NPD Greed

[Sheriff41]

Hit the summer car shows and get a vendor space to sell them direct. Your Mach 1 would make a good demo display to attract buyers! I bet a vendor space would cost less than postage.

 

[detritusmaximus]

Depends on where in Canada...the road trip alone might be worth it!

 

[Stanglover]

Hit the summer car shows and get a vendor space to sell them direct. Your Mach 1 would make a good demo display to attract buyers! I bet a vendor space would cost less than postage.

Great Idea. I will for sure have them installed AND a set for display regardless of if I get a vendors spot or not. I think it'll just take a bit of time.

 

[MAD IRISHMAN]

Well stupid is as stupid does. I actually changed my mind 3 times about whether to post my ire about NPD a shipping charge. I figured there would likely be a lot of reactions to it. But, as I should have anticipated, things got a bit out of hand, myself included. Sorry for that.
Should have also foregone the use of certain descriptive adjectives. I won't apologize for my love of the English language. However, everyone would have been served better if I was more thoughtful in the I words I chose express my self in my replies. I post in various forums with different makeups of participants. I have since learned that certain words can be rightly or wrongly interpreted depending on the audience. This site includes folks from all over the planet. You never know what certain words have additional uses or meanings in another part of the country or the world.

 

[71coop]

It's all good, in my opinion - you have an opinion and stated it - whether I or anyone else agrees/disagrees, there is no reason to be reluctant to state said opinion. We should encourage, not discourage that freedom.

 

[Rick@NPD]

Yesterday afternoon MAD IRISHMAN gave me a call, we vented our frustrations the good old fashioned way, and by the end of the conversation apologies were served by both parties, understandings were arrived at, and had we been within walking distance of each other, cold beverages and car talk would have likely ensued LOL...

In other words, it is all good, and I also owe an apology/clarification to ensure everyone that the use of "rapacious" and "rapist" were all intended from the #2 and #3 definitions of rape in Merriam-Webster:

2. An outrageous violation

3. An act or instance of robbing or despoiling

Never at any time was definition #1 intended by MAD IRISHMAN, and I should have been more careful to not allow it to seem otherwise. So for that, I indeed apologize.

And while discretion is indeed a virtue on public forums, no one enjoys a 24-7 smooch-fest either, so please... Game on, and sorry for my part in this minor dust-up!

 

[tony-muscle]

I am very glad to hear that you both had a constructive discussion over the phone. A lot of times these days back and forth happen over writing which can be misinterpreted really quick. Nothing beats face-to-face to clarify issues. I am happy to read that there was an actual happy ending to this thread.

 

[mrgmhale]

Well for all my American friends who feel that shipping cost are getting out of hand, try this on for size.
Today I needed to mail out a set of my Hella headlight water shields by Canada Post to an address in Canada. The package weighed less than 3 oz, but I guess size matters and it was only a small padded envelope. The cost was $22 Cdn. That of course includes "fuel surcharge" and tax. By contrast, and don't ask me why, it only cost a little over $16 Cdn to mail the same package to the US the last time I shipped a set. That too may have changed by now, but I hope not.
Now, I sell the parts for the least I can to cover my costs. I'm not in it to make money per se, but the cost of mail (I charge the exact, or as close as possible) could kill any chance I have of more orders. (See my ad in the "For Sale" section of the forum) I hope not, but its frustrating as hell that mail/shipping costs, dictate whether a person buys a product or not and personally, I don't blame them.
Still, any mail or shipping cost will usually be far cheaper overall, than a road trip to go pick up the product or parts.

The gentleman (Paul Cote) who sold us our 1969 Shelby GT500 has become a good friend of ours. He lives in Ottawa, Canada. He is restoring a 1968 Shelby GT500KR(!), and needed a set of amber 1157 bulbs. He was, of course, able to locate them easily enough, but as I recall the various venders were quoting him almost $50 (Canadian, but still...) for ground shipping! I checked to see what it would be for us to ship him the bulbs via USPS. It turned out if we had the vendor he chose to use ship the bulbs to us, then I used USPS to ship them to him, the total shipping expense was less than $25.00 USD. So, that is what we did - we shipped is 10 pack of amber 1157 bulbs once they got to use. Amazing...

