Buyer Beware! Manic Mechanic!

[Waterfowl]

Just wanted everyone to know about my recent dealings with Creative Engineering, Manic Mechanic or Jim.

I ordered a sprocket adapter June 2. I was told at the time that it would be on its way ASAP. I PM'dm him on the 4th to change my sprocket tooth count hoping that it was not shipped yet. It wasn't. I changed my sprocket tooth count and thought things were going smoothly.

At that time I was told that it would "ship tomorrow!" on the 5th. No such luck. It is now the 27th and no sprocket or adapter. I have PMs that can back up everything mentioned.

Tonight he "heard" from a member who is banned from here (rightfully so) that I was complaining about the delay and he refunded my money because obviously he cant supply paid for parts from his "shop."

I want to warn those who may be thinking about ordering. Don't. I don't know when he will be caught up(or even if that is the problem) and I can assure you that he will not be honest about shipping time. At least I got my money back and it wasnt a $59.00 lesson but a free one!

 

[Creative Engineering]

Just wanted everyone to know about my recent dealings with Creative Engineering, Manic Mechanic or Jim.

I ordered a sprocket adapter June 2. I was told at the time that it would be on its way ASAP. I PM'dm him on the 4th to change my sprocket tooth count hoping that it was not shipped yet. It wasn't. I changed my sprocket tooth count and thought things were going smoothly.

At that time I was told that it would "ship tomorrow!" on the 5th. No such luck. It is now the 27th and no sprocket or adapter. I have PMs that can back up everything mentioned.

Tonight he "heard" from a member who is banned from here (rightfully so) that I was complaining about the delay and he refunded my money because obviously he cant supply paid for parts from his "shop."

I want to warn those who may be thinking about ordering. Don't. I don't know when he will be caught up(or even if that is the problem) and I can assure you that he will not be honest about shipping time. At least I got my money back and it wasnt a $59.00 lesson but a free one!

I will not get involved in a ****ing match over this...It is my Chocolate factory and the Oompa loompas have issued you your refund...you have been returned, financially, to a state of well being regarding your transaction with Creative engineering. Vent your frustration somewhere else...PLEASE!!!

Originally Posted by Waterfowl
Jim,

Thanks for the refund. You need to better communicate with your clients. If you cant supply the part in a reasonable time you need to just say so.
Things happen to all of us and it is understandable to be late. It would have not been a problem if you were just honest from the get go.

Best to luck to you.

Steve

Steve,

You are certainly welcome...unlike other sellers of products; I truly enjoy giving refunds. I don't have any negative feelings towards those who ask for a refund.

If I don't fullfil the buyers idea of a good transaction, then a refund leaves the buyer whole again...end of story...nothing left to discuss!

I have to carry on and do the best I can to satisfy the orders I have...There just isn't any time in the day to pay special attention to one order.

I don't have time to play games...I operate in a highly technical, stressfull, world everyday. I don't have time to discuss "MY" problems with people who don't have the slightest idea what I'm doing...a refund is painless for me, compared to answering emails and fielding calls from people who want me to push their order ahead of everyone elses. The orders are processed in the order they are received...PERIOD!

For every minute I spend on useless communication...it is a minute that someones order is not being filled. The shop is noisey and I can't talk and work at the same time...WHAT PART OF THIS DO YOU PEOPLE NOT UNDERSTAND!!!!!!!!!!

Contrary to what you may think, this market is not big enough for me to hire the personnel required to appease every aspect 365 days per year.

Jim

 

[Waterfowl]

Don't take money from people and lie about when you will send products. That is as simple as it gets. Everyone expects honesty in a business transaction. If its going to be late just say so. Don't say it will ship the next day if it won't. WHAT PART OF THAT DO YOU NOT UNDERSTAND?

 

[Skyliner70cc]

waterfowl, I understand your concerns and I don't blame you for being upset. However, my last order with creative engineering was shipped quickly and I was happy with it. As someone who was a contracting officer for the government for a while, I dealt with many small machine shops who were contracted to make weapon repair parts. Delays were not unusual.

Creative's sole business is not to make MB bike parts. I suspect he doesn't make much money doing so based on his prices and I feel he is doing us a favor by supplying great parts that remedy some of the weakenesses in the kits.

