Vintage V-Dubs - [email protected] - Bruce

[Westys' Dad]

I WILL PREFACE THIS BY SAYING I HAD NEVER READ ANY FEEDBACK OR COMMENTS ABOUT BRUCE OR HIS SHOP PRIOR TO MY DEALINGS WITH HIM, SO THIS IS TRULY AN UN BIASED OPINION OF A FIRST TIME EXPERIENCE WITH HIM AND HIS SHOP!!!

While traveling this last Thanksgiving week, we broke down in Albequerque NM. I made a quick search and found a shop called Vintage Vdubs. Spoke with a nice guy on the phone, and managed to get my bus running long enough to get it to their shop. Bruce (the owner) showed up, diagnosed the issue, sent his guy over to another shop called Foreign Aide after the needed part, and got us back on the road!

He did what any other shop would do right? RIGHT!! With one GREAT EXCEPTION! When discussing how much it was going to cost us, he explained that they weren't set up for credit cards yet. I told him we only had enough cash to buy the parts, but not pay for his labor! (An hour is what he charged us, even though it was probably clser to two.)

THIS IS WHERE IT GETS GREAT--- He said, "Well, how about you just buy the part and mail me a check for my labor when you get home?" Who does that? BRUCE at Vintage Vdubs.. that's who.

Anyways.. Go see Bruce at Vintage Vdubs if you need anything. Real knowledgable, and real friendly. Highly reccommended by two stranded travellers on the night before Thanksgiving.

[Dubster10]

[Terry Gaudet]

Well it's now official. I have been scammed.

I bought an paid for (via Paypal) 2 german rear brake drums. A month goes by and nothing. I contact them and they advise that due to the busy holiday season there was a delay in getting my drums shipped. I can understand that. In mid January I get a box in the mail, and wonder why it's so small. I mean, it should be 2 drums, right? Wrong. Just 1 drum. Our email exchange clearly indicates 2 drums. In fact he's been vague on the 2 drum order and never seems to get it.

Oh, and the bonus is that they didn't box it properly and there is a chip on the outside edge.

I contact them and they promise to make it right. That was over 3 weeks ago. I have been keeping track of everything.

Well yesterday I asked for a full refund including the shipping costs. Nothing yet. I will be reporting this to Paypal. I hope this post clearly shows to all you Samba friends that this guy is not honest.

Feeling shafted in Canada,
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Terry Gaudet

1950 Beetle Standard
1955 Canadian Custom
1956 Kombi w/SO23 kit
1965 Kombi walkthrough
1965 Double Cab

[vintagevdubstheshop]

We are not scammers and Thing drums are very hard to find and we are trying our best to fulfill this order and make it right. Even though this was damaged in transit, we are trying to accommodate any issue to the best of our ability.

We haven't neglected this or tried to be difficult, we are in contact with the buyer and to be honest, three weeks from ordering to delivery to finding out there was a discrepancy to today isn't realistically that long.

We are thankful for all of our loyal customers who support us by sending us messages of praise for our work and for our business ethic. It's customers like that that keep us going. As for the customers who have damaged orders or hard to find pieces, we really do invest a lot of time and resources in fulfilling it all in a timely manner.

We apologize for the delay. And for the business.

[ddudleynm]

I took my 66 stock Beetle to Bruce’s shop and he totally hooked me up. He was honest, fair and did great work. He took the time to share his expertise and patiently answered all of my questions. I would definitely do business with him.

[cgirlamo]

Took delivery of 64 beetle, it was exactly as described and transaction went very smoothly. Bruce was honest throughout the entire transaction and everything went great.

[herbsflat4]

My email and phone calls with Vintage V-Dubs have been fine. However, they seem to lack quality control or skilled technicians when it comes to assembling re-built link pin spindles. The first set I received looked nothing like the pictures (http://vintagev-dubs.com/shop/re-built-bug-link-pin-spindles/ online at their shop) and the driver side spindle was built with the wrong knuckle. I chalked that error up as human nature and considered it no big deal.

I told them about this problem (after sending pictures) and they immediately sent out another set of spindles. Okay.

