MX-5 OC Forum

 User Name - Uk-performance-uk

 Purchased - 1.6 Stainless Steel Manifold - NEW

 Problem - Didn't fit due to the holes on the head mounting plate being incorrect, and once that was sorted, the down pipes touched the bell housing

 Below is my full experience with dealing with the problems, it is 100% honest, and I invite you all to make your own decision on if you think they are a fair trader to deal with, I know I will no longer deal with them at all.

 Details

 28/03/12 - I purchased the manifold in good time so that is was ready to fit on the speedster when it returned from paint.

 14/06/12 - the speedster was ready for this part to be fitted, but I discovered that it wouldn't fit, due to the holes on the mounting plate to the head being approx 3mm out in some cases, so I sent a message to uk-performance-uk saying this, and that I thought I could get it to fit by drilling out the holes, but I wanted a small refund to cover my time to do this, they offered £15, which I accepted - this £15 has still not been recieved.

 01/07/12 - I discovered that once the holes were drilled out and the manifold was fitted that there was another problem, one pair of down pipes were touching the block, right near the bell housing, I don't have a means to modify this other than cutting and re-welding, which would destroy the finish of the manifold, so not something I was willing to do, so i contacted the seller to report this second problem

 02/07/12 - recieved a reply from uk-performance-uk asking when I purchased the item, to which I replied with the date of purchase

 03/07/12 - I recieved this reply, copied word for word

 Hi,

I have just spoken to the manager and I`m very sorry to say that but
we can`t accept return of this item as it has been over 30 days policy I`m
very sorry.

Kind Regards

-uk-performance-uk

I didn't think this was very fair, so i expressed this, and mentioned that the sale of goods act says that a product must be fit for purpose, and this clearly wasn't, they replied asking for photos

 by this time I had already removed it from the car, and I was away for a while.

 17/07/12 - I refitted the part and sent photos, and received a reply saying that due to the length of time they could only offer me £30 store credit and I keep the part, or full store credit if I return the part.

 the problem is, store credit is not really any good to me because they don't have any manifolds, or any other parts that I want, so i asked for a refund.

 from that date to today many emails have gone back and forth all saying the same thing really, them saying that is all they can offer me, and me saying that it isn't good enough, and I need a full refund or a manifold that fits, they will not give me either.

 So with no other options really open to me, all I can do is post this experience on the forums.

 I guess that I should have fitted it straight away, but I still think they are being un fair, I know that if I return that part to them they will send it back to the manufacturer and get a full refund, or replacement part, so it is win win for them, and lose lose for me.

I will leave you all to make up your own minds, but my advice is, stay away.

Without customers these guys wouldnt be in business.

I understand they have policies but good will goes along waI in my book. There are far to many busnesses ready to take your money and offer no support. Thats bad. Especially in todays climate were maintaining a solid customer base is more important than ever before.

Also if they have a good relationship with their suppliers they shouldnt have a problem getting credit.

You wouldnt have this problem from me! I like to think i go the xtra mile for my customers. They are more like friends. Without them I wouldnt have a business.

Sorry for the rant.

Maybe post their trading address; a lot of these sharks trade under different names, or open/close under different names.

Hi Mx5restorer,

I was in the market for an after market stainless steel manifold and down pipe myself for our company mk2, as traders on Ebay ourselves it is the easiest place to buy as well as sell (sometimes). I looked at 3 companies trading on the Bay, each had what I needed, however looking at their feedback It was more than clear that an awful amount of their customers had the same complaint, poor fitting parts, parts needed re-welding etc etc.One company had something like 60 negative feedbacks in one month for these reasons but people still buy these items and continue to have the same problems, why? I am at the point now where I want to wait and buy a good quality item elsewhere when I can afford to pay a little extra for a good quality item rather than some cheap nasty imported rubbish. Keep at these people and I hope it all comes good for you in the end, good luck.

Hi Steve123,

You are absolutely right in what you say, without our customers we would also not be in business. We makes mistakes from time to time but will bend over backwards to put a problem right as best we can, of course sometimes no matter what you do it's never good enough! Luckily problem customers are in the minority and we enjoy a happy trading experience through Ebay and our website and most of our customers return again and again, so we can't be that bad!

Regards to you both,

Brian.  www.mx5revive.com   Ebay mx5revive

Mx5restorer, can you not open a dispute within ebay?

You can and should open a dispute. eBay are very good at supporting the buyer. However it may have gone on too long as there is a time limit. Check it out and open a dispute if you can, otherwise you may have to put it  down to experience. 

Yep, don't bother sorting it out direct, let eBay sort them out. They are extremely tough on sellers these days as I know to my cost (and why I don't sell on there anymore).

45 days on e-bay,after that your on your own

Yep, Victormeldrew is so right, Ebay nearly always back the buyer in any given situation, even when it is quite clear that the buyer is at fault and for this reason we are now about to scale back our operation on Ebay. Of course there are still many Ebay traders whole continue to break the rules and rip off customers, these are the people Ebay need to get rid of and actually start to look after their genuine Sellers.

Sorry for the rant!

Regards,

Brian. www.mx5revive.com

Personally I find you hit the seller where it hurts - in the pocket. There is a similar thread to this about Demon Tweeks on another forum. I say name 'n' shame them and then send them a link to the forum address where this is being discussed. If they see for themselves the hit their reputation is taking because of an item that wasn't fit for purpose, amongst the very people who would buy these items, wouldn't you want to do something about it? I certainly won't consider them again. There are too many good ebayers out there to take a chance on a bad one. Just sayin.