SMS Auto Fabrics
07-06-2020, 01:22 PM
#1
SMS Auto Fabrics
SMS Auto Fabrics
I had a 3 month ordeal with SMS Auto Fabrics out of Oregon. SMS is widely known for carrying original OEM material and buying it up from the manufacturers once it is out of production. They kind of corner the market on that, and that is why people are willing to pay a premium to get some of the last of the OEM material.
Summary: If you’re in a hurry, you’re SOL. It took a month and a half from my initial contact with them until the day I received my order. About 50% of emails you send them are ignored. SMS sells reproduction material too—not just OEM material so you should ask what they’re selling you before you order it. They do NOT have the original GM gray striped cloth for 88-92 Camaros. They do offer a ‘reproduction’ cloth which is the same pattern but a darker gray. It would look “close enough” if you were doing the entire interior, but not if you just wanted to do the driver’s seat, etc. Also, I understand the premium cost for OEM material that has a limited supply, but $119/yard for reproduction cloth seems excessive especially considering it is not an exact match. I was fortunate in that an employee who apparently didn’t know the policy allowed me to return it for a refund (after I reasoned with her boss over about 10 emails), but that will not be the case for anyone else who orders from them going forward.
The Whole Story: I had a threadbare spot on my driver’s seat bolster and wanted to buy some original cloth to match. I was going to have my upholsterer replace just the damaged panel and keep the rest.
Below is the entire saga (which I actually edited to cut it down but it still is a novel) in case you’re interested:
Initial Contact: On 3/21 I filled out the request form on their website and waited. After 5 days of no response (not even- “we have received your request and will send a sample”)—I emailed another request, explaining my car, the interior details and what I was looking for. I got a response saying “I mailed you a sample a few days ago. We have what you want. – Doug” I ended up receiving it the day after this email exchange.
When I got the sample, it was a shade darker than my seat but I figured the sun had faded my seats over the last 30+ years. After all, if they sell OEM cloth, it should exactly match what it looked like from the factory, right? Plus, the sample came with a form letter that had two options with check boxes next to them. One was “We don’t carry what you’re looking for but this is the closest thing we offer” and the other said “this cloth is an exact match for your vehicle”. That is the box that was checked. So I switched tactics. I decided to buy enough material to re-do both front buckets completely. I wanted the interior to look perfect.
Purchasing from SMS: I communicated via email—mostly out of convenience, but also because I called them SIX times on 4/1 and never reached anyone. I was trying to find out if they had the plain gray cloth to go with my striped cloth (and find out the cost). About every other email received a response. (I asked if they had it, the email response was YES--- no cost given, no ordering instructions, etc). That was pretty typical.
Finally on 4/6, after several back and forth emails (among the unreturned ones), I receive a PayPal invoice and I pay it within 2 hours.
Order Fulfillment: On 4/14, 8 days after sending electronic payment, I have not received my order or even heard anything from SMS. So I sent a follow-up email inquiring about the status of my order. No response. NINE more days go by and still nothing (I was busy at work at this time and didn’t have time to follow up). I sent another email on 4/23 asking for an order update. I receive back an email from Kim saying “I will check with shipping to see what the delay is, I will get back to you.” Guess what, she didn’t.
On 4/25, I send yet another follow-up email, which is finally answered two days later on 4/27, “Your order is shipping today”.
Order Problem: On 5/1, I finally receive my order. It takes me a little over a week to get in to see my upholstery guy. When he opened the package, he immediately told me that the striped cloth is the wrong color. It is the correct pattern, but a shade darker than what is in my car. He flipped back one of my front bucket seats and exposed an area that never sees sunlight and it looked the same as the rest of my interior-- a shade lighter than the darker gray cloth I received. The upholstery is just a darker shade than my OEM gray cloth. The solid gray cloth they sent is a perfect match.
I could not find the striped cloth sample that they sent me to match it up to the new upholstery, but on 5/12, I emailed SMS and asked if they have (2) different rolls of the striped gray Camaro upholstery. I thought maybe they had a lighter one and a darker one, and they sent the darker one but I need the lighter one. I emailed a picture of the new upholstery up against my OEM upholstery.
The Big Surprise- It’s not OEM: After receiving no response to my email of 5/12, I emailed again on 5/14 and receive a response: What we sent you is our reproduction material and matches the sample you ordered off of. If I have anything else it won’t be an exact match for the original.
