AB Motorsport Gear Cables !Closed!

[WillB]

A bit of a sad update to this......

From: "Alan Betts"
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I have a number of reservations about this:

1. If it were the case that any bushes were missing I do not think it
is incumbent upon us to mail replacements direct to the end user. We
supplied the cable sets to you and I believe that normal business
practice would be that any replacement bushes required would be supplied
to you.

2. The cable sets supplied were checked very carefully by us prior to
despatch. I checked them at least twice, Preeya checked them again and
we are absolutely sure that no component parts were missing from any set
at the time of despatch. A stocktake of the bushes we have here tallies
with the fact that eighteen bushes went to the UK.

3. The stock of cable sets we have here were assembled at exactly the
same time and to the same spec. as the batch that were sent to you.
With the stock we have here you could not remove the bushes without
using hand tools or a press of some sort.

4. If the Fedex box arrived intact it is difficult to see how all
eighteen bushes, and exactly the same bush in every case, went missing
in transit. As you will have seen, each cable set was packaged
individually within the Fedex box.

5. Fedex tracking says that the goods were received in the UK on 17
July 2009. The first we heard of missing bushes was in your mail more
than a month later on 20 August 2009. At that time a couple of people
had contacted you about missing bushes. Within a week of your mail we
are told that all eighteen sets are missing the same bush. How is it
that nobody raised the issue at the time of receipt or for some
considerable period thereafter?

6. I do not know how you chose to store and distribute the cable sets
to your customers. But is it not possible that if any bushes went
missing they did so after arrival in the UK?

I am prepared to send five replacement bushes free of charge but, for
the foregoing reasons, if you want more than that the additional bushes
and freight will have to be paid for. I do not know the exact costs
involved but we are not talking about huge sums of money.

If it is the case that eighteen bushes are required we will have to make
new stock to fulfill the requirement which will take a little time.

Regards,

Alan Betts
--------------------------------------

As you can appreciate from the above this puts me in a very difficult situation.

Having given it some thought, I have decided to no longer distribute AB products.

I will endever to get the 5 bushes Alan will hopefully send me to the 5 people you PM'd me.
I will try and get some sort of solution sorted for all those on the group buy......

For future enquires from now on, please direct any enquires to AB themselves.

Will

[tte200]

A bit of a sad update to this......

From: "Alan Betts"
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I have a number of reservations about this:

1. If it were the case that any bushes were missing I do not think it
is incumbent upon us to mail replacements direct to the end user. We
supplied the cable sets to you and I believe that normal business
practice would be that any replacement bushes required would be supplied
to you.

2. The cable sets supplied were checked very carefully by us prior to
despatch. I checked them at least twice, Preeya checked them again and
we are absolutely sure that no component parts were missing from any set
at the time of despatch. A stocktake of the bushes we have here tallies
with the fact that eighteen bushes went to the UK.

3. The stock of cable sets we have here were assembled at exactly the
same time and to the same spec. as the batch that were sent to you.
With the stock we have here you could not remove the bushes without
using hand tools or a press of some sort.

4. If the Fedex box arrived intact it is difficult to see how all
eighteen bushes, and exactly the same bush in every case, went missing
in transit. As you will have seen, each cable set was packaged
individually within the Fedex box.

5. Fedex tracking says that the goods were received in the UK on 17
July 2009. The first we heard of missing bushes was in your mail more
than a month later on 20 August 2009. At that time a couple of people
had contacted you about missing bushes. Within a week of your mail we
are told that all eighteen sets are missing the same bush. How is it
that nobody raised the issue at the time of receipt or for some
considerable period thereafter?

6. I do not know how you chose to store and distribute the cable sets
to your customers. But is it not possible that if any bushes went
missing they did so after arrival in the UK?

I am prepared to send five replacement bushes free of charge but, for
the foregoing reasons, if you want more than that the additional bushes
and freight will have to be paid for. I do not know the exact costs
involved but we are not talking about huge sums of money.

If it is the case that eighteen bushes are required we will have to make
new stock to fulfill the requirement which will take a little time.

