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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 335
 
Location: California/Wisconsin | I am still waiting for my door panels ordered in August 2011, although Casey at SMS sent an email in January and I had a phone call message that they were in final stages of production and I should have them next week, now over 2 weeks ago. As far as I know they are the only one out there doing the heat pressing on panels. Plan ahead. |
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Expert
Posts: 1737
 
Location: Hay Lakes, Alberta, Canada | ttotired - 2013-02-20 4:32 PM
Whatch it turn up in a week lol
thats what happens to me
try to plan ahead on something that you think will take time and its fast
Something that you think will be fast, gets some sort of a hold up
LOL! Yeah, everything will come and I'll have to store it somewhere for a year! Well, it would be a good motivator, to see the bright fabrics and vinyls sitting there, staring me in the face...  |
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Location: Parts Unknown | I am too lazy to go back and get the exact date I returned the black door panels to SMS, but it
was before I left on 20 Feb. The wifeperson informs that they were returned all green and proper
a few days ago. As we are moving into paint shortly and the upholstery dude is bringing the seats
to fruition, seems all too perfectly timed. If memory serves, the order was originally placed in June
... plenty of lead time for an outfit that demands plenty of lead time. 
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Expert
Posts: 1730
Location: Michigan | Well my order finally shipped via UPS.. got to within 15 min of my house and somehow got misrouted BACK to Oregon. /sigh. UPS caught it once it arrived and now it is coming across the USA for a second time, due March 6th at my door. Not SMS's fault but jeez the luck of this order just does not get better aye... |
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Exner Expert 19,174 posts. Neil passed away 18 Sep 2015. You will be missed, Neil!
Posts: 19146
Location: bishop, ca | Here's a UPS story for you...
Bought three oak open-slat porch chairs in Ohio.
Boxed em up, took em to the UPS depot, and said bye bye to them.
They got ALL the way to my home town, where the local yokel decided that the packages were too large, to ship
(or, to deliver to my house, OR...even, to call me & say "come get them"...about4 miles away from them).
So, the Astro Physicists there decided to send them BACK to Ohio, and I was notified after they were returned, from-whence...
Arranged to have the two chairs and one glider be truck-shipped to CA.
Filed small claims court papers against UPS, for the truck shipping costs, and received a full settlement from UPS.
Small claims court is about the only way to conclude monetary disputes with large companies.
Edited by d500neil 2013-03-03 2:18 PM
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Expert
Posts: 4589
Location: Northern New Jersey | Neil,
Post this missive on their Facebook page, I think you will get a reply.
Steve |
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Exner Expert 19,174 posts. Neil passed away 18 Sep 2015. You will be missed, Neil!
Posts: 19146
Location: bishop, ca | Ancient history...like our cars (LOL).
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Location: Parts Unknown | Nothing to kill the profit margin on a job like doing it TWICE ! I see this shxt all the time over here
and it drives me nuts. When the USG tells us this war cost us "X", you can bet that a full half of that
number is for lost papers, doing work over and over, changing of the mind, etc., etc., etc. ! Never seen
such a concentration of unprofessional people in my life. From Marines straight out of engineering school
to overpaid contract execs. It is appalling. 
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Expert
Posts: 3893
Location: Northen Virginia | i saw on their page that they do COD, how about that option? |
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Exner Expert 19,174 posts. Neil passed away 18 Sep 2015. You will be missed, Neil!
Posts: 19146
Location: bishop, ca | The right way; the wrong way; and the Navy way...
Incompetency runs amok, everywhere, privately and publicly and institutionally.
SMS probably thinks that its own business model is perfect...because it is still in business.
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Location: Parts Unknown | I would reiterate, there is more than one way to look at this situation. Part of my basic training is to
accept the "situation" as you find it, whether it is what we call an "emergent situation like being shot at
or dealing with a business that demands a long lead time, .... it is what it is, and you can either accept
the facts as you find them, or proceed in a state of denial. In the first example, things can go really bad.
In the latter, you can just beat your head against a wall in self-induced frustration .... because it was
never a secret how this situation existed BEFORE we ever engaged SMS to do the work.
This is about the 5th time I have had SMS do work for me in one way or another. I've always known
they require huge lead times, and it was the owner of the shop I worked in that directed me to get that
interior stuff in the pipeline before ANY work starts on the car itself. That was 25 years ago and nothing
has changed.
So, who is the fool when someone gets all torn up trying to pet the grizzly bear, expecting it to be soft
and cuddly, the petter or the bear ?
