I made a large order from MACS 5-14-12. Part of my order is coming from the manufacture. I understand that. But the parts that are coming from MACS I have never received a tracking # for. A lady on the phone told me the items were being shipped Fri. 5-18-12. I still have no tracking #. I sent an e-mail. Monday MACS e-mailed that some of my order was being shipped that day. This is Wed. 5-23-12 still no tracking #. This might help someone decide who to order from.
Dennis
Dennis, I just recently ordered a small item from Mac's. I waited two weeks, and finally gave them a call. They were to be sent out the following day. All told, it was almost two and a half weeks before I got my order. Probably will be a while before I use them again. Dave
I normally receive orders from Macs in 7 - 10 days and I'm in New Zealand.
Gavin
My one and only experience with Mac's was similar. After a couple of weeks, I called and the lady acted like I was impatient and she was really doing me a favor by shipping my order that day. Others swear by them, but there's plenty of other vendors for me to use and I get better service.
If I order from mac,s on a Monday,they process the order 7 days later,wait a few more days then they ship it. I dont use Mac,s anymore for this reason. I buy from Snyders now 2days and I have my parts,Langs is fast also!
Just had a similar experience. Ordered yesterday,(tuesday) and was told the order would be processed the first of the week, next monday. It is a part I could not find elsewhere and is not vital to my T at this time so I went with it. I also find their phone system quite ponderous. Lang's and Tam's are a much better story.
Dennis,
Here's they way it goes...order from Mac's and some of their offerings are unique, some as common as dirt...takes 7-10 days processing always...
Check out others if you need time on your side. Many do same day ship even on a partial since they have inventory, and also full if they have full inventory.
I share the load around myself, and always view Mac's as a 'when it gets here'. Never negative, just fact.
Now, if you ever go to order sheet metal...lol...send me a private message first, the best of the lot is REALLY 'I'll ship it when I get around to it' and don't even try to hold your breath
That said, one New England based of the suppliers that I would rate 5-star for T parts has had something on back-order for me for close to 18 months...they want to make sure quality is right before shipping Good thing I have a stash....lol
Same boat here. If I wasn't waiting for the stuff I'd have forgotten about it. Long shipping delays and (in my experience) the hugest shipping costs. Don't know why just saying. They act like their the only guy's out there.
I will say it's the best catalog of all.
I like Mac's and currently they are running a bit cheaper in price but I too have noticed they are having some service issues. Twice they have orders mixed up and send the wrong order to the wrong person. Could be a computer thing.
I haven't ordered from Mac's for many years because of the delay problems when I did. I love the great illustrations in their catalogue, though. My favorites are Lang's and Chaffin's. They know their stuff and they don't waste my time. I've also bought from Birdhaven, Bob's, and Snyder's with no complaints.
Based on reputation, I dread the day when I have to buy any new sheet metal parts.
I usually buy from Lang's because of the great service, but my last order was for a turtle deck lid from Mac's. I placed the order Monday 4/30/12 and received it on Friday of the same week early in the afternoon.
Steve you pick up the sheet metal parts at Chickasha, I called in a order the Friday before Chickasha, and picked it up thursday at Chickasha, no freight, no wait. Guys I ship Monday -Friday UPS and postal on Saturdays, I really don't care for postal as I get no tracking number. danuser88@ktis.net T and TT Ford Parts, just email me the Number of the part needed and it will be on its way to you!
Lang's deals only in Model T parts and has the largest selection of them. Snyder's deals in Model T and Model A parts. Mac's has Model T, A, and V-8 parts and probably does more volume and makes more money on the A and V-8 stuff, so they often treat us T guys like stepchildren.
I'm in the middle of the country, so shipping usually involves a wait. Lang's is good about using Priority Mail if you request it, and that saves some time and money vs UPS for small parts. If I need something quickly, I order it from someone closer, such as Texas T Parts or Bob's. It takes a week to get anything from the west coast, and nearly that from the east coast. If you live near one of the coasts, that's a non-issue. Chaffin's or Lang's should have you covered either way.
John,
I hear you....lol....that works once a year
In all fairness though, I once had an idea to lower a Hack body on a 27 frame so it could sit as low if not lower that the pre-improved cars. Was thinking of using a local tinsmith to bash me something out, rout out the wood edges and have a nice plate hump under the rear seat Took a look through Brand H catalogue info and found something, a hump patch panel for something later and decided to go for it because it was about 1/10 of the cost of a custom bash job. Figured 6 months, a year, who cares...
