MiniSpares Customer Service or Lack Of?

[Red Mist]

Is this the Minispares appreciation society

if you can whistle the theme music you can come on the bus.....

Ian George told me you had one of these but I didn't believe him!

[abri]

As another "foreign" Minispares customer, I can support the Minispares appreciation society. I have not placed a ton of orders with them, probably between 5 and 10 times. They have always sent me the correct parts and replied to emails within two business days. The only time they made a mistake was when they sent me about 10 rear numberplate buffers instead of the 3 that I ordered . No problem!

[999 ORX]

Is this the Minispares appreciation society

if you can whistle the theme music you can come on the bus.....

Well in that case! Bagzee being on the back row with you guru! Haha


<=3

[SteveG]

I have placed around 15-20 orders through mini spares in the last 3 years or so.. I have never used minisport as their freight seems crazy..

I must admit i've not always received the best of service and its often taken 3 days to get a reply. My main contact is with Ivan.. I guess he's the e-mail guy. His answers are often brief and frustrating. Recently I had many problems with a few orders I placed and received incorrect products. Overall though i'm a happy customer and will continue to spend a lot of money with them.

I guess if you are in the UK its easy to pick up the phone and sort a problem out.. here its a little trickier with time differences.

I have recently found Andy to be a great help with solving problems. Rich has given me help in the past with other items, but I guess oversees buyers don't deal with the Northern Branch?

If Ivan deals with 150 e-mails on a Monday morning perhaps its worth looking at giving him some help?

Overall keep up the good work, you are keeping the mini alive!

[BroadspeedGT]

Question for 62countryman
Are you trying to fit these to a rear brake backplate or a single leading shoe front brake backplate?
As this sounds like the problem you are describing.
Chris

[62Countryman]

I know the original part number for my REAR Brake Cylinder since I have an original BMC Parts Manual for my Austin Seven Countryman Estate. The GWC1102 part number that is listed on on MiniSpares as well as other sites is a UNIPART part number (correct me if I am wrong). I did my my research (Michael7). I searched the web and I was not able to locate the BMC part number. I do not have a Lookheed parts manual so I have to go off what is posted on the web. Somerford mini as well as another person in the Netherlands listed that my car uses a REAR brake cylinder with a (5/8" Bore). The website also states that the REAR brake cylinder was made with a 3/4" Bore. I removed my leaking cylinder and measured the piston...close to 5/8". Which one should I order, 5/8 or 3/4? How did I know that the part listed as GWC1102 would not fit my backplate? This was my first time to work on my REAR brakes. The part doesn't fit and the only way to correct it is to (Change the Backplate OR File the cylinder). I am assuming that a new backplate is compatible with my REAR hub. Prior to posting a question about customer service on this website...I posted a question on a different website asking why my part did not fit. 2 members replied indicating that they had to file the cylinder body in order for the part to fit. The point that I want to make is that I feel (my opinion) that suppliers that sell mini parts should note on their website indicating that a particular part needs to be modified. "Ivan indicated in his reply that MiniSpares is aware of this problem". In regards to the Customer Service question...Didn't the title have a ? mark at the end of the subject line? As I mentioned in an earlier reply, maybe I am spoiled with the type of customer service that I receive in Japan and maybe I am expecting too much. I was not aware that there was a lot happening in the UK during the week that I sent the email to Minispares. Hey I live in Japan, I have no clue what is going on in the UK. Can I modify the part myself?...yes...Do I have the time?....Probably not since I have a busy schedule, but if I have the time, I do not want to leave my car on Jack Stands for more than a couple of hours since there is a good chance that an earthquake will happen while I am under my car. How many of you have been in an earthquake, Raise your hands. The earthquake that happened in March scared the SHIT out of everyone here. Can I pay someone else to do it for me? Yes, but why should I pay a local mechanic 35000 Yen to replace a rear brake cylinder..plus 5500 Yen for 1 REAR cylinder? If I knew the part wasn't going to fit, I would have ordered a new set of backplates for the rear wheels and included it my original shipment and have a good reason to purchase a torque wrench. You that live in the UK are lucky when it comes to getting parts for your beloved mini. The parts are not too expensive and you do not have to pay outrageous shipping charges. As someone mentioned in an earlier reply, "Calm Down" M7. My email was asking for help, opinions, whatever. Don't take it too personal.

[Matty]

Im sure it should be 5/8 bore, as the 3/4 bore was meant for twin leading shoes with a different pressure bias valve on the rear subby...someone correct me if im wrong?

The newer style back plates should fit fine, but in all honesty it would probably take longer to remove the back plate to change them, than it would to grind a bit off the cylinders.

If you don't want the car on axel stands for prolonged periods (can't blame you), your best bet would be to remove the retaining clip, and brake pipe from the wheel cylinder, then jack the car up remove drum and whip the old cylinder out. Put the drum back on and it can be back on its wheels while you modify the new cylinder. You can use the old cylinder as a pattern to do both of your new ones, then reassmbly should take no longer than it would with the correct fitting part.

If you are concerned about the warranty side of things, you'd be best to ask minispares to see if it would invalidate the warranty.