Upon receiving those spindles, now the passenger side spindle is built with the wrong knuckle! Again the packaging was shoddy and the USPS box was torn to shreds. Also, the spindle axle looks like someone had a pair of vise grips on them and buffed them out plus the machined face where the backing plate butts up has a large dented area that would cause the backing plate to sit skewed to the machined surface.

I would not consider these guys for any rebuilt parts based on my experience so far. I am sure they are good guys and they have been quick to ship items but they just need to double check their procedures in my opinion.

I am currently seeking a refund and compensation to send all 4 spindles back to them. We will see how that goes.

[TinCanFab]

I just installed a Split Window bus 944 disc brake kit on my 60 single cab. Shipping was fast and everything fit properly. Caliper brackets, remachined hubs with races installed, grease caps, etc. I had a few issues getting everything fitted up, but not because of parts in the kit. Custom jobs always require a little time and preparation and I was prepared for that. My only suggestion is to include instructions highlighting some possible fitment issues. Other than that I am very happy!

I will talk about some of the extra steps I had to take in my build thread, check the link to my build in my sig line.
_________________
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They're never really ever finished 58 rag build...
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=658092

[gino4cal]

Alright guys, I hope to help those that have not dealt with this shop and specifically with Bruce, to feel at ease with who they are dealing with.
I'll start out with this: Bruce is a guy of great moral character, and really looks out for his customers. To me, he seems like a workaholic that just loves vdub culture and helping out his clients.
This is how i know that's true. .stay with me because it involves his mom and a cracked axle tube.
About a month ago, i bought from Bruce a 1966 13 win deluxe bus. . just a beauty of a specimen. Not only was the price very reasonable, Bruce offered to deliver it from NM to Ca.. about 12 hour drive. Mind you, this initiated from a Craigslist ad. . .. who on CL pays for delivery unless it's mentioned in the ad? Anyway, he promised it to me by monday. I paid him to add dropped spindles and new brakes all around. Even with this work, he still promised it to me by Monday (i paid for the car and shop work on a wednesday)
Because he had issues trying to get a transport company to deliver, he had his shop assistant drive it out here over the weekend (remember, 12 hour drive). Again, he didn't have to do this. . but he promised it to me by monday.
Needless to say, it was a great day when i received the bus monday afternoon, all while receiving constant calls from Bruce on what was going on.

Fast forward, i'm enjoying the bus for the first few days, kids love it, wife loves it. . . everything's awesome. One day, i realize there is grease coming out near the rear wheel. . . . . cracked axle tube. I emailed bruce. . he called me right away. Because he had done the rear end work, he didn't even try to squirm out of it. He owned up to it right away and started looking for a local shop to handle it. Because nothing was available nearby, he arranged to have it hauled to Riverside, which is like 100 miles from home. Again, he had one of his shop guys come down, pick up the bus and take it to the shop. Shop was slow but finally finished the job 3 business days later, but not before installing a brand new rebuilt Benco transaxle for $450 with a 3 yr warranty, of which Bruce picked up the rest of the bill ! He did give me the option of just fixing the axle tube and not paying anything. . . but it just made so much sense to just replace with a new rebuilt.
Now for the haul back home. . . . there was no one around to haul the bus back. And this is where I was most impressed by Bruce.
He has his mom .. . yes, his mother. . . drive out (she was about 30 min from the shop), pick it up at the shop, and haul it back to my house 2 hours away. She was very sweet and her husband helped unload the bus. Needless to say, i was in shock and positively impressed by the level of service I received.
Sure, there was some inconvenience in that I didn't have the bus for a few days. . but i ended up with a brand new transaxle and a good sense that there are good people still left in the world.
Now, most anyone else could easily have told me:
1. ship it yourself
2. broken axle tube? too bad
3. warranty work, yeah if you pay for the transport

I got none of this from Bruce. He consistently kept me up to date, calling me almost every day during the car transaction and warranty work. And he jumped through hoops to get me what he promised. There's other little stuff i didn't mention. . .like he originally had included a non upholstered middle seat for the bus. . .he called me later and told me he had an upholstered one he could just swap out to help me out. . . i never even asked for it!! Also, he mailed me some middle seat bolts and kick panels he had available for the bus. That was just icing on the cake. . . these little details combined with the BIG details really made me think that Bruce is a guy with high integrity and character. I've read some of the not so good comments about him and I won't dispute them, but I think everyone makes mistakes every now and then, things don't always work 100% the way one thinks. . . but I can vouch that Bruce has the best intentions for the client and is not out just to make a buck on innocent people.
If you have any questions or comments at all, PM me and I'd be happy to share more.

