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Don't buy from Al Knoch until you read this



 
 
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Old June 3rd 16, 06:27 AM posted to alt.autos.corvette
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Default Don't buy from Al Knoch until you read this

On Thursday, March 26, 1998 at 1:00:00 AM UTC-7, MCS72 ROTH wrote:
> Buyer Beware!!!!
> of dealing with Al Knoch Interiors
> Attention Corvette Restorers: I cant guarantee you that you will have the same
> experiences as I have had unless you own a 53 to 55 Corvette but Ill bet you
> that if you have any problems with this guys products, you’re in for big
> trouble if you try to get any satisfaction from him, especially if it involves
> any money or effort on his part. READ ON:
>
> JULY 1995: Started ordering everything needed for a complete upholstery job on
> 1955 Harvest Gold car including seat covers, seat foam, all new seat springs,
> door panels, windshield bag, dash cover , convt, top and pads, door and kick
> panels. His catalog advertised Every item we offer is made by our employees in
> our own factory. He admitted this year to me that he had lied and that the
> 53-55 stuff was old surplus he picked up from All True when it went belly up
> some years ago.
>
> Nov - DEC 1995: We tried to install the seat covers. I have personally
> installed at least 20 sets of custom made covers, mainly for Mustangs, as well
> as a dozen or so complete custom upholstery jobs for less popular cars, but I
> was unable to make these look even passable. Took the seats to a professional
> in Newbury Park, CA. 180 bucks later he gave up and said they just werent sewn
> correctly.
>
> JANUARY 1996: Talked to Knoch. He ran off at the mouth telling me that I just
> didnt know what I was doing, that if the seats were back in his warehouse he
> could install them with no problem, because there was nothing wrong with his
> product. I offered to ship the seats back to have this miracle performed. I
> have the UPS invoice dated 1/30/96 when the seats were shipped back to Texas at
> my expense.
>
> Feb 1996 - Feb 1997: I am surmising that when the seats arrived they were
> looked at by Dale Robertson, at which time Dale decided that they needed to be
> remade. PROBLEM - Since they had been made some time ago, there was NO MATERIAL
> AVIALABLE to remake them. Since yellow was not popular, it would not be
> financially prudent to remake the material. INSTEAD OF CALLING ME AND FESSING,
> UP THEY TOOK MY SEATS,AND DOOR PANELS AND THREW THEM ON A SHELF FOR OVER ONE
> GOD DAMN YEAR!!!!! My phone calls werent answered, my faxes and letters werent
> answered. I WAS TOTALLY IGNORED. In fact the only way I finally got them back
> was a Vette guy who toured my Museum in Jan 96, and saw the totally restored
> car less seats asked me in Jan 1997 to put the car in a commercial. I told him
> the story and he turned out to be a dealer who called Knoch. About the same
> time I told Jack Reeves owner of 5362 Corvette Place who graciously talked to
> Dale Robertson, Knochs employee. Had these two middle men for Knochs products
> not intervened, I feel I would have never ever gotten my stuff back. The
> arrogance of Al Knoch, in my opinion, is unsurpassed. I have the invoice to
> prove when this was sent back to me.
>
> MARCH 1997 TO JUNE 1997: Took the seats and Convt,. top to Richard Sagona, one
> of the top antique upholsters in So. Cal who does a lot of Jay Lenos stuff. He
> had to alter the foam, and redo the covers to even make them fit in the car.
> They still look mediocre and pull the whole restoration job down in appearance.
> As I had been warned by others, the top didnt come close to fitting. Richard
> called Knoch and told him. Knoch said that the top was probably 10 years old
> and had probably shrunk in the box!! He told Mr. Sagona that he would send him
> another. In reply Richard told him to forget another top, that he preferred to
> make the top from scratch. To this Knoch replied that when Sagona made the top,
> would he send him the measurements so he could make his tops fit!!!!!! Sagona
> laughed.
>
> July 1997: In total, my bills to fix the upholstery as best as I could totaled
> 1737.50 plus, of course, the initial $1450 I paid to purchase them. My car was
> kept out of the show circuit for 2 years, which of course meant deterioration,
> and the upholstery looks like something you would buy from J.C Whitney rather
> than the almost $3200 I have invested, not to mention the 200 or so hours we
> have invested. Had Harvest Gold material been available I would throw the whole
> mess in the trash! Besides bad seats, The dash cover is not cut on a bias as
> original to save material. (that is why you 56-7 guys have so much trouble
> installing it) The door panel board wasnt cut right, Stitching was crooked and
> the job of gluing the material to the panels was pathetic with tons of glue
> bumps all over the flat parts of the panels.
>
> August 1997: I sent Al a letter with a copy of the letter written by Sagona and
> offered to settle for $2500. He called back, and as I suspected, told me to go
> jump. Not only that, but he said that if I told others of what had happened to
> me, he would sue me for extortion. He went on to tell me that he had talked to
> others who said I was impossible to satisfy. If you call someone who gets angry
> because you keep his merchandise for over a year hard to please, Ill eat my
> hat. (Ask him to show any records of phone calls to me during that time if he
> tries to use the BS that they were trying to solve the problem!) Our phone
> conversation deteriorated until Mr. Knoch did the unbelievable. Out of the
> blue he asked me if I was a German! I said yes, so what? He said, well Im a
> Jew!!! I dont know what the hell that had to do with anything except to imply I
> must be a Nazi or something. Give me a break. I hung up on him!!
> If any of you have had any like experiences with this guy, and I have heard he
> has a lot of trouble with all his tops, please let me know. Ill add your
> complaint to this letter. All I can say to you, Mr Knoch, is go ahead and sue
> me. You know that every word of this is true and you will lose BIG TIME.
>
> Frederick J Roth • • E-Mail
> snowfoot


Thank you. I bought door panels from Corvette America and the aren't near a close fit. I didn't identify this problem to the company as I didnt try to install until 6 months after purchase. Therefore I put that blame on myself. Maybe Corvette America could have resolved this. I eat my mistakes. I thought AL Knock would me a answer to my problem., Ive learned differently. Gonna freaking dye my old stuff. Throwing the new ones in the trash...sad me..
 




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