Just a warning for others. Wish I had found out about Bill Reilly before dealing with these schisters. After sending back a pair of their UCA because they rubbed against the mounting no matter how much you clearanced the bracket, they sent me a pair of their newer "increased coilover clearance" UCA's which fit fine with the understanding they would credit back the other pair.
After sending them back, I was informed they could only give me 50% credit because I had painted them. After explaining they would not have been sent back in the first place if they fit correctly, I was told this was the best they could do.
Buyer Beware!

Did you tell them that you painted them when they said they would give you a full refund? If not, well then, sorry to say it but the finger pointing would go your way not theirs. You are lucky they took them back at all, because, as with any product, it must be returned in the condition they gave it to you (it is irrelevant what the modification is, even if it is an improvment).

its unfortunate that buyers have to encounter things like this. i have been on both sides of the counter working for dealerships and for a speed shop. i had to eat a set of headers because of a misapplication and the guy who did the install lopped the header flanges off and welded them on. but it was my mistake. on the other hand, if i personally was making an item to sell, it better damn well be as close to fitting as possible with no or minimal modifications. a little laquer thinner would have taken the paint off those arms and from what i've heard, your not the first person to encounter fitment problems. you have to update and make changes to stay in business, why some of these companies just refuse to change and not make their product better is beyond me.

--chad

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74 swinger slant 6, the slowest, most fun car i have ever owned.

The money that they will lose if they continue to treat people as they have treated you will far outweigh the cost of making you happy with their product. Just think. If they would have made it right, they would have gotten a great endorsement from you because they did!!
Sadly today most places of business are not in "the customer is always right mode". They are in the "show me the money mode"

Rick

"The customer is always right" mode CAN (and most often does) lead to a loss of $$ mode. Basic economics... sure it can improve your repor with the public if you take a few hits and loose cash here and there but they sure shouldn't be blasted on the net just becuase a buyer didn't follow their own policy.....

Right off the webpage, on the bottom:

No returns after 30 days. Items that have been used, modified, or altered cannot be returned. Items subject up to 20% re-boxing or re-stocking fee and shipping costs cannot be refunded.

Your lucky they gave you a dime back, irrelevant of the reason for return, because you modified the item. Wether you think that is fair or not, doesn't matter, you should have investigated their policy beforehand.

Sorry I don't mean to be rude, thats never my intention, but people need to read and understand policies before they hand off their CC# and expect merchants to be bowing at their feet.

I agree, if the item has been modified, then no return. On the other hand, if the part does not fit, the advertised application, why should the customer have to pay a restocking charge?

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Charrlie_S
65 Valiant 100 2dr post 170 turbo
66 Valiant Signet 170 nitrous
64 Valiant Signet
64 Valiant 4dr 170
64 Valiant 4dr 225

Charlie it says up to 20%, so for all you know it could be 0%. That is just there to recoup some costs for parts that are brand new never assembled or touched, and returned (like, I orderd and recieved the part, but decided not to use it).

If it was advertised to fit and doesn't, yes, a full refund should be issued unless, just as in this case, the part was modified.

I have to agree. A test fit of the product should be done before any modifications are done. but I still feel for you, I'm always scared trying new parts because most of them don't fit like their supposed to and when you're like me and have little mechanical experience but want to do what's best for the car, that fitting problem really sucks.

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My car may be slow to sixty, but at least it's been reliably slow to sixty for more than thirty years.

There are a couple of things people are overlooking:
A. I did test fit the arms and they fit the brackets perfectly.
B. Only after you do the trimming required for this Arm would you find that it still would bind.
C. So now I have modified my frame (and I don't expect to be reimbursed by them for that) for a arm that still does not operate properly.
D. Only after doing these mods would it be possible to say without doubt that the arm was off the specs needec to work properly.
E. For those of you who still can't figure it out, this is called a defective item.
F. If the item is defective, it should not be sold to another customer under any conditions, so the fact that it was painted is moot, it was defective way before it was painted.
G. Some of you need to stop being so damn anal and start looking at the bigger picture.

Just because you didn't get much sympathy doesn't mean we are anal, we are just giving you our thoughts.

It was a defective product, there is no doubt about it because they sent you a replacment, you know that, I know that, they know that, and everyone else does. But that does not make the point that you painted them moot, as much as you'd like to believe it does. I agree with you, its messed up that all you did was paint them and they took 50% off, but, the key here is that it is clearly stated what their policies are.

To be honest, I think the shop did a disservice to themselves by giving you 50%, because now everyone can demand 50% back for a modified defective part that they return.

Swallow your pride, use this as a learning experience, and move on with your life.

I can see both sides of the coin here , but I still think if you sell a product that is designed for a certain application then it should fit!! The fact that you would sell something that doesn't fit says something about you. If they knew they were wrong as Pierre says( since they gave you a new set) then they should not have sold them in the first place!!! If the arms don't fit right and they do not immediately upgrade them to fit correctly, then they will not have to worry about people buying them in the future.

As Pierre said "legally" they have covered themselves with their diclaimer. However, personally whether or not these items were painted is far outweighed by the fact that they didn't fit. I still think they are shooting themselves in the foot.

Just my opinion,

Thanks

The fact that they sent a new pair that was different seems to say to me that they knew there was a problem with the originals. As far as painting them being considered a modification, unless you painted them some real weird color, that would be a stretch. If they turn them around, who would really bitch if they received them painted black or red?

My AJE stuff came powdercoated black. It looks really cool, but it mainly covered up the fact that the welds looked like crap.

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Official Cookie and Mater Tormentor.

One must also consider, these arms these arms required modification to the bracket on the car before install, that was a given and was also stated before they were recieved. So right off the bat you know there is going to be some trial and error. Perhaps not all brackets on all the cars are made equal?

I had these same problems you are talking about with their UCAs on my 73 Scamp. I bought them on ebay (before the ripoff buy-it-now price was added) and was told they were completely bolt on. When I went to pick them up at the store the worker had an attitude and was seriously butt-hurt because I swooped them cheaper than his employee discount, and convinced him there was no sales tax. Of course when I got them home I opened the box to find the instructions on how to cut and weld stuff to get them on, so I primed and painted them to dry asap. After a trip to the welder I was convinced to go with anything but the Magnum Force set up. Luckily I didnt chop my car up before seeing they werent going to work. I heard the same return run around due to them being painted and it was a ebay transaction. They may be only good for paper weights or to collect rust in my shed but atleast I didnt pay the $289.00 ripoff theyve got going now.

Right or wrong I wont buy upper control arms from Magnum Force. I have been buy the store a few times and they seem like pricks that just want your money. I have never been able to get any straight answers from them.

There is an add for UCA on Big block Dart, they don't have the fit problem.