Unisteer rack ordering issue - my RANT!

Hey, I ordered a Unisteer rack and pinion system for my '75 through Summit Racing back in December. Every couple weeks to a month, they push back the likely build date another few weeks or a month. As soon as that new date comes up, I contact Summit to get an update and they just give me a new date.

Has anyone had this poor experience with this company? I understand that this is a very limited production run item and will take some time to fit it in, but it kinda annoys me (polite way of saying it) that they just don't admit that it will be more than 6 months before they even bother to schedule it, which apparently hasn't even happened yet.

Worst thing about this is Summit advertises on their website that item will be available in the near future, quite a poor way to bait people into ordering thinking they might actually get it in a reasonable period of time. Summit actually got quite rude with me for asking them to call their vendor to get realistic build date after the third or fourth push back. So no more ordering from Summit for this build, or my next one! From what I heard on here this is not typical of Summit's customer service, but figured the community ought to know what's going on if you are considering buying one of these.

 

Not on the unisteer but another member on here, cometized, ordered a set of 7/8 front sway bars from them and same thing happened. I think it took them 8 months to get them?

 

I think it might be most places (including venders) are cutting back on stocking certain items.
I ordered a part on a Fri. from a local parts store and it was to be here on Monday. well, that's been two Mondays ago, going on three.
My friend ordered an A/C kit (70 Chevelle) from Vintage air and it's 9 weeks out...
I see on Summit's site that all Unisteer rack and pinion systems are 5 weeks out.
Summit refers to me as being their best...disgruntle customer...
the plumbing for my 9 inch took 5 trips to Summit. some parts were looked up wrong and some were wrong part in the bag with the right part number on it. one was even a multi pack that had the size I needed missing...
on the other hand...they pulled 21 sets of headers so I could measure them to pick the set that I thought would fit my new 347...

 

One thing I noticed the last couple of years, manufacturers are having difficult time sourcing out materials, either raw or finished, because of ongoing "trade wars" between countries. This has placed "tariffs" on many parts that never had them on before. I recently placed an order for some ARP stainless steel bolts, which have been on back order for a few weeks, I contacted ARP and was told even they are having difficult time sourcing out wire rod materials, from around the world, because not enough supply in USA. So if part is not in "high demand", it could take longer for them to produce, the old "supply and demand".
Summit and other vendors like them, are stuck in the middle, as they have no control over when an item will be back in stock.......
David

 

Well, after 10 months, they say my system has shipped! Finally can get back to this part of the project: get the old steering box out of the way and get that side shock tower notch done.

 

That's correct .. It took NINE months to get them ... I had even stopped looking for them and they arrived one day when I was out of the shop ... I installed it immediately ! Be patient .. sometimes it's difficult to LOCATE the part you want .. When you find it .. Hang In !!

 

I would have been good with the time, if Summit Racing (where I ordered it) had just been honest about it. Summit kept promising a ship in 3-4 weeks every time I contacted them. That's pretty crappy of a company to keep leading their customers on. Every time the delivery time came up, I kept asking: "just contact the vendor and give me an estimated build date", and they would give me a date a few weeks out, and that would come and go and we would do it all over again. I don't expect a company like Unisteer to keep these on the shelves or immediately drop everything to build a one-off, especially when I'm so appreciative that they even build these for our cars, so don't take this that I'm trying to bag on Unisteer, my annoyance is with Summit Racing's horrible customer service.

All I needed was a realistic time frame so I could be ready for it when it came. I tore into rebuilding the rest of the suspension expecting the rack system in a few weeks. Basically the car was undriveable through out this time as I kept expecting the system. Instead I should have just gotten the alignment done, drove it, and then installed this and aligned it again (or wait and do it all at once which was my original plan).

Oh well, it will all be good in a couple weeks, just with Summit on my do not order from this company again list!

 

Summit was probably telling you what Unisteer was telling them...

 

Summit isn't the culprit .. Its usually the people THEY buy it from that delays everything .. My Sway Bar was ordered through Summit and I experienced the same type of delays.. FINALLY .. Summit delivered it but ONLY when they got it from the original supplier .

 

Same thing here. I ordered 2 fenders for another car from Summit back in July. The ship date was supposed to be October 4th. Well that came and went, and now the new ship date is sometime after Christmas...

 

Either way, won't take a risk ordering from them. I'm pretty trusting until the 8th or 9th time then it's over for me!

Just an update, they have to ship a replacement for one of the banjo fittings, it had a flat machined across the sealing surface. No way that should have got past QA/QC.

 

I can appreciate what you are saying but as a 30+ year parts guy I can also appreciate where they are. They can only pass along the info they get from the manufacture and so often you get the same canned response when you check with them. I have gone around a vendor and called on their behalf to a manufacture and been told the very same story I heard from the guy I ordered with. I wish in those situations they were just honest and said they do not have a promise date so you can cut ties and find another source.

 

I'm not sure they want you to find another source -- If so, they could give a truthful and reasonable time product will be ready for consumer. They would rather have your "hard earned money" than the competetion.

 

Yep, decades ago I worked for a guy at a local salvage yard and he would knowingly send the customer the wrong part.
1. To get their money
2. Give him a couple of days to acquire the correct part
That’s just the way some people do business.

 

True but, if they gave an honest answer and I had time I would wait. After all of the waiting and jerking around would you give unisteer another purchase?

Oh no doubt about that, they surely don't want a customer to stray and buy from another!