My Berlin tonneau has rails that are black aluminum(looks like black anodized to me) and the black surface will scratch off and show the bare aluminum without very much effort. I don't plan on abusing the rails, but they did get a little scuffed up in transit. Also, it could be that people aren't paid enough so aren't motivated to do their job very well, but I think it is more a matter of how people are raised. I'm guessing that the people I am dealing with at UPS are well paid (maybe overworked?) - I think they just don't have the follow through on a problem they encounter. Everything is somebody else's job. Large organizations do tend to discourage initiative, but good people rise above it. End daily rant now.
Tucsonjwt - Good point on the scratching of the bed rails. I didn't consider that. However I did take a look at the DeeZee brand of black rail caps that Ryan posted about. They looked fine but were considerably more expensive than the Bushwacker plastic ones that I posted about earlier. So I just went ahead and ordered the black Bushwacker caps from Autoaccessories.com. Thery were cheaper than Carparts.com and did not gouge on the shipping and handling like Carparts does.
I also got a tailgate lock for $20 since I discovered how quick and easy it is to remove the tailgate. I wish GM would follow Ford's lead and include tailgate locks and rail caps on most of their pickups.
Thanks for everyone's suggestions on the bedrail caps. Now I just have to wait for them to arrive.
Anyone here with the V6 Silverado tried adding an auxiliary transmission cooler to their truck? I got a B&M Supercooler tranny cooler (fairly small rectangular shape) for Christmas and am looking to install it in the next few weeks. Instructions look fairly straight forward but wanted to check to see in anyone here had any experience doing this. Would like to mount it in front of the A/C condenser but there is not much room due to the "V" shaped support brace in front of the radiator and condenser.
I am adding this to support my towing of a 2200 lb pop-up trailer this summer. Will likely make a few trips to the West VA. and PA. mountains so I know it will be needed.
Any reccomendations or suggestions on this install would be welcome.
One piece of advise. Clean the rails and also use some rubbing alcohol (dont rub but wipe) to remove wax. itll make them stay down alot better. I had to reapply my wade bedrail caps 2 wks ago. I used some alcholol and they stuck much better
Thanks for the advice. I'm sure that proper preparation prevents premature peeling of the plastic from the rails. Sorry for the PPPeeing, I just had a several Busch beers (the official beer of the new White House administration).
signed for my shipment. When I asked why they couldn't just go to that Chevy dealer and get my parts, then ship my parts to me, I got no response. So, I emailed UPS customer service via their website - they told me to have Flow Chevrolet (aka gmpartsdirect) start a tracer. I asked Flow to start the tracer. Flow responded that the tracer will take 8 business days to get an answer. So, to answer the question: Yes, UPS apparently knows where my parts are. No, they won't (or can't?) go get my parts and ship them to me. Of course, it will take 8 business days for UPS to tell me what everybody involved already knows. I even emailed the Chevy dealer who has my parts - of course, no response from them. I guess I am missing something here. My guess is that the Chevy dealer who got my parts already sold them to someone else by now. It is sad that an outfit as large as UPS will not take any serious interest in a shipment they "lost." Do they lose that many shipments that they don't have time to take care of my shipment? I have generally had good experience with UPS in the past, but recently have had problems with UPS shipments at work. I realize that mistakes happen, but I just don't understand why there is zero customer concern on the part of UPS. This sure doesn't do much for their public image. I don't think I can recommend UPS as a carrier of choice - not sure that I will ever use them again. I had no choice on this one.
I just got home and had a message on my answering machine to call UPS. They said they will send their driver out to go get my package. When I said that I heard that 2 weeks ago, they said that UPS just got the tracer on Tuesday. I explained that I had been talking with Ft Worth UPS for two weeks, until they didn't want to talk to me anymore. They apologize for any inconvenience. So then I logged on to my email. Flow (aka gmpartsdirect) emailed me that UPS found my package and is shipping it to me. Who should I believe - Flow or UPS? End daily rant now.
UPS will go suddenly deaf again like the did for about a week when I ask for a refund. Of course, UPS still has not said that they found my shipment. I am still thinking that there is a brown UPS truck in Fort Worth with black Silverado flares and body side molding, or some other Texas stripper now has a new outfit
They had stated in an email that it wasn't their fault and that the sender had made an error in the address. But after everything was said and done, they relented and refunded in full as their policy states "delivered in time stated or money back". Cause I didn't really care whose fault, just that I didn't get it in time.
Cancel the show in mid-season, just when tucsonjwt is closing in on the evil UPS empire??? We demand that the show continue until tucsonjwt get's the upper hand!!
