On November 20, "Metal With Grace" announced availability of a custom stainless-steel grill for owners of the Chrysler/Plymouth Prowler.in her announcement, she said that she was offering the first 10 customers a price of $1000 and an anticipated shipping date of less than 30 days. My deposit of $500 was sent to her within two days following her announcement.
On December 6th, she posted in an on-line forum that she had run into supplier issues, causing delays, and that she was awaiting delivery on raw materials.
On December 21st, she posted she was piecing together the first grill (destined for another customer) after having to redesign her patterns and that she would be shipping several more in the coming days. She also indicated that she had made some changes to the design to enable a better fit.
On December 31st, she posted that she "finally had a good pattern" and that the grills would start shipping that week.
On January 18th, she e-mailed me to let me know grills would start shipping soon and that she would appreciate the second half of my payment (though it was not required). I told her that I preferred to hold off on sending any remaining monies until the grills actually ship. She responded back indicating that I was one of the first to place an order and that my grill would ship before the end of the month.
On January 29th, I e-mailed Grace to follow-up on my grill and she responded back that an urgent matter came up, causing the delay, and that several grills undergoing final fit and polishing and were just about ready to ship.
On February 20th, I e-mailed Grace again to get a status on shipping. She responded back that she was having problems with suppliers for her raw materials and that she is doing the best she can in completing the grills.
On March 12, I sent another follow-up. She responded back that the first several will go out the following Friday (March 21st) but she was not able to provide a projected ship date on my order.
On April 10th, I contacted Grace again. This time, the problem was that her fixtures were no good and that she had to retool her initial grills. At this time, not one single grill had shipped out to any customer.
On April 29th, she finally posted a picture of the first grill delivered. It was met with lukewarm enthusiasm and there were several complaints posted about fitment issues. I contacted Grace and told her I wanted to cancel my order. She asked me to remain patient a little longer and that more grills would be shipped that weekend. I would then see additional pictures from customers and could better decide if I still wanted to cancel my order. I agreed to wait one week longer.
On May 21st, not one additional grill had been delivered to a customer so there were no pictures to allow for a better-informed decision. I again contacted Grace and told her I wanted to cancel my order and requested a refund of my $500 deposit. Se responded back that she had 8 grills on-hand, four of which were "in the mail" with the other four nearly ready. I told her I was not happy with the recent design changes made to the grill and I'd rather cancel my order. She told me that she would try to have my refund mailed to me by the end of the following week (May 30th).
I followed up on my refund on June 4th (got no response) and again on June 8th. On June 10th, she responded back that she was doing the best she could. She supposedly had gone into great debt with this project but had "2 or 3 grills going out that day and 2 or 3 more the following day". Once she received payment, she would send me a bank-guaranteed check of my refund. I responded back that although I sympathized with her situation, I could only give her until June 20th before I would be forced to pursue a formal complaint process with the Better Business Bureau. She responded back that she would send me a check or an update on the following Monday (June 16th).
On June 20th, I received an e-mail from Grace telling me should could send a company check right away or certified funds on Tuesday. I asked her to send a check right away. I received no response.
On June 26th. I followed-up yet again.By this time, a public posting had been made by another person that he had heard someone had canceled their order and that there were some communications problems between Grace and the customer. Although the posting may have not been referencing me as that customer, it seemed very coincidental. Grace said she had said nothing to anyone about my order cancellation and that my refund would arrive no later than Saturday (June 28th).
On June 28th, she e-mailed me to tell me she "over-sighted" my check and that I would receive it on Monday, June 30th.
My refund check was received on Monday as promised and immediately deposited to my personal bank account. When I received my monthly bank statement on July 11th, I learned that her check had been returned to her bank for insufficient funds. I immediately contacted Grace expressing my displeasure. She called my home later that day and spoke with my wife (I was still at work). She said that she would immediately send out a bank check drawn against certified funds and that I would have it on Monday, July 14th.
As of this writing, I've yet to hear from Grace on the status of my refund.
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