North Hollywood Speedo Trouble

[peter leinberge]

For the last 20 + years I have used Palo Alto Speedo.
Hartmut is great to work with, does a beautiful job whether it's a repair or a complete rebuild. Everything comes back clean, shiny,....and it works.

[rennch]

I am super unhappy with Hollywood Speedo. I saw them at the Lit show and they had a great, white RSR tach that had a voltmeter integrated with it. I told them I wanted exactly what that was, and they quoted me $350.

I pulled the tach and sent it to them the following Monday. Then I called three times with no returned phone calls, and Luft4 coming up quickly.

Finally after a month, I got a call back, and the "new" quote was $525 for what' I'd been quoted on in person already.

So...I had them ship it back and it's still OEM in my dash. I won't do business with them ever again.

[plexiform]

NHS provides a very professional service and their finished product is second to none. I am shocked to hear the negative experiences with this company. Yes they take a long time to finish the job, but they told me that up front when I dropped off my gauges in person at their shop. I would use them again. I plan to send my 1977 R100s BMW motorcycle gauges to them as well. Price is not cheap. Time to get the job done is 5 months maybe longer. If you are OK with that, then you will not be disappointed.

[porschenut]

Originally Posted by Marc Bixen

Boese,
We've been using NHS for 30+ years. The compay changed owners about 2 years ago from what I remember. Since, there has been a little "readjustment" time.

NHS earned their reputation under the previous ownership. If it's true ownership changed 2 years ago, they may not be the company they once were. 8 years ago I sent them a speedo to be calibrated, and for $150 it came back in a 4 day turnaround looking brand new and calibrated spot on, all the way from 0 to about 90 mph. But like others have mentioned, the time frame depends on what is being done.

But for sure, the poor communication and not returning phone calls would have me running for another repair source.

[78-911SC]

It looks like there attention to detail doesn't extend into the business end. Not returning phone calls, not giving a realistic time schedules and quoting estimates to people in person that aren't correct makes me very apprehensive. I agree things are changing with the new ownership. Always had a good rep.

[Harpo]

Palo Alto did my gauges and I'm very happy with the results

David

[Raptorsj]

Another thumbs up for PA Speedo. There are really good.

[Boese75]

Thanks for the responses! Shortly after my original post a service tech from NHS contacted me. He was extremely friendly and helpful in the decision making process for what was best for my project. He said that the gauges should be ready in 1-2 weeks. We'll see!

It's also amazing to me that some businesses don't understand how important it is to have a friendly person on the phone when customers call. I have no doubt that the technicians at NHS do amazing work, but the rude person on the phone (who probably has no influence on the outcome of the gauges) will give a bad image to the overall quality of the company. Rant off...

[KNS]

Glad to hear it worked out.

Someone here on the board also used a shop in the San Diego area and was very happy with the results and turn around time. I can't recall the name - perhaps somebody here does..?

[skinnerd]

I sent a set to North Hollywood last year in August. Just received them in May. Yes that long.

But they are drop dead gorgeous and exactly how I wanted them.

Cheap....that's a negatory good buddy.

[Dwerkz]

Originally Posted by skinnerd

I sent a set to North Hollywood last year in August. Just received them in May. Yes that long.

But they are drop dead gorgeous and exactly how I wanted them.

Cheap....that's a negatory good buddy.

Sorry,do i understand this clearly 11 months?

[schoward]

I had NHS do work on both my tach and speedo back in 2008 and 2013 respectively. I think my Tach was back within seven days including shipping to and from New Jersey (and they overnighted it back on a Thursday so I'd have it for weekend) and speedo maybe 2 weeks or so. Shocked at the timeframes above and the subject of the original post. Perhaps the hobby and economy is rolling hard enough that there is so much work to do now, but months for guages when there are other options is hard to take. Thanks to OP for posting and hope it all gets back on track for you.

[Nico911]

I used their service about 3 years ago for my 1985 targa and I got my tachometer back with about three weeks. I guess the demand has increased since then...

[skinnerd]

Originally Posted by Dwerkz

Sorry,do i understand this clearly 11 months?

Yes....that long.

[eshtog]

Another thumbs up for Palo Alto Speedometer!

[vinny c]

I sent my tach in a few years ago to have a voltmeter added. I clearly stated it was an SC tach. Got a call from them to say tach was from earlier model(71 or so) and could not convince them otherwise. Tach shows up with voltmeter installed but clearly not what I sent to them. They did make it good and tach looks great.
If you send instruments, make sure you have identifying marks.
Vince

[Boese75]

Quick update: Just heard from NHS this past Friday and should be receiving my completed gauges this upcoming Friday! I'll post pictures of how they turn out.

[Derek911]

[QUOTE
[/QUOTE]

North Speed manufacturered this face or did they just install it?

[Derek911]

Two months sitting on a shelf and not even looking at them is crazy. Three months total is crazy.
11 months turn around is unreasonable. That means they don't have enough staff on hand. 11 months to refurbish gauges?? Practically one year??
Part of satisfactory service is the turn around time. Clearly, things take time, but if your job sits on a shelf for 10 months and three weeks before they start work on it, that has nothing to do with craftsmanship, That is lack of manpower. Unless you are telling me one man spent 11 straight months, 8 hours a day, on guages. This is a shop not having enough people to do the jobs that they take in. If you accepts jobs and still have months of work to do on the shelve, that is unethical.

[skinnerd]

I know for a fact that NHS will take in new work and let existing work sit for months if you don't pester them. Sometimes "preferred" customers also get moved to the front of the line.