BC GTA

Thank you the comment about Vancouver and BC, I once lived there for over four years. It is a nice city, I live in the Capital city which my hometown.

I sent the painting costs off to my gardener today. To remove and paint an aerowing the estimates are about $340 and $400 from two reputable auto body shops. As soon as I hear from the gardener I will be in a position to order an aerowing.

I can appreciate that once a product leaves a factory or retailer it is then in the hands of the shipper. I have little experience with shipping numbers and tracking numbers but as the point of contact with the customer the supplier i.e. North Country needs to get from the shipper what ever they can to answer customers questions as well as a reasonable estimate on the amount of time to get the product to the customer's location. G&T's customer’s service of not even returning phone calls or e-mails was inexcusable. They deserved to go out of business.

You should try bringing things across the border. Some times they skip right through. Other times they get stuck when a flood of other mail and parcels hit customs. You never know. It can be held up for a day or two or weeks. If I was a supplier in the USA I would do a little research on shipping things to Canada and one or two of my main over seas customers and be in a position to forward information to customers about that. I have seen other auto suppliers provide that on their website. It would depend on how much of my product went outside of the good old USA.

Lets see how things turn out.

KenV

Yo.

I think they will at this point. I told Jim about how it's difficult to keep the faith when there's a continent between buyer and seller. The web moves so fast a company can be broken overnight, especially since many people tend to focus on the bad. I saw how people who received their NCF goods were very happy, and that's what kept me on an even keel.

Man, if FedEx jacks this shipment up, I'll need a pitcher of margaritas, a bottle of lithium pills, or both.

With temps hitting 40+ here, I sure could use some cool Canadian air. I haven't been on the Island since I was a kid. From time to time I hear about IT jobs there, and wonder how it would be to live in Birch Bay (WA) and commute over the border with a CanPass on my windshield. Sounds like fun to me

On-topic: I would really nail NCF down on how they ship north so that both sides know what is expected. My take on NCF is that they're cordial but overworked with orders. They just hired on a few more to cover the load, and if those guys are as good as the current batch of folks making things there, they'll be sitting pretty to turn out things on time. Of course, as I say this I'm kissing a$$ to my bodywork guy over my car sitting to the side. As far as I know I'll be picking it up from his side lot and towing it to my house for a bit

BC GTA

So I when down to Canada Customs/ Border Service yesterday who gave me the low down on how to save brokerage fees. I have to tell North Country to send it to my auto body shop c/o me for "self clearing" is the term to use on the documents with my addresses and phone number. Here in Victoria as I guess with many cities everything that crosses the border ends up in a warehouse and either the shipper i.e. UPS or the person receiving the goods can take the customs documents down to Canada Customs. Once they have given their approval you can go back to the warehouse and either pick up the aerowing in this case or have UPS or whoever take it to your auto body shop. I got this info from Canada Customs/Border Service and the warehouse so if anyone north of the border is reading this and you want to save brokerage fees start by going to talk to the customs house nearest you. Of course if you live right on the border there are options to having it delivered to a USA address and bring it across yourself but I live on an island or you may live far from the border.

Hopefully I will be in a position to place an order next week or the week after.

Yes, one bad experience can hurt a company and we do not hear of the dozens or hundreds of satisfied customers. However, G&T's practice of not returning e-mails or telephone calls was very bad business.

BC and Alberta are still booming economically I guess from all that oil and gas money. It is nice our dollars are at about par now. I have run into several USA citizens up here. Your basic BC'er and Washingtonian are pretty similar. I have three cousins in the USA in Michigan, Washington and California I thing. Our Premier Gordon and Governor Arnold meet quite often on climate issues.

Temperature will hit 29C to 30C with the hottest days of summer being about 35C. The interior away from the Pacific will get much hotter.

KenV

I'd kill for your weather, lol.

Well, the wing arrived. No pics tonight, but here's the lowdown:

Good: Finish is nice with no pinholes. So far it looks like it should line up, but bear in mind you may be on your own for getting the 'spears' to stick. It had small brackets screwed to the spears but they don't appear to be useful at this time. Guess we'll see. Lastly, it's protected by a skim coat of primer that I'll be sanding down AFTER REPAIRING THE CHIPS THAT FEDEX PUT IN IT EVEN THOUGH IT WAS IN CARDBOARD WITH CORNER REINFORCEMENTS. So far it looks very straight and won't need much prep aside from 'the bad'.

