Two Engine failures from Southern Automotive

[RodKnock]

Originally Posted by Great Asp

Donald, let us know if your phone rings!

Eric

Then the "trial by Club Cobra" would have worked to some degree, if the two parties restart discussions.

While you want to eliminate the "lunatic fringe" from posting bad remarks about vendors or any kind, the airing of proper and measured remarks of a bad experience (i.e., dirty laundry) is the consumer's way of holding the truly bad vendors accountable.

[Great Asp]

Originally Posted by RodKnock

Then the "trial by Club Cobra" would have worked to some degree, if the two parties restart discussions.

While you want to eliminate the "lunatic fringe" from posting bad remarks about vendors or any kind, the airing of proper and measured remarks of a bad experience (i.e., dirty laundry) is the consumer's way of holding the truly bad vendors accountable.

+10000

When accurate facts (even if they are only from one side) are posted in a manner that allows the reader to gain empathy for the person posting (either Pro or Con), the reader can decide whether they want, or do not want do business with the person or company in question.

E

[FatBoy]

I had quite a long chat with Bill this afternoon and he was able to give me his side of the story and from what I hear, it is nowhere near as clear-cut as has been suggested.
Bill has said that he will respond on the forum, so I don't want to steal his thunder, but it would seem the original poster may have been selective with some facts, exagerated others and simply fabricated others.
As a business owner myself, it always makes me very uncomfortable when I see someone bad-mouthing someone elses business without getting the other side of the story. There is very little, if any comeback on anyone who simply has an axe to grind and vents their angst on a public forum, but it can cause untold damage to someone's hard earned repuation and livelihood.
For the record, my experience of Bill (and Susan) and that of others I have spoken to here in the UK, has always been very positive and they have always been thoroughly honourable and honest in all dealings I have had with them.

Nuff said.

Paul

[susan parham]

From Southern Automotive

A lot of thought has gone into writing an appropriate response to this vent. We have always done everything possible to make all of our customers happy. We respond to any problems and provide product & monetary support when applicable and such support was provided to this customer. I think the last few communications between Southern Automotive (SA) and this customer will tell all.

After talking with Don’s repair facility on 5/28/08, we sent the parts needed to repair the damage done by a broken new 427 factory rocker arm shaft stand bolt. We sent by UPS 2nd day air a complete rocker arm assembly for one side, 3 pushrods, one set of rocker arm shaft stand studs and valve cover gaskets. Heard nothing until 6/17 when Don faxes a scathing letter accusing us of the following which he has posted in this thread:

1. Never told him what was wrong with first engine – When we learned he had a
problem with coolant in the oil in the first engine, we responded immediately
and shipped a new engine to him via air freight within 4 weeks. We paid all
costs associated with the replacement. Although we shipped the replacement engine
on 6/22/07, Don held the first engine for almost 6 months before our freight
carrier could pick it up for return to us. Shortly after receiving the engine back,
we pressure tested and traced the problem to a pin hole in the top part of the Fel Pro
head gasket which allowed coolant to enter the valley one drop at a time.

2. Engine never test run – We test run or dyno every engine we build and no one would
believe that we would ship a motor without testing. I guess someone with a crystal
ball looked at the exhaust ports and could tell that all of the soot came from Don’s
driving and not our testing.

3. Oil was new and no gas in carb – That’s totally false. We do drain the oil and run
the carb and fuel lines completely dry as a safety requirement for all air shipments.

4. Loose rockers all around – Adjusting valves is a part of routine maintenance with a
solid lifter cam and our Owners Manual explains how to do it properly and if Don
had done this, he might not have had any problems.

5. Customer states he only had 5 hours on the engine - Obviously not true. He received
the engine 11 months prior to when the problem with the rocker stand bolt was reported. Also, on 10/3/07 SA paid AutoStrada $600 for the install.which was
about 8 months before any problem reported.

We left on vacation right after receiving his letter and a bill for repairs. Since we did not
answer him, immediately, we received the following e-mail on 7/2/08 threatening to ruin our reputation unless we paid the ransom he was demanding:

Dear Bill and Susan,
I continue to be disappointed with my experience with Southern Automotive as it has now been just over two weeks since I sent the invoice for the repairs to my Southern Automotive 427 to you for reimbursement. Again, my expectations would have been that you would immediately forward a reimbursement for the entire invoice after all I have been through with your product.
Please let me know your intentions at this time regarding this invoice so that I can make a decision regarding my next course of action. I will take no response as an indication that you are not willing to stand behind your product and that you do not care about the reputation of your company.
Sincerely,
Donald M. Campbell

We responded on 7/2/08 with the following e-mail:

Don-
Sorry for the screwed up replies. We will be back in the shop on 7/10 and Bill will be in contact with you then.
Susan

On 7/11/08 we sent the following e-mail:

Donald-
I mailed a check today.
Susan

On 7/11/08 Don replied with this e-mail:

Dear Bill and Susan,

Thank you very much. The car is running very well now and I look forward to enjoying it and putting this behind us!

