[snakeeyes]

I bought another Cobra replica (my fourth) recently after years away (this is my first post on CC in something like 8 years), and in tweaking it to my liking have gone back to the well of parts suppliers—mainly Cobra Restorers and Finish Line. It’s ironic that while both companies are still in business, Chuck Gutke, principal of Cobra Restorers, has since passed away and Enzo and Paula are no longer affiliated with Finish Line, either.

I’ve placed two orders each with each company in the last month; in the case of Cobra Restorers I received immediate confirmation of the orders and had both shipments on my doorstep within a week.

In the case of Finish Line, I also received immediate confirmation of both orders but then waited and waited for the shipments. With the first order I eventually resorted to an email, then a second email, then a voicemail. No replies...finally after a third email I got a tracking number, and three weeks after the order was placed I received the package. The same thing happened with the second order, although I was more diligent in pestering so I think it took less than two weeks to get. In all cases the items I ordered were listed as “In Stock”, so I don’t know why it was so hard to get Finish Line to box the stuff up and mail it.

When I was really active on this forum in the early 2000s, Amazon was just becoming the powerhouse it now is and free two-day shipping was a rarity. Now I think we all expect it, along with tracking info. In the case of both Cobra Restorers and Finish Line, the shipping costs were high if not downright exorbitant, and don’t appear to be tied to size or weight of the items being shipped. For instance, you can buy a single decal from Cobra Restorers, which could obviously be mailed with one stamp, and the shipping charge is still $20. Someone needs to make some adjustments to their ordering process.

I’m happy with the quality of the products from both suppliers, but either the people running the companies have not adjusted to the “post-Amazon reality” of retail sales, or are just doing it as a sideline and need to pay a lot more attention to their customers if they want to stay in business, IMHO.