Enhance the Look and Feel of Your Interior with 5 SPURS Dial Crowns

[21st Century Pony]

@markboris Thanks for coordinating this and acting as interface between Kevin and forum. I too am disappointed in the delay and agree a simple note on the website indicating that there has been a delay due to the anodizing process would have gone a long way, especially now that he has 300 customers. However, I am learning to be patient, especially now. I think pre-COVID we got used to things being delivered, "yesterday". With the way the world is now, things simply just take longer. I am still getting used to and accepting the delays. C'est la vie.

I agree... just like in pre-9/11 days, at some airports it was very possible to get curb-dropped off at the terminal about 10 minutes before plane's departure. Those days we will never, ever see again.

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[tannerk89]

I agree... just like in pre-9/11 days, at some airports it was very possible to get curb-dropped off at the terminal about 10 minutes before plane's departure. Those days we will never, ever see again.

Come to the Roanoke airport ? at my 8 gate wonder I can park in the long term lot 15 mins before gate close and make it on the plane no problem.

 

[Kamuelaflyer]

Come to the Roanoke airport ? at my 8 gate wonder I can park in the long term lot 15 mins before gate close and make it on the plane no problem.

I was never once late for a flight regardless of when I got to the airport. Pre or post 9/11. The flight can’t go without the Captain.

 

[markboris]

@markboris Thanks for coordinating this and acting as interface between Kevin and forum. I too am disappointed in the delay and agree a simple note on the website indicating that there has been a delay due to the anodizing process would have gone a long way, especially now that he has 300 customers. However, I am learning to be patient, especially now. I think pre-COVID we got used to things being delivered, "yesterday". With the way the world is now, things simply just take longer. I am still getting used to and accepting the delays. C'est la vie.

Thanks William. Kevin is a one man show and has a lot of "irons in the fire" so to speak. I know there have been times he hasn't even slept and pulled all nighters. I'm not making excuses for him not indicating there have been delays and actually some of this is my fault. He didn't want me to suggest a completion date but I told him it's something customers would like to know so after figuring out the average times for all facets of this project to be completed, we came up with the end of September and as you can see that just didn't happen.

I've stated before that if it was just the two covers (volume and gear) and just two colors (black and silver) this probably would have been completed by now. However, the headlamp cover, start/stop button overlays and extra colors were all added to the project. I have spent quite a bit of time and my own money (my choice) purchasing parts and shipping to him in the UK especially trying to get the copper/bronze color for the GT interior as accurate as possible (even John JohnFoxeSheets helped out with this one).

I got a reply back from Kevin yesterday after asking how it was going:

The anodizers usually have a 3-4 week turn around however they announced a shortage of a chemical used in their process and a price hike coming Dec 2.....so companies preparing for the Xmas rush panicked and deposited loads of product with them which has caused the backlog. I have other projects in being anodized besides this one and want them all to be completed just as much as you do.

I asked Kevin about the price increase from the anodizers and his reply:

After December 2nd is when their new pricing goes into effect. They increased twice this year but this latest one is a bigger bump so after the dust settles I’ll review and may need to adjust pricing accordingly.

I've said before, Kevin can easily have these covers painted which would take no time at all. However, there is a good difference in the look, feel and quality between a painted metal or plastic item and an anodized aluminum one. Anyone that is familiar with this knows what I am talking about.

Agreed. I somewhat see where he's coming from when he says he's wanting to wait to ship until he has all the colors done, but that also doesn't really make sense. Like, ship what you got! That's common for staged releases... especially with all the color options and having hundreds of orders to now ship, logistically smarter to send as they're ready.

The issue with shipping out as items come in is cost. Many customers have ordered multiple items and in different colors. If he gets in just one or two of your items, he won't be sending them out until he receives the rest of your completed order otherwise he'll be shipping multiple packages out to the same customer and coming from the UK, that can be quite expensive.

I really do understand everyone's frustration with this project taking longer than originally estimated. Part of it is my fault being a little too optimistic in judging how long this would take knowing how long past projects have taken when I've worked with Kevin which were pre-COVID and things moved along very fast. Then there is the addition of extra items that he came up with (headlamp knob cover and start/stop overlay), special colors but mainly the issue now is the anodizing process. He has all packaging ready to go once he receives everyones completed orders.

 

[tannerk89]

Thanks William. Kevin is a one man show and has a lot of "irons in the fire" so to speak. I know there have been times he hasn't even slept and pulled all nighters. I'm not making excuses for him not indicating there have been delays and actually some of this is my fault. He didn't want me to suggest a completion date but I told him it's something customers would like to know so after figuring out the average times for all facets of this project to be completed, we came up with the end of September and as you can see that just didn't happen.

I've stated before that if it was just the two covers (volume and gear) and just two colors (black and silver) this probably would have been completed by now. However, the headlamp cover, start/stop button overlays and extra colors were all added to the project. I have spent quite a bit of time and my own money (my choice) purchasing parts and shipping to him in the UK especially trying to get the copper/bronze color for the GT interior as accurate as possible (even John JohnFoxeSheets helped out with this one).