7 days since gmparts direct (aka flow chevrolet) emailed me that UPS found the parts and were shipping them to me. I emailed Flow yesterday to estimate the delivery time to me (was 6 days enough for UPS to move my parts from Texas all the way next door to Arizona?) Was it time to start the claim for lost parts? No repsonse from Flow yet. Is Flow coming down with the same malady that afflicts UPS? UPS has never told me they got my parts back. Are they on the level with Flow? Stay tuned for the next installment of As The Flares Flow (or don't Flow).
Tucsonjwt's UPS problems had me worried when my recently ordered rail bed caps and tailgate lock did not show up last week. Luckily the store that I ordered them from (autoaccessory.com) traced the order when I called. They told me it did not actually ship until a week after I placed the order. From that point, UPS got it to me in 3 business days (Kansas to Maryland).
Tucsonjwt - Hope that UPS can get your order straight. At least they can track your order. The USPS has lost/stolen several items that I have ordered recently. The chances of them actually finding an order is about the same as me becoming pregnant. At least the companies that I dealt with were willing to send a replacement at no charge.
I have a base model 2000 Silverado with the 4.8. This truck came without air conditioning which is fine for Seattle, but soon I will be transferred to Texas. Can A/C be added to this thing for a reasonable cost or should I just trade it in????
We did finally contact UPS this morning after several tries. The address in Texas was another dealership, no one is sure why your parts were delivered there, our shipping records do show that the package was addressed to you, even UPS shows the correct ship to address. UPS told us they have contacted the dealership and that the dealership has sold the parts. We reordered your parts this morning and will send them to you ASAP. We will attempt to place a claim with UPS to reimburse us for the missing parts. We apologize for the confusion and thank you for your patience.
I'll have some questions for Flow, like: 1) Will it take another month for you to get the parts? 2) Will you charge me again for the same parts, then try to get a claim from UPS to reimburse me for the first order? 3) If you do get replacement parts, will you send them UPS again? 4) Why doesn't the dealer who "obtained" my parts for free and sold them have to pay for these parts?
Can you guys think of how I should proceed on this? This is a little to weird for a simple person like me.
It is possible to do the conversion, but you would pay through the nose to have a Chevy dealer convert it. (Unless you order the parts on line from a Chevy dealer, and take a chance of going through what I am experiencing.) An aftermarket installation would not be cheap either, and I would not trust aftermarket parts. A/C shows as an $825 option on my 2K stripper window sticker. You can't get a non-A/C vehicle in the Southwest unless you special order it, so you shouldn't have trouble finding a new rado with A/C and getting a good deal on it. If you go the stripper route again, I would go with the GMC Sierra to get the fold down center armrest, unless you don't mind an aftermarket armrest on the seat. If you go to or through Ft. Worth you might want to check out that Chevy dealer. I hear he is selling flares and body side molding for your new stripper cheap. He's getting them for free.:) Good Luck.
Just when you teased us with a glimmer of hope that you were closing in on resolution, the plot takes a turn back to square one. Oh well, good for few more episodes anyway.
This is a little too weird for me as well. Chevy Dealer that sold the parts should be liable. Heck, if some truck parts just showed up on your door step one day do think you could sell them without being held liable??? As for the charge, there's no way they can (legally)charge you again. I wouldn't think they would be so arrogant as to try. As for the wait, that's your call. It's frustrtaing, but would you get them quicker elsewhere for the same price?
Just so you don't feel you get all the luck....I bought husky floorliners and ordered mud flaps last week for my rado from a local store. Was in a hurry and my son had sprinkled the floor with some of his cereal so I just told them to put them in the truck and I would install after I vacuumed. Got, home, they gave me the wrong ones. Went on line and found out they ordered the wrong type mud flaps as well. Called the store and told them, they said they would order the correct ones, be in this past Tues. Called today and they had never corrected the order so they received the wrong flaps and ordered the same floor liners I already had.
White '99 reg cab 4.8 3.42. It came with manual windows and no power door locks, no side molding. I had installed a spray in bedliner, tinted the windows, and as part of the deal, the dealer had the side molding installed and power windows and door locks.
When I got the truck back after all the customizing, The aftermarket installer had placed the power door lock switch on my dash on the left of the steering wheel which made it hard to access. They had also installed these ugly rubber plugs where the manual window cranks were. The side molding was a joke, couldn't be worth more than $50 as looked like dull rubber. Had 300 miles and started to vibrate. Sooo...called the Sales Manager and told him the deal we had was to install "factory" upgrades on the windows, door locks and side molding. He told me that it would be too expensive to do with factory parts. So...my question was why were they trying to deceive me by allowing me to think that it would be factory rather than this cheap aftermarket stuff.
Long story short, they reversed the deal and as I was getting ready to leave, they brought out this Black '00 xcab. Never made it to the Ford dealer to buy that Lightning....
