We would like to welcome Ground UP as our newest supporting vendor!

Please take a moment to visit their site: http://www.ss396.com/

"Newest" ??? :confused:
I think they've been around HERE for a while... ;)

hmmmmmm, I always thought they were a long time sponser of the site...:confused:

thier catalog is top notch.....

I'll be paying $$ them a visit in 3-weeks! (CARLISLE) :hurray:

I've been here for over 3 years and they were here then. In fact they give members a 10% discount on purchases!

do you have to be a $$ supporting member for this discount?

I believe so, you have to give them your member ID in order to get the discount.. But they do have some of the best prices out there as well.

thanks normie, I agree with the best prices and from what I've ordered from them the quality is top notch as well.

They must have just paid their new sponsorship bill!!!!:D

They must have just paid their new sponsorship bill!!!!:D
Ding, ding,ding,ding! We have a winner.:)

Ground Up has been around here for a long time. Maybe we need to direct a little more of our business to them. Good people and been very supportive of this site for a long time.

Will ground up be at carlise and were can I get my membership ID# for a discount.

You have to be a paying member here to get the discount.

Doug
Too bad Ken doesn't compound the discounts for being a member of multiple clubs :)

I bought a great deal of parts from Ground up , and cant say enough good things about them ..
I have a 1968 SS396 ..and they had every thing I needed ...
Their customer service reps are the best in the business ....
No order was to small ...and large shipments were handled with extreme swiftness...
THANK YOU DAVE ...and the rest of the guys and girls ..DWIGHT LOVEJOY.

I had tremendous service from them for the entire restoration of my car. "Doc" was great to work with. Ask for him.

Randy

Hmmmmm,

What an odd coincidence that this company praising thread came up today..

I personally have chosen to take my business elsewhere.

My PM's are set to public...

Hmmmmm,

What an odd coincidence that this company praising thread came up today..

I personally have chosen to take my business elsewhere.

My PM's are set to public...

Will have to agree, after my last experience with them...

WHY? I have done business with Ground Up for years and have had GREAT dealing and the best of service!!

I've been here for over 3 years and they were here then. In fact they give members a 10% discount on purchases!

They are new in my area within the last 3-4 years and actually just moved a little further away to a larger facility this past summer.
I did not know they give a discount to members.
I have had great service from them every time I have dealt with them personally (thanks Tom) and its nice to be able drive there and see what your buying before handing out cash and saving shipping as well.

Hmmmmm,

What an odd coincidence that this company praising thread came up today..

I personally have chosen to take my business elsewhere.

My PM's are set to public...

I have to agree 100%.
My business is also going elsewhere.

I just made over $400 dollar order with them, and did not get the 10% discount as I was assured on the phone. I am a paying memeber on Team Chevelle.

A Canadian toll free number would have been helpful. Better than sitting on the phone spending more money "calling long distance" trying to locate formation on a order placed. Only to find it's been on back order for ten days.

Had to use a email to finally cancel the order, with no reply back.

Not WELCOME BYE! and good Riddance something has drastically gone wrong w/ Ground UP. I recently ordered an item online 3/22/10(outer wheel house) f/ my 71 el camino price was $69.99 plus $17.99 and tax. the next day my bank acc't gets billed $120.75. I emailed them and called them. Never got an invoice of charges yet they nailed me for approx $25.00 over what it should have cost. So I Cancelled order w/phone rep he said he would stop fed ex order and e-mail money was returned.two days later 3/23/10 i get e-mail from them saying charge would be $95.94. I emailed again and said order was cancelled. 4/01/10 my bank acc't is charged $100.74 I called again saying my order was cancelled and what right did they have billing me. this time I spoke to supv and he tells me my acc't was only charged $95.94 and he'll called fed ex and get item returned . once returned I'll get refund in 72 hours. 4/02/10 Fed ex arrives with oreder i cancelled 4 or 5 times. I refused order and since it was after 5pm i sent an email telling again whole story . no response! April 7 called again about refund on order i cancelled. rep said it will arrive today and then they will issue refund. 4/09/10 still no refund, filed a BBB complaint and called local police dept charging theft. Ground up was once a good company now they are all screwed up. they do not issue an invoice or make availalbe to online buyers what they will actually pay w/ s&h and tax. and when you cancell they still charge your account and ship your order. Maybe I didn't cancell enough times. between e-mails and phone calls i must have cancelled 8 times from 23rd of march and they still did what they wanted. Still do not have refund and I will never deal with these people again.
i e-mailed NPD and CEO actually returned my e-mail with all costs , shipping charges , no tax and blew away ground ups prices. Now thats what i call customer sevice. I will continue to deal with NPD.
so any of you ordering from ground up make sure you get ALL charges up front and all reps names like I did.

