I bought most of the parts for Buzz from Mini Sport, Mike was a big help and their prices were equitable, but since then they have revamped their web site which had made it difficult to navigate and SLLLOOOOOWWWWW to load pages. On top of that their prices seem to have been "adjusted" for the pound's drop, only the wrong way!
So, I've been buying from MiniSpares, and between my car, my friends's cars, the cars I'm working on and Dan's stuff, thousands of dollars have run thru their business, especially the last few months.
One of the things I bought recently was a volt gauge (along with an oil pressure gauge) and the damn thing did not work right out of the box. I contacted Sales, and they said I had to talk to "TK" in warranties - so I sent a note off to TK......and got nothing. So I contacted sales again as I had a $500 order sitting in the basket and told them if this is the way they handle warranties I would take my business elsewhere.......I got a note from TK almost immediately saying he was sending another gauge and to go ahead with my order - that they would send it separately.
So I did.
I paid for it, it shipped, I received it and I've installed nearly all those parts and another week has gone by and I still don't have my damn volt gauge.
I've sent TK a fairly pointed email about they way they handle their business, we'll see if I get a response.
Sales wise I have no complaints, my orders get handled and shipped quickly and I've had no issues with missing parts or wrong parts or anything.....but this has really put me off. What if it was something important?
How has it been for you?
I had one issue like that regarding the "wrong" bearings. I finally gave up.
I've got plenty of experience buying from MiniSpares, but haven't had to use their customer service yet. When I make a mistake on ordering, it's usually something small and I just eat my mistake (meaning I haven't tried to return anything). And I guess I've been lucky enough not to have any defective products.
I do remember using their site to generate an email asking a question about something a year ago. I'm still waiting for a reply from them.
Dave, I hope they respond to you quickly and correctly. They must realize news travels quickly around the Mini community.
Talking to the right person can be critical i resolving overseas issues. I had good luck with Mini Spares in resolving an issue with a set a roller rockers. It took some time, but it was resolved. Unlike Specialist Components who won't bother with emails asking for prices.
If you buy enough stuff over a longer period of time, you will have issues.
Terry
Sorry to hear that Dave, I have had mostly good luck had a issue with incorrect trim and gave up after a few emails. Might have to chalk it up to the savings you normally get by buying direct. It would be good to be persistent over principle but that takes time to deal with, I guess you have to decide if it's worth it to you to be persistent and or continue doing business there.
I have spent thousands with seven enterprises and the only two issues I ever had were resolved instantly but you do pay more. Personally, I will pay more for customer service I don't have the time or energy to deal with BS. I still use mini spares depending on the product and like I said they are 90% good I just don't fully trust them if stuff goes wrong.
I hope they make it right for you. It will boost my opinion of them if they do.
Jeff
I've been getting a bunch of stuff through MiniSport lately. To get the accurate pricing, you have to log in to the site for it to recognize your actual location per your account. Otherwise, it tends to show some blend of prices and currency symbols.
Their pricing also tracks the exchange rate fairly closely when logged in and see the pricing totals. My card has been billed within a few dollars of the invoice each time and the difference equates to the slight difference in the exchange rate between placing the order and the billing transaction against my card.
I have not noticed the MiniSport site to be any slower loading than other sites, but then I am used to being on a 7 year old MacBook.
Minisport tends to be very slow, but they do have some deals on certain items. I buy from them maybe 5% of the time. Everything else comes from spares. I have bought thousands upon thousands of dollars worth of parts. Once in a blue moon they send the wrong thing, but it's always been a small enough item I just toss it in the spare parts bin and order again.
Well, my situation may have been resolved this am.
I posted very much this same thread on The Mini Forum (UK) and this am I found a message in my box there from Simon Jackson of Mini Spares asking for my email address and the part number of the gauge. I found another message from a few minutes later from him as follows....
Me again!
Ok, having done a bit more research it looks like we sent a replacement gauge to you from our York office on 7th November 2016. Royal Mail tracking number for this item is RN232868654GB. I have tracked it this morning and it states it has been passed to the US postal service. Please let me know if you haven't received it early next week? I am also looking into the situation as to why this hasn't been communicated to you already
Regards
Simon
So, hopefully that is that, but I still have not gotten an email reply from the warranty dept explain what they were going to do, had they done so none of this would have been necessary.
