Don't know how many of you have done business successfully with ECKLER's aka The El Camino Store, but I thought I'd try and save someone a headache. These guys will not answer a phone to remedy problems. Extreamly poor customer service. This is a fly-by-night operation. Proceed at your own risk.

I ordered a shop manual from them for my 86, and there were over 100 pages that you could not read. I return it for a full refund. Had to send pictures of some of the unreadable pages to get them to do it, but the finally gave in.

We have good luck with National Parts Depot. Open 7 days a week too (I can get there by 8:30am and back on a Sunday before the wife wakes up around 11).

I take vendor criticisms like this with a grain of salt. Montana, your post is very vague, can you be specific? Saying they don't answer the phone isn't very clear and my personal experience is that they do answer phones. Due to your time difference are you sure you called during business hours? Once you reached them did they satisfy your complaint?

I haven't had issues with the el camino store, buy I have had lots of issues with OPGI. They never stock parts, everything is order by needs, they're website doesn't list instock and out of stock. I refuse to deal with those people anymore which is agrivating because they stock alot of parts that other companies don't, also the part quality is terrible..... Now on to Dixie Monte carlo, good thing they have new ownership. I ordered parts from them in September or October and still haven't received them. I have spoken to a person there in November and was told my parts would ship in a week. Well it's March now. Sorry for the rant, just frustrated

If you can justify purchasing new, and they carry the product, I highly recommend Pace Performance and Summitt Racing.

I have had outstanding performance from each of these fine organizations. With a multitude of orders over the past six months.

Being in customer service for a software company, if one of my support staff came to me stating a client had a problem with our service, I'd ask for the *details* of the problem. Without knowing the details, you really can't judge if the company is doing right or wrong by their clients. Close to 90% of the issues brought up are expectations not met (that would be something I can fix).

As far as TECS service goes, I have not had any issues. If an item was back ordered, they informed me and shipped it when it came in. Everything else was shipped promptly. Phone calls were returned as expected.

YMMV

SEARCH--Ecklers or ElCamino Store for many specific responses. The old Elcamino Store was top notch.

only thing bout the elcamino store i say is they never have what i want in stock but i restore tedious stuff also but i went to them when i redid my 65 bel air and i say 90% of the time i was happy i think one or 2 things came in damaged as for summit there a store a hour away i drive before i male order but they always answer the phone for me even before i set up a business account

I have ordered several times from them and not had any problems besides the fact that the directions were pritty bad and looked like they were copy and pasted from laurenengineering but besides that they are pritty good

I received a damaged fuel tank from OPGI. They paid for the repair and did it quickly. They were courteous and I'll do business with them again. Just FYI.

JW

..... Now on to Dixie Monte carlo, good thing they have new ownership. I ordered parts from them in September or October and still haven't received them. I have spoken to a person there in November and was told my parts would ship in a week. Well it's March now. Sorry for the rant, just frustrated

Dang, I hate to hear that. I was fixin' to spend some OT money with them.

Everyone will have some complaint about this guy or this guy, I've ordered things from them and never had a problem, in fact I ended up returning something to them, (not their fault I had changed my mind) and they gave me a complete refund. This was with the the owners. Can't we all just get along, ;And as Leo mention it might have to do with your time zone TOO. Michael :nanawrench:

I have bought several parts from the el camino store with no problems. u.p.s left seat upholstery from them on my porch& they were stolen ! The el camino store replaced them at no charge including the freight.
Dave B.

Who took over Dixie Monte Carlo? It used to be a pretty small operation, have they added staffing? Their website looks pretty good now.

I know they moved to CT fron NC

I've been dealing with Summit since the early 80s, and I consider their customer service to be outstanding. I did notice that OPGI seems to have higher prices than other suppliers lately. National Parts Depot has always been great for me to deal with. And Inline Tube has bee very good to deal with too. My last major parts, the windshield, and gas tank, came from The Parts Place, with excellent service.
One thing though, a place is only as good as the people who work there, and one employee can give to whole company a bad reputation.