[Matty]

If its the same problem as this, then its a 2 min job with a file. I'd just put a chamfer on each corner, then job done. Its not modifying, its referred to as 'fitting' in the engineering trade.

[mk1]

I don't want to get into the rights & wrongs of this thread, but have never really felt its a great policy to come onto an independent forum like this one to slag any parts supplier off over one incedent.

I do however like Rich's latest Bus modification.

[guru_1071]

If its the same problem as this, then its a 2 min job with a file. I'd just put a chamfer on each corner, then job done. Its not modifying, its referred to as 'fitting' in the engineering trade.

i suspect that the method of locating the cylinder was altered to the later pin type because the cylinder would 'shuffle' between the pressed bumps in use and knock the shoes back. it also probably made the hand brake poor as well.

the only way to make sure that the mass produced cylinder wouldnt shuffle would be to, ironically, hand file each cylinder to match exactly the space between the bumps.

[Andrew1967]

I'd have thought that filing the cylinder will take no longer, in fact probably less time, than to fit a new backplate with the unaltered GWC1102.

The Lockheed reference manual states that a 3/4" bore cylinder, part number 4241-396, was used up to Austin chassis number 359770 RHD & 358922 LHD with the 5/8" bore after those numbers, part number 4241-075. The early cars also used a 3/4 bore master cylinder 4222-163 whereas the later ones used 4222-932, the .70 bore cylinder.

I tried to post up a scanned copy but the file size was too large and I do not know how to reduce the resolution

The above said, I'd tend to agree with the OP, that if information is known about fitment differences, it ought to be listed on the website of whichever company advertises such goods. I also agree however, that it is impossible to list all change points and variations that have occured over the years.

[62Countryman]

I appreciate the pictures that someone posted and now everyone can see what I was referring to BUT in my opinion, the backplate shouldn't have been modified the way it is shown in the picture. The hole for the bleed nipple (which has been filed away) would have kept the cylinder body from shuffling. The new cylinders come with a metal pin to keep the cylinders from moving. The old backplates used the two raised portions to lock the cylinder in place. In addition, I feel that the bleed nipple also helps keep the cylinder body from moving.

[12g295]

Why don't you just get your file out and stop moaning on.
You remind me of a very wealthy boss of mine in a previous life.

His wife (who didn't like him much) used to come down to the factory floor
and keep the peace with me and the other workers by apologizing for him.
She undermined him at every chance she got.

One day she came down from the office while we were on our 10am tea break
and said that she was sorry that there was no soft toilet paper only the "st Izal"
She said "Clifford can't use anything else because he just puts his finger through it"

[mk1coopers]

In the original post its asked 'is this normal customer service', those of us that have replied supporting Minispares have only said that in our own experience that it is not the normal way that they operate. It has to be said that I suspect there is not one organisation, large or small, that has 100% customer satisfaction at all times, I've recently been dealing with a very large quality watch company that have not impressed me one little bit (considering the prices the charge for their products and the cost of servicing them), by not acknowledging emails, claiming they can't find what I've sent them (even though it was sent special delivery), taking nearly twice as long as they said to do the service, and finally not returning everything that was sent to them. I know I can't keep everyone I deal with in my job 100% happy all the time, I try my best, that's all I can do, but somone will always have a issue that I have to deal with, it might be once a year, once a month, or once a week, the bigger you are the more people will slip through the 100% satisfied net, that's why companies spend money on customer service departments. Yes a little work is needed to fit the parts that have been sent, the OP does have the skills to do this, and now the pictures to help, I've had to drill my back plates on the cars because of the lack of RH / LH cylinders that were available, using your geographic location as a reason to criticize a company is a little harsh in my opinion (you only have to look at the response from this forum and many others to know that people do feel the Nations concerned sorrow when these natural disasters strike), I to don't like to pay to have work done on my house / cars / ect when I know I can do it myself, but some times you run out of time or knowledge and you have to. As others have said, do the job in stages, one side at a time to keep the car in contact with the ground on 3 points it should be less than an hour a side, all the time thinking how great it will be once the car is back on the road and you can enjoy driving it again

[pad4]

hey the watch company aint tag heuer is it,there customer service is poo,really poo.i think best way to get an answer is by phone,emails are a pain in the ass

[Andrew1967]

Looks as though BMC/BL produced a backplate for use with either wheel cylinder type.

Found this in my garage with a label dated 29/12/1971 (my 4th birthday !) with a part number 17H7616.

From memory, I just filed enough of the nipple hole as required, along with the sides of the cylinder. In the 10 years or so since the wicked deed, I have not had any problems.

[mk1coopers]

hey the watch company aint tag heuer is it,there customer service is poo,really poo.i think best way to get an answer is by phone,emails are a pain in the ass

I couldn't possibly say

[999 ORX]

hey the watch company aint tag heuer is it,there customer service is poo,really poo.i think best way to get an answer is by phone,emails are a pain in the ass

I couldn't possibly say

.

You don't get that with Breitling

[SteveG]

I've never had any problems with Casio either