Antique Auto Battery Closed now where for batteries

[IMBVSUR?]

It was delivered today

Have they given you any reason for such a delay? Manufacturing issues, new ownership, etc. I don't want to order a battery and wait for 3 months to get it. Unless they tell me ahead of time that is the time frame. I had an old mantel clock repaired once. They told me to drop it off and it would 11 months to fix it. 11 months later, almost exactly and I got my clock back and at the price quoted and a good job. I just want to know up front.

 

[mike s]

Well I ordered my battery on 09/10 and was advised on a 3 to 4 week build time. So I called twice on Friday and Just again this morning and when I hit button for sales to check on the status of my order I get a recording that they are busy. So I left name and number and will see if someone gets back to me. Hopefully they don't have caller ID and are avoiding me!!!! So if no one responds back to me I will be calling them tomorrow from a different number and see what happens.

 

[Junky]

Star 67 will block your caller ID....... (*67)...

 

[real61ss]

Well I ordered my battery on 09/10 and was advised on a 3 to 4 week build time. So I called twice on Friday and Just again this morning and when I hit button for sales to check on the status of my order I get a recording that they are busy. So I left name and number and will see if someone gets back to me. Hopefully they don't have caller ID and are avoiding me!!!! So if no one responds back to me I will be calling them tomorrow from a different number and see what happens.

I would say that between Carlisle and Hershey they have probably been very busy, probably closed to attend those events.

 

[mike s]

Well have called multiple times and left messages to please contact me as of the status of my order. Have gotten no reply back from them. So we are now coming up at ten week mark. I called this morning and now the recording doesn't even mention battery sales or what department you want. Just says we are transferring your call. Then got a message for the voice mail of a Dottie Pollack and advised to leave a message. So another message left. See what happens, but it is not sounding too promising at this time. Will advise if I hear something!!! Maybe next time I go to visit my daughter in Ohio I will look up their address and pay them a visit if not too far.

 

[Junky]

At this point, I would suggest that you contact your credit card company, and ask them to intervene, or just dispute the charge as goods not delivered. You don't want it to go to the point where the credit card company will deny you any recourse. I believe that you have 90 days, and after that, you loose your right to dispute the charge. If you mailed them a check, then it is going to be more difficult to get your money back. You could make a complaint of "mail fraud" to the USPS, but there is no guarantee that it will get you your money back.

 

[mike s]

They took my CC information but the good thing is they never billed me and they had me on record from the last time I ordered from them. Said I would be contacted and billed when battery was ready and would send me an email when item was shipped with tracking information. Was advised 3 to 4 week wait time. At this time I wish they would contact me and let me know what the hell is going on but again no one answers or calls you back. I know that someone took the company over but this person does not seem to be as reputable as the prior owner.

 

[mike s]

Well yesterday a charge showed up on my card from Jims antique battery. And I received an email with purchase information. But has no tracking information on it. I sent email back asking if item was shipped and requested tracking number. I guess I will see what happens from here. And so the saga continues. Will advise

 

[IMBVSUR?]

If it was me, I would call the CC company and stop and dispute it. I know you want the battery, actually that is why I am following this thread as I was considering one, however I am not now. I would then send and email and leave a message on the phone, recording the dates and times. I would not want to work with a company that has not and would not respond to my emails or phone calls. They clearly have one or several issues. They either have money problems, manufacturing problems, or employee problems. None of which at this point matters. They have shown clearly how they feel and treat their customers. The total lack of any common decency and respect they have shown to you while trying to purchase a product from them is more than enough. In the past I have gone down this road with a few companies, and it never ends well. Even when I have received the product, they were not as promised, or with problems. And then what are you going to do????? They will not even return emails or phone calls. Do you think they are going to stand behind their workmanship or warranty? Good luck, sorry to hear about your problems with this company. Does anyone know any other companies that reproduce these batteries?

 

[Junky]

I called today, and a person answered on the 4th ring. I asked for a price ($280 plus shipping) and if they were going to be at Carlisle in the spring. The answer that I got was surprising, but honest. The lady told me that if Jim were to go to Carlisle, that there would be no one building batteries. He is the only one there, except for the lady that answered the phone. She told me that he is working through a back log of orders, and that there was a 30 window between when your place the order and it is shipped. My guess is that he can't afford help, and is trying to get caught up as fast as he can. I wonder how much demand there actually is for all these specialty batteries, and if he has to spend a lot of money getting the cases built, that ties up his capital, and consequently he can't afford help at this time. If they don't bill your credit card until it is ready to be shipped, I believe that they (Jim) is an honest person that is doing as best he can with the limited resources that he has. I will be ordering a battery from him in the spring, since my car sits all winter in the garage. The batteries have a 4 year warranty, with 100% for the 1st year, and then it is prorated for the last 36 months. That is pretty much the industry standard.

 

[IMBVSUR?]

Lets take everything you said about the company as 100% correct, and they mean well, put out a great product. Keeping any personal relationships and feelings aside, would you agree that not replying to phone calls and emails is not an acceptable business practice? Would you accept that type of service from any company you have transactions with? I have found in my experience that communication goes a long way for most companies.