The bad: Oh yeah, THE CHIPS THAT FEDEX PUT IN IT EVEN THOUGH IT WAS IN CARDBOARD WITH CORNER REINFORCEMENTS! I wait this long and they do this. Really, the box was mushed at its corners and some of the (many) huge staples that comprised the box were breached.

Ugly: Communication. Jim seems like a nice dude, but holy crap does that company need some training in customer service. For a product that looks quite good at first blush, the lag time was killing me. Really, they should tell buyers it's a one-month wait, unless the new employees make things go faster.

All in all, I give it a so far. When I get some daylight and a free moment I'll snap some pics. Should be this weekend.

Guro 305

Just be thankful for right now that you got it.

KenV

I most certainly am. And I'm thankful for your input man. I'm not sure I would have pushed as hard as I did had you not posted up. Thanks for looking out for your fellow Thirdgenners

goalieforlife

iTrader: (4)

Sale would be a great start.

BC GTA

I just sent an e-mail to North Country Fiberglass ordering an aerowing. It is 11am Pacific Time Friday July 4, 2008. I just realized that's a holiday in the USA. Happy Independence Day everyone down there. Our independence day or Canada Day as it is called was July 1.

I will keep you posted. I have asked them for an estimate of the time to get it to me and how shipping damage is dealt with. I will keep you posted of how this progresses. I really hope this goes smoothly. North Country Fiberglass could really establish their reputation here.

I have arranged a painting time of Aug 11, 2008 with the auto body shop I am going to use.

You would like our summers. I would like your winters. From November to about April we have months of gray over cast, drizzle, rain and temperatures from about -3C to 7C.

KenV

Here's a few of the wing. The wing is quite smooth, and the chip appears to be a straightforward fix:

BC GTA

Did you go after Fed Ex for the damage? North Country E-mailed me back on Monday saying I am added to the list. North Country advised to approach Fed Ex for damage as they carry insurance.

Also, where is the center brake light set up? Do you transfer everything over from your existing wing?

Stephen

iTrader: (12)

Was the wing poking THROUGH the box? If not, and thedamaged happened during shipping, the broken off pieces would be inside the box. Unless it was damaged, at North Country, before packaging.

In any case...what kind of protection was on the wing tips? Wrapped in bubble wrap or nothing? Wrapped/protected good, it shouldn't break, or the pieces broken off, would still be i place, wrapped in the bubble wrap.

KenV

When the wing arrived the box was 'soft' from being banged around and the box wasn't sealed at either tip. There were corners/evidence of corners of cardboard at the tips, but they were loose like the rest of the box perimeter. Not placed loosely, but banged loose. The box corners/edges were blackened from being dragged around and several of the staples holding the box shut were popped. It's hard to tell from the pics but the cardboard is compressed, suggesting dragging/dropping of some sort. I didn't find the chip, but I found enough gaps in the taped/stapled box, busted open and not improperly secured, to tell me why it was long gone.

I considered sending the pics to FedEx with a claim, but I figure that the $20 they'd probably give, after a presumably long fight, wouldn't be worth my time. Besides, once I fill the chip it'll be fine. That'll take less time than begging FedEx for money. After what I went through to get the sucker I'd rather cut losses and get the car done.

There are holes on the underside of the wing for mounting the CHMSL. The spears will take some work, as they don't clear the clip receivers on the factory glass. There were a couple of small clips screwed to the spears, presumably for retention in place of the factory system. I received instructions for a 4th gen wing with this unit so I emailed Jim for details. I'll post up when he replies.

Stephen

iTrader: (12)

Well, from your description, I guess we can blame FedEx for messing it up.

I'd fix it & still have FedEx pay me something, at least for repairs. You let them get away with it, & they'll do it to others boxes too. Only way they MIGHT stop, is if they keep having fork out $, because of their bad handling.

If mine gets broke, I'm blaming it on YOU, for not teaching them a lesson.

