GMC Pauls

[6600DURAMAX]

Does anyone have a contact for GMC Pauls - I live in Indiana not to far from them and would like to order a bunch of patch panels and larger items. They state there is no onsite pickup available anymore due to a previous fall and lawsuit. I am wondering if there is a better person to contact instead of just the website. Shipping is over a $150 bucks just for my first order and that is a waist of money considering I am driving right by there?

thanks guys

[leddzepp]

Drop Paul an email and ask him.

[70cst]

Originally Posted by leddzepp

drop paul an email and ask him.

x 2

[thepenguin99]

They are really good about answering the email listed on the website. Had a reply in under a day last time I had a question.

[6600DURAMAX]

I did send a request to pick up at store and received the response above about not being able to but it seemed like a generic repsonse and it was from Danielle. Not sure how to contact Paul himself? Is he a site vendor?

[djgebert]

I live in Fort Wayne and was going to drive down to pick up a very large order and they would not let me, and I did speak to them on the phone. Their insurance will not allow them. It is a shame, because I always liked doing business with them, but I ordered from Southern Kentucky parts and they brought them to the Super Chevy show in Indy for me to pick up. They lost several thousand on that one deal and I saved well over $500, maybe they should look into different insurance?

[A.Bursell]

I know lots of people have good things to say about these guys but my experience was also less than positive. I don't find it acceptable to disavow responsibility when a supplier sends an inferior product that is not as you advertised.

On a thread related note, I don't buy the insurance excuse but lots of companies use it.

[leddzepp]

Originally Posted by A.Bursell

I know lots of people have good things to say about these guys but my experience was also less than positive. I don't find it acceptable to disavow responsibility when a supplier sends an inferior product that is not as you advertised.

On a thread related note, I don't buy the insurance excuse but lots of companies use it.

Which product did you have a bad experience with?

Paul is a vendor here, however he is not a big box catalogue company. He has told his background before, and probably will again after reading this thread. If insurance regulations prevent him from having local pickup, that is a shame. I'll bet the increased cost of an insurance policy that allows local pickup (after being previously sued as well) would cost a substantial amount more and that would be passed on through higher prices on parts being sold.

[A.Bursell]

Originally Posted by leddzepp

Which product did you have a bad experience with?

I bought a seat cover for my 67. Really nice material and looked to be made very well. My installer agreed but showed me how he believed it was made for a later seat based on a couple differences, including being dimensionally different in at least one critical place, and would take some modifications to fit. He said he actually tried and it wouldn't fit correctly. After waiting nearly 3 months for the cover I expected perfection. I sent a couple notes back and forth to GMCPauls offering pictures and explaining in as much detail as I could. The final response was an email copied from the vendor saying my cover wouldn't be remade because he's been in business for 33 years and doesn't make them wrong and it was probably my installer trying to sell me one of his covers for more money. I am disappointed that a vendor thought that was an acceptable way to handle a problem with something they sold.

Needless to say, my installer was able to order matching material and modify the cover, at my expense, and I have a really nice seat now.

[GMCPaul]

Originally Posted by A.Bursell

I know lots of people have good things to say about these guys but my experience was also less than positive. I don't find it acceptable to disavow responsibility when a supplier sends an inferior product that is not as you advertised.

On a thread related note, I don't buy the insurance excuse but lots of companies use it.

I lost over 25% of a years income on a slip and fall law suit so its not a excuse.
We also did not supply a inferior product to you. You purchased a 67-68 bench seat upholstery which was made by who we consider to be the best in truck seat upholstery Truck World. We later learned through your purchase the following from Truck World on the 67-68 Bench seat upholstery that we had not known previously.
""We don't make a folding specific seat cover, the seat cover can be used on either a fixed seat or folding seal, for seats that fold forward you can fold the flap underneath the cover so it will fold without any binding, it does not need to be attached to bottom frame. `The use of flat or hog rings to install cover make no difference in its installation.""
The comment about the hog rings versus flat was made by them as your upholstery installer stated that the seat upholstery was made for a later model seat since it used hog rings to install as he stated hog rings were not used on these seats.
The last we heard from you on this was

It's important that I thank you for following up on this for me. I really do appreciate all the work that you have put into answering my questions and responding to my concerns. I do wish I had this information when I went to my upholsterer with the cover the first time though.