I am not trying to be argumentative here. But changing one's expectations to match the "situation on the
ground" renders dealing with SMS to be perfectly fine with no disappointment. Or one can elect to hang on
to the notion that SMS needs to conform to the "instant service" expectation/s Americans seem to think is a
God-given "right" and enjoy every moment of pleasure that brings.
There is good feedback, and there is just plain b!tching. Listening to others plug one's time with endless
b!tching (about self-induced problems) really gets old fast. We all know the game, we know the "drill". What's
to complain about here ?
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Expert
Posts: 3893
Location: Northen Virginia | Doc
I think is about why some guys get things faster than others, if we could say....OK a door panel is 2 years, then you can make sense, but they are some guys who got the stuff in moths not years, guys overseas get a bit better treatment than USA customers, it make no sense because SMS collect all the money long before the delivery, this business practices are unheard in the US.
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Expert
Posts: 1730
Location: Michigan | Maumee, OH, United States 03/05/2013 9:38 P.M. Departure Scan
03/05/2013 1:47 P.M. Arrival Scan
Hodgkins, IN, United States 03/05/2013 8:51 A.M. Departure Scan
03/05/2013 7:40 A.M. Arrival Scan
Hodgkins, IL, United States 03/05/2013 6:47 A.M. Departure Scan
Hodgkins, IL, United States 03/04/2013 2:43 P.M. Arrival Scan
Tualatin, OR, United States 02/27/2013 10:30 P.M. Departure Scan
02/27/2013 4:52 A.M. An exception in the sorting process has occurred. UPS has taken corrective action.
Pontiac, MI, United States 02/25/2013 6:50 A.M. Out For Delivery
Pontiac, MI, United States 02/22/2013 11:30 P.M. Arrival Scan
Maumee, OH, United States 02/22/2013 9:53 P.M. Departure Scan
02/22/2013 3:33 P.M. Arrival Scan
Hodgkins, IN, United States 02/22/2013 11:03 A.M. Departure Scan
02/22/2013 9:28 A.M. Arrival Scan
Hodgkins, IL, United States 02/22/2013 8:32 A.M. Departure Scan
02/22/2013 6:25 A.M. Arrival Scan
Hodgkins, IL, United States 02/21/2013 9:00 P.M. Adverse weather conditions.
Portland, OR, United States 02/19/2013 3:03 A.M. Departure Scan
02/19/2013 1:45 A.M. Arrival Scan
Tualatin, OR, United States 02/18/2013 10:30 P.M. Departure Scan
02/18/2013 8:48 P.M. Origin Scan
United States 02/18/2013 7:12 P.M. Order Processed: Ready for UPS
Crossing my fingers for a normal arrival. Making the wife stay home just so they leave it and don't send it back because we weren't home! |
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Expert
Posts: 1730
Location: Michigan | The supplies arrived safely today. Pictures in my 55 Project thread. Everything seems to be correct, thankfully. |
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Exner Expert 19,174 posts. Neil passed away 18 Sep 2015. You will be missed, Neil!
Posts: 19146
Location: bishop, ca | It is typical for airlines and hotels to run a credit card charge (to put a hold on the charges) as soon as the reservations
are made.
That's what SMS does, too, but, it's too bad that SMS's service is so slow.
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Expert
Posts: 1737
Location: Hay Lakes, Alberta, Canada | I don't mind paying up front, especially for custom orders and such. But, with the payment, you do expect a certain level of professionalism, and good customer service. Sometimes, that seems to be lacking...and you don't really have any come back, when there is only one company that can supply what you need. |
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Location: Parts Unknown | I believe it was Gary Numan who wrote:
Fade to scenes of violence
Like a TV screen, but silent
Where the "victims" are all paid by the hour.
Staring at the ceiling
As she gyrates all around me
Trying to forget she's done this all before
Somehow the androgynous numanoid seems to have been hip to the SMS situation with his
metaphorical composition nearly 35 years ago !
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Expert
Posts: 4589
Location: Northern New Jersey | The More Things Change, The more they stay the same.
Don't throw away those wide Ties! |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 335
Location: California/Wisconsin | One set of the pair of door panels arrived and they are beautiful! They are well made and have the right antiqued vinyl for 1961 Dodge models, the only year and make for that vinyl. Well worth the money but as mentioned in my previous postings plan way ahead. Now hopefully the hardtop's panels are getting made. |
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Expert
Posts: 3893
Location: Northen Virginia | SMS sent my upholstery sample and is spot on! So sad i can’t do any business with them, i called several times and they never answer my calls. I noticed that they have COD option. |
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Expert
Posts: 3480
Location: Montreal, Canada | Well, I have to say, I sent a couple of pics of what I was looking for to SMS.. Had an email response 2 days after my request. To my surprise, they had EXACT match correct upholstery material. I was suprised especially because what I was looking for was only available in Canadian 1958 Plymouth Savoys and Dodge Regent.