It was there 4 days later, couldn't figure out what the UPS guy was knocking for....must have caught them on a good day
Same thing here - Mac's is usually two weeks. Snyders is next day (Cincinnati) Langs is usually within the week of the order. Its ashame, I love their big lavish catalogue, but thats about all. I use Langs and Snyders. By far, Langs is a treasure trove of knowledge. I havent used Chaffins much, but If I recall they were fairly fast with shipping. Anybody use Gaslight? are they still in business?
i usually order from Macs as they are about 30 miles from me, I usually go and pick up.
They are good on returns too with no problem.
Nice new facility with a cool showroom , 3 model Ts a model A, a Falcon and Mustang too I think.
The last time I was in I met one of the owners, seemed like a real nice guy
Hopefully these complaints get thru to him
But I've been happy with their service
Patrick
I order from Snyders, no matter what it is, and it's at my door in TWO DAYS. I order from Mac's only when I can't get it somewhere else, or when I am shopping to see who has the best price including shipping not just on the part itself.
I last ordered from Mac's in 1986. Can you guess why?? There is NO reason for shipping delays. Snyder's I get by 9:30 next morning. Lang's & Bob's second day. I'm in Ohio and Winchendon is not exactly next door, but delivery is good. Some people care and some don't. I order weekly and sometimes 3x a week. good service is the decision maker. JP
I placed an order from Lang's fairly late afternoon on Monday, Selected priority mail (one of the cheapest options), and it arrived today. Now that's service!! To Nebraska from the east coast!
I will say that Macs Catalog is the best laid out of the T vendors. They are a little higher on some items though.
As far as shipping delays are concerned its best to ask if they have their items in stock and especially sheet metal items.
They all all buy form the same metal maker. Snyders uses the company in Sweden and they are much higher.
I needed a part made only by Fun Projects and had it in hand in less than an hour.
Darn good thing too, 'cause who ya' gonna complain to about bad service, right? (pretty reasonable shipping too I'll bet...)
Hey John, I have not forgotten about that pinion spool I owe ya', and I won't either, but since Chickasha I seem to have screwed up my bad shoulder and have not done any "serious" Model T work!
I'm really liking that pinion bearing assembly they make! Thanks John
Harold:
Not to worry. There is no time limit other than my time on earth.
Well someone may be reading the forum. I just received an e-mail saying my items from MACS has been shipped. And a tracking #. Will see when it gets here.
Dennis
Unfortunately Mac's lost me as a customer when they charged me truck shipping on a trunk floor and it came by UPS ground (Charged me $250 to ship and It cost them less than $40)
Guess the good part was the trunk floor had the hump installed as it should be--their description stated it would be flat and the hump would have to be installed which would have cost extra.
I like talking to the guys at Lang's...their accents are funny
John, thats impressive, you really should give that vender a gratuity for his excellent service!!!!
Andy
I saw your profile.
You made me chuckle.
Thanks
Mac's has a $25.00 MIN AND IF YOU DONOT PAY THE EXTRA $3.50 THey WILL NOT PROCESS THE ORDER UNTIL THEY GET READY TO AND IT MAKES NO DIFFERENT IF THE ORDER IS 25 OR 1000 DOLLARS THEY ARE OUT FOR THE $3.50
I never have any troubles with my regular supplier. Andy Loso at 'OSO Handy Restorations is easy to deal with, actually works on Model T's and I just have to walk out to the garage, less than 1 minute and I have my parts.
John, it looks like you have an "in" with Fun Projects.
I bet they give you a good price on the shipping and handling of parts also!
It just goes to show you what can happen with good connections (electrical and otherwise!)
Mac's is not only slow but my last order from them got me the wrong part.
I had to order it from some other place, now it really took a long time. I had a customer's trans apart and he had to wait an extra week.
The first and last time I ordered parts from Mac's I was asked if I was willing to pay extra for same day shipping. I told the hack on the phone that if they were able to ship same day I wanted them to do so without extra cost. That was many years ago. The parts did not ship same day and I have not ordered any parts from them since.
Paul
i ordered something from another supplier (Not macs) and it never came. i am not smart enough to figure out what to do about it.
Arnie,
The only problem with John is he may have convenience, but he also has to be the alpha prototype for anything new. I'd imagine his track record at alpha prototype in pretty good, but those 'well I'll be danged' might make it a bit rough
John won't say it because he is a real humble guy (but I hear he has a personality disorder that pops out in face to face) and one of the greatest to ever work with. The vendors sell his product, but he sells direct too. I buy a few times a year form John,always give him the direct first for his product and have never been disappointed in speed or packaging quality.
His catalogue is his web page, so take a look. I guarantee you the order will dispatch quickly if his web page says he has it, and you better have a good box cutter to open the package when it arrives unless you're lucky enough to get a priority mail zip-pull type. He and that spark chaser down Kentucky way seem to have a contest going on who can make a better cushioned and no rattle package.