I had a day off on Friday but went into work this afternoon to catch up on a backlog of things to do. Turns out the Fort Worth dealer left two messages on my answering machine - the person who signed for my parts and another guy (the boss?) - just said to call them. Check out my plan and see if I am on the right track. I email the dealer and ask them to send me $375 which is what I paid Flow for the parts. I figure that they owe me directly since they "inappropriately obtained" my parts and sold them. So far, nobody is going after the party who wrongly sold the parts. If they say no, I report them to the Texas AG. I can deal with Flow later, based on how long it will take them to get replacement parts. Is this the correct next move in this internet chess game? All suggestions appreciated.
They delivered to the wrong place. It should be their responsibility to get it back or replace or refund. The problem with the dealership selling it to someone else shouldn't be your problem. What is UPS's policy on lost items? Did the shipper have insurance on the items? I wouldn't think that you should have to deal with whoever UPS delivered the part to. That's letting them off the hook. For their screw up, you end up having to chase down the money for the parts?
You spend the $20. Then your neighbor asks if you got his son's $20 in a birthday card from grandma by mistake.. You look at the envelope. Yup, it's your neighbor's $20. Is it the Post Office that your neighbor goes after to get his money? The PO is wrong, but that doesn't make you right. What are the chances of getting resolution from the PO in our lifetime? Chances are you, being an honest person, will give the money back right away. I think I have a better chance of getting my money back from the dealer than UPS in the short term. So far, the UPS bureaucracy has been impenetrable. At least I have the dealer wanting to talk to me now. I don't see how they can justify not compensating me for my parts they improperly sold. Also, if you run a business you order parts from vendors (mother GM in this case) via purchase order. When parts come in, you check them against your purchase order to make sure that you got what you ordered, then authorize payment via accounts payable to the vendor. There was no purchase order for these parts, and no attempt to match the parts with the purchase order. I don't see how the dealer can explain selling parts he doesn't own, regardless of how he got the parts. But, I could be wrong. Maybe it's my fault.:)
is with the BBB. File a complaint and let them assist you in getting the money back from UPS. They delivered to the wrong address, it is there responsibility to get the product or the money from the dealer they mistakenly dropped it off to.
The other side of the coin is, who knows, the dealer may pay you for it. I wouldn't hold my breath though...not without UPS pressuring them. Did you file a loss claim with UPS? or has it been through the phone and email?
Flow is working on that, but they don't sound very optimistic. I figure it doesn't hurt to ask for my money back from the dealer who sold my parts. They have to expect to pay somebody for what they sold. At retail sales price, they still made good money on the deal.
I wonder what's the problem with UPS. Everytime I've had a claim when no merchandise was delivered, I got paid within 30-45 days or it was delivered with free shipping. I guess when you handle a couple of million pieces of freight a day, some will fall through the cracks. What surprises me is that they aren't acting on it.
Working with a car dealer...excuse me for being pessimistic. Course there are some that are honest. Did the shipper give a reason for not filing a claim?
I'd rather not wait another 45 days (on top of the 3 months this has already been going on.) Considering that UPS has been lying to me and Flow for a month, I think neither Flow nor myself are optimistic about UPS. They will probably say that Flow addressed the package wrong. Here is what I just emailed the Fort Worth dealer: "I got your phone message yesterday (I was out of the office on Friday.) The parts intended for me which you subsequently sold cost me $375. Could you please send me a check for $375 and we will put this unfortunate incident behind us?" Will it work? Sounds simple to me, but I am a simple minded person.:):) Stay tuned for tomorrow's episode.
I agree with Oby. Although I know it is frustrating, I think you are after the wrong party. It is possible that the FW dealer was expecting some flares and/or molding. These dealers do a lot part buying from each other and it's not unusual to buy from one dealer and have it shipped from another dealer to you. It seems like they sold it awful quick to not be expecting it. Your safest approach at this point is to demand your merchandise/money from Flow. Although they may have done nothing wrong, you paid them for the parts plus shipping, and they in turn were supposed to have them delivered to you. They have not completed their end of the transaction. The problem with the merchandise going to the FW dealer is unfortunate, but it is between Flow, UPS and the FW dealer. As your reponses from UPS have indicated, Flow is the one who has to initiate all the tracers, claims, etc. My $.02 is I would focus on Flow and let them know that you understand it wasn't their actions that caused the problem but the fact remains you are out the money and don't have the merchandise and they are the only ones who can rectify it. Good Luck.