I remember many years ago when I worked at a transmission shop. The sales guys would tell a customer that we would have the transmission built and installed by lets say Tuesday, knowing full well we could not start the job till Tuesday. So then the customer calls, where is my car. Its not ready. Now the customer is not happy because "the sales guy" said it would be ready on Tuesday. He or she expected it based on what they were told, not their expectations. Then it gets cranked out by Thursday or Friday. Its rushed, the builder misses something, or the R&R guy overtightens the pan bolts. A day later the customer returns because there is an issue and is mad. The shop already started on the wrong foot with this customer all in the name of getting money from them. So they made the customer mad by lying to them on the original date it would be done knowing they could not have it ready. Then, as we all know, things happen, parts don't come, new stuff is wrong, people call in sick etc. So now the customer is back with something wrong with the transmission and they are even madder and telling everyone about the service they didn't receive.

A delay in production of a product happens, that is life. However to just ignore your customers that keep your business open seems a little non productive. The sad thing is I wanted to order a battery from this company. If I called and he said, I am backed up. It is not 4-6 weeks, its 3-4 months, I could live with it. However, taking an order with an established time line, regardless of when I am charged for the item, then not communicating with customers when the timeline changes doesn't make for happy, current, and new customers. I always told my customers realistic time lines even if I knew they would not like it. Almost all of them at first said or thought that sounds crazy. However when you explain it to them, most said thank you for being honest and still had the work done, or purchased the product. I learned a lot from the idiot at the transmission shop, and I am glad I did. By the way, that shop, was taken over by owners son ( the sales guy ) after 30 plus years, it went out of business under his management. He also went to prison, but that was for other things that he did at the transmission shop.

 

[Junky]

Lets take everything you said about the company as 100% correct, and they mean well. Keeping any personal relationships and feelings aside, would you agree that not replying to phone calls and emails is an acceptable business practice? Would you accept that type of service from any company you have transactions with?

I already said that I was planning on ordering from them in the spring, which shows that I trust the honesty of this company. Your question reminds me of the way that the Democrats are dealing with impeachment proceedings...... You are trying to box me into a response with your "yes or no" type of a question. I am basing my decisions on what I have experienced, and I have no opinion, good or bad, on what others have experienced.
Others on these forums have had a problem with Cars, Inc. upholstery, and my experience with Cars, Inc. was great. I had a problem with upholstery from Ciadella, and others have had good experiences with them. Their experiences and mine don't make either company a great company, or a bad company. I hold no ill will against Gina or the Ciadella company, even though I believe that they could have handled to problem in a more professional manner. Good companies make mistakes, and sometimes they are not equipped with the knowledge how to handle a mistake. Sometimes the person is demanding or unreasonable in their expectations of how something should be handled. I might not agree with them, but I don't expect others to make their judgment calls over a single experience of another. If everyone was perfect, there would be no reason to put erasers on the end of a pencil or spell correct on a computer. I know that there are no perfect people in this world, however, I also know that in some peoples minds, they believe that they are perfect.

 

[IMBVSUR?]

I already said that I was planning on ordering from them in the spring, which shows that I trust the honesty of this company. Your question reminds me of the way that the Democrats are dealing with impeachment proceedings...... You are trying to box me into a response with your "yes or no" type of a question. I am basing my decisions on what I have experienced, and I have no opinion, good or bad, on what others have experienced.
Others on these forums have had a problem with Cars, Inc. upholstery, and my experience with Cars, Inc. was great. I had a problem with upholstery from Ciadella, and others have had good experiences with them. Their experiences and mine don't make either company a great company, or a bad company. I hold no ill will against Gina or the Ciadella company, even though I believe that they could have handled to problem in a more professional manner. Good companies make mistakes, and sometimes they are not equipped with the knowledge how to handle a mistake. Sometimes the person is demanding or unreasonable in their expectations of how something should be handled. I might not agree with them, but I don't expect others to make their judgment calls over a single experience of another. If everyone was perfect, there would be no reason to put erasers on the end of a pencil or spell correct on a computer. I know that there are no perfect people in this world, however, I also know that in some peoples minds, they believe that they are perfect.

Ok, that is fine if you don't care if a business doesn't return your correspondence. You have that right. I am pretty sure most people would like return phone calls and emails from a business they are doing, or trying to do business with. Secondly I take personal offense to you insinuating that I am acting like a liberal or democrat, I find it deflecting from the conversation and a personal attack that is unwarranted, however you are entitled to your opinion. Thanks for the feedback.

 

[BSL409]

I believe once they charge your card they then start to build the battery witch takes another 3-4-weeks

 

[55Brodie]

The Sarbanes/Oxley Act (SOX) makes it illegal for a publicly held company to charge your credit card before goods are shipped or services rendered. I'm not sure how SOX applies to mom and pop operations.

 

[Iowa 409 Guy]

If he can't afford to hire someone he's going to lose customers with the long lead time.

And his 4 year warranty is probably a moot point as the way they are running things now, they won't be in business in 4 years.

 

[mike s]

I received a reply to my email. It states Jim is finishing up battery build now and that it will ship first of the week. I will receive information in email when it does. Guess ill see what next week brings. Maybe ill be getting an early Christmas Present.

 

[Don Jacks]

 

[real61ss]

over the years I have bought a couple thousand dollars of these batterys, they are crap, cost twice or more what a good quality regular battery cost, won't last half as long and arn't near as strong. I'm not buying any more. With all the old casings that I have I take the caps and cut the threads off and glue them to the top of a regular battery. This one doesn't look good but it's on a car that I drive but it beats paying 300 bucks for a battery that won't last but a couple of years.

 

[Phil Reed]

Good idea Tommy!!! Talked to Pat a while back and I think he does something similar. Need to talk with him as I will need a battery next spring for the 63 Belair.