Kustom Metal Werks

dscott · #1 (**permalink**) 11-12-2001, 12:45 PM

I should know better but I've been burnt by Kustom Metal Werks. Apparently I'm not the 1st after talking to several other people and suppliers. I sent George a check 2 months ago for a Stainless roll bar for the Classic kit and ordered 1 more after that. I have tried and tried to get the parts and have been told several times they shipped. His company makes stainless roll bars, sidepipes, nudge bars, and several other products for the CR Cobra and other brands. I have sent several people to him for stainless pipes, if you are one of them I apologize. I heard today one person has been waiting 2 years for his pipes which were paid for up front. I have left several messages over the last month with no return calls. I will never understand a business that runs this way. I guess I always assume that a small business like mine must be run in the same manner, honest, up front, respectable. I guess I learned the hard way again. I will chock this up to experience and take my few hundred dollar loss. Please use caution with this guy and don't send him any money up front.
Don

aumoore · #2 (**permalink**) 11-12-2001, 03:01 PM

I ordered a roll bar from George for my Hunter Cobra and he got it to me in about 3 weeks(he promised he hadin stock). lthough he was slow he di ge it to me. You might call Randy Hunter at 352-622-5659 and ask if he is having any problems with George.

petek · #3 (**permalink**) 11-12-2001, 06:00 PM

Oh poop!

There is only one thing I'm needing to finish my Cobra ... a full width roll bar. I just mailed off a check to Kustom Metal Werks ... I should have went ahead and used the COD option like the fellow suggested.

Oh well, I'll call the bank tomorrow and put a hold on the check. Hmm, maybe I'll have my wife call the bank, she's soooo much better with those bank folks!

(Anybody got a full width roll bar for a Classic Roadsters Cobra?)

(Update: thank you veterans! I had forgotten that the mail isn't delivered today... I was able to snag the envelope and check out of the mail box.)

petek

aumoore · #4 (**permalink**) 11-12-2001, 08:52 PM

George did send me my rollbar after I sent him a check. It took him about 3 or 4 weeks to get it to me. If you have any questions call Randy Hunter and see if he is having any problems. George Cochran builds Randy's sidepipes, headers and rollbars. I will tell you this George does good work but he can be somewhat slow. I would have him send it c.o.d. or send him 1/2 deposit and the rest on cod. Most companies no matter how dependible are more responsive if you are holding money for their product.

Never Never Pay 100% up front(although I did and was not burned)

P.S. George does real high quality work if you ever get his products. He may be somewhat overloaded as Randy has several kits sold right now and George does work for other manufacturers as well.

dscott · #5 (**permalink**) 11-13-2001, 07:31 AM

I can understand a small company getting busy and having slow delivery problems but they need to communicate that to their customers instead of lying and not returning calls. I'm very easy to get along with and don't normally complain but I don't like being lied to. I know george does nice work. He needs to be up front and explain his situation.
Don

rlearp · #6 (**permalink**) 11-13-2001, 06:51 PM

Hey,

There are a number of folks using George for GT40 exhausts, myself, Bob Lawerence, Hershal Byrd, Gordon Levy, and some others - and yes he is very slow. Painfully slow. But know that going into the deal with him.

On the flip side, his work is very, very, very good. At least with the full crossover GT40 exhausts.

I sent him money probably 6 or 7 months ago, I forget how long, and my pipes are just now heading out from being finished up.

However, I trust him and I don't think he is going to take your money and run off. He might be slow and a little disconnected on the communication end but he does very nice work.

Just get a timeline with him defined upfront and I'd think you'd be okay. I'm not trying to defend any actions that have occured in the past but I'm not worried regarding my own situtation - I knew that it would be 8-10 months before getting the pipes.

Bottom line - I know George does good work and I think he is a trustworthy guy. I've seen his work firsthand and know folks who use his stuff, it is good. Slow, yes, but good nonetheless.

Ron

dscott · #7 (**permalink**) 11-14-2001, 08:20 AM

I just received a call from George @ Kustom. Said he has been out of town for 5 days, didn't call because I should have received the roll bar already, calls go back 5 weeks with no return. The roll bar was sent via US Mail, must have got lost, US Mail lost 10 turkey pans, 2 sets of sidepipes also. He's busy with MFG orders, just hired 2 people, he's trying to catch up. Said he will ship my 2 roll bars on Monday so I will have them on Thursday via Priority mail............Hmmmm. We'll see.
Don

Sonny · #8 (**permalink**) 11-14-2001, 09:25 AM

i'll go with a quality craftsman like george c. anyday over the ones that talk better than the quality they produce. i've found in this business over the years that the better the quality/craftsmanship the longer it takes, which is true with home building, etc, etc...a lot of other trades. call it INSTANT GRATIFICATION that the majority of the new generation has began demanding.

dscott · #9 (**permalink**) 11-14-2001, 12:09 PM

Sonny, I agree 100%. My problem is not being told up front about delays, etc. I have deadlines on the cars I build and the products I sell. I need to know from my suppliers so I can be honest with my customers. I'm not attacking George's quality at all. I know he does good work. I just want to be informed and not lied to. I'm not looking for instant gratification. When a supplier tells me he will ship at a certain time why am I expecting to much for him to be honest and do what he told me. My customers demand the same from me.
Don

BT SNAKE · #10 (**permalink**) 11-14-2001, 09:31 PM

George is a true craftsman in every since of the word.
I recieved my pipes for the GT40 about a month ago. All I
can say is WOW ! They are truley artistic. I too had asked about his business and I was told that he is very good but he has been known to take his time upon completion. George does need to work on the time line thing but boy what a craftsman.
I'm sorry that you are having this problem. We all like to get the things we need when we want them. Next time just give ole' George a longer lead time.