Once we discovered the info on the 67-68 folding back seats we then added to our web site the following info
"""
2 Versions of bench seats were made in 1967-68, 1 with a fixed seat back & 1 with a folding seat back. This seat upholstery is for the more common fixed back bench seat. Our manufacturer states this can be used on a folding back bench seat but requires the side flap to be tucked in rather than fixed to the bottom frame.
"""
So we were as proactive after the fact as we could be in our contact with you and for future customers added the description to our web site. To my knowledge we are the only 1 that mentions this on the 67-68 bench seat backs even though I'm sure most all the big Truck Part Companies know this also already they don't bother to put it in the description.
I'm sorry if our service did not meet your expectations we try and the last we had heard from you we thought we had met your expectations on this so I'm very sorry that was not the case. as it was our intention to leave you satisfied.
In regards to our meeting customers elsewhere for them to pick up parts we've tried that but after experiencing several no shows, or folks running 1/2hour to over 4 1/2 behind schedule to meet us and most not bothering to call the cell # we provided them I got fed up with it and stopped the practice. The one that was 4 1/2 late was the final straw we agreed to meet him at I70 in Terre Haute a hours drive and after waiting 2 hours and him not answering our calls to his cell phone we went home. Then 2 1/2 hours later he calls from his cell phone and wants us to drive back to meet him. When he informed me he was busy when we called to find out where he was and so he didn't answer the phone and then didn't bother calling us back it was the straw that broke this camels back so we ended this parts pick up procedure after meeting with him the next day.
I wish you a Blessed Healthy, Happy & Safe Holiday Season!
Paul Sr @ GMCPauls

[A.Bursell]

Hi Paul, since you are here reading this now, let me address what you have brought up:

Originally Posted by GMCPaul

We also did not supply a inferior product to you. You purchased a 67-68 bench seat upholstery which was made by who we consider to be the best in truck seat upholstery Truck World. We later learned through your purchase the following from Truck World on the 67-68 Bench seat upholstery that we had not known previously.
""We don't make a folding specific seat cover, the seat cover can be used on either a fixed seat or folding seal, for seats that fold forward you can fold the flap underneath the cover so it will fold without any binding, it does not need to be attached to bottom frame. `The use of flat or hog rings to install cover make no difference in its installation.""
The comment about the hog rings versus flat was made by them as your upholstery installer stated that the seat upholstery was made for a later model seat since it used hog rings to install as he stated hog rings were not used on these seats.

If your company sold me a product that does not do what it is supposed to do, it is inferior. There is no way around that. Not sure how you can call them the "best" when they did the same thing to you as they did to me-- they told you a product was for a certain application and it is not.

What you copied and pasted here is exactly what the manufacturer said in his email that your company forwarded to me, but it was not the case with my cover. Your company didn't believe me or my installer then, and obviously you don't believe me now. If you refer to the February 2015 Classic Trucks magazine you can find detailed pictures and info of rebuilding the exact same seat. Notice that they had to modify their seat frame and cover in order to use hog-rings and because it folds. Maybe that cover is from the same manufacturer, or maybe misinformation is commonplace. Again, I don't blame your company for the bad info, only the poor customer service.

The last we heard from you on this was

It's important that I thank you for following up on this for me. I really do appreciate all the work that you have put into answering my questions and responding to my concerns. I do wish I had this information when I went to my upholsterer with the cover the first time though.

As I said, I certainly try to stay professional and not get upset when things go sideways and really try to give everyone the benefit of the doubt. I think this is pretty good evidence of that. Unfortunately you left out the last part of the email I sent which says:

I still expect that you will stand behind your order if this doesn't work, but I really hope that it does so I can finally finish this project.

To that, I received no response. No thanks. No tips or info. No let me try to get more specifics from the manufacturer to help you. No offer of refund. No exchange. No follow up. Nothing. Just left hanging. That told me you were done with me.

Once we discovered the info on the 67-68 folding back seats we then added to our web site the following info
"""
2 Versions of bench seats were made in 1967-68, 1 with a fixed seat back & 1 with a folding seat back. This seat upholstery is for the more common fixed back bench seat. Our manufacturer states this can be used on a folding back bench seat but requires the side flap to be tucked in rather than fixed to the bottom frame.
"""

There are not two versions. The 67-68 is only folding. The 69-72 is only fixed. You have again been fed the wrong information from your manufacturer and choose to believe him which will undoubtedly cost you more credibility in the future. I imagine I am not your first customer for these, maybe just the only one to complain. But that info is wrong, plain and simple.