You got your $$ back so cut him some slack. Shoot happens.

 

[Waterfowl]

waterfowl, I understand your concerns and I don't blame you for being upset. However, my last order with creative engineering was shipped quickly and I was happy with it. As someone who was a contracting officer for the government for a while, I dealt with many small machine shops who were contracted to make weapon repair parts. Delays were not unusual.

Creative's sole business is not to make MB bike parts. I suspect he doesn't make much money doing so based on his prices and I feel he is doing us a favor by supplying great parts that remedy some of the weakenesses in the kits.

You got your $$ back so cut him some slack. Shoot happens.

You're right delays happen. I also suspect that you would be told that there would be a delay. Right. That's all I wanted. Communication.

 

[Waterfowl]

So moving this thread to the woodshed does nothing but let a poor vendor continue to accept money and lie about when if ever it will be sent? How does this help anyone?

 

[loquin]

Steve, I seriously doubt that Jim intentionally lied to you about when it would be shipped. Stuff happens - deliveries from his suppliers get delayed - equipment breakdowns, etc.

He's making some seriously high quality stuff, and is running a one-man shop. Should he have let you know when the order was going to be delayed? Yup. He should have. But, given his situation, where spending time going through all the orders to communicate delays to everyone, meant that everyone's parts were going to be delayed even more, he probably did the best he could. Remember, the small parts he's making don't have a lot of profit, so he undoubtedly HAS to have a lot of orders to make a living. Which means a LOT of email checking to follow-up, and a lot of additional delays...

When he found out that you were unhappy with him, he issued a refund. The tone of your initial post (and subsequent posts) was that he was being intentionally dishonest re delivery, that you can predict the future (that he will NEVER be honest about shipping times,) and you concluded that no-one should ever order from him again.

From comments that have been made on this site, it appears that the majority of folks have been happy with him. (Myself included.) Yes, it took a while to get the adapter & sprocket I ordered in mid-may, but, high quality can often take more time to deliver...

The reason that this post was taken off-line was that it was an over-reaction. Your order was delayed, and when you complained, you were refunded the money. Let it go - let bygones be bygones. There's no need to further punish someone who did the best that they could to resolve the situation.

 

[Waterfowl]

Like I said before at least it was a free lesson about who not to deal with and not a $59.00 mistake.

 

[loquin]

not really - you were MUCH harsher than that.

What would YOU do if you had 100 people waiting on parts, and any time you took to reply to 5 or 10 of them delayed every other order by the time it took to search for the order and write the reply? Especially if you were a machinist with [possibly] not a great deal of familiarity with computers? (in an early email conversation I had with Jim, he mentioned that he "wasn't good with computers.")

I don't have a problem with you publicly reporting what happened on an order. But, for you to post which

• proclaims that Jim deliberately lied to you re your delivery (you can't know that)
• States that Jim will deliberately lie to anyone who orders from him, re deliveries (again, you cannot possibly know that)
• Advises that no one should ever order from him (based upon one instance)

is an overreaction, given what everyone else has reported, and is unfair to Jim, and potentially, to others who may not have an urgent need for the part, but who DO need a high quality part.

If the post had stated: you had ordered the adapter, changed the order and were told that it should ship the next day, and three weeks later it still wasn't. When the vendor became aware that the order had not been filled and that you were complaining about it, he refunded your money. The order was not delivered in a timely manner, and that others should be aware that delivery might take some time and that communication/follow-up may be 'iffy.' Then, it would still be up.

Had there been a history of others experiencing similar problems, then a milder version of your original post would still be online.

But, one case does not a vendor convict. Especially, in this one case, where the vendor tried to make it right by fully refunding the buyer's money. The original post was a forum equivalent of a tarring & feathering. Of a lynch mob of one.

We don't expect perfection. But, in a review, we do expect that you are fair. In this case though, the tone of the original post, and follow-ups, was way out of line. I didn't move this thread here, but I can see why it was done.

 

[Waterfowl]

Over it. Sugar coat it all you want. If you want to see the emails you can.

"Go's out tomorrow.!" Almost a month later it still hasnt been shipped. Thats not a mistake. Honesty goes a long way in business.