I have ordered quite a few parts from the El Camino Store and haven't had any problems
at all.I find their shipping a little slow,but otherwise.......it's all good!

only problems i have had from any vendors mentioned here was with dixie monte carlo and that was only bad timing.i ordered like 2 weeks before ownership changed,new owners did not have my order on file but contacted previous owners and resolved problem as quickly as they could.


ron

I bought a couple small items from elcaminostore and the only issue was the items didn't show up until two weeks after expected arrival date, but this could just be my experience. :dontknow:

Ecklers as a supplier for Corvette parts has always been a good vendor, only just found out they covnered El Caminos...

Who took over Dixie Monte Carlo? It used to be a pretty small operation, have they added staffing? Their website looks pretty good now.
dont know who took it over,but service is not the same. I have bought over $1000. worth of parts and the last few parts ordered , there was a small problem with one of them, called about it ,and was told nobody else seems to have that problem ,then was told thanks for calling and they hung up on me.. now I"m not sure if I would order any more parts from them...

Here's my dos centavos on the subject >>

All of the restoration suppliers will , at one time or another, disappoint us. There are too many small items with slight demand to expect them to always have the item we need in stock. I usually don't mind waiting a reasonable period of time if the product is known to be well made and reasonably priced. One of the determinants about how long I am willing to wait is the attitude of the ordertaker I am speaking with. A few times I caught a poor attitude and just went somewhere else, never to return.I have bought from every one of these houses and am convinced they all have strengths and weaknesses.

No one wants to be lied to, especially about when an item will be shipped out. That is a big NoNo!

To be 100% honest here I believe most of them are selling crap to us.Cheaply, poorly fitting crap! I know it is not entirely the fault of the sellers because as customers we continue to buy this crap rather than telling them to start offering better domestically made products or lose sales. I spent three years or so searching out NOS trim parts for my 64 Elky on Ebay and swap meets because I don't want my American ride loaded down with chinese crap. I was 99% successful.

It is unfair for anyone to post nasty comments or complaints about these businesses based on anecdotal information rather than hard facts. As a former businessman, I would be upset if someone made unfounded or unfair claims against me. If someone has clearly been ripped off or mistreated they need to post the facts to substantiate the complaint. It is always proper to contact the seller first and seek a remedy or refund. Often, if you let them know you are an active member of an organization like NECOA, you may recieve very good treatment over a dispute. No supplier wants to have his name slammed around on a forum like this.

IMHO, the two suppliers that set the standard for customer service are JEGS and SUMMIT Racing. You will never get a hard time from either. The customer always gets benefit of the doubt when there is any issue.

Trying to maintain two 48 year old cars is a hassle. If we didn't have to settle for imported cheap goods it would be cake. Luckily, anything we need for Chevy motors is always available anywhere.

:beer::beer::beer::beer::beer::beer::beer::beer:

Hey All, We've never had problems with Eckler's (El Camino Store), but then again I'm sure in some instances all the Parts Suppliers have minor set backs. Try calling them again, or use someone else,... :neutral2: George

well they just charged me 23.99 for shipping on 1 e-brake cable and the tailgate support cables. sale total was 36.99. I dont know if i will order from them again. all the parts could have been put into a 6x12x12 box easily and cost me next to nothing to ship. instead i got two boxes, and teh brake cable box was 6x6x72. thats where the cost came from. lesson learned. i suppose i didnt have to pay the shipping and could have gone to someone else, but frankly i am too busy to shop around right now. this was basically a litmus test type of order.

well they just charged me 23.99 for shipping on 1 e-brake cable and the tailgate support cables. sale total was 36.99. I dont know if i will order from them again. all the parts could have been put into a 6x12x12 box easily and cost me next to nothing to ship. instead i got two boxes, and teh brake cable box was 6x6x72. thats where the cost came from. lesson learned. i suppose i didnt have to pay the shipping and could have gone to someone else, but frankly i am too busy to shop around right now. this was basically a litmus test type of order.

Hey Pontiac Guy, That is a lil' excessive, call them back and complain about the charges. I'm sure they'll listen to you, and advise you want a refund. Ya' don't tell them that you're displeased, they will never know,... Right ? - George

Ecklers has received close to 4 grand from me in the past year and a half. Everything goes smoothly except for:

1. Front bumper: was out of stock and in taiwan with no idea when it would ship. I ordered and waited 4 weeks. Called and got an answer. They explained they did not know when it would be coming in but likely 6-8 weeks. I said ok. Courtesy as can be. They called me 3 weeks later telling me it would be delivered within a week and it was.