I concur with the other posts.... I've been doing biz with Ground-up on and off for awhile. part of the reason for that is that they're located only 15 miles away from where I live, but their internet service leaves something to be desired to say the least. I've been waiting over a week for an order I placed for 2 rear valances for my 70 Chevelle. I placed the order over a week ago through their website. I ordered 2 of them only because none of them seem to fit the bumper I bought from them correctly, and I'm at my witts end trying to get one to fit, and I'm at the point where I just might have to fabricate my own, or atleast modify whichever one fits the closest.

Ground-up received my online order, but because they were confused about their being 2 rear valances on the order (I actually orded one for a 1970, and one for a 1971 because I'm aggrivated and confused as to why the one that I already have will not fir this bumper I bought from them. it isn't even close!) they just sat on the order. Never called me, never sent me an e-mail about it either despite the fact that I had to type in my e-mail to place the order. Here I am waiting a week for the parts to get to me, and nothing. So I gave them a call today, and they said that they had called me and left a message. But they never did. No phone call, and no message.I had them verify the phone number they had on file for me too. No phone call, and no e-mail, and here I am waiting a week for my parts for nothing, since meanwhile the parts never left their warehouse.

After today's phone call I made to them, and receiving their lame and lying excuse as to why the parts never left their place of biz to be shipped out to me, now, they're finally being shipped out (so they say). :rolleyes: Thanks Ground up for such excellent customer service. (can you say "LAME" ?)....

I don't know what's going on at GU but service to their customers has definitely taken a down turn. In today's business environment we have other options which they will learn the hard way.

I agree. The quality is going down and they really don't care. I don't need the refund! I needed a correct part - I will be using Hinshaws from now on.

I agree. The quality is going down and they really don't care. I don't need the refund! I needed a correct part - I will be using Hinshaws from now on. I don't think it matters where you get OE type parts from for your Chevelle. I'm pretty sure that all the retaliers get their parts from the same distributor. The problem with the porr fitment of the parts stems fromthe fact that the parts are made overseas. it's all garbage due to poor quality control, and poor manufacturing processes and techniques. The issue I have with ground-up is their poor customer service and their bad attitude towards their customers. I've been there to purchase Chevelle parts from them in person three times, and it's it's pretty obvious that the employees there just don't give a rip about their customers. Not only do they lie to you over the phone to get you off the line, but I've personally witnessed the counter guy just kicking back and shooting the breeze about old cars with one of the customers when 5 other customers were standing in line right behind and waiting to be helped. As a result, when you arrive there and 4 to 5 people are ahead of you in line, this means that you will literally be standing there for 20-25 minutes before you get to the counter!!! The place just plain sucks! And that's why I won't go there to order my parts in person anymore. They just don't care.

Here is a related thread that may be of interest.


http://www.chevelles.com/forums/showthread.php?t=318566

I agree with the above posts. I placed a $5600.00 order with Ground Up and the whole thing has been a nightmare. They have lied and denied and the only fortunate thing is I used AmEx to pay for it and they are handling it. The last phone call I made to them, I was calm until I was lied to and then I got angry. I was told the call was being recorded and then they hung up.