[Rusty Bug Garage]

BUYER BEWARE!!!!! These guys are snakes quick to take your money but not deliver. I'm still waiting for rear drums that I need for a customers Bay Window. I have a huge string of emails to Vintage V Dubs but most with no reply. Once or twice they replied with excuses. Now I get nothing. They don't even answer the phone when I call. Bad news! They have terrible feedback and the good feedback is all their friends. Don't be fooled. DO NOT ORDER FROM THESE GUYS! I'm surprised Everett has not removed their ads? The items I have received came in a torn up USPS Flat Rate Box. I have the pictures but can't figure out how to upload to this thread. If anyone can tell me I how I will post them. Or if Everett needs proof I can email them to him and the string of ignored emails.

[EverettB]

I will email them.
How to post pics link in my signature below.
_________________
How to Post Photos
Everett Barnes - [email protected] | My wanted ads
"Water is the only drink for a wise man" | "Communication prevents complaints"
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[conrad1468]

Oh great!! Some how i missed all the negitive feedback for this seller... I have the feeling I just got caught in this bad seller cycle.. Here's what's going on so far...

I bought a split bus shift rod from the seller from the wanted ad I placed. He sent me pictures to confirm he had the rod and condition. So i sent him the money thru Paypal on Monday March 31, 2014. He said on April 1, 2014 he'd send me the tracking shipping thru Paypal. I sent him an email today Friday April 4, 2014 to find out if the rod has been shipped. No replies....

I'll edit my review if anything changes and see what happens...

Also, Everett the above link to the seller's ads doesn't go to the The Vdub Shop ads but says no ads... In the Vdub Shop's ads feedback button takes you to this feedback. It's making a circle that's not connected..
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[Rusty Bug Garage]

Again these guys are a JOKE!! They finally send the rest of my order and I get a damaged poorly packed box with USED Drums and one is BROKEN! Please do not buy from this Company so they no longer can damage our Industry.

[59skab]

do not buy suspension parts from this guy they are total crap. his beams are built with seamed tubes, his spindles just as bad. parts also arrived in shredded boxes and parts were missing.save yourselves the trouble

[vwfanatic67]

How does such a bad seller continue to be let sell on here. Dealt with this flake a while back ended up with half the parts I needed for a disk brake kit and partial refund after months of badgering. Enough is enough everrett obviously this guy is a %$#&head.
_________________
"white trash but worth every cent"

SBS #74
52 Split Beetle
60 Panel
65 Notchback
More if my wife would let me!

[toddgsanford]

Recently sold some parts to Bruce he paid quickly and. Was very reasonable in negotiating a package deal. Will do business with him again

[drew209]

Recently made a purchase of complete disc brake kit from Bruce.... Very helpful and shipped out on time. Will definitely continue to do business with vintage VW.... Keep up the good work.

[Jesse Hardin]

I purchased a Beetle from Bruce and it was exactly as described. He even delivered the car to me for free while he was out in California. Everything went smoothly.
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Der Blitz Kafers

[easy e]

I haven't dealt with the subject person of this thread... but just gotta say it's veeeery interesting how "gino4cal" makes his first ever Samba post (several posts up this page) to leave feedback.

Why would any new member write *a book* in the feedback section without ever even commenting or asking a question in *any* of the technical forums? He hasn't made a post in any forum since either (6 months as of today)... weird.

Seems like a scripted post for a buddy, via schill username... or was paid $ to become a member & leave a stellar review.
_________________
aka: Evan
Spreadsheet for Bus RPM, based on gearing & tire size (Excel format)
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[EverettB]

With agreeing or disagreeing with you, I can see that person posted from S. CA and they did not join the day that post was made so I don't suspect anything based on those 2 factors.
_________________
How to Post Photos
Everett Barnes - [email protected] | My wanted ads
"Water is the only drink for a wise man" | "Communication prevents complaints"
Stop dead photo links! Post your photos to The Samba Gallery!