Suppliers who give good service

[Myford Matt]

Thought it might be worth posting suppliers who we rate highly and who deserve a little bit of promotion. The ones I have used personally and can recommend are:

Arrand
Lovely gear, not cheap; have yet to master internet technology, but quick and painless ordering by phone and post no problem.

Hemingway kits
A must for GHT fans. They are friendly, approachable and supply well thought out kits and sundries.
www.hemingwaykits.com/

College Engineering Supplies
Metal, metal and more metal. Nice straightforward suppliers of yes, you guessed it - metal.
www.collegeengineering.co.uk/

Reeves
I know some folks think they are over-priced - and they probably are - but I've always had good knowledgeable advice and helpful service.
www.ajreeves.com/

Myford
Rumors of their demise seem to be permanently exaggerated. A shadow of what they once were, but still good old fashioned service (and products!). Currently dragging the internet back to the last century.
www.myford.com/

J&L Industrial
US behemoth, usually good service in my experience. Not ME oriented, but still plenty to drool over.
www.jlindustrial.co.uk

Greenwood tools
A must for Dormer fans.
www.greenwood-tools.co.uk/

MM

[Shawki Shlemon]

Giving credit to those who deserve it and leaving others in the cold will benefit our members and encourage those in the cold to do better . Hopefully .

[ukjimoo]

I recently discovered www.steamfittings.co.uk
I used them for a couple of check valves to replace 2 that i bought from reeves and couldnt get to seat.
The steam fittings ones were half the price (£6.95) and had a viton o-ring and shuttle instead of a plain ball and seat. They worked perfectly.
I ordered them at 2pm and they dropped through the door at 8am the following morning.
They are still quite a new company and havent got a complete range yet, but what they do have seems to be very good and not expensive.
They do lubricators to the Jim Ewins design with roller clutches and they are about to launch an injector that is supposed to be first class.
No connection to me, just very satisfied so far.

[John Lee]

I have one or two bits from them ukjimoo; I agree, first class.

These are exactly the sort of people who need support. Ok its very small scale and amateurish for now from a business perspective, but a shake up of the bigger names would do no harm.

It's not easy for any of them, ME is a small world really and most of them are just enthusiasts at heart, but if they want real money then real service and goods need to appear instead of multi month delivery times.

Regards,

John

[greasemonkey]

I've always had good service from Polly myself.


Andy
Edited to save further offense.

[Phil Sutton]

And I'll add EKP Supplies,who give a first class service and a quick turnaround,order by 4pm,and goods will arrive next day.

Phil

[denis M]

Can second that EKP have always been excellent when we use them as have been College metals.

[Myford Matt]

Forgot EKP – yes, they get a thumbs up from me too.

MM

[John Lee]

greasemonkey said:

you might pay a bit more but then the fittings are made in this country and not abroad as I believe Steam fittings are. Personally I'd rather pay a little more and keep the money in the Uk.

Andy

So they are telling porkies when they say "All our products are manufactured in the UK" ??

Regards,

John

[Jo]

I still give first prize for service to Peter Southworth. I cannot think of any other suppliers who would personally drive your heavy set of castings from Chesterfield down to Hampshire and then not want any money for delivery.

He also was extreemly good and replaced an incorrectly duplicated casting for only the cost of the postage. There are other companies who would have expected you to send the original casting back before they would have sent you the replacment.

I also give thumbs up to Polly and EKP.

Jo

[chameleonrob]

RDG have given me good service every time I've bought stuff from them although some of their stock is a lot cheaper than their competitors but has the same value for money, you get what you pay for.

mallard metals has given good service even with orders that have a lot bits and pieces in. the longest I've had to wait is just over two weeks because he didn't hold 6" dia stainless steel in stock(!).

jury still out on polly models as the roller clutches I recently bought with a 1/4" OD turned out to 9/32 OD (plus a couple of thou) but when I let them know this the said they would replace (free of charge) the one that I damaged by trying put it in a hole that was too small...

rob

[locoworksnorth]

I have no experience of Polly fittings but from what I have heard they are fine and work well.
Personally I use the steam fittings ones ( and I have used over 250 !) because being a Yorkshire fellow I'm very careful with the pennies, the steam fittings globe valves are 9.99 ea.
I understand that they are actually made in the UK, being made from solid by cnc and then shot blasted to "look" like castings. The soldering looks very good to me. In the end they just have to work well, particularly for injector steam feed as we all know.
So I would say steam fittings are a good supplier as are Polly. happy steaming !
locoworks north

[locoworksnorth]

Oh yes.... and what about MAC models... also very good
Locoworks north

[greasemonkey]

HI All
Last time I spoke to Dean he was told me that he was getting a parts made abroad and then assembled then himself. I shall ask next time I see him. I know for a fact the fittings I buy from Polly are UK made.

