Inline Tube no longer my source.

[donsrods]

You know that when I have had good service from a company I will be the first one to post that info here. By the same token, if I see that a vendor is not doing things properly I feel an obligation to tell you all about that as well.

In the past some of you have asked me where we get our stainless steel brake lines made up and where we buy our braided lines. I have told you that we have always used Inline Tube. Sadly, I now have to say that the last several transactions with them have been horrible, to the point where we will never do business with them again.

The first strike was the lines I ordered for my own T. They made up three custom length lines and simply threw them into a long cardboard box. When the box arrived all three lines were bent badly. Instead of them stepping up to the plate, they refused to rush ship 3 more, but would only use regular shipping. I ended up keeping the bent lines and paying for them to avoid the hassle of returning them.

Next strike was an adapter I bought for a residual valve that I also bought from them. It didn't fit as it was too long, and I just ended up eating it.

Final straw was today. Dan ordered a $ 200+ order from them for Don's T, and when the UPS guy walked in the lines were hanging out of the box and bent in half. Dan paid overnight to get them here for this weekend. He called them immediately while the driver was there, and they said the best they could do was to ship out more lines Monday REGULAR shipping, and that WE would have to pay the return shipping for the damaged lines, or refuse the entire order. We are rushing to get this car done for Daytona so we can't refuse the shipment as there are lots of other parts in it.

I'm not sure what is going on at Inline Tube, but their way of doing business has gone from very good to very uncaring. They used to put lines into a hard tube and ship them, now they throw them into a thin cardboard box and expect them to make the trip undamaged. Worse yet, they refuse to acknowledge the problem or to satisfy a good customer who has bought from them for years now.

I'm done with them, and just wanted to let others know that the good words I used to say about them no longer pertain. If you think I'm angry, you are right.

Don

[wayne petty]

the damage was done by the shipper...  the good old UPS stomp....and it should be covered by the insurance that was purchased...most every thing is  insured up to 100 dollars...


were the lines kinked ?

was there an L shapped piece of 1/2" cardboard in the box to make it rigid...?

is there an option for a cardboard shipping tube?


just had another thought... does the ups guy like you ?

it is probably the fault of the rushed low pay contract ups workers... out here in california many companys.. outsource work..  this limits the amount of workmans comp... they can probably also deduct the cost of the contract  to reduce their taxes...


also... hf has a 5 dollar 3/16 tube bender...
the good one from imperial is about 90 bucks or so... there was an artical somewere where they fill the tube with water and freeze it and then bend it. this prevents the tube from crushing..


http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=94571

[GPster]

I had not thought about the use of plaster.  This may be the ticket for me.

What, to fill the line with and freeze before bending? GPster

[kb426]

I used Inline Tube a couple of months ago. My lines came in the tube but the tube was damaged. The lines were ok but it came close to being a problem. I didn't ask enough questions upfront. I thought I was getting a roll of tubing but received 5' lenghts of straight tubing. Had I known that, I would have gone to a local store and only bought hoses from an out of town supplier. This was one more of my deals where I didn't ask enough questions. When I ran the race car, I dealt with the same people most of the time and knew what to expect. That was 11 years ago. There's lots of new suppliers for me to get educated about.  

[wayne petty]

I had not thought about the use of plaster.  This may be the ticket for me.

What, to fill the line with and freeze before bending? GPster

somehow some ware this got posted to the wrong thread...

[Bib_Overalls]

Godman in Memphis.  Not the cheapest.  But old Ray makes sure every customer is satisfied.

[Leon]

the damage was done by the shipper...  the good old UPS stomp....and it should be covered by the insurance that was purchased...most every thing is  insured up to 100 dollars...

That doesn't apply if it isn't properly packaged.  UPS will deny a claim if it isn't properly packaged, I had an AC condenser take months before the replacement got to me because the guy was fighting UPS over a damaged unit.  He had to replace it out of his pocket.  Sure, they can get very rough with packages, but the shipper has to know that a fragile item in a thin box IS going to end up on a conveyor under a 125 pound box.  

I recently got an Optima battery from Summit along with a few other items.  They put the battery(in its factory box) inside their box with the other items.  They used those inflateable pillows to separate the stuff.  By the time I got it the pillows were shredded and the other items were imprinted on the battery box but since they were strong items they survived.  Had it been fragile items they would have been toast.  Not UPS fault.  I usually make it a habit not to order heavy items with light stuff on the same order.  A couple years ago I order a case of Royal Purple, I got a nicely sealed box of oil.  A couple months ago I order another case, they took 12 quarts out and put them in their box with those pillows, and one was leaking by the time I got them.  Why I don't know, Summit says that's up to the shipping department - the kid I talked to didn't want to bother with my complaint.  Companies don't care about shipping safety anymore.