And I still don't have my part although the few times I've used the Royal Mail it does seem to take 2-3 weeks to get something delivered here.
More as it happens, but that does seem to prove the power of social media...... 8.gif
Simon is the one who resolved my issue and it did take some time as he was working with the manufacturer to get a replacement part.
Quote from: tmsmini on November 16, 2016, 09:30:06 AM
Simon is the one who resolved my issue and it did take some time as he was working with the manufacturer to get a replacement part.
Glad it was resolved. But in my opinion, any issue MiniSpares (or any other retailer for that matter) has with a vendor/manufacturer should be completely transparent to the customer.
They should simply and promptly replace with the defective item with a good one from inventory and sort out vendor supply issues behind the scenes. The only exception would be if the items in inventory might have the same problem.
...or they were out of stock......
In my case, the only real issue is the lack of communication. I hope he resolves that.....
I use MiniSpares 99.62% of the time, and have for the past 18 years. Rarely have any problems, but if I do, I don't E-mail; I use the telephone (which has too many calling options - push 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 etc.). I normally ask for Simon. My only gripe is that when you call them, the employee who answers the phone never introduces himself and their telephone manners do come off as 'standoff-ish'. If you ask 'who am I speaking with', you'll usually get a response like 'who do you want' - not really cool, as I've had some great dialogues with Simon, TK, Ivan, Stevie (she calls KC 'Big Ted') and even Ryan over the years.
I normally buy parts that I don't need when they're on sale, just to have them in a box for 'someday', and received the backordered C-22A2204 (http://minispares.com/product/Classic/Clutch/Performance/C-22A2204.aspx?0605&ReturnUrl=/shop/classic/Clutch/Performance.aspx%7CBack%20to%20shop) clutch arm last week - sent without freight charges and at the on-sale price.
So, yeah, I'm a MiniSpares fan, and have their sticker on my wall cabinet door...
Another Minispares fan here. The prices are right the shipping is amazingly fast. I purchased parts from them and a shop in Miami at the same time, the UK parts arrived first.
I will never buy from Minisport again. If you have no read my pickup thread here is the short version.
Purchased rockers from them, their rockers are 50% cheaper than everyone else.
As I am installing one of the adjusting screws snaps in half while clearancing it. I salvage a screw from my old rockers and move on.
100 miles later one of the damn rockers splits in half leaving me dead on the side of the road needing a tow.
Minisport tells me it is my fault right off he bat. I send the part out to a testing lab for analysis. Casting is substandard and too weak for task, Minisport say YES, we agree it was your fault.
I explain it was a material issue, they said YES, it was your fault. We do not do refunds.
I eat the cost of the rockers toss them on a shelf and buy rockers at 2X the price of them, Thousands of miles no problem. Because it is my fault.
I will not spend another penny with them, I do not care how awesome Mike is. His company sucks monkey balls, smelly hairy ones with cheese on them.... and feces...
I am a Minispares guy from now on, and a http://gbcarparts.com/ as well. Mostly because I met the owner, he is very nice and super honest.
Sent in a question to spares last week if they could get me a metal bonnet skin. Never heard back. Ordering from bullmotif instead.
I got the new gauge today - guess, what? This one doesn't work either..... 8.gif
I mean, this is not a complicated gauge - one lead to hot and one to ground, how hard can it be? The one in my engine stand (not a Smiths but a cheap Chinese one) works perfectly with the same battery and the same exact connections.
Edit: Oops, must not have had a good connection, this one does work after all... 4.gif
Lol I was about to say...probably user error at this point.
Well, the other one still doesn't work! ;D
Unlike my Chinesium one, this one takes a few seconds to move, then it slowly creeps up to 12+ volts, the other one snaps to the right voltage instantly. I just didn't keep the power to it long enough the first try.
I also have sent 3 different email inquiries this month about items and orders and not one response.
Apparently their email skills are lacking.
