The online world of upholstery kits and convertible tops offer prices that make their products standout as a great deal. The truth though is a lot of these online stores don't have a clue as they never have installed the products they are offering and most will tell you if asked that they have never had a problem with their products.
Here is an instance of what can happen when ordering a part from online and from us. First of all we have established relationships with our vendors and know what to expect such as if issues with parts that need some adjusting then we can pass that information onto the customer. Most times this can be overcome as Legend Tops and Upholstery has five decades of experience and as mentioned we communicate with our vendors to find the best products available and any issues with fitment. If this happens with something we supplied its on us to fix it and deliver a good product. We bare the responsibility to make right any problems by adjusting the fit of a top or upholstery kit . There is no extra charges when it is the fault of a product we supplied.
On the other hand if its an upholstery kit or top that our customer purchased online and adjustment needs to be made or we have to secure storage while waiting for a replacement, then that is on the customer and that makes for an unhappy customer.
We installed a top for a customer a while back and the top seam opened up after a year or so . The supplier of the part wouldn't warrantee it until it was removed "at the customers expense" then have it shipped back once again "customers expense" where then the supplier would return it to the vendor to get a confirmation if it was warrantied or not. All the while the vehicle would be parked until this got figured out. We arranged for inside storage at forty five dollars a day. Fortunately the vendor stepped up after confirming we were a professional top shop and sent a replacement directly to us but only offered to cover cost of labor at a reduced rate. Happy customer and appreciated us stepping in for them and speeding up the process. The next time they came to us we supplied the parts and a warrantee if anything like the last experience came along again, we would be on the hook for any costs.
There is a plethora of online stores doing whatever it takes to sell there products , and even our shop gets caught buying from a poor supplier once in awhile. We bought a dash pad for over five hundred dollars from the east coast online supplier that we eventually tossed out, then went to a supplier down in Texas for the same vehicle but the pad from them was much better quality and looked factory. No way of knowing as we asked the right questions and felt that the first pad was a good choice but since we were supplying everything for this restoration it was on us to get it right. We weren't just out the cost of the part, but also all the labor time to try and make the part fit.
We do a lot of custom cutting and sewing both custom upholstery and stock interiors and when the occasion arrives that a kit is required we usually will reinforce where a weak area is and at times have had to cut entire kits apart and rework to factory fit and finish. This happens usually where a embossed center panel from the vehicle manufacturer is required or embossed inserts to replicate the OEM look. If we are the supplier of the upholstery its on us to get it correct.
It is on us and our reputation to give our customers ,whom many become friends to deliver quality upholstery services. We want our customers to know we welcome their projects and make our services available whether its a cushion cover or a complete interior, a seam repair or foam repair. Thanks for taking the time to read and hope it was informative.