And I shouldn't say this but John is also the best customer service guy going! You can have 10 thumbs and not have a clue what you are doing with something and John has the patience of a saint to take time and walk you through each and every step with constant feedback to make sure you can use his product correctly...
I still have a total mental block on third brush settings, probably because I tried one all by myself as a newbie 35 years ago with no advice and near immediately took out the generator and the ammeter permanently on my 'new' pride and joy and coincidentally at the time I lived but maybe 10 miles then from Johns present HQ but didn't know John or of John then.
Each time I now add Johns devices, it is still step by step slowly I turn, and he never tires of it or tells me to get a life Irish white hairs whose grandparents still spoke brogue must have something in common. either that or I'm mighty lucky
Any comments from MAC's yet ?
Kep,
Post their name on this forum. That may prompt them to send your part and explain the problem. If not, it will help prevent the same thing happening to one of us.
Rob
Any supplier can make a mistake, just as any of us can. However, when you see a thread THIS long complaining about the SAME problem with the SAME vendor, it shows that they just don't give a rip.
Kep:
1 Contact the vendor and give them a chance to make good;
2 If they don't, tell the world.
George:
A lot of my friends are gonna give you the business over the claim that I am humble. They will tell you that I was in fact scheduled to give a speech on humility but I dismissed the crowd since it was kinda small.
One of these days I am going to give a seminar on all the design mistakes I have made during my career. Some comical and some near misses. I once had a 100uF capacitor explode on a bench experimental prototype because I had just tack soldered it in place as a quick stop gap for a noise problem and not really paying any attention I had forgotten about the max ripple current rating of the capacitor which was about .1 amp and I had over 20 amps going through it. The capacitor exploded like a rocket with its tail on fire - the small can flew past my left ear and I heard it whistle. The air was filled with small pieces of paper that were the stuffings of the capacitor remains. All the other engineers and technicians working near me laughed after they realized nobody got hurt. It sure got my attention
I still prefer Chaffins. I order, they ship. My kinda folks!
John
I qualified my statement...forum talk is straight and humble, but I had HEARD that eye to eye is a totally different story
"Great minds are willing to make mistakes for the sake of progress and be able to laugh about them without becoming gophers seeking a permanent hole" ( quote from some guy who did a 1 hour interview spot on The Learning Channel about what it takes to break engineering paradigms and break glass ceilings now over 20 years ago and filmed at WTTW downtown. That same interview show is where 'If you can dream it, you can do it!' came from. Nobody remembers the first part...same guy for both quotes...lol )
Now back to my comments on a certain vendor that may have been seen as adding fuel. I personally have absolutely no problem with them (or even brand 'H'on tin...absolutely beautiful tin work!), I just know I need to adjust my timeline accordingly...they each have their business model, they each are still in business, One of them is quoted as having a same day handling charge. I have never gotten that far on need from them but would have no problem with that either. Since both are consistently consistent must be the business model and, want something outside of business model? I'm willing to pay extra for extra service because then something 'normal' is getting backed up. In today's world the 'Maytag repairman' model for business I think has been relegated to LaBrea to coexist with the dinosaurs Know it going in, make the choices
(thread hijack alert) Can you blow up more capacitors, Video them exploding and post it on youtube for the lol?
This post is personally from Randy McIntosh, Co-Owner Of MAC's Antique Auto Parts. I would like to respond to the large string of comments and concerns posted recently. My brother Rick and I carry on the great legacy of what our father Doug McIntosh started back in 1978. First off, we have enjoyed and appreciated the many friends and faces involved in the Model T community for many years. As we have expanded the Ford parts offering thru the years we have also continued to try and provide top quality catalogs, a large selection of items and good customer service.
In reading the many valued comments- I will not disagree with many of them. And being a concerned owner I want to state some things we are trying to improve for a better customer experience. I am NOT trying to defend or sway anyone or disagree with their opinions.
**I see the comments on our catalog quality (and agree with them)
**I agree that some items may not be as readily available as all of us desire- but some items have VERY unreliable production cycles or may go thru periods of unavailability (as some vendors have limited production runs, inconsistent production runs or raw material issues). We can't always know all of the items that may encounter a longer then usual delay, but we will always check with vendors to find out the latest status of any item and see if we can provide a better availability estimate. We are also investing in more stock, so we'll have more parts on hand and deeper inventory of items for our 36,000 items that cover 1909 to 1979 Fords.
**However our biggest area to improve on is the “speed in which orders leave our facility”. We hear you, we read it in these posts and most importantly- we agree with you. MAC's has expanded and we have not kept up with some areas that we need to. It is our vow to improve in this area. We are working on systems to get orders out quicker, with better service and follow up. We are working on our website in hopes of streamlining the order process. We have many goals in 2012 to work on regarding this and we will be improving even further in 2013.