Once Flow understood that UPS was not truthful about retreiving and reshipping the parts, they contacted the GM parts representative and informed them of the Fort Worth dealer's "behavior. GM apparently priortized the reorder and Flow had the parts in a few days. Flow reshipped the parts and they got to me from NC to AZ in 6 days as estimated. I won't go over all of the electronic fur flying among all of the players in the past two weeks, but is was very "interesting". So, overall I give Flow and gmpartsdirect high marks. Once I got in touch with a good point of contact they were very aggressive in making sure that I was a happy camper. They seem like a very professional outfit and have the best prices I have found - can't beat that combination. GM? - I have to say they get high marks, too. It's always amazing to me how quickly a big company can respond when they want to. The quality of the parts and the packaging were all top notch. I'm impressed. UPS? - Well, let me think. I guess we have no other alternative for relatively inexpensive ground shipments. They did get the second shipment exactly right, and I don't really fault them for delivering a shipment to the wrong address. (I actually ran a big company shipping department once and one of my guys sent a shipment to the wrong Country. Try going through customs in Australia to get your shipment back.:-o) However, they stalled me for two weeks needlessly and probably flat out lied to Flow. Didn't they learn anything from our political scandals in Washington, DC? I feel sorry for the people at UPS who were trying to fix the problem - I don't think they had good instructions on how to handle this from their management. It takes a lot of skill and experience to handle a customer relations problem like this and I got the impression that the workers I talked with were completely lost and really didn't know what to do. Next post: Actually describing accessory installation (I'm gettin there, pf flyer ;-o) )
Front flares had one big plastic threaded screw to hold the flare in place (rear flares had two) while you put the other "push pin" type plugs in the flare. Peeled back the tape from the adhesive strips on the back of the flares and they stuck firmly to the fender. The finish on these flares is excellent. It is a satin type finish - looks easier to clean than the matte black stock flares, but not so brightly glossy as the older stock flares on the 98 and older models. It only takes about 5 minutes per flare for installation. These are really top quality parts. I measured a regular cab to get the proper dimensions for mounting the side molding. I marked the body with a pencil to define the locations. Then I used some blue lightly adhesive painter's tape to mark the top edge of the molding location. I pulled off a small amount of the tape from the two adhesive strips on the back of the molding and stuck the front of the molding to the truck. Then I pulled off the rest of the tape and pressed the molding in place at the same time. One odd thing, the body crease on the doors and cab does not match the body crease on the box. The box crease is about 1/4" - 3/8" higher from the ground than the cab. So, I held a straight edge from the door/cab moldings to the box to get an even line of sight. It looks to me like most trucks have the box molding mounted higher than the cab molding because it is measured the same distance down from the body crease. I wanted it to look like one continuous line, so the door and cab moldings are 2 1/2" down from the crease, and the box moldings are about 2 3/4" down from the crease. The molding job took about 2 hours, but most of it was checking, rechecking, eyeballing, etc. After I completed the job and drove off, I immediately saw a twin to my truck with a long scratch in the side of the truck at the rear quarter panel. Has anybody modified one of these moldings and added it to the rear quarter to protect that area? For all of the knocks GM takes here and elsewhere, I have to say these parts in particular are excellent quality and a great value if you shop for price. I think these mods are $375 well spent. Too bad it took 4 months to get the parts.
I finally added the accessories that I posted questions about a few weeks ago. Put on Bushwacker (plastic) bed rail caps, a Bully tailgate lock, and a B&M Transmission Oil Cooler. All went on fairly smoothly except the transmission cooler. I decided not to mount it to the A/C condenser (with little plastic ties that they included). I instead bolted it to the A-frame that holds the hood latch in place. Much more secure this way and I did not have to bend up any of the cooling fins on my A/C condenser. Routing of the transmission hose lines was very easy after seeing how they disconnect from the radiator (Haynes service manual). They have quick connect fittings that are very easy to deal with once you see how they unlock. The toughest part of the job was getting the front grill off. The two side retaining clips require some force to dislodge. I was afraid that I was going to break the clips.
If anyone else wants to tackle adding a tranny cooler, feel free to ask for some pointers. Knowing what I do now, I could do it in an hour or so. You will also need extra supplies like more transmission line hose. The amount that comes with the cooler kits is not even close to being enough.
Tucsonjwt - Glad to hear that you finally got your molding and flares delivered. Hopefully they were worth the hassle of dealing the UPS customer diservice department.
I like the look and feel of the caps. They have the little "x" marks on the top portion of the caps to give them some texture. They felt a little flimsy when taking them out of the box, but seem to be fine when on the truck. (I just wasn't used to dealing with a long piece of high priced plastic.) They are a little thicker than our tailgate protector.
They do cover more of the side than your Wade caps do (looked at your picturetrail site). The Wade caps seem to be a sleeker design. They also covered enough of the inside portion of the rail to almost meet my bedliner perfectly. I hope that my tape job holds up well. Don't want to have to re-do any of the taping again. Only time will tell.