So we were as proactive after the fact as we could be in our contact with you and for future customers added the description to our web site. To my knowledge we are the only 1 that mentions this on the 67-68 bench seat backs even though I'm sure most all the big Truck Part Companies know this also already they don't bother to put it in the description.

If the cover is made correctly there is no need to mention anything. Respectfully, please explain how forwarding me a rude response from a manufacturer is supposed to help me or anyone else. Let me copy and paste the entire response here again so you can see what your company sent me:

Hi, Adam
The manufacturer replied with the following information.

Adams seat cover is not being remade because we don't make a folding specific seat cover, the seat cover can be used on either a fixed seat or folding seal, for seats that fold forward you can fold the flap underneath the cover so it will fold without any binding, it does not need to be attached to bottom frame. `The use of flat or hog rings to install cover make no difference in its installation.

He also stated that your upholstery installer is most likely just trying to upsell his own hand made version instead of installing this one as these covers have been installed on both folding and fixed seats for the 33 years he's been in business.

My Very Best
Sky @ GMCPauls

Can you honestly say this meets the level of customer service you intend to provide?

I'm sorry if our service did not meet your expectations we try and the last we had heard from you we thought we had met your expectations on this so I'm very sorry that was not the case. as it was our intention to leave you satisfied.
I wish you a Blessed Healthy, Happy & Safe Holiday Season!
Paul Sr @ GMCPauls

Paul, I appreciate you coming on here to try to defend your company. I think it shows a lot that you spend your time here and go out of your way for that. I'm also impressed that you found my emails- either because someone remembered me or you took the time to do that as well based on my user name (not hard to figure out). But I think it's plain as day that your company didn't take the time to investigate anything I said, took the word of your supplier over me, and abandoned me as a customer. Based on your reputation I don't think that's the norm, but it certainly was my experience.

In your email to me this morning you asked how I feel you can make this right. I'm not one to go jumping for money and discounts even though I not only paid for the cover and installation, but paid extra for modifications to make it work. I think anything you offered me would just take money out of your pocket when really the majority of the problem was with your supplier- and so it still wouldn't solve anything. I'm really big on relationships and this one stung me good. I suppose if you really want me to give you an answer, then having your supplier reimburse the extra I paid to have the cover modified would make me whole.

Thanks again- looking forward to hearing from you.

Adam

[GMCPaul]

We don't consider the 67-68 seat upholstery to be inferior as the consensus we have from previous customers and if you read posts here about them I've only seen positive reviews and comparing to the other manufacturers the material & use of double stitching is far better than the others available.
I'm sorry if you've taken from my comments that I nor my company didn't believe you or your installer of the upholstery it was not meant to convey that.

""
Quote
To that, I received no response. No thanks. No tips or info. No let me try to get more specifics from the manufacturer to help you. No offer of refund. No exchange. No follow up. Nothing. Just left hanging. That told me you were done with me.
""
When we never heard back from you we could only assume that what the manufacturer had stated about tucking the flap and using hog rings did work and we had assumed passing that information along to was passig along the manufacturers tip.
""
Quote
There are not two versions. The 67-68 is only folding. The 69-72 is only fixed. You have again been fed the wrong information from your manufacturer and choose to believe him which will undoubtedly cost you more credibility in the future. I imagine I am not your first customer for these, maybe just the only one to complain. But that info is wrong, plain and simple.
""In regards to all 67-68 allowing the back to fold forward that's not correct as I every 67-68 I have is a fixed back seat and does not fold forward so I guess I'm to assume every seat was replaced with a later model 69-72 version. If you know of documentation that shows differently please provide it as I Never want to spread disinformation on a part or subject and my finding out differently on the 67-68 seat back thing being incorrect would mean I would be pulling this upholstery immediately from my web site but from what I know based on experience is they used both versions.
""
Quote:
Hi, Adam
The manufacturer replied with the following information.

Adams seat cover is not being remade because we don't make a folding specific seat cover, the seat cover can be used on either a fixed seat or folding seal, for seats that fold forward you can fold the flap underneath the cover so it will fold without any binding, it does not need to be attached to bottom frame. `The use of flat or hog rings to install cover make no difference in its installation.