Please see Deans reply below I stand corrected.
Andy

[steamfittings]

Hi All,

Sorry i do not normally get involved in forum discussions, however, when it comes to something that could almost be called 'slanderous' i feel that i have the right to reply and put a few facts straight.
I am the owner of steamfittings, my background is engineering and i am skilled on 2, 3, and 4 axis CNC milling machines and lathes. I also manage ModelWorks. SteamFittings was started by my partner and I due to the fact that ModelWorks were having trouble getting valves and fittings at what we believed was a fair and reasonable price and with a decent delivery lead time.
SteamFittings has nothing to do with Modelworks apart from i work for one and own the other. One of the advantages in being involved in both businesses is that i can manufacture items in my own time using ModelWorks machines and premises in return for them purchasing fittings from me at a reduced price. This i do in minimum batches of 2500, supplying Modelworks and making stock and therefore everyone wins. The fittings we produce do not make themselves, it involves SHEER HARD WORK and there is only 2 of us. I average over 50 hours a week at ModelWorks and 40 hours a week on SteamFittings. So when somebody puts us down i take it personally.
We advertise our items as manufactured in the UK because they are, and NO, that is not a porkie. The only items we purchase abroad are castings (check our product range and you will see only half a dozen castings, maximum, valves etc are all machined), these castings then require either machining or soldering. How else do you think we can do a lubricator for £19.95 when the cast body alone in the UK would be £5. All the other items i've had to machine. One other note on the castings though is that to enable me too purchase them from abroad i've had order in minimum batches of 5000. The cash outlay to do this is huge and has taken every penny i've ever saved up but i've put my money where my mouth is to benefit not only myself but the general public out there. Of course the other suppliers out there aren't going to like us, we under cut them, price and quality wise in my eyes, by a mile, but in my opinion there has been a little cottage industry over charging for far too long. Since i have been in business i have been aproached by some of the trade about supplying them, unfortunately because my range is still small other manufacturers has made it clear that should they purchase from me then they will not supply them with the items i have yet to produce. This is what we are up against but still we persevere because we believe that there is a gap in the market and one day we'll be the market leader.
I thought this discussion was started by Myford Matt to show good and bad suppliers, which is a great topic, however when people chose to try and take a cheap shot and turn a positive to a negative i feel i must voice my views or do something about it legally.

I hope that has cleared a few misunderstandings up.

Best Regards to everyone

Dean

[greasemonkey]

Hi Dean
My appologies if I have offended you that was not the intention and no slight on you or your business was intended. Thank you for clafiying the situation and setting the matter straight. Sorry to have caused any offense.
I would be grateful as may others if you would contribute to this board as and when you see fit and maybe help put a little sanity into these disscusuions and expalin the situation from a traders prespective rather than the one sided view of a customer.
regards
Andy

[John Lee]

Quite right Dean,

I have had a couple of your bits and they are excellent, which is why I challenged the "made abroad" bit and asked about the "porkie" . And even if they were, its a global world surely. The flag waving belongs to a misguided (IMHO) Victorian era.

If the "other suppliers" don't like it..well it might shake them out of their complacency.

I understand your anger and concern if you have invested lots, but your last sentence.. lets not do the lawyers. Andy just expressed his opinion. It will waste your time and his and both will lose. Google and Microsoft have tried sueing personal opinion.. and look where it gets them. Just keep on producing good goods and the word will get around.

Regards,

John

[John Lee]

However,

Whilst I agree with Dean, this thread could become somewhat devisive Matt.

Dean has lurked (excuse) and has come in only when somebody posted about his products been manufactured in Asia or somesuch (on what evidence I do not know)

The problem is that its only about the positive. There are some (sadly) not so good suppliers out there. I could name a couple and will, forum rules permitting, and would happily risk a threat of the lawyers (personally) because its true. And a true statement backed up by evidence is not defamation.

It's a b**g**r is'nt it; I wonder when a lurker from Reeves will chip in about a complaint that their "International" fittings are twice Dean's prices.

Regards,

John

[ron]

From experience of the classic car forums I think this type of thread is inadvisable, hence why I didn't contribute to it, some forums are more tolerant of it than others, the TR register for one actively discourages it as it is wary of the effects of litigation on the finances of a smallish club and I think it would be a good idea if it was the same on here.
I know it is done with the best of intentions but it usually descends into aggro.

Ron

[John Lee]

Hmm.. I don't think its inadvisable...

They are all gas and wind who threaten with long posts

Regards,

John