2. El camino floor pan for 70: As we all know the el camino pan for 70 is the same as 66. I got the 68-72. Does not fit 'perfect'. Called them and they looking into it. They offered a full refund to send it back for the correct or a refund of all shipping charges. Yet again great service.

The very best customer service I've had is from Summit Racing. And I've been dealing with them since the early 80s. Most other vendors have been mostly OK, but not perfect. NPD is also a great place to deal with.

It takes only one person at a business, to screw things up, so the vendor is only as good as what it's employees make it.

I only bought once a year ago and had no problem. My car cover started tearing so I e-mailed them with pictures and had a response by the time I came home from work and told me to send it back for a new replacement no problem. It has a five year warranty and they backed it so far and didn't say they would let me know after they receive just it would take 7-10 days to process it and send out the replacement. Can't beat that service.:nanawrench:

The very best customer service I've had is from Summit Racing. And I've been dealing with them since the early 80s. Most other vendors have been mostly OK, but not perfect. NPD is also a great place to deal with.

It takes only one person at a business, to screw things up, so the vendor is only as good as what it's employees make it.


You have that right the employee makes or breaks the company I know I buy and sell all day. Screw me your cut off for life no exceptions that's how I make a living on customer service.:secret: You want to talk about a joke I'm a General Electric Dist. and their customer service team has been out sourced to India to people no nothing about their product and you can't understand a word their saying and they all have American names like DAN.

And you gotta love their post,
"Eckler Industries - 5200 S. Washington Ave. - Titusville, FL 32780
Eckler's will not be held responsible for incorrect images, typos, or incorrect pricing."

Fantastic!

I have bought a lot of stuff, mostly for my '56 from Ecklers', but I almost always do it by phone. They will tell you whether the item(s) are in stock or not, and give a guesstimate on delivery for those not currently in stock. Their shipping prices are higher than usual. I just got a Performer intake from Summit with free shipping, and the intake was cheaper than I could get locally with tax included. Thing is, if ya don't like the shipping price, don't buy there. If it's not in stock and you don't want to wait, don't order. The stores that Eckler bought were much better before he (the company) bought them out and combined them. BUT, you can find things in one of his stores that you may not be able to find in another store.

I ordered inner and outer door handles, door hinge/bushing rebuild kits, door striker bolts and door to window outer seals from The El Camino Store recently for my Gen 5.

I was disappointed about how the inner and outer handles fit. They had 3 listings online for outer door handles for Gen 5 with 3 different prices. All 3 listings had the exact same discription and photo on the add. They didnt specify made in China, made in USA, original OEM, they just said each part is made to the highest standards to be like the original. I bought the cheapest ones available and they did not fit right. I put the outer handle on and the bolt holes line up fine but the handle has an apearance of being open when it is in the closed position. In other words, the handle rests in a higher position instead of laying down flat in the handle slot on the door.

The inner handles appear to rest in a lower position as if the handle had a stronger spring and was being pulled closer to the door when in the relaxed position.

The outer window to door seals fit and look great, they were also the most expensive of the parts I bought.

I've had absolutely fantastic service from Summit Racing.
I've spent several thousand with them over the past two years.

Great tech support and almost everythng I ordered was delievered in two days.

One time one of the fittings I ordered was incorrect (actually my mistake) and they shipped me the correct one "No Charge" !!!

Had one faulty sport Comp gage and they replaced it immediately.

I spent 30 years in Distribution myself and these guys are as good as it gets !!

Arnie in Iowa

I just received my replacement car cover from The El Camino Store. All I did was e-mail them with a copy of my invoice and pictures with the cover on the truck and had a response by the time I came home from work. Now two weeks later I have my replacement. Lucky I guess.:dontknow:

Rock Auto has excellent service U.S.P.S. LOST MY PART AND THEY SENT A REPLACEMENT NO CHARGE AND IT SHOWED DELIVERED ON THE FIRST ONE BUT I NEVER REVEIVED IT.