Sincerely,

Donald M. Campbell

So what’s wrong now??? I will guess he didn’t like his check. Although Don states in the 6th post on this thread that SA only paid for a new bolt and pushrods, SA actually paid $356.49 for the following charges by Meridian AND sent new parts and gaskets as described earlier.
$ 85.00 – 1 hour to remove broken pedestal mount bolt
$170.00 – 2 hours to reassemble rocker arms and adjust valves
$ 52.69 – pushrods for passenger side
$ 48.80 – freight to send parts to SA

We did not pay:
$33.89 – header gaskets
$170.00 – 2 hours labor to replace both header gaskets.
Header gaskets are an installation item. Nothing that SA installs, sells or has
control over. We did pay his agent (AutoStrada) $600 to install the replacement
motor. Maybe Don should seek a little warranty work from them.

We did not pay:
$250.00 – chassis dyno
Customer’s option. SA can only tune & adjust carb based on our location.

Although both problems boil down to two small part failures (gasket & bolt), it does not minimize the frustration caused to both the customer and builder. In both cases, Southern Automotive acted responsibly and expeditiously to serve our customer.
Bill and Susan

[turnpike boy]

Good to hear from the other side. Thank you.

Your posting of dates of interactions provides me with the ability to discern much more credibility in this matter. I had an issue with an engine builder in recent past (for a short block, tho - not a complete engine) and received nowhere near the attention stipulated in your response.

OK, Mr. Campbell, your reply?

[Donald Campbell]

Originally Posted by FatBoy

I had quite a long chat with Bill this afternoon and he was able to give me his side of the story and from what I hear, it is nowhere near as clear-cut as has been suggested.
Bill has said that he will respond on the forum, so I don't want to steal his thunder, but it would seem the original poster may have been selective with some facts, exagerated others and simply fabricated others.
As a business owner myself, it always makes me very uncomfortable when I see someone bad-mouthing someone elses business without getting the other side of the story. There is very little, if any comeback on anyone who simply has an axe to grind and vents their angst on a public forum, but it can cause untold damage to someone's hard earned repuation and livelihood.
For the record, my experience of Bill (and Susan) and that of others I have spoken to here in the UK, has always been very positive and they have always been thoroughly honourable and honest in all dealings I have had with them.

Nuff said.

Paul

Paul,

I am glad to hear that your experience and that of others in the UK was good with SA. Please know that if my experience was similar to yours, I would be defending Bill and SA as you are!

However, my experience has not been golden and if you read the posts from others who have had or know of similar experiences to mine, along with the half dozen "private emails" that I have received personally from people who had the same or worse experiences with SA and chose to not go public, you might just change your tune. I will not post them, as requested by the individuals, which I know classifies them as hearsay.

The fact remains that I had two SA failures, with professional installers involved. SA eventually assisted with the failures - this is true. But the cost to me, my time, additional expenses, loss of use of the car (we have maybe two months a year of dry weather when you can drive a convertible in the PNW), far exceeded the minor corrective contributions made by SA and the major attitude from Bill.

Please remember that I am a consumer just like you, granted it sounds like you have had better luck with SA than I have! Regardless, and despite all the conjecture in this forum, I have received the answer to my question from my original post and it is indisputable that I am not alone in my experience.

Consider yourself fortunate!

[MEATMASTER]

Donald, here is a question.

For the most part, I think I understand what happened in the past, but at this point, what would make you satisfied now, and what are you asking for? Maybe I lost that somewhere in all these posts, but can you repost that for me?

Thanks.

MEATMASTER de-lux

[Donald Campbell]

Originally Posted by MEATMASTER

Donald, here is a question.

For the most part, I think I understand what happened in the past, but at this point, what would make you satisfied now, and what are you asking for? Maybe I lost that somewhere in all these posts, but can you repost that for me?

Thanks.

MEATMASTER de-lux

I just wanted to know if my experience with SA was specific to me or a common occurance - I have that answer now.

[Archrms]

Originally Posted by Donald Campbell

I just wanted to know if my experience with SA was specific to me or a common occurance - I have that answer now.

If this was all you intended to do, there is a more polite and tactful way to do it. It is obvious you were looking for something more, I'm just not sure what it is.

[lpfomoco1]

Maybe the numbers of problems are because of the larger percentage of sa engines in cobras than any other manufacturer!