I ordered three yards two weeks ago and I already received it today. The material is PERFECT. So, SMS was 100% for me and I would do business again with them. |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 335
Location: California/Wisconsin | I can update now another 6 months after my last post...I still am waiting for the second set of door panels ordered in August 2011. Fabrics and vinyls have arrived quickly for me when in stock and in a reasonable timeframe if having to be made. Plan wayyyyyy ahead for door panels. I have since ordered some door panel embossed pieces for the 58 CRL Super D500 convertible and Doug said they wouldn't take long; I will have my upholsterer do the panels. No one else is doing the embossings that these Forward Look cars need. And when they arrive I have been very satisfied.
Edited by PolaraPaul 2013-09-30 7:21 PM
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Expert
Posts: 1730
Location: Michigan | SMS redid my headliner as promised and finished it in a reasonable amount of time. They did it with no charge, even paid for the return shipping. Use the website customer feedback to reach the owner. He can make things happen. |
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Expert
Posts: 1497
Location: Fairfax, Minnesota | From my experience, it seems that SMS will meet the customer's expectations if they have the material in stock/ and or can manufacture the product correct the first time. Otherwise they will tell you anything and do anything to keep you on the hook until they can find or manufacture the material/find the down time to make the piece correctly.. Just good business to try to salvage as much business as possible, I guess...? |
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Expert
Posts: 3893
Location: Northen Virginia | Same as reproduction lenses from Australia, if is in stock you will get it if not just wait forever. |
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Expert
Posts: 2788
Location: USA - KY | 
My SMS update: SMS has been a bit slow in filling my order for the vinyl & "cloth" & door panels for my car. But I admit that I did expect that, so I'm not ready to complain yet. (I'm currently replacing all of the seat upholstery and door panels with the "correct" materials...and yeah, I know that the swivel seats are not "correct" for my car. )
Also, working through a professional upholsterer has really helped me to keep any frustration to a minimum, as he's the one who has dealt with all of the phoning, ordering, and so forth. Just a guess, but SMS seems to respond a bit better to someone "in the biz"?
SMS sent me what they did have immediately available for my car within a decent time frame, I must say. They had to produce a specific, dielectric vinyl for my car that they did not have in stock, and they did so within about four months and change. I have received this vinyl and it looks great.
The door panels are what seems to take a long time to produce. I ordered them at the beginning of May, and they are not yet ready. But again, I did expect that they would take a while to receive, from what I had heard from other folks regarding the SMS door panels. My upholsterer states that even though the door panels from SMS are a tad pricey, they are still cheaper than having him make them from scratch. He charges $75.00 per hour for his work, and he is a perfectionist, so I think he might be right.
The BEST news is, that SMS sent me a big piece of correct, ORIGINAL seat "cloth" for my car! I thought that it was going to be a reproduction material, but it is as old as my car. Bonus! It's never been used, and it's in really good shape too, and it did not cost an arm and a leg! That was a nice surprise.
So, I guess that I've had pretty decent service from SMS, so far that is. I admit though, that I was in no rush to receive their items, and I took the warnings about them seriously when I was told that they might be a bit slow to answer messages, or to manufacture or deliver some of their products. I'll let you know how the rest of my dealings with them goes, but so far, so good.
Edited by FIN ME 2013-11-13 10:34 AM
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Exner Expert 19,174 posts. Neil passed away 18 Sep 2015. You will be missed, Neil!
Posts: 19146
Location: bishop, ca | Rosy, rather than having to wait for SMS to create the door/quarter panels, if you had SMS merely provide the various rough
materials, your local auto upholstery shop could stitch together the pieces/sections for you, as long as you could
tell/show that shop what the 'finished' panels were supposed to look like.
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Expert
Posts: 2788
Location: USA - KY |
Thank you for the info, Neil. It might just come to that if my "deadline" starts drawing too near for comfort.
I have some great photos of the door panels, thanks to my very helpful Desoto-owning pals. I forgot to mention that SMS also sent me some very good, vintage drawings and also some photos of the door panels and interior that I had in mind.
I might just go this route depending on how events unfold.
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Exner Expert 19,174 posts. Neil passed away 18 Sep 2015. You will be missed, Neil!
Posts: 19146
Location: bishop, ca | Just go visit your friendly local hot rod auto upholstery shop, show dem da picctures, and ask/see if they can
replicate your door panels, from rough pieces of the correct material that you would provide to them.