I cannot offer instant, overnight change, but MAC's has many areas we will improve steadily in the time to come. I reach out to anyone that has a concern, to call me directly at
716-204-9331, or email me at: randym@macsauto.com
If you do run into a problem or feel we have made an error, please call and ask for the matter to be looked into. We ourselves would not want a situation like that to happen in our buying experiences or yours. Many times we just need to be advised of the problem or communication on the subject to happen- for us to fix it. I can assure you we will always try, but we are not perfect, mistakes do happen. If given an opportunity to resolve the issue, we hope you can see the pride and effort we strive for with our parts, customer service and delivery time. We all know one bad experience may taint you for a lifetime- but I mention that if you had a bad experience in 1986, that maybe, 26 years later- things have changed. To those willing to give MAC's another chance- I appreciate that and mention we are here for you (but as mentioned we are currently working on improving with focus on the area of speed in which orders leave our facility). For those unwilling to forget the past, or an event that caused you to doubt our ability to provide your future parts needs- I personally apologize and say I wish we had talked in person, as it is rare that in talking with any of our great customers- I can't resolve it to a win-win combination.
We know you have others to buy your parts from, and we appreciate and thank you for your past business and hope to see if we can continue that in the future. I know I can't solve all the items listed in the postings, but I want you to know going into the Memorial Day weekend- we are working on many of them and it will take some time to make all the improvements we know we need to do, and again I thank you for speaking up (reminder to always try and work things out with or staff, then if need be get one of the MAC’s involved before posting on the web) and most importantly- WE HEAR YOU.
Randy McIntosh
Vice President
MAC's Antique Auto Parts
Thank you Randy for your open and honest reply
WOW.......what an impressive response.......
Now, lets see what happens.
I'm with you Michael. I appreciate Randy responding, but I think I will wait until I see/hear a lot of folks saying how quick they are before I order again. Once bitten twice shy, as Great White would say.
one other positive thing I would like to add about the owners of Macs (McIntosh) is that besides my coments above these guys provide a lot of jobs for their small city of Lockport ,NY.
If you've ever been to their facility, as Randy states above, "they've expanded"
and really in a big way, when I see all the employees cars in their large lot, I'm happy to buy my parts there.
of course as I've stated above, when i go in there the service is real good. I've never recieved the wrong parts from them and I buy a lot of parts, model A & t.
returns are carried out without a problem and I gotta say , if Randys listening, the counter guy they have in the new facility does a great job
ok off my soapbox for now
tnx patrick
Howdy all, I'm new to the board and checking things out. I recently inherited a 1914 T and am learning all about it. I placed an order with Macs on the 21st (a Monday) and didn't get an invoice until the 25th (Friday). I was surprised it took so long, so I called Friday and I will say that the lady I spoke was very nice and super helpful. The order shipped out Friday and UPS says it'll get here this coming Thursday. Anyway, I've got some work to do once the parts get here. Hopefully, when I get the radiator in mid June, she'll be ready to crank up and go.
Seth: Welcome. I'm new to the forum too. Please start a new thread with some photos of your car. Also a brief story of how you got your car. I love "family" model T's! Joe
I predominantly buy from Lang’s. Never a problem. Always receive my order fast.
Sometimes I purchase from Snyder’s. No problems with Snyder’s either. Fun Projects is awesome too.
I purchased parts from Macs only once. The receive time was super long. I didn’t complain, I just didn’t buy anything else from them. I’m not trying to “bash” Macs. I sincerely hope they correct whatever may be wrong. I certainly don’t want to see any Model T parts supplier fail. I feel that it is apparent that Mac’s competition is clobbering them with speed. Like it or not we now live in a microwave society. We expect or orders to be processed today so that we can receive them yesterday and install them last week. If someone else can deliver the same part in a more timely fashion, the decision of who to do business with is a no brainer.
You are never going to satisfy everyone. However, I think that this thread demonstrates that ONE very dis-satisfied customer can drive away ten potential customers.
Craftsman tools used to be THE tool of choice for me. Their lifetime guarantee was just icing on the cake because you hardly ever had to return a faulty tool. When I started noticing an increased need to return tools I stopped buying Craftsman tools. Sure, they still had a lifetime guarantee but I didn’t buy a guarantee. I bought a tool to use when I needed it not one that needed to be returned.
Randy offering his personal phone number is a step in the right direction if service improves. I hope, I sincerely hope, that Randy's number quickly becomes icing on the cake. Mac’s, I’m rootin’ for you.
Funny thing, I for one have never needed Don Lang’s personal number. I guess that is precisely why I buy MOST of my parts from Lang’s.