 

[Stanglover]

The gentleman (Paul Cote) who sold us our 1969 Shelby GT500 has become a good friend of ours. He lives in Ottawa, Canada. He is restoring a 1968 Shelby GT500KR(!), and needed a set of amber 1157 bulbs. He was, of course, able to locate them easily enough, but as I recall the various venders were quoting him almost $50 (Canadian, but still...) for ground shipping! I checked to see what it would be for us to ship him the bulbs via USPS. It turned out if we had the vendor he chose to use ship the bulbs to us, then I used USPS to ship them to him, the total shipping expense was less than $25.00 USD. So, that is what we did - we shipped is 10 pack of amber 1157 bulbs once they got to use. Amazing...

There's no logic to any of it. Well, I guess there is. People want more and more money to cover "inflation", but all that does is cause greater inflation. And the merry-go-round continues.

 

[LloydB]

The gentleman (Paul Cote) who sold us our 1969 Shelby GT500 has become a good friend of ours. He lives in Ottawa, Canada. He is restoring a 1968 Shelby GT500KR(!), and needed a set of amber 1157 bulbs. He was, of course, able to locate them easily enough, but as I recall the various venders were quoting him almost $50 (Canadian, but still...) for ground shipping! I checked to see what it would be for us to ship him the bulbs via USPS. It turned out if we had the vendor he chose to use ship the bulbs to us, then I used USPS to ship them to him, the total shipping expense was less than $25.00 USD. So, that is what we did - we shipped is 10 pack of amber 1157 bulbs once they got to use. Amazing...

The sad thing is our local parts store sells them for about $8 a two pack and nobody buys them. You have to shake the dust off to see the number on the package.

 

[JJU9507]

@ric@NPD
Here is my not quite complete 71. This car is rebuilt with 90% NPD parts, so it’s an NPD Mustang! It would not exist as a restored car without your company. Thanks for supporting all of us!

And what a beautiful car you have!

 

[Kilgon]

I'm glad that everyone has settled down and are on speaking terms. Good to see that our members can admit when wrong or in err. One of the downfalls in using social media is that besides not hearing someone's voice you also don't see their facial expressions. Lacking these audio and visual clues can lead to a lot of different interpretations when someone makes a statement or comment.

 

[Stanglover]

I'm glad that everyone has settled down and are on speaking terms. Good to see that our members can admit when wrong or in err. One of the downfalls in using social media is that besides not hearing someone's voice you also don't see their facial expressions. Lacking these audio and visual clues can lead to a lot of different interpretations when someone makes a statement or comment.

Very true.
I was unfortunately involved in some of that, which was taken other than intended. I could have been more careful on my phrasing in that case and I apologize for any misunderstanding.

 

[Angels Garage]

All the after market companies sell the same CRAP from over seas, the help on the phone knows no more than you are reading online or in magazine, it sucks there are few places that still exist to get parts. Hell West Coast Classic Cougars has "some " mustang parts and they rate the parts, great place wish the big companies werent so Wallie world.

 

[LloydB]

All the after market companies sell the same CRAP from over seas, the help on the phone knows no more than you are reading online or in magazine, it sucks there are few places that still exist to get parts. Hell West Coast Classic Cougars has "some " mustang parts and they rate the parts, great place wish the big companies werent so Wallie world.

Everything I've purchased so far has been made locally or in Canada. NPD Ocala answered all my questions when I called.