Guro 305

Be thankful you got it from FedEx and not UPS or else you would've had two half wings!!!!

KenV

lawl, you guys are killing me.

Funny you mention UPS Guro. I've had great luck with them. Case in point: I ordered an Odyssey batt for my other car, and FedEx mangled it twice. UPS was tapped for the batt through another vendor and it came through perfect. UPS doesn't forget to at least ring the bell, and they don't play soccer with the packages. That's only my experience, but I order from all over this fine country.

I don't even know how to claim from FedEx, but I guess I'll check their site. It's probably hidden under something about freight costs to Ghana or something...

BC GTA

Has any one been in contact with North Country Fiber Glass in the last week or two?

I placed my order on July 5 then sent follow up e-mails on July 18, 22 and 30 with telephone calls on July 23 and 27. My VISA card was charged and North Country said they would put it on the list as soon as possible. All I get is an automated e-mail or phone message indicting they will respond as soon as possible.

I was expecting at least a month before I got the aerowing, but I am getting a little concerned with them not returning my attempts to contact them. I would just like my messages returned.

Does anyone have a suggestion for me on how to proceed if I do not hear back from them?

Stephen

iTrader: (12)

On the 14th, I got this from Jim..."We had some large orders for the boat parts we build and had to pull our mold guys off to help fill the orders."

Their primary business was the boats, then they bought out G&T, and I think they are still trying to play catch up with G&Ts problems of bad molds, lack of inventory & back orders.

BC GTA

Stephen:

Thank you very much. That puts my mind at easy a little. I will expect to wait a few more weeks. It is not that I mind waiting as I was expecting a month but not to hear back from them was raising my concern level. Guess they are just swamped with boat orders. I will post my results in a few weeks.

KenV

Yep, they're busy folks. I emailed every few days to keep my name on their minds over there. The wing looks good though, good enough that I'm not complaining about the delays every time I look at it. Of course, my car's back home since I couldn't get the wing in time, but that just means I can take my time with it I guess.

Just keep repeatedly contacting them. It'll work out in the end.

80schild

iTrader: (5)

Can anyone tell me how much they charge for the aerowing? My rubber one is shot.

Stephen

iTrader: (12)

Look it up on their website. You'd have it already if you had.

80schild

iTrader: (5)

Yeah I see it now, they had it on the hood page.

boldguy

I bought my ws6 style Ram air hood from them and it is just ok. I also bought an air box from them. It took about 8 months from the time they charded my card to the time i recieved both packages at my house. The hood fits less than ok. it kinda rides up higher than the fenders in the middle and the wipers make the whole hood rise about a 1/4 inch when turned on. Am i pleased with the product? - Not for what i paid, Would i recommend you guys to them? Definately not G&T fiberglass. North country Maybe never heard of em.

Good luck with the business

80schild

iTrader: (5)

Yeah I see the spoiler is only $9 cheaper than Hawks. I don't think $9 is worth the wait and risk.

BC GTA

Here is an update to my last post. I tried contacting North Country Fiberglass by telephone and E-mail again. I get the same message saying they will get back to me as soon as possible.

So I contacted my credit card company who will refund me the purchase price. My credit card company is conducting an investigation into this.

Once the investigation is complete I will consider buying the aerowing from someone else.

North Country Fiberglass may be busy; however, to charge someone's credit card and not return their e-mails or telephone calls except to say we will get back to you as soon as we can is just not quite good enough. I leave it to you to decide if this is good customer service and if you would want to deal with this company.

RAD5

I agree, they had no problem taking your money right away, the least they could have done was kept you up to date, it takes 5 seconds to send an email. The should have come right out and said it could take 2 months or so before you see the part. I don't understand where some people get their business sense! BC, Hawks sells an aerowing, you could try theirs.

I need one too and I was about to buy from North Country last week. I am glad I waited and I don't think I will buy from them. I am in no hurry but I want at least to be kept up to date.

BC GTA

Ok here is the lowdown on this situation. First, of all I would never buy anything with a check or money order, once you give a merchant that it is a lot harder to get your money back. This is not in relation to the Fiber Glass company in particular rather any merchant especially one off the internet. I have since joined Pay Pal due to another purchase somewhere else but I can not give any experience with regard to how they resolve transaction disputes and how effective they are.