The major supplier of parts for my 68 has been GU and they were great to work with. However, since about the time of their move, it has been all down hill. I call one week and was told "in the mail", call the next week and "it is not available", call the next week and "being sent from manufacturer", call the next week and "have it in my hand and will mail out". They just plain lie, I do not get angry and my business went elsewhere.

I truely hope that when I go there saturday all goes well with my order. I was all happy to deal with these guys but now I'm a little worried. crap.

got all my parts today but jesus christ I was 2nd guy in line i paid with cash and preordered my parts 3 days in advance and it still took me 45 mins to get my parts.

glad I read up on them , I have a 2k dollar order sitting in my basket on the other tab right now.
I will be cancelling it , and looking up hinshaws and ausleys.

Do yourself a favor. Print off the shopping cart and fax it to James Hinshaw at 336-586-0009 . You will be glad you did. If you are going to the Ohio show this upcoming week, maybe you can save on shipping.

BTW, I am still waiting for my $16.00 credit from the G sponsor. I had to put in a dispute with my credit card Company. After spending thousands of dollars with them, $16.00 is not material; it is just the principle at this point.

I did print my list off, I will check with hinshaws on monday.
thanks!

Will

I had several parts in my basket at Ground Up, but today I ordered them all from Ausley's. Glad I caught this thread before I paid...

I can't say anything positive or negative since I only tried to purchase the 3 manuals combo for my 68 but they didn't have USPS services and they quote me $49.00 for Fedex since I live in P.R. If media mail was used I could have paid less that $12.00 and less than $15.00 for USPS Priority Mail. I got the 3 of the from *bay shipped via USPS Media Mail for $72.00 incl. shipping.

I visited Ground Up today and wanted to share my experiences with the group.

I admit that after reading this thread I was more than a little concerned. I have to say that the trip was not only worthwhile, but I found a new parts supplier!

I can only tell you that I was 5th in line and was 'served' within 10 minutes. More than reasonable. Their showroom is like a mini car show. I was drooling over a 1970 LS-5 SS454 Chevelle, a 1969 Cortez Silver 1969 Camaro with an L-89 396 and a 1969 Chevelle Yenko 427. I can think of a whole lot worse ways to spend my time.

The girl that helped me was wonderful. Pleasant, professional and knowledgeable. With her help I had my parts in hand in scant seconds.

I cant address internet ordering, but I can say my experience with Ground Up was flawless and I will gladly make the 45 minute trek to deal with professionals who understand the hobby I love so much.

That's great. Just wait until you have an issue with a part.........

glad I read up on them , I have a 2k dollar order sitting in my basket on the other tab right now.
I will be cancelling it , and looking up hinshaws and ausleys.

Well I did not get any satisfaction and I am now stuck with two bumpers,two fenders, a hood, a trunk lid, and a grille. All of which either arrived damaged or just plain did not fit. Live and learn. I have found a wonderful supplier for all sheet metal. Find yourself a Dynacorn distributor. The parts are American made in California,unlike the junk from China, and it is the same gauge from what I can tell as the original GM part, and the fit is perfect. More expensive,but you get what you pay for.

Find yourself a Dynacorn distributor. The parts are American made in California,unlike the junk from China, and it is the same gauge from what I can tell as the original GM part, and the fit is perfect. More expensive,but you get what you pay for.


Dynacorn stuff is made overseas too.

Dynacorn stuff is made overseas too.

If it is made overseas I would like to know where because it is a superior product.

If it is made overseas I would like to know where because it is a superior product.

Agreed. The Dynacorn metal products are better fit and quality when it comes to floor pans trunk pans drop offs etc. I kinda like the other stuff when it comes to fenders, door shells, deck lids. JMO.