He also stated that your upholstery installer is most likely just trying to upsell his own hand made version instead of installing this one as these covers have been installed on both folding and fixed seats for the 33 years he's been in business.

My Very Best
Sky @ GMCPauls

Can you honestly say this meets the level of customer service you intend to provide?

""
Sky is my employee not the manufacturers or our supplier's and was only forwarding the information given her to by them to let you know what had been conveyed to us. In my opinion she did correctly letting you know what they had to say based upon her knowledge of everything so yes I feel she acted correctly.
""
Quote
Paul, I appreciate you coming on here to try to defend your company. I think it shows a lot that you spend your time here and go out of your way for that. I'm also impressed that you found my emails- either because someone remembered me or you took the time to do that as well based on my user name (not hard to figure out). But I think it's plain as day that your company didn't take the time to investigate anything I said, took the word of your supplier over me, and abandoned me as a customer. Based on your reputation I don't think that's the norm, but it certainly was my experience.

In your email to me this morning you asked how I feel you can make this right. I'm not one to go jumping for money and discounts even though I not only paid for the cover and installation, but paid extra for modifications to make it work. I think anything you offered me would just take money out of your pocket when really the majority of the problem was with your supplier- and so it still wouldn't solve anything. I'm really big on relationships and this one stung me good. I suppose if you really want me to give you an answer, then having your supplier reimburse the extra I paid to have the cover modified would make me whole.

Thanks again- looking forward to hearing from you.

Adam
""I'm sorry you felt we had abandoned you but since we never heard anything further Sky assumed that this was addressed appropriately and that tucking of the flaps & use of the hog rings had not presented you with a problem because we never heard anything further so could only assume that the solutions suggested worked and you were happy until this post came up. During this contact with you Sky and I discussed this as it was a 1st time occurrence for us and I was involved at the time trying to get a answer back from our supplier on this problem,
It was discussed with our supplier at the time if anything could be done to help and that was shot down then by them but my offer still remains open if you choose to accept it.
Again please accept my apologies for this as I am the party that sold you this product not my supplier / manufacturer and I'm responsible for what we sell 100% not them.
You have my email if you would like to discuss this outside the forum or require further help with this or anything else. You have my sincerest apology for falling short in your eyes from the service that you expected from us.
Paul Sr @ GMCPauls

[leddzepp]

Thank you for your input. Upholstery can get very touchy...do you know the name of the manufacturer? Was it Truck World? Just curious. I'm sorry for your experience.

[A.Bursell]

Originally Posted by leddzepp

Thank you for your input. Upholstery can get very touchy...do you know the name of the manufacturer? Was it Truck World? Just curious. I'm sorry for your experience.

Yes it was Truck World. I did not know that until after I had a problem so I never searched for reviews or anything. Even though Truck World was the true source of the problem, because of the handling by GMCPauls I cannot recommend them.

My impression was, and still is, that with a seat that is completely original and in nice enough shape that it has no broken springs or foam deterioration or other issues- not even a rust on the frame, that a correctly made seat cover should fit easily. That is why I had no problem believing my installer when he showed me the problems. Incidentally, my installer would have made the cover himself but when he couldn't find a good quality material that matched well enough he encouraged me to look online for vendors. He certainly wasn't trying to upsell me. It was only after the problems and lack of support that we looked at the numbers on the back of the material and realized he could get it from his suppliers (the color swatch was in a different part of the sample book that we never looked at). I'm sure it was much more of a pain for him to order material and modify someone else's cover vs just making his own based on my old cover. I find it a rediculous notion that someone would do that make an extra buck.

And thanks for your empathy- it is appreciated. I realize from time to time we all deal with an issue or unfortunate experience. That's why I don't get upset when it happens as disappointing as it can be. But I expect it to be handled the right way. Anyone can be a hero when things go right. It's when they go wrong that true character shows itself.