You can make up some plausible excuse with SMS for them not having to construct the panels; ask them if they've
got your material all ready to be purchased/sent out.....and, if not; why-not?
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Expert
Posts: 3155
Location: NY & VT | Hi Rosy, still here! ;-) I agree with Neil, provided you can find the right upholsterer, the quality of the finished product, given the correct materials, will be entirely up to the skill of the actual person doing the hand work. I guess the advantage of SMS is that they've done a lot of them, but you may be able to find someone locally that can meet or exceed your expectations... ask to see a lot of samples of their work. |
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Expert
Posts: 2788
Location: USA - KY |
Thanks, guys! VERY happy to see that you are still around, firedome!
I might just look into that! I am lucky in that I have found one of the best upholsterers out there. The guy is a legend around these parts. Plus he's a super nice, very knowledgeable older fella who is always willing to "talk cars" at the least provocation. Another plus is that he is a self-described "Mopar Guy from way back", and a real font of information regarding anything FL related. I guess it helps that he can remember these cars when they were all brand new.  Best of all, when I showed him the drawings of my design for how I wanted the original, bench seat upholstery pattern manipulated to suit my car's swivel seats, he got it right away...no fussing, no arguments. His work is astonishingly good, so I'm really looking forward to seeing what he does with my car's relatively simple interior.
Just for interest - he had one customer who had collected the battered, old, leather seat covers from four or five different cars that were each the same model as the classic car he was trying to restore. The owner wanted an original interior installed back into his car, but finding decent, original, leather seat covers proved to be an impossible feat. So my upholsterer cut each "tuck and roll" that was worth saving away from these old, damaged seat covers, and then he sewed them back together, one "roll" at a time, to recreate a complete set of correct seat covers for this guys beautiful, luxury classic. They looked perfect. He's a real artist, and it's so nice to see someone who is still so dedicated to their craft.
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Exner Expert 19,174 posts. Neil passed away 18 Sep 2015. You will be missed, Neil!
Posts: 19146
Location: bishop, ca | Ask your upholstery guy about his being able to get the necessary backing-board for the door panels.
He might, also, apply a thin layer of foam between the upholstery and the backing board, for a slightly cushy, 3-D effect
which will feel very nice and luxurious, to the touch.
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Expert
Posts: 2788
Location: USA - KY |
Thanks, Neil!
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 335
Location: California/Wisconsin | Hurrah! The second set of door panels arrived Monday, January 27th, and are beautiful. When I revived this thread about a year ago I recommended planning ahead as I ordered a couple of sets in late summer of 2011. When they tell you 6 months for panels it now is taking up to well over 2 years. The 1961 Polara hardtop interior is now ready! Frustrating but worth it! |
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Expert
Posts: 2788
Location: USA - KY |
Congratulations, Paul!
I've heard that the SMS door panels are really nicely done, and I'm glad to hear that you are pleased with the ones that you got for your Polara!
Enjoy!
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Expert
Posts: 2264
Location: McComb, Mississippi | Is there an extended wait period when you order just the fabric? |
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Board Moderator & Exner Expert 10K+
Posts: 13055
Location: Southern Sweden - Sturkö island | That depends on if they have your material in stock or not. Try to make a 50/50 deal with them; 50% down payment and 50% upon having the material ready for to be shipped. |
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Expert
Posts: 3893
Location: Northen Virginia | It is amazing that no one living close to SMS offered to be an intermediary to go and purchase material direct from them and send it to us, for a reasonable fee of course. I have some samples form them in the past and the product it is just beautiful. Two years wait made no sense whatsoever. |
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Expert
Posts: 1737
Location: Hay Lakes, Alberta, Canada | Well..........................I have received more of my order from SMS today. And.............................the fabric is the wrong colour again!!! 
AND..................................It is the exact roll of wrong fabric, that arrived last spring, and that I took back!!! I recognize the "sample" piece cut out of the end by the fellow who accepted it in the office.
Guess I will have to get on the phone tomorrow and sort this out. I am waiting for the door panels, and if they assemble them with the wrong fabric, I'll have to send those back too! 
At least the embossed vinyl looks good, and the crests look fabulous! 
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Exner Expert 19,174 posts. Neil passed away 18 Sep 2015. You will be missed, Neil!
Posts: 19146
Location: bishop, ca | Brad, you might suggest to them that you can/could get on an airplane and obtain the correct material over-the-counter,
if there is any further misunderstandings----this, if they claim to have the Right Stuff for you, on hand.
Denis, apparently none of us live in Portland.
CB, there should be no such delay, especially since they only sell rough-rolls of their vinyl, beading, and upholstery.
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SMS frustration