 

[tpj71mach]

I just wanted to put my two sense worth again because I just got off the phone with NPD. In December, I ordered the parts to restore my rim-blow steering wheel. I have been working on refinishing it for a bit and finally got it painted and ready to install the rim-blow switch. I read all of the instructions and watched you tube videos on it. Feeling as prepared as I was ever going to be, I opened the box and the contacts were eyelets not 90 degree female spade terminals and the rubber was grooved not smooth like the one I took out. I checked the box and the part number was right and the description said 70-73. Knowing sometimes re-pop parts aren't always exactly the same, I cut off the eyelets and crimped on female spade terminals and began to install as the instructions and videos suggested, but I couldn't get it to stay in. After an hour or more of fighting it I rechecked the box and went in and rechecked website to make sure I ordered the correct part. The instructions show the difference between the 69 and 70-73 switch but the instructions I recieved was a copy of a copy so the pictures were way too dark and distorted to see what the difference was. I did get it installed and when I hooked it up the horn blew solid so clearly I kinked the copper strip while fighting it for two hours. I finally thought to look up the 69 part to see if there are better pictures on the website (and of course there were, duh) and it is ribbed and has eyelets as connectors. Obviously the wrong part was accidentally placed in the right box, wish I was smart enough to look for images of the other style before I ruined the first switch.

Sorry for the lengthy back story, but flash forward to today. I called NPD today to see if they had one in stock and would inspect it before I bought another one. The gentleman did not have one at his location but transferred me to California where they did show inventory. I spoke with Rick at the California location,(probably not the Rick@NPD, don't think he is personally answering the phones, LOL) and Counter-man Rick was nice enough to go and pull one and confirmed it was smooth and had 90 degree female spade terminals. He also spoke to the manager and was authorized to sell it to me at their cost, which was more than fair. They didn't really need to do anything for me, I was the one who cut off the terminals and then kinked it installing it, insisting on fitting that square peg in to the round hole. They didn't put the wrong part in the right box, their supplier did that. I just wanted to say that I was impressed with their customer service and this is the first issue I have had with any part, and there has been many, that I have bought from them. I am still a happy customer and will continue to get my parts from them.

 

[kitdoctor]

I recently enquired (from Australia) whether NPD stocked some Distinctive Industries bucket seat rear trim panels for a '70 Torino and received a VERY prompt reply from Jimmy which I did appreciate, although NPD advised they don't carry Torino specific parts. Anyway, my point is I often don't even get replies! So, 10/10 for NPD for customer service.

Also, I and I'm sure the majority of forum members are totally in agreement with Tony. There's no need to use the type of language that was used in this thread. The good thing is 99.9999999999% of us here would have the EI not to start a conversation/forum post like that.

I'm grateful for owning a classic car. Is it expensive, yes but that comes with the choice of ownership of a 50+ year car.

Finally, my thanks to Rick for taking the time to share his inside knowledge. What he has told us sheds a new light on the complexity of freight and freight costs. If you don't believe that NPD are really going all out to provide a quality service, then I'm not sure what more you'd need to be convinced.

 

[72conv]

I just bought a pair of Ram Air hood springs from NPD and paid the big shipping charge. I do a *lot* of shipping in my various hobbies, so I'm pretty familiar with today's shipping rates from all of the major shippers. That NPD shipping cost is way out of line. Those springs just ain't that heavy. There's undoubtedly some hidden "handling" charges buried in that shipping cost. Unfortunately, NPD had those hood springs custom-made and they're the only game in town.

Just my two cents' worth.

 

[vintageman]

I just placed an order with NPD on Tuesday at about 3;30 or so and it arrived today with no delays. The part I ordered is very light and I found the shipping very reasonable. If I need a part and it is in stock, I always order from NPD because they ship so quickly. In fact, I just ordered another part that I forgot to order on Tuesday. If have to pay a dollar or more for this quick of shipping, I am good with it.

Tom

 

[71coop]

I just placed an order with NPD on Tuesday at about 3;30 or so and it arrived today with no delays. The part I ordered is very light and I found the shipping very reasonable. If I need a part and it is in stock, I always order from NPD because they ship so quickly. In fact, I just ordered another part that I forgot to order on Tuesday. If have to pay a dollar or more for this quick of shipping, I am good with it.

Tom

This is a good perspective. Rick/NPD has already explained why shipping is what it is. More often than not its reasonable enough and always fast. Overall, it's about as reasonable as one could ask.