At this point I’m very disheartened. it was never disclosed that this is reproduction material. That explains why it doesn't match the original GM material in my car. I emailed back and asked if they have any of the original GM light gray striped cloth material, as the cloth that was sent is too dark of gray and not close enough to use. It would be "close enough" if you were replacing the entire interior (front and rear seats and door panels). However, I am not doing that-- I was just replacing the front seat upholstery and there is a noticeable mis-match between the reproduction and the GM cloth.
I receive no response to the above email. I sent the exact same email 4 days later on 5/18 and received a response: “The original no longer exists or has for years. Please let me know what you would like to do. Thanks, Kim” I responded back immediately and said that I would absorb the shipping cost (both ways) if they would take the material back. She replied that they could send me a shipping label to send it back and asked if I wanted to send the plain cloth back as well. I confirmed that I wanted to return it all because the plain cloth does me no good without the correct striped cloth.
Service After the Sale: It took a few more “reminder” emails before the shipping label was sent, but it finally was on 5/22 and I shipped the upholstery back the day I received the shipping label.
After that were several more emails asking them to provide my refund since I had the UPS receipt that they received the material back and it was signed for. I was then told because I paid via PayPal, the boss would have to process the refund.
On 6/18, Doug (the boss) responds “we have one policy and one policy only: You can return it for a full credit towards a future purchase. I’m not sure where we got off-track with this.” My response email from 6/18:
Unfortunately when the order was in my possession I could not find the little swatch of cloth to match it to the cloth that was sent-- but as Kim indicated that the reproduction material is the only gray striped cloth you have for an 89 Camaro-- I am not disputing that it is the same. However, here is my issue. You sent the cloth with a piece of paper indicating that it is an EXACT MATCH for the original upholstery. I then find out that it is not original GM cloth, it is reproduction... and it is only close-- not exact. When I brought it to my upholstery guy he told me to send it back because it was too far off and would be very noticeable against the OEM door panels. That is not an exact match. The cloth is very similar to the original-- but it doesn't match exactly as indicated. The entire reason I contacted SMS is because you specialize in discontinued factory cloth. I had no idea that you even sold reproduction material.
An employee of SMS already authorized the return of the material for a refund (not credit towards a future purchase) and sent me a shipping tag to send it back. If this is not (or no longer) your company policy, then that is a boss-employee issue. As your customer I was already instructed to send it back for a refund and that is what I did. Please provide the refund that I was promised.
Doug disputed the above and insisted that I “sweet talked” Kim into letting me return it. When I forwarded him the email chain that clearly showed that she offered the refund, he finally agreed to refund my money, less shipping both ways, which he finally did on 6/22—Three months and one day after my initial contact with SMS.
Conclusion/Resolution: I understand that they sent me a sample of the material and I ordered based on that sample. However, I thought that they only sold OEM cloth and the reason my seats were lighter than the sample is because they had faded from the sun. Had I known the cloth was reproduction, I simply wouldn’t have ordered it, plain and simple. I’m lucky that I only lost $80 on the shipping back and forth as I guarantee you won’t be able to return for a refund going forward.
In good news, a fellow TGO member replaced the upholstery on his seats and about a week ago I bought his old upholstery, which has enough good striped material left that my interior guy can splice it into my seats to make them look like new again.
I had a 3 month ordeal with SMS Auto Fabrics out of Oregon. SMS is widely known for carrying original OEM material and buying it up from the manufacturers once it is out of production. They kind of corner the market on that, and that is why people are willing to pay a premium to get some of the last of the OEM material.
Summary: If you’re in a hurry, you’re SOL. It took a month and a half from my initial contact with them until the day I received my order. About 50% of emails you send them are ignored. SMS sells reproduction material too—not just OEM material so you should ask what they’re selling you before you order it. They do NOT have the original GM gray striped cloth for 88-92 Camaros. They do offer a ‘reproduction’ cloth which is the same pattern but a darker gray. It would look “close enough” if you were doing the entire interior, but not if you just wanted to do the driver’s seat, etc. Also, I understand the premium cost for OEM material that has a limited supply, but $119/yard for reproduction cloth seems excessive especially considering it is not an exact match. I was fortunate in that an employee who apparently didn’t know the policy allowed me to return it for a refund (after I reasoned with her boss over about 10 emails), but that will not be the case for anyone else who orders from them going forward.