So, when you purchase something with your credit card, in my case VISA, as I understand it, the merchant has 30 days after they have either taken your order or charged your credit card to show they have shipped it or sent it to you. VISA will not act until 30 days has expired from the above noted dates. In my case the merchant charged my VISA about 1-2 weeks after I placed my order on July 4 and they acknowledge my purchase on July 5.

It is important to be able to show that you repeatedly attempted to contact the merchant either by e-mail or by telephone. Your phone bill and e-mail messages will help. The more the better.

I was advised it is in your best interest to start the dispute as soon as the 30 days has expired. What the heck the sooner you start the sooner you can get your money back and you can go somewhere else.

So, if you can document the above like I did VISA will charge back your money temporarily and it will show up on your next VISA statement. At the same time you will be given a dispute file number and you will get a letter from VISA. I have not gotten mine yet as I only started this a few days ago. The merchant will be sent a letter and given the opportunity to present their side and show that they have shipped the goods to you. If they can do that VISA can debit your account again. But remember you have documentation showing you have tried several times to contact the merchant to no success.

Eventually VISA can go after the merchant’s bank for the money. This dispute can drag out for up to 4 months from the date you started so again it is best to start this process right away. I also do not know at this point what happens if the merchant decides to supply the goods during the 4 months. I got the impression from VISA that you were not obligated to accept the purchase but I do not know this for a fact. So you probably do not want to make a similar purchase from another merchant until this process is over.

VISA advised that if I could show what I have stated then there will be no problem getting my money back. As I am still going through this I am still learning the dispute process. Also, this is not legal advice so do your own research. This is just one Thirdgen’ers experience. You start this by contacting VISA and they will refer you to a toll free number for their dispute resolution center. I just happen to contact VISA a couple of days before the 30 days kicked in so they took the particulars of my complain and advised to call back in a couple of days.

I have contacted Hawks to find out if they have supply of these aerowings in stock before I order one. I will also have to wait now a couple of months now anyhow.

BC GTA

Well I got my letter from VISA two days ago indicating they have begun the investigation. Then the next day I get an e-mail from North Country indicating the following:

I just took over the office here from Jim. What a mess. Anyway I did find your order in the shipped file. After looking into it more I could not find any shipping pappers for it. I guess it was another miss file from Jim. I will have one out on WED. I will get you the tracking # when it goes out.
>
> Very sorry about the delay.
>
> Tony

Lets see how fast they can ship it. Lets hope the change in personnel will result in improved customer service. North Country really had the opportunity here to make an impression; however, they fumbled the ball. Let's see if a new quarterback can do any better. As they are a well established fiberglass company, which should indicate they could make a fiberglass aerowing, if they can still get it to me I would be willing to accept it. They say everyone deserves a second chance.

I relayed this to VISA who advised not to cancel my dispute until the aerowing is here. For the sake of others I will keep this thread going.

Stephen

iTrader: (12)

Second chance? G&T was "supposedly" bought out by North Country, yet the URL owners address was the same, only the name changed.

North Country pops up as the new "owners", and made these "promises" to set things right....6 months later & not only have they not gotten any better, but it seems to have gotten even worse.

If "Tony" wants to make things righ with the 3rd gen crowd, he should sign up here personally, post & offer an explanation.

Then this crowd might believe him.

I had a design deal going with North Country on a new Pontiac hood.Well, the target completion was about 3 months ago......

RAD5

Good luck BC! Keep us up to date..

BC GTA

I am giving them the chance to deliver the aerowing while still proceeding with my VISA dispute. The money has been charged back to my account and VISA is going after North Country's bank. So if North Country does not come through and deliver an aerowing to me in a few months this will be resolved. I will get my money back and go to Hawks for an aerowing. All I am out is a few months, some frustration and our dollar is down a couple of cents now compared to when I first ordered the aerowing from North Country.

A second, chance may not be the correct words. I am going to permit them the chance to deliver the aerowing as this dispute continues while I keep VISA after them. All the while North Country has the opportunity to make things right and generate some good advertising for themselves or they can let this continue and generate another type of advertising for themselves. Either way, I now have my money back and this will be settled in a couple of months..... Well hopefully.