My stripper is a 1990 Chevy C/K 1500 W/T bought new. Only options are rear step bumper and delay wipers. I have added Pioneer stereo and rear sliding window. Had american racing alum. wheels on it for a while. It is the best vehicle I have ever owned. It has 172,000 miles one it now and the only things I have had to replace are fuel pump, master cylinder & actuator, and muffler.
What kind of engine do you have, V6 or V8? Do you have a 2 wd or 4wd? What is your gas mileage? Your truck sounds like a testament that not all US made vehicles are unreliable. I have a 73 3/4 ton Chevy 454 for the occasional heavy duty hauling I do (I call it big boy.) I drive the 2K rado stripper most of the time. Big boy went through the normal repairs in its 28 years, plus a cam and lifters due to the "soft" cams in the early 454s. I think older domestic full size pickups are still the best value for the money of any vehicle - especially if you plan to use them hard(easy to fix, get aftermarket or used parts for, take abuse well,etc.)
I added power windows and locks to my Silverado 4x4. GM is very clever not having these as options even available the base model. I did not want to pay for the LS package and did not want to crawl across the truck to unlock the door and put the window down. I hate how GM thinks of ways to make money. They should think of ways to make people happy. I also added the side molding form GM, cruise control, bug deflector, bed liner, class 3 hitch, remote start, rear speakers and a Delco CD player from a junkyard. The only options it had from the factory were A/C and auto.
I like the V-6 but don’t get the mileage other guys seem too. Hard to believe the 20-mpg city above on a Silverado. My truck has the 3.73 and I am averaging 16.5. This is about as low as I think anyone would get and don’t see that much difference from city to highway. Problem is highway around here is 75-80 mph or stop and go, sometimes all in just a few hundred feet!
Sound like you have quite a few improvements on your truck. Do the aftermarket power windows and locks work well? Have not heard from anyone who has had this done. Interested to hear how expensive and complicated it was to have it done.
Your gas mileage does not seem too bad for a 4x4 with your axle ratio. My old Mazda 4x4 mini truck with 4 cyl engine and stick shift only avg'd 20mpg. My current V6 ext cab with 3.42 rear end gets about 18 mpg in mixed driving. I get slightly higher values if I actually let the gas gauge go below 1/4 tank. Don't do that often because in the DC area, one can easily get stuck in traffic jams for several hours at a stretch.
Saw that you have a class III hitch as one of you options. Do you tow anything heavy? I have a 2300 lb pop-up camper that I tow and was wondering if you experience much of a rear end "bounce" due to towing. I was thinking of adding Air Shocks to dampen out the bounce. Any experience with this problem?
Rico '00 Silverado Base Ext Cab, V6, Auto, A/C, bed liner, rail caps, class III hitch
I would not recommend air shocks. They won't dampen the rear end any better than standard shocks, but the air pressure will lift the rear end.
To dampen the rear, get better shocks - Bilsteins work well on my truck.
To raise the rear, get air lifts. Air shocks put weight on the shock mounts. The shock mounts are not design to carry weight. Air lifts put the weight between the frame and the axle where it belongs.
Thanks for the info on the air shocks. I will cross them off my list of shock possibilities. I know that the Billsteins are very good shocks but do you know anything about the Monroe Reflex shock? It is supposed to compete with the Edelbrock IAS shocks. Just wondering if it might work well to dampen the towing "bounce". The Monroes are about $35 each while I remember the Billsteins being around $65-$70. I have been told that the stock shocks are made by Tenneco (Monroe's parent company) but don't know what model thay would equate to.
If anyone else knows anything about the Monroe's performance, please pipe in.
On my '99 stripper rado that I had owned for one week, had the power window and remote door locks installed by dealer who used aftermarket parts. I wasn't too impressed with them as they mounted the door switch on my dash. I told them that I had been led to belive that factory parts were to be used soliciting a reply that "factory parts costs too much". I replied that being a Chevy dealer, why wouldn't they use Chevy parts. Long story short, the truck deal was reversed by the dealer who resold as new. Truck had 300 miles when I returned it to them.
you drive cautiously - drive the speed limit, easy on the gas away from the stop lights, use cruise wherever possible, etc. Most people won't drive this way, and I didn't until recently. However, now I am used to it and it doesn't bother me. I've actually gotten 27 mpg + on combination city/highway, but I rarely drive the highway.
I purchased the PW and PL kit from JC Whitney, I think for about $200. It was not that difficult to install. The hardest part was pushing all the wires through the stock boot between the door and body. The locks work very well and I wired them to the remote on the remote start. The windows are not as fast as stock but they work and have backlit switches. One unexpected problem with the power locks was it was difficult to push the power lock actuator when using the key, because the linkage angles to the actuator. I added an assist spring for unlocking, that is the only time I would use the key anyway.