The Whole Story: I had a threadbare spot on my driver’s seat bolster and wanted to buy some original cloth to match. I was going to have my upholsterer replace just the damaged panel and keep the rest.
Below is the entire saga (which I actually edited to cut it down but it still is a novel) in case you’re interested:
Initial Contact: On 3/21 I filled out the request form on their website and waited. After 5 days of no response (not even- “we have received your request and will send a sample”)—I emailed another request, explaining my car, the interior details and what I was looking for. I got a response saying “I mailed you a sample a few days ago. We have what you want. – Doug” I ended up receiving it the day after this email exchange.
When I got the sample, it was a shade darker than my seat but I figured the sun had faded my seats over the last 30+ years. After all, if they sell OEM cloth, it should exactly match what it looked like from the factory, right? Plus, the sample came with a form letter that had two options with check boxes next to them. One was “We don’t carry what you’re looking for but this is the closest thing we offer” and the other said “this cloth is an exact match for your vehicle”. That is the box that was checked. So I switched tactics. I decided to buy enough material to re-do both front buckets completely. I wanted the interior to look perfect.
Purchasing from SMS: I communicated via email—mostly out of convenience, but also because I called them SIX times on 4/1 and never reached anyone. I was trying to find out if they had the plain gray cloth to go with my striped cloth (and find out the cost). About every other email received a response. (I asked if they had it, the email response was YES--- no cost given, no ordering instructions, etc). That was pretty typical.
Finally on 4/6, after several back and forth emails (among the unreturned ones), I receive a PayPal invoice and I pay it within 2 hours.
Order Fulfillment: On 4/14, 8 days after sending electronic payment, I have not received my order or even heard anything from SMS. So I sent a follow-up email inquiring about the status of my order. No response. NINE more days go by and still nothing (I was busy at work at this time and didn’t have time to follow up). I sent another email on 4/23 asking for an order update. I receive back an email from Kim saying “I will check with shipping to see what the delay is, I will get back to you.” Guess what, she didn’t.
On 4/25, I send yet another follow-up email, which is finally answered two days later on 4/27, “Your order is shipping today”.
Order Problem: On 5/1, I finally receive my order. It takes me a little over a week to get in to see my upholstery guy. When he opened the package, he immediately told me that the striped cloth is the wrong color. It is the correct pattern, but a shade darker than what is in my car. He flipped back one of my front bucket seats and exposed an area that never sees sunlight and it looked the same as the rest of my interior-- a shade lighter than the darker gray cloth I received. The upholstery is just a darker shade than my OEM gray cloth. The solid gray cloth they sent is a perfect match.
I could not find the striped cloth sample that they sent me to match it up to the new upholstery, but on 5/12, I emailed SMS and asked if they have (2) different rolls of the striped gray Camaro upholstery. I thought maybe they had a lighter one and a darker one, and they sent the darker one but I need the lighter one. I emailed a picture of the new upholstery up against my OEM upholstery.
The Big Surprise- It’s not OEM: After receiving no response to my email of 5/12, I emailed again on 5/14 and receive a response: What we sent you is our reproduction material and matches the sample you ordered off of. If I have anything else it won’t be an exact match for the original.
At this point I’m very disheartened. it was never disclosed that this is reproduction material. That explains why it doesn't match the original GM material in my car. I emailed back and asked if they have any of the original GM light gray striped cloth material, as the cloth that was sent is too dark of gray and not close enough to use. It would be "close enough" if you were replacing the entire interior (front and rear seats and door panels). However, I am not doing that-- I was just replacing the front seat upholstery and there is a noticeable mis-match between the reproduction and the GM cloth.
I receive no response to the above email. I sent the exact same email 4 days later on 5/18 and received a response: “The original no longer exists or has for years. Please let me know what you would like to do. Thanks, Kim” I responded back immediately and said that I would absorb the shipping cost (both ways) if they would take the material back. She replied that they could send me a shipping label to send it back and asked if I wanted to send the plain cloth back as well. I confirmed that I wanted to return it all because the plain cloth does me no good without the correct striped cloth.
Service After the Sale: It took a few more “reminder” emails before the shipping label was sent, but it finally was on 5/22 and I shipped the upholstery back the day I received the shipping label.