I was finally able to process my order with http://bullmotifminispares.com. They use sagepay to process orders. For whatever reason sagepay doesn't work from my phone. I had the same issue recently ordering a few things from Keith Calver, where my card would be denied via my cell phone trying to pay. The kicker is it cancels out your order and then your bank will detect fraudulent charges and cancel your card, or at least try to until you say everything is fine. If I use sagepay from my computer it works just fine. One bonnet skin and one no lipped bonnet on the way. Shipping on bonnets is so outrageous I end up buying 2 at a time because it's basically buy one get the 2nd one shipped free. If I ever do a crate of panels again, it should just be bonnets!
I can't vouch for the issues of SagePay on smart phones, but the overall responsiveness of BullMotif has been great. I just ordered a wiring harness for the eventual restoration of the Moke. Sent an email to confirm in stock over the weekend, got a response Monday, placed the order Tuesday (quote request), got the quote with shipping this morning and processed payment right away.
We'll see what the rest of the turnaround time and transit time turn out to be.
Looks like shipping anything via Royal Mail/Us Postal Service is 2- 3 weeks door to door.
Priority Mail in the US is 2-3 days - I got parts from 7Ent in California in that time, usually it's 4 days or more via ground transportation.
Most things I buy from England come DHL, which is about 3 days door to door!
The first orders I did with Mini Sport they denied my credit card too, fortunately I have a backup BofA card that worked, but I hate using it. Mini Spares has been absolutely painless, every order has gone thru and shipped perfectly, my issue with this warranty situation has been the lack of communication. Seems like others have had similar problems, I wonder if you could use Skype to call them?
If you have issues with Mini Spares, contact Simon@Minispares.com directly, I don't know what his position is within the firm but he seems to be the go-to guy.
I actually have called Mini spares via Skype on a few occasions and that is the best solution, I think I have spent about 50 cents all total this year calling them 8 or 9 different times.
The north branch seems to be hit and miss on the tele as I have had a couple orders process through there, but the main potters bar location always answers, and I usually get email response and fast, just not this past couple weeks. Maybe holiday season ordering rush ?!?
I'm currently awaiting an order from MiniSpares, taking a bit longer than I expected. Could be re-routing due to the DHL strike this week:
http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2016/11/22/pilot-strike-could-delay-amazon-dhl-shipping/94305076/
I'm glad I pretty much have all my stuff for the next two projects....
Dammit....that explains why my DHL package has been sitting in Cincinnati for 2 days on hold
Oh I just called DHL since I was a little grumpy that I won't be getting car parts for Thanksgiving but they said the strike has been resolved this evening and things should start moving
Thanks for the update on DHL.....
BTW, do you have heat in your shop so you can work this winter?
Lol oh yeah fyi pilots have been striking.
I have a small forced air propane heater for the garage and it works pretty good. The older I get, the less I can tolerate the cold.
How many btus?
Its a small Mr. Heater that has 2 settings 30,000 or 60,000 BTU's
My 60k forced air heater will easily warm my shop. This year I'm putting in an electric heater but will still use the propane one if I need to bring temps up quick or heat the paint booth.
Yeah, the propane heater warms things up fast.. I leave the garage door cracked so I don't get sleepy or die. 51.gif
My CO detector disapeared ?!? So I need to replace it before I get to running the heater again
Don't those also increase the humidity in the room?
Dave, they do.... Last winter I ran it a bit. Not enough to really notice much , although I never had condensation issues in my small garage. No moisture issues from it.
I usually ran it about 10 or 15 minutes out of an hour and it did well on the coldest January days taking the car apart. It is something I should watch for this winter, as I think I will be out in the garage a lot more trying to put all this back in order.
I never had moisture issues with mine either. I only have to run it 10-15 minutes per hour though.
Yes Dave they do and the moisture can be a problem if you have heavy iron in your shop/garage like me. A milling machine and a Lathe the last thing you want is moisture forming on the machine ways and rusting.
I really like those heaters for a quick warm up though and if like Dan you only need to run a few minutes at a time I bet the moisture wouldn't really be an issue for most.
The other big downside I noticed is with any of the non-vented models was if I sprayed any brake clean or something they burn the fumes and it really stinks.