As far as the gas mileage, 16.5 is the running average since new. Truck now has 5k miles. This includes towing, 4x4 in the mountains and on the beach, and long cold idling using remote start. I know everyone is going to say, wow, that is pretty good. But, when you fill up and don’t get change from a Fifty, it sucks. The truck also has CA emissions, not sure if the hurts too. For a base truck I guess it is OK.
As far as towing, I have towed 5000 lbs, cars and trucks using a dolly and farm equipment, so I am not a good one to ask about rear end bounce. The base shocks on the 4x4 seem to be very effective. Power is great when towing with the 3.73s. The engine actually feels like it could damage the driveline in sever conditions. I hope the rear axle is up to it.
Comments
Also, it could be that people aren't paid enough so aren't motivated to do their job very well, but I think it is more a matter of how people are raised. I'm guessing that the people I am dealing with at UPS are well paid (maybe overworked?) - I think they just don't have the follow through on a problem they encounter. Everything is somebody else's job. Large organizations do tend to discourage initiative, but good people rise above it. End daily rant now.
I also got a tailgate lock for $20 since I discovered how quick and easy it is to remove the tailgate. I wish GM would follow Ford's lead and include tailgate locks and rail caps on most of their pickups.
Thanks for everyone's suggestions on the bedrail caps. Now I just have to wait for them to arrive.
Rico
I am adding this to support my towing of a 2200 lb pop-up trailer this summer. Will likely make a few trips to the West VA. and PA. mountains so I know it will be needed.
Any reccomendations or suggestions on this install would be welcome.
Thanks,
Rico
Rico
Let's go Terps!!! (Univ. of MD Class of 90)
So, to answer the question: Yes, UPS apparently knows where my parts are. No, they won't (or can't?) go get my parts and ship them to me. Of course, it will take 8 business days for UPS to tell me what everybody involved already knows. I even emailed the Chevy dealer who has my parts - of course, no response from them. I guess I am missing something here. My guess is that the Chevy dealer who got my parts already sold them to someone else by now. It is sad that an outfit as large as UPS will not take any serious interest in a shipment they "lost."
Do they lose that many shipments that they don't have time to take care of my shipment? I have generally had good experience with UPS in the past, but recently have had problems with UPS shipments at work. I realize that mistakes happen, but I just don't understand why there is zero customer concern on the part of UPS. This sure doesn't do much for their public image. I don't think I can recommend UPS as a carrier of choice - not sure that I will ever use them again. I had no choice on this one.
So then I logged on to my email. Flow (aka gmpartsdirect) emailed me that UPS found my package and is shipping it to me. Who should I believe - Flow or UPS? End daily rant now.
Gonna be another week full of Mondays, isn't it??
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No repsonse from Flow yet. Is Flow coming down with the same malady that afflicts UPS? UPS has never told me they got my parts back. Are they on the level with Flow? Stay tuned for the next installment of As The Flares Flow (or don't Flow).
Tucsonjwt - Hope that UPS can get your order straight. At least they can track your order. The USPS has lost/stolen several items that I have ordered recently. The chances of them actually finding an order is about the same as me becoming pregnant. At least the companies that I dealt with were willing to send a replacement at no charge.
Rico
The address in Texas was another dealership, no one is sure why your
parts were delivered there, our shipping records do show that the
package was addressed to you, even UPS shows the correct ship to
address.
UPS told us they have contacted the dealership and that the dealership
has sold the parts.
We reordered your parts this morning and will send them to you ASAP. We
will attempt to place a claim with UPS to reimburse us for the missing
parts. We apologize for the confusion and thank you for your patience.
I'll have some questions for Flow, like:
1) Will it take another month for you to get the parts?
2) Will you charge me again for the same parts, then try to get a claim from UPS to reimburse me for the first order?
3) If you do get replacement parts, will you send them UPS again?
4) Why doesn't the dealer who "obtained" my parts for free and sold them have to pay for these parts?
Can you guys think of how I should proceed on this? This is a little to weird for a simple person like me.
This is a little too weird for me as well. Chevy Dealer that sold the parts should be liable. Heck, if some truck parts just showed up on your door step one day do think you could sell them without being held liable??? As for the charge, there's no way they can (legally)charge you again. I wouldn't think they would be so arrogant as to try. As for the wait, that's your call. It's frustrtaing, but would you get them quicker elsewhere for the same price?
Just so you don't feel you get all the luck....I bought husky floorliners and ordered mud flaps last week for my rado from a local store. Was in a hurry and my son had sprinkled the floor with some of his cereal so I just told them to put them in the truck and I would install after I vacuumed. Got, home, they gave me the wrong ones. Went on line and found out they ordered the wrong type mud flaps as well. Called the store and told them, they said they would order the correct ones, be in this past Tues. Called today and they had never corrected the order so they received the wrong flaps and ordered the same floor liners I already had.
