[Wayne 962]

Firstly, I would like to apologize to Mr. Enders for the problem that you have had with this particular order this week. Please allow me to clarify the background into how this situation came about.

There have been about 15 emails going back and forth on this issue today. We requested that Mr. Enders send us some photos of the part in question in order to determine the exact condition of the part. We commonly do this so that we can check our current stock and assess as to whether a customer will be satisfied with a replacement that we currently have in stock. Mr. Enders was not able to provide us with a photograph to assist during this process, which made it a bit more difficult to assess the condition of the axle he received.

There have been hundreds of these sold this year with zero returns so far this year, so there is a very low chance that this is a used part that was returned. If it was, it arrived from the manufacturer that way. There was one issue similar to this last year where a customer was sent an axle that got jostled around in the process of shipment, and grease got all over it. The customer insisted that the axle was used, and didn't want to install it. We exchanged it at our cost for a new one and inspected it, and it indeed was new. It's unfortunate, but straight from the manufacturer, these don't always look too "pretty". Particularly if the caps fall off in shipping, it can create quite a mess.

The current set of axles that Mr. Enders ordered are on backorder until June 1st. We have one other in stock, but it has been at the bottom of the pile and doesn't look "too pretty." Based upon discussions that my head of Customer Service (Judy) had with Mr. Enders, we determined that he would not be happy with this remaining unit (even though it was indeed brand new), as it would probably look similar to the one that he received. Typically, non-pretty units like these don't get shipped unless there are no more available, which is the case currently with these axles. Mr. Enders only ordered a single axle, so there was not another one to compare it to.

I'm quite confident that the axle we shipped out was brand new and functionally excellent, if not a concours looking part. When we (or our suppliers) get low on stock and have to make decisions on whether or not to ship not-so-pretty, but functionally perfect parts, we typically look at where the part is installed, and how it will be used. We do not ship seals, trim, or interior parts with any blemishes on them. However, undercarriage parts like these axles often come with less-than-stellar asthetics. In cases like these, a subjective decision may have to be made. These types of situations are exceedingly rare - most of the time there are no issues and when there are, we quickly exchange parts at our cost. Unfortunately, these are now out of stock.

As for the part not being able to be turned by hand - that's a good thing! These axles are tight when new, and it should be difficult to turn with your hand. When the joints wear, they become very floppy and loose - nearly every one I have picked up is nice and tight. In fact, I think someone actually returned one a long time ago because they thought it was "too loose".

With respect to this particular order with Mr. Enders, we offered to take the axle back at our charge, of course. If our customers are unhappy with the quality of our parts, we always take them back with little or no questions asked. I was copied on all 15 or so of the emails back and forth today with this order, so I was immediately aware of the situation when I saw this thread. Seeing that the axle wasn't too pretty, and confirming that it was very unlikely to have been used, we offered Mr. Enders a 20% discount on the part. Normally, we would have just issued a call tag and swapped it out for another one, but again, these are basically out of stock until June right now. We also offered to help cover up to 100 dollars in labor charges in the event that the part ever has a problem in the future. We don't normally make that offer, but we are confident that we have a not-so-pretty part here and not a part with any defect.

I hope this helps to clarify the situation a bit.

-Wayne