Alabama Cylinder Head

Warranty / Customer Service Issues

Posted by tandtequipment on 6/5/2008

I own and operate a diesel engine repair shop in Texas (USA). Our company representative picked up a NEW cylinder head from the Alabama Cylinder Head warehouse located in Houston, Tx. upon picking up and paying in full for the cylinder head my rep. signed a "factory invoice", there was no warranty information on this paperwork nor given verbally. Once back at the shop my mechanic proceeded to install the new head onto the intended engine and reassemble the engine. The engine was started and we found it was smoking, we then proceeded to investigate the problem for repair and found that ALL 12 valve stem seals on the new cylinder head were improperly installed (I would assume at the factory). We contacted Alabama Cylinder Head to explain our situation, the staff we spoke to (Steve and manager Woody Stlton) were unprofessional, unhelpful and inconsiderate of our situation. We were informed of the warranty and told only the part would be replaced. I asked if they would at least overnight the head so we could keep on our schedule for the vehicle to be released to the customer, I was told no and they would ship the head standard UPS ground shipping. In the mean time we received via postal mail the original copy of our paid invoice which included a statement at the bottom "Acceptance of this head constitutes acceptance of this warranty". The warranty stated there is a 90 day warranty period limited to replacement of head and gasket set only. THIS WARRANTY WAS NOT GIVEN TO US UPON PICK UP OF THE HEAD EITHER WRITTEN OR VERBAL. I believe this to be very poor customer service, I myself am a businessman and understand the importance of good customer service/relations. At times during the course of making my/a customer happy I may loose a little profit on that particular job, however my business reputation and referrals more than make up for one jobs' loss. As we needed to release the vehicle as promised to our customer, rather than wait an unknown about of days for the replacement cylinder head to be delivered we went ahead and re-built the cylinder head properly. At this point Alabama Cylinder Head wants me to absorb the additional labor cost (even to reinstall a replacement head - had we waited for the replacement), we were even told we should have called A.C.H. prior to tearing the engine down (we did not expect the problem to be the NEW cylinder head we just purchased) however we needed to find the problem. I do not know of anyone in this country who is willing to work for free (if you do, or know of someone who does let me know as I sure could use them at my shop!) I had to pay my mechanic additional labor because this part was defective directly from the warehouse, and I do not believe I should have to absorb the additional labor related to this defective part. I will not pass this expense onto my customer as it is not their fault the part was defective, I cannot ask my mechanic to put in additional labor hours without pay as it was not his fault the part was defective. Alabama Cylinder Head should make sure their warranty is on the pickup ticket or given at the time of pickup, Alabama Cylinder Head should either by inspection or whatever means make sure they are selling good quality parts or at least have a reasonable warranty for labor issues relating to defective materials. I don't feel a business that has purchased a new product or service should incur additional liability due to poor quality of the product or service which was purchased in good faith. America used to be a nation of quality product(s) and service(s). I do NOT RECOMMEND THIS BUSINESS, and will be seeking legal advise. I will keep posted as necessary, thank you for reading this review and good luck.