I called and emailed GU regarding their suspension package for my 67. Was told they would look into it and call back. Thought hey I appreciate that they would look into it with the answers to my questions. Well 4 weeks and still looking into it. So after waiting a week I emailed with the same questions and I am still waiting for a reply. Need less to say I took my $1k else where. But I will say in the past, I had good luck. So......

Well I did not get any satisfaction and I am now stuck with two bumpers,two fenders, a hood, a trunk lid, and a grille. All of which either arrived damaged or just plain did not fit. Live and learn. I have found a wonderful supplier for all sheet metal. Find yourself a Dynacorn distributor. The parts are American made in California,unlike the junk from China, and it is the same gauge from what I can tell as the original GM part, and the fit is perfect. More expensive,but you get what you pay for.

I will just throw away what I got stuck with because in good conscience I could not sell the items to an unsuspecting guy at any flea market, even for half price. We all work to hard for our money these days.

Called in last week to discuss what to do with the transmission cooler lines that I was attempting to install. Was brushed off immediately to another company and given a phone number for THAT companies tech support.

I install lines. Scratch my head. Do that some more. Measure, look and figure out that the lines are for the ORIGINAL 2 core radiator, not the 4 core aluminum that I purchased from GroundUp at the same time.

So I call Ground Up. Was basically given the biggest case of 'thanks for your money, not our problem.' response. It IS their problem, they're the ones who said YES IT WILL WORK with the brand new 4 core radiator you've just purchased from us.

I'll certainly be taking my business elsewhere from now on. Should have saved myself the aggravation and made the dang lines myself... which I'm doing now regardless.

Unlike Edelbrock - Edelbrock quoted me wrong information. I recieved part through 3rd party vendor. Wasn't what I needed. Called to discuss what I truly needed. The parts arrived at my house 2 days later, free of charge a la Edelbrock.

Now THATS customer service.

Hey Everyone,

Ground Up has been a long time sponsor (one of the originals) of all of the Team sites but we've never taken a very active role in participating in the forums.

We're going to be participating in all of the Team sites a lot more in 2011.

To start out, we want to thank everyone for all of the compliments and kind words in this thread and believe it or not we do appreciate even negative feedback because it shows us areas that we need to improve in.

Without getting too into it, Ground Up tries its hardest to please each individual customer and we go to great lengths to make sure that ordering from us is a positive experience.

Regarding the quality of the parts we sell, we are a retailer that buys and sells many of the same parts that other retailers sell. We always try to be selective and only put the highest quality parts on our shelves and we are competitive on our pricing.

For someone that is restoring a 100 point concourse show car, reproduction parts may not be the way to go. While we try to source as many GM parts as possible, most of the parts that ALL retailers like us are selling are reproductions.

For example, one may want to purchase an NOS quarter panel for $2000 for a very high level restoration. We sell very high quality reproductions for $400 to keep this hobby affordable for all budgets and believe it or not we DO use what we sell on our own show cars.

Our goal is to sell very high quality parts at reasonable prices so that the average guy can get into the hobby and build a nice Chevelle while experiencing excellent customer service.

Thanks to all of our past, present, and future customers.

If anyone ever has a question or concern that needs immediate attention, please email us at info@ss396.com or drop us a line at www.facebook.com/grounduprestoration (http://www.facebook.com/grounduprestoration)!

ground up has always treated me great! you da man tom!!!! drew.

Thanks, Drew! We'll pass that along to Tom.

Ground Up customer service has a lot to be desired.
I ordered an air cleaner lid and some small parts I would not have ordered if the air cleaner was not needed.
A few days later I receive a small box from Ground Up with the small parts and no air cleaner. I call Ground Up and they tell me the air cleaner is back ordered and will be shipped in 2 weeks, after not receiving the part in 2 1/2 weeks I called Ground Up customer service and was told it would be another 4 weeks minimum and at this time I cancelled the order and asked to be credited for part of the shipping I was charged for the small package of parts. (2 small decals and BB plastic wire looms) the customer service rep agreed the shipping charge was high and would credit the difference.
After a week and no credit I called customer service and was told I would not be getting the credit after all.
I'm talking $4 shipping credit that the 1st customer service rep told me I'd be getting.
Ground up will never get another order from me, terrible customer service! beware!
Ps: I ordered the air cleaner from another company and had it in my hands in 3 days.