After that were several more emails asking them to provide my refund since I had the UPS receipt that they received the material back and it was signed for. I was then told because I paid via PayPal, the boss would have to process the refund.
On 6/18, Doug (the boss) responds “we have one policy and one policy only: You can return it for a full credit towards a future purchase. I’m not sure where we got off-track with this.” My response email from 6/18:
Unfortunately when the order was in my possession I could not find the little swatch of cloth to match it to the cloth that was sent-- but as Kim indicated that the reproduction material is the only gray striped cloth you have for an 89 Camaro-- I am not disputing that it is the same. However, here is my issue. You sent the cloth with a piece of paper indicating that it is an EXACT MATCH for the original upholstery. I then find out that it is not original GM cloth, it is reproduction... and it is only close-- not exact. When I brought it to my upholstery guy he told me to send it back because it was too far off and would be very noticeable against the OEM door panels. That is not an exact match. The cloth is very similar to the original-- but it doesn't match exactly as indicated. The entire reason I contacted SMS is because you specialize in discontinued factory cloth. I had no idea that you even sold reproduction material.
An employee of SMS already authorized the return of the material for a refund (not credit towards a future purchase) and sent me a shipping tag to send it back. If this is not (or no longer) your company policy, then that is a boss-employee issue. As your customer I was already instructed to send it back for a refund and that is what I did. Please provide the refund that I was promised.
Doug disputed the above and insisted that I “sweet talked” Kim into letting me return it. When I forwarded him the email chain that clearly showed that she offered the refund, he finally agreed to refund my money, less shipping both ways, which he finally did on 6/22—Three months and one day after my initial contact with SMS.
Conclusion/Resolution: I understand that they sent me a sample of the material and I ordered based on that sample. However, I thought that they only sold OEM cloth and the reason my seats were lighter than the sample is because they had faded from the sun. Had I known the cloth was reproduction, I simply wouldn’t have ordered it, plain and simple. I’m lucky that I only lost $80 on the shipping back and forth as I guarantee you won’t be able to return for a refund going forward.
In good news, a fellow TGO member replaced the upholstery on his seats and about a week ago I bought his old upholstery, which has enough good striped material left that my interior guy can splice it into my seats to make them look like new again.
07-06-2020, 01:39 PM
#2
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Re: SMS Auto Fabrics
I also ordered headliner from them. I asked if it was factory, was told yes at first and then later no. forget the details. also had some issues getting refund on excess material but they did finally pull thru. I think they just get busy and maybe understaffed. it happens.
That all said, the material is very nice, and looks like factory. can't tell the difference. my factory headliner was in good shape, just sagging so I had a good reference.
That all said, the material is very nice, and looks like factory. can't tell the difference. my factory headliner was in good shape, just sagging so I had a good reference.
08-04-2021, 02:46 PM
#3
Senior Member
Re: SMS Auto Fabrics
In the middle of the same nightmare right now.
On my second batch of headliner material for my Camaro in Flame Red. 3mo in and the emails from them are starting to get condescending.
I will update when this issue is resolved.
On my second batch of headliner material for my Camaro in Flame Red. 3mo in and the emails from them are starting to get condescending.
I will update when this issue is resolved.
11-01-2021, 12:14 PM
#5
Senior Member
Re: SMS Auto Fabrics
Last contact with SMS was the date of my last post 8/4/21. I filed a chargeback with the CC company 9/15, and the matter was settled yesterday 10/31/21. I'm not out any money, but I don't have the headliner either...win/lose.
Buyer beware!!
Buyer beware!!
06-09-2022, 02:39 PM
#6
Re: SMS Auto Fabrics
I inquired about some of the "CAMARO CAMARO CAMARO" material, and had a few emails back and forth with them. Over the course of one afternoon, they answered all of my questions about the size of the panels, width of the material, etc. I bought the material and it came less than a week later. While it sounds like others have had some real problems, I'm a happy customer. The person that I dealt with was Doug.
06-23-2022, 06:41 AM
#7
Re: SMS Auto Fabrics
I had a months long ordeal with them years ago. It took awhile and I dealt directly with the owner, but they did try their best to resolve the issue. Their customer service could use improvement but they are literally the only supplier of what is left of NOS cloth.
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