I finally put in a hanging unit heater I got from craigslist for 100 it's a 80,000 btu propane unit works great heats it up in no time.
I think it's oversized but for my use thats great I like to go out after work for a few and I can get it warm quick I don't heat all the time so its perfect and doesn't cause the condensation on my machines.
Someday I want a all the time heated shop with floor heat I really wish I had spent the little bit of extra money to put down the foam board and piping under my slab when I had the chance. 50.gif
I have also considered a wood stove for weekends or days that I will be out there for longer periods.
My buddy had a double barrel wood stove in his 30 X 50 shop and it kept it toasty on the coldest days we get - which is well below zero!
But you have to cut the wood, haul it in, clean the ashes out and so on....if I could afford a shop it would definitely have the heated floor setup - that has to be heaven! That's the worst part of working in my shop in the winter, my feet get cold.
Black friday sale at spares right now. Ended up buying a few things 77.gif
I've already asked Simon about this and am just waiting for his reply, but I wonder if y'all check your receipts. Normally I check that everything ordered is in the box, and try not to look at the money. I just noticed that I'm paying 25% VAT since June 2016 at MSC, where my 'other' UK suppliers (Vehicle Wiring Products, Demon Tweeks, Namrick etc...) are still only charging 20%. The UK hasn't left the EU yet, so I wonder why there are differences?
I can't help but wonder how Brexit negotiations and eventual execution will affect the cost of bits from the UK. As I type, I've the necessary bits to fix the pesky timing seal oil leak sitting in the 'saved shopping cart' and as long as the engine is out, might as well pop a cross-pin diff in there...
Assuming of course that I can find somebody who's got space enough that I can remove the engine.
Sooo, what VAT rate are you subject to?
In the US, we pay zero on the stuff bought from the UK. There is no VAT on export orders outside the EU, so when you look at the two prices shown for all MiniSpares items, we pay just the ex-VAT amount. Shipping can be expensive, though...
Oh, and sometimes we have to pay US customs duty on the items, but not often. (DHL comes back to us a couple of weeks or so after the order had been received if duty is due, and we pay them). I haven't looked into it, but I think duty is only triggered if the order is over a certain value, perhaps $500 or so?
That's right, I'd forgotten that British VAT isn't applicable outside the EU - you're very lucky.
Denmark rarely misses a package from outside the EU, so we pay dearly for non-EU goods, as even shipping charges are subject to the Danish version of VAT - 'Skat'. Just today in fact - I received a shirt from Cabelas - bought it on sale for $23.99, paid $20.- shipping, so $44.- in all. There was a letter in my mailbox yesterday instructing me to pay the import tax and associated administration fee I could receive the shirt. Tax and admin fees totaled $29.-.
So, a good bargain gets expensive, fast. Nice shirt though...
I Googled UK VAT and it shows as 20%, which is better than our local 25%, but I wonder why MSC is at 25% - is it just me and a glitch in my account?
Surely there are other international RMF members lurking about who could chime in -
$29 in tax and fees for merchandise worth $24? Wow.
I paid $16 duty on a MS order of over $500. (again, I haven't researched how this is charged, but 4 times out of 5 I haven't paid any duty).
When I bought the parts for Buzz from MiniSport I got hit with customs duty on every shipment, usually a couple weeks after I received the parts.
Since I've been buying from MiniSpares I have not gotten one bill from customs....and some of the orders have been way north of $500!
Hope I haven't just jinxed myself! ;D
Overall my experiences buying from MiniSpares have been top drawer. The last order I did they said it would arrive the next Monday, showed up the previous Thursday instead! Gotta love under-promising and over-delivering!
Well, I'm frustrated with MiniSpares again......
I ordered the tool to install the clips on rear wheel cylinders and they sent me what I think is actually the specialized driver to remove the roll pin from rod change shift linkage. This is what I should have gotten....the bag has the right part number on it but clearly the wrong part.
(http://www.minispares.com/image.axd?type=product&picture=350/TOOL14.jpg)
So I sent Simon an email on Thursday and haven't heard a peep, even allowing for the weekend and so on seems I should have at least gotten an email saying they were looking into it. So Ima give him a couple more days and then I'll go back on TMF, as he seems to monitor that forum and respond to it.