Regards,

Alan Betts
--------------------------------------

As you can appreciate from the above this puts me in a very difficult situation.

Having given it some thought, I have decided to no longer distribute AB products.

I will endever to get the 5 bushes Alan has sent be to the 5 people you PM'd me.

From now on, please direct any enquires to AB themselves.

Will

Will
Having recived the cables with no instructions or details of what should be in the package i assumed it to be correct and put them into storage to be fitted over the winter. It was only when reading on here about the missing bush, i checked on AB's web site what i should have and found that i am missing one bush.
If I need to purchase the missing bush can you let me know, you also have PM from myself

Thanks

Terry.

[muley]

Sad indeed.

I hope I'm one of the lucky 5! Re-using the old bush compromises the efficiency of the cable in my opinion.

If they fit as tight as the originals there is NO WAY they could fall out...


Jim

edited to add re the comment "How is it
that nobody raised the issue at the time of receipt or for some
considerable period thereafter?"

I +did+ draw Will's attention to the problem the second I spotted it when I collected them!

[Monty]

Don`t know where AB is going with that why would someone just take the bushes

The members on the site are decent people and i`m sure there not that sad to try and get an extra bush

Maybe the other who are missing the bush can contatct AB and do a small group buy on the missing bush

[ashm]

This is all very strange indeed. I wasn't part of this group buy, but was planning to try and get a set of AB cables in the next couple of months. That plan's on hold indefinitely, given this development.

I'm posting here in the hope that some of this feedback will find its way to AB. I realise Elan owners don't represent a huge market, but AB has clearly put a lot of time and effort into developing these parts and it would be a real shame if that work was wasted. I'm sure there are plenty of potential customers like myself who are watching this with interest and some concern about the ability of AB to support these products, and goodwill is a fragile thing in such a small and lively community.

Hopefully this can all get sorted out quickly and easily and everybody can start smiling again soon. Fingers crossed for those of you waiting for missing parts!

Adam


PS. If there are people left without bushes when this shakes out, drop me a pm and I might be able to help. I hope it doesn't come to that, though.

[markv]

Sorry to hear about this Will. Having PMd you a while back, fingers crossed I'm one of "the 5".

Re AB's point "How is it that nobody raised the issue at the time of receipt or for some considerable period thereafter?"
- I suspect that many people, like me, had a quick look when the package arrived and then put it away. I wouldn't have even known there was supposed to be a bush if I hadn't read your posting! Also, many people were away on summer holidays around that time.

It's interesting to note that AB had packaged the cables individually, because my packaging was unopened when I received it - it took a lot of unwrapping and tearing to get into the packaging to the point where I could see there was no bush.

I've bought a lot of items from you previously Will and been very satisfied with them all, so I'd do so again without any hesitation, Just sorry to hear you're caught in this awkward situation.

[BFG in the BRG]

Hi Guys and Gals,

I read this one with interest and a bit of sadness - and please don't take this as me being a bit of a vulture however....incase anyone is desperate for cables before this one is resolved, I got a set of AB's a while ago and have fitted them following a "Dave Shortshift", only to find that my originals were in pretty good nick - however being as I was over half way there by the time I realised..... So if anyone wants a set of originals as an interim - let me know.

I was going to put them on e-bay at some time but haven't got round to it yet - I like LGM have found the AB's are quite a bit stiffer and the centralising for the gearstick is poor - but improving with use - either that or I am getting used to the feel.

[WillB]

Right, I've decided I'm going to pay whatever AB wants for the missing bushes, not sure what else I can do....

Hopefully Alan will send me the bushes ASAP.

I will update this thread as soon as they arrive with me.

Will

[Jackonicko]

I've double checked mine, handed over by Will B at the Ace, and as I said in my PM to him (hope to God I'm one of the five) mine is definitely missing the black transmission end bush, as shown at viewtopic.php?f=48&t=15430#p205049

I'm a mite pi$$ed that Alan is implying that there's something fishy going on. My cables are still in their bag, as delivered, with just two ends sticking out, as they were when Will put them in my car at the Ace late on Wednesday 19th August. One of those ends is the one without the bush.