Bashing on Facebook and team forums is not going to get anyone anywhere.

We apologize that the air cleaner was on back order. Back orders unfortunately happen from time to time. We do not have any control when an item is back ordered at the manufacturer.

Normally on the phone if there are any back orders we ask the customer if they want us to hold the order to ship complete or if they want us to ship the in stock items and the back ordered items later. In this case the order was made online so it went through the system and the in stock parts shipped.

We agree that parts that you ordered did go with the air cleaner. That is why we had arranged for the air cleaner to ship to you for free at our expense when it came in. Normally there is a shipping charge for all back ordered items but in this case we were going to take the shipping off.

After you called us and hung up on the first sales rep one of our managers called you back to see what we could do to resolve the problem and even though you hung up on him too we are still crediting you back all of your shipping charges from the original package that went to you.

.

Normally on the phone if there are any back orders we ask the customer if they want us to hold the order to ship complete or if they want us to ship the in stock items and the back ordered items later. In this case the order was made online so it went through the system and the in stock parts shipped.


This has been my experience once. I have always had good luck with Ground Up. :yes:

Thanks, Molly!

I completly understand you have no control over backorders, the problem was not the fact the part was back ordered the problem was when I called and was told by the customer service rep the part would be an additional 4 weeks after waiting 2 1/2 weeks and I cancelled the order and was told by the customer service rep the shipping would be reduced to $6.95 for the small parts I received.
After waiting a week for the credit I called and was told by another customer service rep there would be no credit and I tried to argue the point to no avail.
The manager called me back and offered another stock style air cleaner you had in stock and ship it free. I did not hang up on anyone! I told him I did not have the time for this and thanks but no thanks and hung the phone up. If the first rep would have said the price for the shipping was correct there would not have been a problem but he said it was a bit high and reduced it to $6.95 and all this over a stinking $4 credit.
The ONLY problem I had was with the rep that insisted he was right even though the rep before him had told me otherwise.
This should have never made it this far over a $4 credit and I see now that you do care about your customer service and I do appreciate you taking the time to settle it.
I hope this can be put to rest with no hard feelings.
Thank you.

It definitely sounds like there was some miscommunication on our part so for that we apologize. You're absolutely right that this should not have made it this far over 4 bucks.

We definitely do care and hopefully you will considering ordering from us again. We're crediting you back for the entire shipping on your order to hopefully make up for this problem.

There are definitely no hard feelings over this. As long as you're okay with the resolution then we'll put it to rest.

I'm a fan of GU but I do usually call in my orders because I know it gets me the most up to date inventory, and my TC-discount :D. The GU people are good people. They are just trying to run a business in a competitive market. I like having options. Sometimes I want a part that shows to be original, sometimes a part that doesn't show doesn't have to be original.

FWIW (and I'm not flaming anybody) I have discovered that when you are not getting satisfaction on a phone line, the best strategy is to talk to them and talk to them until they can't stand it and give in. Of course, I only do this if I'm sure I'm right. I'll call the next day and do it again... repeat as needed. Sometimes you do find a misunderstanding, and sometimes you get back in touch with the original guy you talked to... who will be more helpful.

FWIW (and I'm not flaming anybody) I have discovered that when you are not getting satisfaction on a phone line, the best strategy is to talk to them and talk to them until they can't stand it and give in. Of course, I only do this if I'm sure I'm right. I'll call the next day and do it again... repeat as needed. Sometimes you do find a misunderstanding, and sometimes you get back in touch with the original guy you talked to... who will be more helpful.

