www.speedinc.com, I'm not happy

[V]

aka ls1speed.com.... Well, last week i ordered a LS1 balancer from them off their website. They are a sponsor over at ls1tech so i figured they should be decent. Well, today i got the package, As soon as i opened the shipping box, i saw that the product box was worn on all the edges and looked like its been tossed around in a shop forever. I reluctantly opened the box only to find a balancer that looked as if i had already been on a motor. Paint was chipped of the edges, and there was a lot of paint missing from the edge around the bolt hole, and it was just plain dirty. The SFI spec card was also like falling apart and almost cut in half. There was even grease on the threaded holes youd use to remove the balancer, im sorry, but ive bought balancers before and they never pregreased them for removal. oh, and if you look closely at the inside of the center that slips over the crank, you can see slight lines from like it being installed/removed. So I imediatley called them up, but they were closed for lunch, anyways and hour later i called again and spoke to Fraser, I told him the deal and that i wasnt satisfied. He told me that as far as they know, what was sent was brand new. he then asked me to email him pictures of the balancer and we'd go from there, so thats what I did earlier. I'm gonna wait until after lunch tomorrow to hear back from them, otherwise i'll call them. But even after this incident, regardless of how it turns out, I highly doubt I will ever purchase anything from them again. And yes, its an engine part and will eventually get worn and dirty, and i may be anal about it, but I want a nice new part and thats what I paid for and I think i have that right. Heres a pic of it...
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d50/SmokingSS/b.jpg
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d50/SmokingSS/b1.jpg




edit, oh and to add one more thing... the date on the back of the balancer is 11-22-2004 so its almost 2 years old, so another question is... Do sfi balancers have an expiration date and if so, when...

[qwikz28]

holy cow i was about to order something from them tonight. guess i'll go elsewhere

good luck with that man.

and you know what... i bet its a mixup at the manufacturer just selling back a return item to make some money.

[Rob WS6]

Yeah thats definatley used... I bought a pro-products balancer a while ago, and it was as new as new can be. Someone probably returned that one and they didnt even bother checking it.

[ins0mnia24]

Yeah i had a few problem's ordering from them also..
1. I purchased a Motive gear install kit a while back and the kit they sent me was for 98-00 f-body's ,when i needed a 02 Kit, then when i called them to tell them it was wrong kit because the pinion seal was to small, they said i didn'tknow i was talking about, And ignorantly said so what do you want me to do about it on the phone And it was Motive's fault i should call them .. I call Motive and their cutomer serviec rep Brandon told me that they should know better than that, that when there is a problem they were suppossed to deal with Motive not me , So out of curiousity the rep ask's me for the item number's and box number.. It turn's out it was the wrong year kit , he then said why the hell are they only ordering 98-00 kit's .. I talked to Speed with my Friend on another line with them also , then they finally admit they had no clue there was a different kit.. So i give them the correct item # for the pinion that Motive gave me... 5 day's later i get the same exact wrong pinion seal again they just took one out of another kit and sent to me after i told them it was wrong , So i went to the dealer bought one Mailed them back the 2 wrong pinion seals and a copy of my receipt from the dealer with a note telling them to credit me back my cost for the pinion seal or i'll make an excuse to drive to I.L. to come there personally lol

2. I order air pump block off plate's they only sent me one then insisted on that i was trying to screw them by saying i only got one plate in the mail the guy said he packed my shipment personally it had 2 plates when there was really only one... took them 7 days to get me another stupid plate

3.Took them 6 week's to get me my 3600 stall Vigilante t.c.. when they said they had it instock before i ordered it .. this is the most recent dealings with them so after a week i decided to be a dick so i called them every damn day to bother them for 5 week's until my t.c. arrived..

Since then i did find out there are 2 other LS-1 specialized online store's that will beat Speed's prices and match the free shipping so they can kiss my ass i take my $ someplace else now

[iamsickofitall]

speed inc ripped me off too...i ordered a set of MSD plug wires and a couple of other things...instead of the plug wires, i got a flywheel...they said to send it back and they would refund the shipping. i asked them to do a RMA for it and they said to just send it back and they'll refund the money. well, i sent it back with a copy of the receipt and a letter on how they could reimburse me. it cost me 20 bucks.

about 10 days later, my plug wires arrived so i check my credit card statement online and no refund. i then called and they said they would do it...still nothing. then i sent numerous PM's on tech and emails and got no response...called one more time and they said they would do it blah blah blah...still nothing and i have given up - it just isn't worth it...i just recommend people use other means of purchasing the same/similar goods on tech

[Mike]

hmm ive never once had a problem with them......

[V]

ok well, i called them back this afternoon and waited on hold for like 15 minutes until i finally got to talk to Fraser... I asked him if he saw the pictures and he said yes, and then he said "it looked new" to him and not used at all, and he said he didnt see "that much paint chipped off". I explained how there were marks in the center of the hub as where you could see it was installed and removed and I said how ive bought balancers before and NONE ever have the threaded holes for removal pregreased. In the end, we worked it out so that I am sending it back to them, and they will exchange it for another, hopefully itll be a new one this time and i'll actually get the new one this summer still...otherwise, on Aug 5th i'll be out in Detroit, and i wont have any problem travelling a few hours more to IL to confront them face-to-face.

[iamsickofitall]

ok well, i called them back this afternoon and waited on hold for like 15 minutes until i finally got to talk to Fraser... I asked him if he saw the pictures and he said yes, and then he said "it looked new" to him and not used at all, and he said he didnt see "that much paint chipped off". I explained how there were marks in the center of the hub as where you could see it was installed and removed and I said how ive bought balancers before and NONE ever have the threaded holes for removal pregreased. In the end, we worked it out so that I am sending it back to them, and they will exchange it for another, hopefully itll be a new one this time and i'll actually get the new one this summer still...otherwise, on Aug 5th i'll be out in Detroit, and i wont have any problem travelling a few hours more to IL to confront them face-to-face.


make sure you get an RMA...they may do you the way they did me

[enRo]

I guess u can say that was used. Good luck working everything out.

[The Fixer]

That thing was ~at least~ installed on another motor. I bought an 8" balancer that was a takeoff from a ZZ4 crate motor for my 355 and it was cleaner than that.

[V]

***UPDATE**

well, the other week i sent it back to them for an exchange like fraser said.
Today I finally got the new one. And this one is fine, It IS actually new this time. So all in all it worked out, just involved a few phone calls and emails...but i'm satisfied, I was fearing that they wouldnt send me one back and say they never got the original one. The picture in my first post was how it looked right when i opened the box, no plastic or anything, these pics are of the NEW one, lol, and this time the SFI card isnt cut up and this one has never been out of the plastic wrap until now.
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d50/SmokingSS/balancernew1.jpg
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d50/SmokingSS/balancernew2.jpg

[baddest434]

great that they sent you a new one. some companies can be such a pita to deal with.