I sent Will B a PM saying so on Tuesday 25th - five days later. I do not call that "some considerable period thereafter."

These were not cheap items, and with AB's reputation I expected getting them to be a painless process, and for any problems to be addressed quickly and with the honour and decency one expects in this great community.

At the time I asked Will whether AB were still doing their headlight fix kit, for how much, and whether it was any good.

But I'm not sure I'd be confident buying from AB again, after this.

Now is the time for AB to swing into action and restore our confidence.

What tools will be necessary to get the bush into the cable end?

[bobbrown]

At the time I asked Will whether AB were still doing their headlight fix kit, for how much, and whether it was any good.

What tools will be necessary to get the bush into the cable end?

If the headlamps just require the delrin bushes then they are available from the US here http://rodneydickman.com/ cheap at $10.00 for both units + post and packaging.

As for the gear cable bushes they are probably a light interferance fit but should not take much to press them in.

Bob

[ektrolleyboy]

I've ordered directly from Alan and my cables are being sent to Paul Matty directly for fitment. I'm praying mine are fully in tact. I did ask Alan to check based on this thread already being in existence. So let's hope he has!

I must say. He seems easy to deal with and seemed to be a throroughly good bloke based on my interaction to date.

[HJ2]

I'm no part of the groupbuy, but:

1. I would try one more time to convcince AB that this community has no reason whatsoever to Lie about missing bushes (nobody's collecting hem and reselling through Ebay or this forum!) However this forum must be the Nr. 1 customer for AB cables! Stay calm, try to reach him by phone, use your people skill's and explain what you observed (stick with the facts). Sorry ektrolleyboy, but i hope your bush is missing as well and you let Paul inform AB of this. It would be a good argument. I am sure AB can work something out to help you guys!
2. If this does not work, wait till the 5 bushes come in (or remove one of the good bushes from the set), take one of them to a few local machine shops, and ask how much it would cost to manufacture xxx pcs. Use your sad face and don't mention Lotus Do a groupbuy then.
3. Perhaps an active forum member in the UK has a lathe and can make them for the price of the raw material

Good luck!

[rip]

Missing bush?
I was part of the group buy.
Aside from the usual swearing & cursing involved when working on my Elan, the cables went in fine.
I don't recall removing a bush then re-fitting it & I certainly did not use any unusual tools.

As for the reluctance to self-centre, Monty posted some advice in another thread about the brass bush being too tight a fit onto the selector mechanism. Mine needed pliers to fit. Monty's advice was to make the hole in the bush a little bigger. After taking a needle file to mine & being careful not to go too far & create sloppiness, it now centres a lot more easily.
Still needs a little wearing in though.

[ektrolleyboy]

What do you all mean by centering? When it's in neutral?

I've got all this to come shortly. I've gone the A.B short-shift too though!

[WillB]

Alan's now updated the other thread, apparently it's my fault the bushes were missing..... totally bizarre.

Anyway, the good news is he has agreed to supply the bushes, you will need to PM him your address.

All very odd, but I'm glad nobody will be let down by AB.

[rip]

What do you all mean by centering? When it's in neutral?

I've got all this to come shortly. I've gone the A.B short-shift too though!

Yes, neutral.
For example, when you change from 2nd to 3rd or 5th to 4th, you would normally push/pull the gearlever into the middle, then let it centre before choosing 3rd or 4th. Because the assembly is a little stiffer, the gear selector springs are not strong enough to make it centre properly until it has worn in a little.

[daveA]

Hi

I was also a part of this groupbuy and have now found out that the large two piece nylon transmission end is missing...
So I've sent a pm to alan-brett...

I find it strange that the only piece to go missing is one of the bushes , would have expected all of tham to go ...

daveA

[trig]

Just for the record, I was part of the group buy and I have a black bush

[muley]

Just for the record, I was part of the group buy and I have a black bush

Apparently it's in 2 pieces?

Jim

[Gazza]

Must be someone in the group buy that has not opened their package, that could see if the part is missing and send it back to Alan in the original unopened package as proof of missing part.

Seems Alan has agreed to replace parts now anyway.