When I got the truck back after all the customizing, The aftermarket installer had placed the power door lock switch on my dash on the left of the steering wheel which made it hard to access. They had also installed these ugly rubber plugs where the manual window cranks were. The side molding was a joke, couldn't be worth more than $50 as looked like dull rubber. Had 300 miles and started to vibrate. Sooo...called the Sales Manager and told him the deal we had was to install "factory" upgrades on the windows, door locks and side molding. He told me that it would be too expensive to do with factory parts. So...my question was why were they trying to deceive me by allowing me to think that it would be factory rather than this cheap aftermarket stuff.
Long story short, they reversed the deal and as I was getting ready to leave, they brought out this Black '00 xcab. Never made it to the Ford dealer to buy that Lightning....
Check out my plan and see if I am on the right track.
I email the dealer and ask them to send me $375 which is what I paid Flow for the parts. I figure that they owe me directly since they "inappropriately obtained" my parts and sold them. So far, nobody is going after the party who wrongly sold the parts. If they say no, I report them to the Texas AG. I can deal with Flow later, based on how long it will take them to get replacement parts.
Is this the correct next move in this internet chess game? All suggestions appreciated.
I think I have a better chance of getting my money back from the dealer than UPS in the short term. So far, the UPS bureaucracy has been impenetrable. At least I have the dealer wanting to talk to me now. I don't see how they can justify not compensating me for my parts they improperly sold.
Also, if you run a business you order parts from vendors (mother GM in this case) via purchase order. When parts come in, you check them against your purchase order to make sure that you got what you ordered, then authorize payment via accounts payable to the vendor. There was no purchase order for these parts, and no attempt to match the parts with the purchase order.
I don't see how the dealer can explain selling parts he doesn't own, regardless of how he got the parts. But, I could be wrong. Maybe it's my fault.:)
The other side of the coin is, who knows, the dealer may pay you for it. I wouldn't hold my breath though...not without UPS pressuring them. Did you file a loss claim with UPS? or has it been through the phone and email?
Working with a car dealer...excuse me for being pessimistic. Course there are some that are honest. Did the shipper give a reason for not filing a claim?
Here is what I just emailed the Fort Worth dealer:
"I got your phone message yesterday (I was out of the office on Friday.) The parts intended for me which you subsequently sold cost me $375. Could you please send me a check for $375 and we will put this unfortunate incident behind us?"
Will it work? Sounds simple to me, but I am a simple minded person.:):)
Stay tuned for tomorrow's episode.
So, overall I give Flow and gmpartsdirect high marks. Once I got in touch with a good point of contact they were very aggressive in making sure that I was a happy camper. They seem like a very professional outfit and have the best prices I have found - can't beat that combination.
GM? - I have to say they get high marks, too. It's always amazing to me how quickly a big company can respond when they want to. The quality of the parts and the packaging were all top notch. I'm impressed.
UPS? - Well, let me think. I guess we have no other alternative for relatively inexpensive ground shipments. They did get the second shipment exactly right, and I don't really fault them for delivering a shipment to the wrong address. (I actually ran a big company shipping department once and one of my guys sent a shipment to the wrong Country. Try going through customs in Australia to get your shipment back.:-o) However, they stalled me for two weeks needlessly and probably flat out lied to Flow. Didn't they learn anything from our political scandals in Washington, DC? I feel sorry for the people at UPS who were trying to fix the problem - I don't think they had good instructions on how to handle this from their management. It takes a lot of skill and experience to handle a customer relations problem like this and I got the impression that the workers I talked with were completely lost and really didn't know what to do.
Next post: Actually describing accessory installation (I'm gettin there, pf flyer ;-o) )
I measured a regular cab to get the proper dimensions for mounting the side molding. I marked the body with a pencil to define the locations. Then I used some blue lightly adhesive painter's tape to mark the top edge of the molding location. I pulled off a small amount of the tape from the two adhesive strips on the back of the molding and stuck the front of the molding to the truck. Then I pulled off the rest of the tape and pressed the molding in place at the same time.
One odd thing, the body crease on the doors and cab does not match the body crease on the box. The box crease is about 1/4" - 3/8" higher from the ground than the cab. So, I held a straight edge from the door/cab moldings to the box to get an even line of sight. It looks to me like most trucks have the box molding mounted higher than the cab molding because it is measured the same distance down from the body crease. I wanted it to look like one continuous line, so the door and cab moldings are 2 1/2" down from the crease, and the box moldings are about 2 3/4" down from the crease.
The molding job took about 2 hours, but most of it was checking, rechecking, eyeballing, etc.
After I completed the job and drove off, I immediately saw a twin to my truck with a long scratch in the side of the truck at the rear quarter panel. Has anybody modified one of these moldings and added it to the rear quarter to protect that area?