I got a reply back from Kevin yesterday after asking how it was going:

The anodizers usually have a 3-4 week turn around however they announced a shortage of a chemical used in their process and a price hike coming Dec 2.....so companies preparing for the Xmas rush panicked and deposited loads of product with them which has caused the backlog. I have other projects in being anodized besides this one and want them all to be completed just as much as you do.

I asked Kevin about the price increase from the anodizers and his reply:

After December 2nd is when their new pricing goes into effect. They increased twice this year but this latest one is a bigger bump so after the dust settles I’ll review and may need to adjust pricing accordingly.

I've said before, Kevin can easily have these covers painted which would take no time at all. However, there is a good difference in the look, feel and quality between a painted metal or plastic item and an anodized aluminum one. Anyone that is familiar with this knows what I am talking about.


The issue with shipping out as items come in is cost. Many customers have ordered multiple items and in different colors. If he gets in just one or two of your items, he won't be sending them out until he receives the rest of your completed order otherwise he'll be shipping multiple packages out to the same customer and coming from the UK, that can be quite expensive.

I really do understand everyone's frustration with this project taking longer than originally estimated. Part of it is my fault being a little too optimistic in judging how long this would take knowing how long past projects have taken when I've worked with Kevin which were pre-COVID and things moved along very fast. Then there is the addition of extra items that he came up with (headlamp knob cover and start/stop overlay), special colors but mainly the issue now is the anodizing process. He has all packaging ready to go once he receives everyones completed orders.

Thanks for getting some more info. Personally I’m happy to wait for a good quality product that supports members and associates. It’ll be a nice Christmas surprise when it arrives.

 

[satchel prefect]

Add me to the "no biggie" list. We are all looking forward to getting our hands on these, but none of us are suffering loss of functionality while we wait. It is a niche, luxury item that we are fortunate enough to have a small outfit care enough to take the time to do well.

In this day and age--and considering quality is why we are drawn to this product-- is a win.

Appreciate your generosity in this @markboris

 

[sgriffin130]

I have no problem waiting for a quality product either. I have emailed Kevin a few times during this process and he has been quick to respond reminding me that this was a Pre-Order. No problem-just didn't want it to be forgotten. A blast email, as suggested, would have been helpful. How are these different from the ones offered by AOSK?

 

[MrPicklechip]

Count me in as a ‘no biggie’ on the delay. I’m good supporting a small business that will deliver a high quality product…and sometimes that just takes a bit more time.

As long as there is some communication so I know my order isn’t forgotten about I can hang tight.

 

[MyLittlePony2022]

I am too am in the no worries category. I want to support a small business and can wait for a quality product. So much has changed post-COVID and I echo what you indicated with prices going up in the middle of orders, suppliers getting inundated before the prices go up, and shipping. Don't get me started on that subject, since I too tried to ship a simple package to the UK as well as across the US... OUCH!!!

A say it again, thanks @markboris and @JohnFoxeSheets for all your time, money and commitment to the forum.

 

[txaggies07]

I am also happy to wait. I just don't want this to turn into a kickstarter type thing that never delivers. I have every faith that it will come at some point the nearish future so all good from me.

 

[JohnFoxeSheets]

I too am in the no biggie category. I'm happy to wait and am confident it will be worth it. And as for painted vs. anodized, anodized all the way. Paint wears off and even when new never looks as good as anodized. I wouldn't have ordered these if they were painted!

As for the small part I played in the GT copper/bronze color matching, it really was very small and I was happy to do it. Mark deserves full credit for all the work and expense he's put into this.

And hey, the longer it takes for them to arrive, the longer I get to put off telling my wife about them! ?

 

[txaggies07]

The biggest problem I have is that I didn't mind the knob until you showed me what it 'could' be.

 

[RagingDork]

I’m cool waiting as long as it shows up eventually ?

 

[markboris]

Well, at long last after Kevin drove 5 1/2 hours up to the anodizers two weeks ago to light a fire under their butts, he received the covers today.

I can attest they look much better in person since I have them in my 500 and these photos do not do them justice.

Here are the 6 colors and I am really happy with the copper/bronze color that took several of us here so long to get as close of a match that we could get. I know it was for only a few that ordered them (GT only) but Kevin wanted to go ahead and produce that color anyway. He will start shipping out the orders next week (over 300!).

Thanks again for everyones patience on this and hope you all enjoy them as much as I have mine in my 500. Happy Thanksgiving!!

 

[awp0]

Well, at long last after Kevin drove 5 1/2 hours up to the anodizers two weeks ago to light a fire under their butts, he received the covers today.

I can attest they look much better in person since I have them in my 500 and these photos do not do them justice.

Here are the 6 colors and I am really happy with the copper/bronze color that took several of us here so long to get as close of a match that we could get. I know it was for only a few that ordered them (GT only) but Kevin wanted to go ahead and produce that color anyway. He will start shipping out the orders next week (over 300!).

Thanks again for everyones patience on this and hope you all enjoy them as much as I have mine in my 500. Happy Thanksgiving!!

Fantastic news! Thanks for the update and all of your time on this! I can't wait.

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