This is a notice about prices posted on the El Camino Store Website.
More than once I have called to order a part from their online catalog only to find that the price for it had changed. They constantly direct you to their printed catalog but the last one took 8 months to get to me due to "printing" issues they were having.

Look, I like the folks over there and they do sell good stuff. I have bought from them often but this is a problem that needs fixing on their part.

Don't have a catalog on your website if you aren't going to update the prices regularly.

For example. If you look for a 73-77 El CAmino Rear bumper reconditioned (their part # 08-3160) the web site will say $335.00. That's a fair price for a reconditioned part and about what it costs to replate a good bumper in my town. Call them up and you find it's actually 600.00 because they are now "show" quality and "just beautiful". Honestly I went in looking for a Chevy not the Cadillac if you know what I mean.

THey also don't mention the core return for your old bumper on the website. They refer you to the printed catalog which you may or may not
have.

That's not the way to instill confidence in your customers. So be warned all is not what is seems on their website. I suggest you follow my example and vote with your dollars by not buying anything from them till they either pull the web catalog down or update it. Just because a part is rare doesn't give a company license to even unintentionally pull a bait and switch...

nuff said..

8)

YIKES 8O I'd be looking to buy a whole parts car for that!

I've bought some parts from them, but you have to realize that our generation is tough to get parts for and they have problems getting them as well.

I did request a catalog on my last order, it came about a week after my parts arrived. It is their latest catalog and in it it says to INQUIRE for the bumper you're looking for. Well I guess this is what they call supply and demand, and price flexibilty 8O

I inquired about their window felts for a 74 Elky, yes the prices had changed, but when I contacted a local dealer, they were basically the same price. I went on Ebay and bought a set for about a hundred dollars cheaper, and they are original equipment in the wrappers.

I have only ordered once from them about 3 weeks ago, a NOS trailer hitch for my 72. I called for information, they confirmed the item was in stock, and at the price quoted on the website.

It was delivered fast and exactly as they told me. I inquired about the discount we get by giving our NECOA member number and that went just fine too...

....sorry about your bumper. I guess that was one of those items that didnt work out correctly, but as of this email, I would do business with them again.

BTW, that catalog order thing was indeed a big mess and it took awhile - and a second reminder from them - to get mine, but it was worth the wait.

The major gripe I have with elcaminostore.com is that they don't have pictures of anything on their website! I don't want to buy anything unless I can see what it looks like first to verify that it's really the part I want. I mean, how to you know what the heck a "something something valance panel" is without seeing it? I e-mailed them about this problem a few months ago and got no response. In it, I mentioned that I was probably going to buy from ecparts.net every time, because they have pictures of almost all of their parts on their website. They made no attempt to gain my business, so they ain't getting it.

I wouldn't have bothered posting about it but I have had this problem with them for the past two years. Which as it happens is the last time they updated the website. I have had good experiences with them too but this kind of oversight is unacceptable. I know as well if not better than anyone how hard it is to find parts for a 4th gen which is even more reason not to post or not update incorrect information related to those parts. How much do you think people are going to frequent your business if you keep giving them misleading information??

I can only call em like I see em and this is about the 4th time this "unintentional bait and switch" has bit me. Now what if you don't have a catalog yet, need a part fast and only have the website pricing to rely on?? Nasty surprise for you for sure.

It's like going to the grocery store to buy milk and finding out that the $2.50 price on the shelf is really $4.00 when you get to the register and scan it in. In my state they slap big fines on grocery stores that pull that crap.

I will probably buy from them again but we really need to get their attention about this. It's deceptive advertising however unintentional it may be. 5% off is not a deal if the price is 85% different than you expected.

I've already purchased parts elsewhere that I could have gotten from them. I'm not down on the business itself, in fact they were my first source for parts and I'm glad they are there. My issue with them is that I have brought this website pricing issue up to them more than once and they have done nothing about it. If I'm the only squeaky wheel that's fine I just wanted to forewarn you about the website.

its amazing that after my earlier post, I ordered some badly needed parts from Original Parys Group, and found out a couple crazy things in THAT process...

It was late after hours, and I decided to just shop online, rather than call them to order, and that turned out to be a big mistake because although no part numbers or prices were different than the current catalog, what I didnt realize was that 2 of 5 parts I ordered had to be backordered - a process they said on the confirmation email could take up to 10 days!! I thought they 'advertised' their 2 acre warehouse, etc., etc....and it takes 10 days for backorders???????? WTH

-had I called them directly, I most likely could have found this out and would probably have decided to shop elsewhere, since I need those parts like this weekend-

but it sure didnt take them that long to process my credit card :sarcasm:

another thing is I ordered on July 7th (kind of late at night) and received confirmation via email the next morning....no problems with that except the aforementioned shock of 'backorders'....and so I wait and wait for my parts, only to get an email YESTERDAY, saying the parts (less the backordered ones) were being shipped YESTERDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :mad: :mad: WTH???

so beware, even as you have gripes with TECS.....the others arent always that good either. I will give OPGI another chance, but maybe only one. I let them know this wasnt suitable. We will see what happens.

:(

I've had the same experience with OPGI. I had one order where 7 out of 8 items were on backorder and didn't know it till the order showed up with a bunch of BO's on the invoice copy.

I don't buy much from them anymore and have cancelled orders for parts that were "unavailable" and on backorder. Funny thing is the last two times it happened I found other sources for the parts.

OPGI is the store that made me wait for 6 months for some weatherstripping for my 4th Gen and when I finally got my order
it was the wrong size.

You gotta pin these folks down and get the real skinny otherwise you
gotta deal with the luck of the draw.

To me it's a nice convenience to be able to order 24/7 since I work strange hours. Sometimes I can only find time to order parts at 3AM which is outside of their business hours.
That's why the whole website thing irritates me. I figure if Autozone's online website can tell me stock status there's no excuse for these guys.

8)

I recently had a wonderful experience with a company by the name of Muscle Cars Inc. The parts I wanted were on back order, however they called me just about every day to give me a status. I purchased fenders for a '72 Elk and they were the best I've ever seen - the shop restoring my Elk agreed. In the past five years, I've had dealing with most all of the big companies providing restoration parts. I've had great experiences and some experiences that I'd rather forget. I like forums like this that can help put us on the lookout for potential problems. I work hard for every dime and I cherish my time. Wasted money and redos suck. Thanks for sharing...