List,I read Gary's post about TRF and wanted to add my recent personal
experience because I believe it shows a high degree of customer service and
loyality to the hobby.
Over the past year and a half, I have posted from time to time about my efforts
to get my '74 TR6 back on the road after a wreck in June of 2002. Long story
short, I decided to try to do the repairs right and put in new sheet metal and
strip the rest of the car for a new paint job. The repairs included replacing
the right inner fender, right wheel arch, both front outer fenders, front
valance and hood.
After six months of waiting, I finally got my car from the body shop with a
great paint job and began re-installing the engine, transmission and interior.
When it came time to install the hood, I found that the hood was a half inch
higher than the right fender. Immediately, I thought that I had a bent or
twisted frame, but a trip back to the frame shop proved this not to be the
case. I leveled the car and took measurements of everything.
What I found was that the hood hinge mount on the right (new) inner fender was
made incorrectly. The spot-welded plate and nuts were installed on the
stamping a half inch too high. I made digital pictures and sent them to John
at TRF and told him of all the measurements that I had taken. He immediately
e-mailed me back and said that he was calling British Motor Heritage to discuss
it with them and would get back to me. He e-mailed me a couple of times over
the next three to four weeks just to let me know he was still waiting for BMH
to respond. He asked me what the body shop charged to move the hinge mount and
to remove and replace the hood and fenders and to repaint the area.
Last week, I got an e-mail from John saying that they had gotten a response
from BMH saying that they were not going to do anything about it because a
problem like this had never been reported. John quickly went on to say that he
had discussed it with Charles and felt that normally they would replace the
part, but in case that did not make sense because the front of the car would
have to come apart again. So, they were hopeful that offering me a store
credit of $25 more than the shop charged for the repairs would make me happy.
Here is a clear situation where Charles and his company were caught in the
middle between a customer and the only company around that stamps BL sheet
metal parts. No way to force BMH to make it right. It would have been easy for
TRF to say they would spit the difference with me. I realize that at their
cost of parts, it works out that way to some extent. I can tell you that they
flat exceeded my expectations of how this would be handled and did so in a very
professional manner.
I do purchase parts from all three of the major vendors, but I can assure you
that I will purchase all my major parts and most everything I buy from TRF
going forward. They are a credit to the hobby.John Shewmake'74 TR6Chattanooga,
TN
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