don't think so. Also to be considered is the cost of returning the faulty item.


I may be an ass. I'm also generally a conciliatory, easy going guy. I hold no grudge against ARE. One has to know when to cut ones losses. I am not bitter, I've put it behind me and I am already moving along in the process to cast my own. I don't have the time to stuff around. I only posted this to alert other buyers to possible problems with ARE. It is up to them to do their own research and draw their own conclusions. As you have.

Have a nice day.

[Russ Noble]

Just received this reply from ARE, which goes some way to addressing the monetary side.

Here is their reply :-

Hi Russ, I am very sorry about the problems with your oil pan. I assure you we did not "un-load " a defective pan on you on purpose. You are clearly upset, and I do not have the time to answer the threads ect on your forum. I will, however refund your money if you return it. You can send it by slow boat, so it will not be expensive to ship. The people we list on our web site DO use our products, and have won many, many championships. The Chevy Corvette successes with our Dry Sumps may not be of too much interest to you. but the Ford Powered Panoz which won Le Mans (twice) has our Dry Sump on it also, as well as virtually every formula Ford Championship winning car in the world. I could list hundreds, but I am not going to do that. I have been in business for 33 years, and you can not survive in this business by screwing people. I am sorry, the miss-fit was not intentional.
Regards, Gary Armstrong PS..... please see to it that my reply and offer make it to your forum. Thanks.

However it wasn't particularly the money that was my major concern. It is the time frame now and the extra work involved to cast my own pan. Never the less I will return the ARE piece and graciously accept their refund.

Cheers,

[Pat Buckley]

Russ-

I'm not very sanctimonious at all -

You sure don't seem very easy going or concilatory - lambasting ARE without even giving them a chance to say word one in their defense is poor behaviour.

Why is it their fault you chose to order something from fifteen thousand miles away? Is a mistake made on their part worse because you live further away?

Cheers,

Pat

I was reminded of a guy who lived in Australia who bought a Harley on Ebay USA and got screwed - in his case he put the blame squarely on President Bush's shoulders..... hmmmm - is this a regional issue? LOL

[Pat Buckley]

Oh - I meant to say, I apologize for calling you an ass.

That really wasn't called for.

Pat

[Russ Noble]

Originally Posted by 2124

Russ-

I'm not very sanctimonious at all -

You sure don't seem very easy going or concilatory - lambasting ARE without even giving them a chance to say word one in their defense is poor behaviour. Sorry Pat, the evidence is there in the photos and they haven't disputed or defended it. Gary has stated that the mistake was unintentional and I accept that.

Why is it their fault you chose to order something from fifteen thousand miles away? I never said that it was! Is a mistake made on their part worse because you live further away? For sure, the ability to rectify it is very much lessened. They should realise this and spend a few extra minutes on quality control. Had that happened there would be photos of a nice pan sitting on a block in my build thread and only positive comments.

Cheers,

Pat

I was reminded of a guy who lived in Australia who bought a Harley on Ebay USA and got screwed - in his case he put the blame squarely on President Bush's shoulders..... hmmmm - is this a regional issue? Actually Pat, I think it is. Not political, but regional, it is well known in the Antipodes that QC in America is poor. Lim and I have had alloy wheels from two different companies in the US that have required remachining. Have also had issues with stuff out of the US for the TR7V8. It's not a big issue, we can usually fix things up and don't make a fuss about it. Unfortunately the pan was just too much of an exercise.
We try to do research before ordering and I didn't find anything bad about ARE. Maybe I have just been unlucky to strike an isolated instance. Murphy's Law etc. LOL

Cheers,

[Chris Coote]

Pat,
I also live down under and been screwed over several times whether it be a Harley or parts I have ordered correctly and arrived incorrectly.All have come from USA.
Anything out of the UK,NZ etc the guys have been spot on.
Then again I guess Robert Logan might have known something.
You have a nice day.
Cheers.

[Pat Buckley]

We have many different suppliers of all kinds of parts in the USA - some are great, some not.

I have found that if I shop based on price alone I usually don't get what I am looking for.

Perhaps you can do the same?

I suppose there isn't much of a choice of suppliers where you all come from?

It is nice living in a part of the world that actually produces stuff and offers a choice!

Then again, we don't make anything for Holdens - perhaps you can do a replica of a Holden Commodore? LOL. Just kidding, I wouldn't either.

Seems like there isn't a shortage off dumbasses where you all live though.

[Johan]

You like apples ?

[Russ Noble]

Wow Pat!!

I can't agree with most of what you have written here.

Take it easy, no-one's trying to ruffle any feathers. Down here we tell it like it is, which is why Randy may have made his comment about my email. But it was to the point and unambiguous.

Are you trying to say that the ARE pan is a cheap piece that I bought on price? I'm sure ARE would love that!

You are right about choice of suppliers here though. With manufacturing we tend to go for high quality, high dollar, niche export markets as a 4m population is insufficient for a decent domestic base, and freight can be a killer on low value items.

We do produce and offer choice though, our strength is in producing food, and there is quite a bit of choice there. It is exported all round the world but you won't see much of it because of the protectionist tarrifs put in place by your politicians to protect your agricultural sector who can't compete on a level playing field! At least our govt doesn't put tarrifs on the stuff we get from the States. They probably don't want to discourage imports from the US as they realise fixing up the product will provide employment for kiwis!

Pat, there are heaps of guys down here build replicas of Bathurst Holden Commodores, they are a good handling, fast and iconic Aussie supercar.

Nothing dumbass about living in th best part of the world Pat! I see that as more than compensation for the problems that sometimes arise from buying stuff from the other side of the planet.

Sorry about the thread drift Ron, but those mindless comments needed to be addressed.......

Cheers

[Scott Calabro]

WOW, Holy politics Batman !

Seriously though, How many agree it would be easier to fix the current pan that Ross has, than to cast a new one. Or from looking at Ross' build thread it appears with his obvious talents he could easily fabricate a pan from scratch using some .060' or .080' sheet and heavy alum. extrusions for the pan rails and seal ends.





Best,
S

[Pete.]

Russ, they can't play Rugby either.

[Lynn]

Russ,

Many of those who voiced indignation that you would have received a part that was so poorly made were Americans. That would seem to be a bit out of character for citizens of a whole country with poor quality control, doesn't it? For not wanting to ruffle feathers, coloring a whole nation with such a broad stroke seem a rather odd thing to do. Most who are concerned with the effect that they have on others are a bit more measured with the words they use.

Regards,
Lynn

[Pat Buckley]

Thanks Lynn -

You put it well. I am not much of a diplomat.

I am surprised that the Antipodeans would dare even mention that jerk Logan.....it figures that it was Harley guy who did.

Pat

[Russ Noble]

Lynn,

With respect, I think you are gunning for the wrong guy