For all of the knocks GM takes here and elsewhere, I have to say these parts in particular are excellent quality and a great value if you shop for price.
I think these mods are $375 well spent. Too bad it took 4 months to get the parts.
I finally added the accessories that I posted questions about a few weeks ago. Put on Bushwacker (plastic) bed rail caps, a Bully tailgate lock, and a B&M Transmission Oil Cooler. All went on fairly smoothly except the transmission cooler. I decided not to mount it to the A/C condenser (with little plastic ties that they included). I instead bolted it to the A-frame that holds the hood latch in place. Much more secure this way and I did not have to bend up any of the cooling fins on my A/C condenser. Routing of the transmission hose lines was very easy after seeing how they disconnect from the radiator (Haynes service manual). They have quick connect fittings that are very easy to deal with once you see how they unlock. The toughest part of the job was getting the front grill off. The two side retaining clips require some force to dislodge. I was afraid that I was going to break the clips.
If anyone else wants to tackle adding a tranny cooler, feel free to ask for some pointers. Knowing what I do now, I could do it in an hour or so. You will also need extra supplies like more transmission line hose. The amount that comes with the cooler kits is not even close to being enough.
Tucsonjwt - Glad to hear that you finally got your molding and flares delivered. Hopefully they were worth the hassle of dealing the UPS customer diservice department.
Rico
Seen em on a truck for the first time saturday. They seem to add more protectiont han the wade (hang down the side of the truck a little lower)
Can you post a pic of the rail caps?
Ryan
I like the look and feel of the caps. They have the little "x" marks on the top portion of the caps to give them some texture. They felt a little flimsy when taking them out of the box, but seem to be fine when on the truck. (I just wasn't used to dealing with a long piece of high priced plastic.) They are a little thicker than our tailgate protector.
They do cover more of the side than your Wade caps do (looked at your picturetrail site). The Wade caps seem to be a sleeker design. They also covered enough of the inside portion of the rail to almost meet my bedliner perfectly. I hope that my tape job holds up well. Don't want to have to re-do any of the taping again. Only time will tell.
Rico
I like the V-6 but don’t get the mileage other guys seem too. Hard to believe the 20-mpg city above on a Silverado. My truck has the 3.73 and I am averaging 16.5. This is about as low as I think anyone would get and don’t see that much difference from city to highway. Problem is highway around here is 75-80 mph or stop and go, sometimes all in just a few hundred feet!
Your gas mileage does not seem too bad for a 4x4 with your axle ratio. My old Mazda 4x4 mini truck with 4 cyl engine and stick shift only avg'd 20mpg. My current V6 ext cab with 3.42 rear end gets about 18 mpg in mixed driving. I get slightly higher values if I actually let the gas gauge go below 1/4 tank. Don't do that often because in the DC area, one can easily get stuck in traffic jams for several hours at a stretch.
Saw that you have a class III hitch as one of you options. Do you tow anything heavy? I have a 2300 lb pop-up camper that I tow and was wondering if you experience much of a rear end "bounce" due to towing. I was thinking of adding Air Shocks to dampen out the bounce. Any experience with this problem?
Rico
'00 Silverado Base Ext Cab, V6, Auto, A/C, bed liner, rail caps, class III hitch
To dampen the rear, get better shocks - Bilsteins work well on my truck.
To raise the rear, get air lifts. Air shocks put weight on the shock mounts. The shock mounts are not design to carry weight. Air lifts put the weight between the frame and the axle where it belongs.
Mike L
If anyone else knows anything about the Monroe's performance, please pipe in.
Thanks,
Rico
http://www.activesuspension.com/
On my '99 stripper rado that I had owned for one week, had the power window and remote door locks installed by dealer who used aftermarket parts. I wasn't too impressed with them as they mounted the door switch on my dash. I told them that I had been led to belive that factory parts were to be used soliciting a reply that "factory parts costs too much". I replied that being a Chevy dealer, why wouldn't they use Chevy parts. Long story short, the truck deal was reversed by the dealer who resold as new. Truck had 300 miles when I returned it to them.
As far as the gas mileage, 16.5 is the running average since new. Truck now has 5k miles. This includes towing, 4x4 in the mountains and on the beach, and long cold idling using remote start. I know everyone is going to say, wow, that is pretty good. But, when you fill up and don’t get change from a Fifty, it sucks. The truck also has CA emissions, not sure if the hurts too. For a base truck I guess it is OK.
As far as towing, I have towed 5000 lbs, cars and trucks using a dolly and farm equipment, so I am not a good one to ask about rear end bounce. The base shocks on the 4x4 seem to be very effective. Power is great when towing with the 3.73s. The engine actually feels like it could damage the driveline in sever conditions. I hope the rear axle is up to it.