Here's the punch line.
The car needs wheel cylinders due to not driving the car much and moisture getting into the brake fluid. Should be flushing it every 1.5-2 years. While inspecting it this morning we noticed that the leading edges of the front shoes have either broken off corners or cracked corners. We're talking about 1/4 in off each corner which is no real cause for concern,
I called the company and told them about the wheel cylinders and moisture in the system from not flushing the fluid and that I wanted to buy four wheel cylinders. They're high capacity units much larger than factory replacements. $28.50 each which seems like a good deal to me for a better performing unit.
I mention that I need some shoes due to the broken off or cracked corners. He says, "Lifetime warranty on our stuff. Ship them back and I'll send new ones for free if you cover the sipping."
I told him the car was off the lift and back in my garage at home. He says, "Buy the shoes and send me the old ones and I'll refund the purchase price when I get them." Fine by me.
Gave him my credit card info authorizing $238.50 for all everything with shipping, $99.50 of which will be refunded once he gets my old front shoes back.
"Oh, what color are the shoes, red or black?" he asks.
"Red," says I.
"Well, those are the original kevlar composite shoes. We have kevlar/ceramic shoes now that have a much higher coefficient of friction. Tell you what, I'll send you all four sets for all four wheels so you have a matched set. The car will stop even better. Oh, and I'm only going to charge you for the front shoes as we agreed. You'll be refunded for those once I get them back."
So for basically $140 I'll have four new high capacity wheel cylinders and their latest kevlar/cermaic shoes.
This is the kind of customer service all companies should offer.