Don't know why they can't at least email me and let me know they're doing something.......
That's is a little bad on response time. I asked a technical question through their site late on Saturday and first thing this morning I had a response.
Overall my experiences with MiniSpares have been top drawer, but it seems when it comes to warranty stuff.....not so much.
The last time they had in fact already sent me the replacement part, but no one told me they did, so I figured I was being ignored....till I went on TMF, at which point Simon got involved and I got some answers.
I've got one of those, both actually. It's been so long since I've replaced a brake cylinder that I can't remember how to use the circlip tool.
I remember that it worked well.
I have a trick to install them without the tool, but I'd like to have the right one.....
I didn't even know there was a tool for those.
Yep, it's pretty slick too.....
That is indeed the tool to drive the roll pins out on the rod change coupling.
I have that tool also. Very easy to use. Can loan it out.
Regards
towjoe 77.gif
Quote from: MiniDave on February 27, 2017, 07:36:26 PM
So I sent Simon an email on Thursday and haven't heard a peep, even allowing for the weekend and so on seems I should have at least gotten an email saying they were looking into it. So Ima give him a couple more days and then I'll go back on TMF, as he seems to monitor that forum and respond to it.
Don't know why they can't at least email me and let me know they're doing something.......
Why don't you call Simon and tell him you're not too thrilled with his lack of responsiveness (in a nice way). Even if you don't have a international calling plan, it's not going to cost more than a couple of bucks for a brief call.
Well, as usual - posting on the TMF got results, not an hour after I posted that I could not get a response from anyone at MS, I got a note from Simon that it was being handled.
I had even sent Simon a PM from TMF and gotten no response......
Seems either a personal phone call like Bruce suggested or a posting on TMF is how you get results with MiniSpares. The good news is, in 3 or 4 weeks I'll have my tool! ::)
And - not that I needed it - but a nice roll pin tool too!
No problem so far with Minispares except for one time i caught a dude in my yard holding my package about to steal it. i beat the shit out of him and let my rottweiler chase him. He dropped the package with my new Smiths tachometer in it and it didn't work after I installed it. just not lucky but no problems so far.
Well, I have to say I'm disappointed in my MiniSpares rear wheel cylinder circlip tool. I used it today for the first time and as I tightened the nut that pushes the clip down over the tool's cone to spread it, the ends of the clip just dug into the cone to the point that it locked up, when I took it apart the tips had dug some pretty good divots into the cone......I don't know if the cone's material is just too soft or if I misued it somehow.
I have one of those as well. When I last used it (two or three Minis ago), it worked just fine.
The clip has a slight dish to it. I don't remember for certain, but I think the direction of the dish of the clip matters for smooth use of the tool.
I had the dish facing upwards, thinking the ends wouldn't dig in that way, but they did.......
I thought I remembered an article on the 7Ent site on how to use the tool. Here is the link:
http://www.7ent.com/pages/wheel-cylinder-circlip-installation.html (http://www.7ent.com/pages/wheel-cylinder-circlip-installation.html)
Yep, that's what I did, except for the grease......
Quote from: MiniDave on April 19, 2017, 01:20:44 PM
I had the dish facing upwards, thinking the ends wouldn't dig in that way, but they did.......
Okay. I bought one of those tools too a while back. I used it this week to install two wheel cylinders on backplates this week.
My verdict is in: it officially sucks monkey balls.
The cone portion is made of such soft metal that, even with a good coat of grease, the circlip gouged huge divots in it. And the metal from the divots made dents in the flange of the last wheel cylinder top too. I think it is a good idea, but it is very poorly made.
I was successful in my second attempt, but I think the way I usually do it works as well and is quicker. I bend one end of the clip up, engage the other two tabs in the slot on the wheel cylinder, then take a drift and smack the bent up end - and it pops right into place.
If you're doing it on the car rather than on the bench you have to wedge the wheel cylinder so it won't move when you pop the circlip on, where with the MiniSpares tool you don't.
You guys are making me glad I got the whole assembly at a really good sale price.
I had the same problem with that tool. The cone material was way too soft. I got it done the old fashioned way as well.