[68c10airstream]

A.Bursell, I had the exact trouble with truck world regarding a seat cover ordered with a vendor here called truckseats. My 68 was a folding seat, requested 71/72 houndstooth shoehorn style for a folding 68. Received a beautiful 71/72 cover but it fit a 71/71. Took the info off the box called truckworld, discussed the trouble and also offered a original 68 cover for a pattern. I then sent the 68 cover for a pattern. She said she would put it on the front burner. 6 weeks later another beautiful cover arrived, this time it fits like a glove. There was a cushion description discrepency with gmc pauls, emailed them, they offered a full refund. The initial discrepency was the back cushion was stated as a formed bun, i received a foam sheet. Untimately the sheet worked, was fine, gmc paul changed the listing description. The foam i got from gmc pauls is first class stuff, especially the formed lower bun, it couldn't be better. Truck world needs help as my initial order with a full description, cell # house #, repeated specifics, but no calls. Just make a 71/72 cover. The lengthy call i had with a gal said she works everyday, getting older, can't find help that wants to work that hard. I can feel somewhat sorry for her but making 2 covers take longer than making the correct one once the first time, and the customer (me) had to supply the pattern? really?

[zamboni2354]

I lost over 25% of a years income on a slip and fall law suit so its not a excuse.---sounds like one of those situations where the few ruin it for the many. Really unfortunate for gmc paul and 99% of the people who would like to do local pick up.

Jeff

[GMCPaul]

Based upon your experience we will be removing from this items description that with minor modifications that this seat upholstery can also be used on the seats with a folding back and will only list them for the fixed seat back version.
For all of us who seek knowledge ( all of us ) a search of the 67-72 Chevy/GMC assembly manual & the GM master parts catalog shows that both a fixed back & folding seat back 67-68 bench seats were made so it wasn't 1 or the other it could be either style bench seat found in a 67-68 truck
Paul Sr @ GMCPauls

[A.Bursell]

Paul and I have talked things out offline and resolved the communication differences we were having. I will say Paul is a stand-up guy and he certainly could have just let this drop, but instead we were able to keep going and work things out.

Thanks Paul- I will be in touch.

Adam

[A.Bursell]

Originally Posted by GMCPaul

For all of us who seek knowledge ( all of us ) a search of the 67-72 Chevy/GMC assembly manual & the GM master parts catalog shows that both a fixed back & folding seat back 67-68 bench seats were made so it wasn't 1 or the other it could be either style bench seat found in a 67-68 truck
Paul Sr @ GMCPauls

My 1967 service manual only shows a folding seat back. The email back then must not have been so great between departments! Actually, I suspect the manuals you are looking at are designed to cover multiple years and thus show all the differences available. I will attach a page showing what I mean here so you can see. I don't have access to any other year manuals right now but I suspect if you go to a 1969 manual it will not show the tilting seat. Even a search of this site will yield multiple threads explaining that 67-68 are folding while the later years are fixed.

Again- thanks for the understanding and I hope this helps.

Adam

[6600DURAMAX]

So.............. Paul, I have sent you a PM

Hopefully we can work something out on a pickup?

[GMCPaul]

Originally Posted by 6600DURAMAX

So.............. Paul, I have sent you a PM

Hopefully we can work something out on a pickup?

I'm sorry but its No as if I do it for 1 then I need to do it for all and then if that's the case I need liability insurance and I'm not going to pay $1200.00 a month to make a few sales that net me less than the profit required to cover the insurance. I didn't go into business to go broke just to make a reasonable living supplying quality products.
Paul Sr @ GMCPauls

[Liz]

Hey Paul, when you get a chance can you call Josh? myoldtruck@gmail.com if you need the number again. Sorry to jump on the thread, but I knew you would see this here and i lost your cel a while back lol.. thanks

[Kenfuzed]

I can completely relate to Paul's situation here, my company faces the same situation regarding customer pickups. My business (motorcycle parts manufacturing and direct sales) is restricted to shipping only due to the insurance implications. With the additional cost in insurance I would need to increase profits (not just sales) by that amount just to break even.

And that doesn't even account for the extra costs I would incur to open my doors. We also have to provide additional access (wheelchair access) that exceeds ADA compliance due to increased regulations in our state and city.

Often the cost of doing business has more to do with all the little things the customer never sees, and the product cost itself is only a small chunk of that. Sadly we all now live in a much different world.

[Indian113]

Most people have No idea about all the hidden costs to Owning a Business.

[zeldman]

Originally Posted by Indian113

Most people have No idea about all the hidden costs to Owning a Business.

You are so right on that.

Instead of losing sales I would arrange to meet customers at the parking lot of Walmart if I had to.

But you didn't hear that from me.