He is an honest person
and I'm sure he is trying.

Hersh

smokintires · #11 (**permalink**) 11-30-2001, 07:50 PM

I can attest to George's quality - I ordered a roll bar, side pipes and headers for my Hunter and the quality is very good. I just got the side pipes last week after a three month wait. To protect my pipes during shipping, George built an aluminum box which looks awfully suspicious. It was definitely opened several times along its route. For quality and price you can't go wrong with George. . . . . but you will really need to be patient.

dscott · #12 (**permalink**) 12-02-2001, 12:40 PM

I did receive 1 roll bar saturday. I have another on order. George does really nice work and he even sent me a pair of side louvers for my trouble. I still have a problem with the time involved but I guess if I want his product I need to wait along with everyone else. So I guess we all know what to expect, good quality work with slow response times. Thanks for the louvers George!
Don

petek · #13 (**permalink**) 12-03-2001, 11:58 AM

I just got off of the phone with George. He has a CR full-width roll bar in stock. I am sending a check out today. We'll see.....

petek

rlearp · #14 (**permalink**) 02-09-2002, 04:43 PM

FYI,

http://www.gt40s.com/cgi-bin/ultimat...c&f=3&t=000002

Has another thread associated with this post. I think the issue will be peacefully resolved and all will be well before too much longer.

R

petek · #15 (**permalink**) 03-09-2002, 10:50 PM

Sent the check in December, called at the end of January ... George said he'd lost my address, roll bar would be shipped asap. Called a couple of weeks later, still no roll bar, George said he'd just noticed that the roll bar hadn't shipped, would be out asap. Called a couple of weeks later ... this time the person who was suppose to ship the roll bar out was ill with the flu and just got back in, would ship asap.

Been calling for the past couple of weeks, leaving messages on their answering machine. No response. Just tried an email to sluggo@micron.net to see if he'll answer his email.

(sigh...)

petek · #16 (**permalink**) 03-10-2002, 09:55 AM

Kustom has a new email address (sluggo@idahograpevine.net) ... or at least that's the email address that I got from the reply from the old email address.

From what everyone has said here and at other forums, the quality of the stuff from Kustom is excellent, I just hope it's worth the wait!

Don · #17 (**permalink**) 03-10-2002, 12:47 PM

Another e-mail address George has used is :

gt40werks@idahograpevine.net

aumoore · #18 (**permalink**) 03-10-2002, 08:10 PM

Subj: Re: Hi from Ruble
Date: 3/7/2002 6:37:49 PM Central Standard Time
From: gt40werks@idahograpevine.net
To: AUMOORE@aol.com
Sent from the Internet (Details)

Ruble Hows it going , getting some road time on that cobra I hope! Well I
can only do so much!!!! Niles has nothing to ***** about, Stuff that was
damanged in shipping was rep;aced the same week and all expenses were
covered by me. I didn't wait for the insurance to sort it out . I just sent
him new stuff , so if he wants to piss and moam about it then so be it. Some
people need to get their face out of this bob tube and go work on their
car!!!! They can do what I do ...if I don't the serice then go somewhere
else......If I like what they do and consider it worth the inconvence then I
wait.. George
-----Original Message-----
From: AUMOORE@aol.com
To: gt40werks@idahograpevine.net
Date: Tuesday, March 05, 2002 7:51 PM
Subject: Hi from Ruble

>George
>How is it going? I am a little concerned about you as some people have
been
>not so happy with your service. Grover Niles keeps sending me some info
>about problems getting some pipes from you and there are posts on club
cobra
>where there have been delays getting products. Every one likes your
quality
>but they are not happy with your shipping schedule.
>
>Come on guy you have the quality thing down so do not screw it up with
delays
>or at least baing honest with problems out of your control.

Best of Luck
Ruble

The above was a response to a e-mail I sent to George. I am not sure what to think at this point.

Don · #19 (**permalink**) 03-24-2002, 04:21 AM

Response from George ?

Has anyone heard from George recently? Since 3/16 I have sent
a number of e-mails and made 4 phone calls that have not been returned. Checking on the remainder of an order placed 12/23/01

rlearp · #20 (**permalink**) 03-24-2002, 07:43 AM

Hi,

Here are some links to some threads over on www.gt40s.com

http://www.gt40s.com/cgi-bin/ultimat...c&f=3&t=000004

and

http://www.gt40s.com/cgi-bin/ultimat...c&f=3&t=000002

We've been waiting a long time, I'm over one year and so are the others. I'm not slamming, but three months ain't squat! Does that help tell you where this is going?

Ron