Oh by the way I responded to Tony's e-mail to repeat my shipping instruction to Canada to avoid brokerage fees. All I have gotten back is an automated response back saying we will get back to you as soon as possible.

I spoke to my body shop here in my city who indicated their experience in getting things delivered from the east coast of the USA would be 4 to 5 weeks.

VISA also advised not to cancel the dispute until I have the aerowing in my possession as once you cancel the dispute you cannot start it again.

smokefan

well i also out in a call to order the cowl hood for my car. i have gotten a reply saying that they can have it down in about a week. I than sent another email telling them about there problems about shipping their products and asked if i could pay c.o.d and no response yet. I also called them and left a message and still no responce. I dont think that i am going to waste anymore time with them.

Stephen

iTrader: (12)

I guess Jim is out & Tony is in. Hopefully he'll go out of his way to make things right with this crowd.

I emailed late Friday (after business hours) and got this back, this morning, asking about new owners....

"No new owners just moving people around and new management so we can get some better customer service going on. I am new here and am finding all kinds of orders in the wrong files. I will have to check on that hood with the guys in the shop. I will get back to you by the end of the day.

Thanks"

Management is usually to blame, when people just own & not manage. I'll keep ya'll up to date.

RAD5

I see they're selling the aerowing on ebay. "Please allow 1-2 weeks for shipping"

BC GTA

I see the e-bay advertisement. I suppose this must be a marketing ploy of some sort. 1 to 2 weeks?

dojo55

i have been waiting several months for my ram air hood
i havnt seen crap from them
they do not answer phones or emails

Steveh4263

iTrader: (1)

Are they giving any discounts on fiberglass spoilers and hoods? They are stilling have trouble with management yet. I think I will wait until they get it all sorted out. I could use a new Aerospoiler on my GTA.

smokefan

i just ordered a hood from them and asked that to have it shipped out right away since i am going to the track at the end of this month. Cant go without a hood. Anyways i talked to tony there who is taking over and said that it would be shipped out last wednesday. well they never showed up to pick it up so its not shipped yet. He said that there freight company picks up once a week and thats on wednesday. we will see what happens this week

dojo55

DOES ANYBODY HAVE THE COMPANY'S ADDRESS?????
i amt rying to file a complaint with the attorney general of vermont (correct one i hope, if nto please advise?) and they need the compnay's address... i dont have it nor can i find it....anyone care to help?
i have been waiting months for a hood....i cant get a hold of them by any way possible...

bygblok

iTrader: (3)

let me add a little more to this show. I won a hood(off of EBAY) from them back in June for my 92 RS. I paid it in full with a cashiers check with the understanding that they had a 6-8 week build to ship time on the hood(it's BS because I can build a mold AND a hood faster than that) but I went along anyway. At the time I really wasn't hurting because I had to go to Guam for a month to fly weather. I left for Guam on the 27th of July thinking my hood would be here when I returned....NOT!! I contacted them and they said the hood was brought back to them damaged and they would have another one out asap, no pics, no shippers name or anything to verify. OK, I waited ANOTHER two weeks for a hood and nothing. I contacted them AGAIN and Tony said my hood had been shipped and he would have a tracking number and the info for me the next day.......NOT!! Here we are three weeks later and still NO communication at all and still no frikken hood. As far as I'm concerned I just lost a big wad of cash trusting somebody like this. It's a huge setback for a military guy to lose this kind of money in a deal made in good trust. George, Jim, Tony, whoever the FUG is in charge, you better get some products out or start sending out some refunds. I'd hate to get my JAG office involved but a ripoff is a ripoff no matter where you go. We fly up to the northeast quite a bit too, no telling when I might take a check ride up that way and drop in on your doorstep....if you really even have one. DON'T BUY FROM THESE LOSER'S....PERIOD!! Especially if you EVER expect to get your product!!
----------
here's the address they had me send my money order to;

