Got a couple of negatives to share for Classic Swede.
(After the FCP issues I had recently, all I seem to do here is sook about getting shafted by suppliers… hopefully that'll change soon!)
TLDR; Got stung extra freight. Got recommended/sold parts that were unsuitable. Got short-changed a set of brake pads. Got ghosted on several emails asking about said brake pads. Cool keyring is actually crap. Website doesn't have enough information about his products, or possible hidden shipping costs for people in UPS 'extended/remote service areas.
Did a $1k AUD order from Dai at Classic Swede at the start of October. Initially I wanted a set of his Gaz strut inserts (about$ 370aud pr), but I decided to add a few more things to make the $300aud shipping worthwhile.
Now, its common knowledge that Dai is pretty useless at communication. I asked him if the standard height Gaz inserts would work with Ash's 40mm lower kings. I got a single sentence reply confirming they would. Thats fine, I got the info I needed.
I emailed again to ask if the Gaz inserts came with bumpstops, or if I needed to buy bumpstops. He replied, telling me that his 7/9 bump stop kits would work with the Gaz insert (although the dust boot wouldn't be suitable). Thats fine. I'll add bump stop kits to the order too then. The 2 kits cost about $50. When I was installing the inserts, the bump stops had to be cut down to allow the piston enough range of motion on compression (no big deal), however the ID of the bump stop was quite a bit bigger than the OD of the piston… therefore the bump stop floats around free on the piston, instead of staying put up the top end of the strut under the top mount/spring plate.
So I blew an extra $50aud on bump stops that were unfit for purpose, after Dai told me they were correct for the application.
The freight on the package was about $300aud. I paid the invoice, and then ANOTHER additional invoice for$ 80aud arrived! I emailed Dai, who replied that UPS classes the whole of Tasmania as a 'remote or extended service region', and charges a premium for the privilege! So after sending him the best part of $1kaud, I was forced to send another$ 80aud on top. I replied that I'd never seen this charge before, and was a bit annoyed that it wasn't factored into the $300aud I'd already paid him for shipping. "Here's a link with postcodes affected" was all the information I received from Dai about it.
The package arrived in about 7 days as promised. Once I opened the package I realised that a set of rear brake pads was missing! I emailed Dai AGAIN, saying the pads were missing and that it didn't appear the package had been opened or damaged, so the pads hadn't just fallen out. They were about $15aud, but after all the other BS I'd dealt with, I wasn't just gonna 'take it'. No reply.
I emailed again a week later to follow-up, also mentioning that the bump stops he recommended weren't really suitable, as they flop around on the piston. No reply.
ALL of my email correspondence was polite and friendly. I didn't confront or abuse him at any stretch! So far I've lived in hope that he'll reply, or just send the pads over (pretty pointless from his end copping the freight charge for a $15aud set of pads, but he hasn't refunded them either)… gave him the benefit of the doubt instead of filing a PayPal dispute for $15aud for the missing brake pads. I know he's a user on TurboBricks, however I haven't bothered to use that channel to try and get his attention.
The absolute icing on this particular cake was his $12aud '245 keyring'. On the website, it looks like high-quality, laser-cut metal… turns out its crappy plastic! No description on his site to say if its metal or plastic, but why on earth should it be up to the customer to send dozens of emails asking the particulars of multiple items when a simple description on the site would suffice?)
Yet another really annoying/disappointing experience with an international supplier who I was intending to spend more money with on a semi-regular basis!
