Date:         Fri, 7 Sep 2001 14:59:37 EDT
Reply-To:     JKrevnov@AOL.COM
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Rico Sapolich <JKrevnov@AOL.COM>
Subject:      ?Where Do I Get Good Frt. Whl. Bearings?
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII"

Once, an old Sicilian related two adages to me: The seller always
knows what he is selling, but the buyer seldom knows what he is
buying.  And: Promise them the moon, but give them sheeet (the guy had
an accent).  Since he had made millions by putting the rotten tomatoes
in the bottom of the basket, so to speak, it must have worked for him.
With that in mind, I will tell the long version of my twice-told tale.

About a year ago, I replaced a front wheel bearing with the kit from,
dare I say it, the BusDepot.  With the old Sicilian's words ringing in
my ears, I placed the order using their toll call number in order to
establish exactly what I was buying.  BusDepot verified that the
bearing was made in Germany and all the parts for the job at hand were
in the kit, just as their website had proclaimed.

When the parts arrived, the first sign of trouble was that the kit
lacked one of the seals.  After a call to BusDepot and a 5 day delay,
the missing seal was in my hands.

At that point, I tore apart the Syncro.  The next nasty surprise came
when I removed the protective wrap from the bearing to discover that
it was made in frigging Spain, not Germany!  Calling BusDepot again
revealed that, unlike I was told, unlike what was proffered on their
website, unlike for what I had paid, the bearings USED to be made in
Germany, but now were coming from Spain.  Of course, if I were not
satisfied, I could return it for a refund or credit.  Sure.  The van
is apart in the garage, my wife is viewing me with no small amount of
incredulity and the kids are worried that we will have to go to the
beach in a Volvo wagon.  So, I am supposed to cast away all my prior
planning to start a parts search?

Begrudgingly, I installed the wretched thing and now I must pay the
price.  The bearing has been chirpping from time to time for the past
3 months.  At first, I thought it had to be a hinky caliper hanging up
once in a while because it just couldn't be the new bearing.  Guess
what?  There is now enough wobble in the bearing to prove it to be
junk.

In hindsight, I am kicking myself.  I should have known something was
amiss because the Febi box in which the kit was packaged said Germany
on it, not MADE in Germany.  Then again, why should I have to parse
the few words on some packaging if what the vendor discloses when
asked a direct question is the truth?  I cannot say that I was lied to
by BusDepot because I do not know their intent; but, for those who
appreciate nuance, I can say they told me an untruth.

I have chagrin by the bucketfuls; as some of you know, replacing a
Syncro front wheel bearing is too much of a pain-in-the-ass to accept
doing it annually.

Tim suggested contacting the vendor and Eric said to return the junk
to from where it came.  I will attempt both.

Rich
P.S. MUCH more @ http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Syncro/messages