285 harron heights
morgan, VT 05853

BC GTA

Oh, the Wednesday promise is it. I got one of those as well as you can see above. These guys give every excuse under the sun and still do not ship out what you paid for. Look at all the dissatisfied customers who post on this website then consider how many dissatisfied customers there must be who never find this website to post their bad experiences with North Country. Somebody needs to contact either the government of Vermont, the Better Business Bureau in that state or whom ever and do something. I gave North Country a chance to prove themselves and they turned out to be no better than G&T if indeed they are not the same company as others have suggested. We need to keep this thread going as a warning to other prospective customers of fibreglass automobile products how these guys conduct business of lack there of. I feel for the guys who have paid for their products with cash or check. Only use credit cards in the future as the credit card companies have the resources to go after people who conduct business practises like this.

smokefan

i mapquest the address and nothing comes up with that address. its like a 5 hr drive from my house. a little to far for my liking

dojo55

thanks for that address bygblock...
i did a USSEARCH Reverse phone number lookup and it came up with a number in Morgan Vermont, but no exact address.... so maybe we are hitting on something here?
they give me the same returned damaged item bulls**t and i think i read on here they gave it to a few others... its ridiculous... its about a 5 hour ride for me as well...and i have no problem hauling my a** up there and giving them a piece of my mind... among other things...
i am in themidst of dealing with the attorney general in vermont right now and im about to go the better business bureau as well...

dojo55

also i mapquested the general area of morgan, vt after mapquesting and not finding anything.....perhaps u meant Hatton Heights? because that certainly exists and the "R" is right next to the "T" =)
lemme know if im right so i can email the attorney general and BBB

Stephen

iTrader: (12)

Remember GT Fiberglass? Who got the bad rep, then "sold" to North Country?

http://www.whois.net/whois_new.cgi?d...rglass&tld=com

http://www.whois.net/whois_new.cgi?d...rglass&tld=com

Notice any similarity? I knew about this from the beginning...I even posted it here on TGO. My suspicion was, they chanced their name to shed the bad rep & start anew.

If that was the case....I figured they deserved a second chance, to set things right. So I continued my design agreement with them.

BUT, North Country has bee doing the same thing...Customers dissatisfied....Customers not getting their stuff. North Country not answering emails or the phone...

I'd say, they haven't changed their ways. Sad. I was really looking forward to the new hood.

Even if they notified me it was ready tomorrow, I'd only buy it & pay C.O.D. I wouldn't give them my money without a product in-hand.

They've had multiple chances to just sign up here & explain/apologize...But haven't.

Supposedly a 'Tony' has taken over & is trying to straighten things out, but I have yet to see ANY chances.

IIRC, NorthCountryFiberglass.com was registered to a different person or address in the beginning, but you see now...Same name, same address as GTFiberglass.com

I really wanted that new hood. Now I hafta settle for a RAI hood.

And ASCD says all their distribution is going through stingerfiberglass.com, but Stinger is acting like GT & North Country...No email response....

bygblok

iTrader: (3)

please refer the attorney general to this site and thread. Feel free to use me as another person who has been "duped" by these guys. I'm military on top of that so I'm tempted to see where I can go with that perspective as well. I hate to use my service as a catch 22 but times like this needs it. I worked hard just like you guys to build something nice and these guys took a large sum of cash from me I could have used to have the damned car running by now. PM me if needed for my home and military emails. Thanks, Bill

RAD5

Notice that North Contry is no longer posting on here to try to "win over the community"? They're selling the aerowing on ebay and I wonder what Paypal is going to do when people start making claims for no product shipped.

RAD5

I also have a question in regards to the wrap around spoiler (aerowing) for 85-90 Firebirds. I see that Hawks, Spohn Performance, etc. are selling an aerowing, however they all show the same picture. Does this mean they're coming from the same place (north country/G&T)?

http://www.hawksthirdgenparts.com/fi...termarket.aspx

Railguy

iTrader: (4)

i ordered one from hawks ,,,i had it in 6 days shipped estees truck freight,,,they said ups was destroying too much

it came in perfect condition not a crease or mark on the box

ive done about 2000$ with hawks and never a problem

so im geussing that hawks has them in stock and BJ there will tell you straight,,

regards Rail

BC GTA

Once I get my dispute settled with North Country/VISA I am going to give Hawks my business. I have had one positive experience with Hawks for some miscellaneous parts for my GTA.