Maybe you have an abundance of free time, but I don't know many people who have the time or the inclination to keep calling & callng back & calling back again til the company "agrees" to give in or get it right. :rolleyes: Why not get the order details right the FIRST time so there isn't any misunderstanding? :confused:

I have no desire to deal with ANY company that treats its clients in that way. :noway:

Maybe you have an abundance of free time, but I don't know many people who have the time or the inclination to keep calling & callng back & calling back again til the company "agrees" to give in or get it right. :rolleyes: Why not get the order details right the FIRST time so there isn't any misunderstanding? :confused:

I have no desire to deal with ANY company that treats its clients in that way. :noway:No, I have very little free time. It's a strategy if they have my money and are giving me the run-around. :mad:
I agree that any company should get orders correct the first time, and have good customer service if a mistake happens (on either side of the phone). GU has been pretty good IMHO.

I've seemed to have good luck with GU, the parts I get are as good of quality as anyone else, always shipped fairly fast and packed very safely.
I get my discount although my member # is all jacked up.

Just thought I would pass along my last encounter with Ground Up.

I've had several orders from GU and I've always been pretty happy with the quality and service until yesterday! I put in an order in May which included a hose clamp kit, an air breather decal and many other parts. I just got the car on the road a couple weeks ago and have been chasing a coolant leak out of the lower heater core hose and I finally figured out it was the clamp. I also have noticed that the decal on the air breather is starting to curl up on the corners and edges.

I called yesterday to explain and was met with an attitude right from the start. I was told that the clamps are reproduction and that some may strip out or not hold the way they should. I was then told that there can be many reasons for a decal not to stick but they all pointed towards me not prepping the surface correctly. I asked if they would back it up and found out that they only warranty parts for 30 days and that they could not do anything.

I guess I must be slow at restoring a car since I couldn't get it done in 30 days or less? We are not talking about a pair of shoes that you just purchased here! These guys offer enough parts so that you can build an entire Chevelle out of their catalog and you're telling me that if I don't have it rolling down the street in 30 days I'm shi@ out of luck!?

I was only asking for an $3.95 decal to be replaced and one hose clamp that is what, a couple bucks? I explained that I would not purchase anymore parts from these guys and with no hesitation I was told, okay. They lost a customer for less than $10.00 worth of parts, in my world that does not make sense! Last time I checked a 40 year old car needed attention on a yearly basis and these guys will not see anymore of my $!

I have run into the same situation with other vendors, sometimes I will get a "windfall" and buy a large quantity of parts that will keep me busy for 3-4 months.
It may take that long to discover something is wrong, depends on each vendor....

Nick you stated that several orders were placed but this is the only one you had an issue with, so over less than $10 you will ignore the previous transactions and go elsewhere to buy parts probably made by the same manufacturer? Remember GU is a reseller of the parts and warranty issues need to be filed with the manufacturer, and if the customer service rep is not to your liking, get their name and then ask for a supervisor to handle the issue. You live close enough to actually drive there and show them the problem as well as inspecting parts prior to purchase.
The warranty running out on parts prior to installing is common with this hobby, I bought a $2500 transmission that went out of warranty 2 years before the car was on the road. Hose clamps are not what they used to be, good originals are always better. I save all the originals I come across, clean them and reuse. My positraction sticker is doing the same thing, lifting on the edge. Could be the same company made it, but it was purchased on the west coast through a different supplier.

GU is not good. i remember calling for a catalog every month for 4 months meanwhile dealing with Ausley ($4500) a first class outfit. I after 4-5 calls to GU i aked where they are sending my catalog to here they F'D up the address. . then i inquired about a power steering kit for a 66. o yeh every thing is in the kit well, after i asked if this and that was included and the guy did not even know what i was talking about like the pulley nut and other hardware to manny peices were missing from the supposedly complete kit but the other required parts were available at extra cost. well i figure if they can't even send a catalog correctly why bother with them scam outfit, no knowledgable folks at the phones and won't get my $.