Webercarbsdirect.com, Buyer beware!! Options

[Series9]

Following up on my emulsion tube issue this week:

These carbs were purchased from Webercarbsdirect.com and were represented as genuine Webers.

They are not. They are Chinese knock-offs.


The retailer refuses to take them back.

You've been warned!




Do everyone a favor and spread this around to help others from getting screwed.

[billh1963]

Buy older carbs and rebuild them....it may be the only way to be sure

[ice cold]

Joe has been doing an awesome job of dealing with way too many issues with my motor rebuild. I am glad he is posting so everyone knows what you can encounter with a project. As for the carbs they were purchased last May as a birthday present to myself. I am disappointed that what was supposed to improve the performance actually caused a engine failure. I actually pulled a set of good Italian carbs off to put in "new Webers". For those novices who want to rebuild their own motor understand there is a very good reason to hire a true professional like Joe. He has also had to deal with another issue with a different supplier who sold a camshaft that required significant additional work that was not disclosed at the time of sale. The company that sold the camshaft is reputable and was recommended through 914 World members. The supplier stated he would not have sold the camshaft without additional parts until I called and they admitted that they indeed took the order over the phone. The camshaft supplier did give the additional parts at no charge but that did nothing for additional labor required.

[Series9]

Thank you Chris.

It's been a very long road for a TIV rebuild. We both learned stuff.....




I specialize in /6 engines. The suppliers for those engines, in general, are accustomed to delivering high-quality parts that fit correctly the first time.

The /4 suppliers, in general, appear to be a bunch of con artists.

From this point forward, /4 rebuilds at S9 will be $5k plus parts......

And I may insist upon LN cylinders with JE pistons if you want it done here.

[Cairo94507]

China is crapping all over the USA by sending us their absolute junk. I buy parts almost exclusively with my CC and when there is a problem I file the dispute. I have never lost yet. The key is to be absolutely clear in what it is you are ordering and expecting. When it is not what you ordered, and you have proven that, you win. Then it is up to the CC company to deal with the vendor.

[DBCooper]

China is crapping all over the USA by sending us their absolute junk.

Not really. I've been buying Chinese parts for over twenty years now, from plants that were already ISO-9001 certified Six Sigma as well as from smaller companies where we've set up our own quality programs in their plants. The Chinese can hold their standards just as high as anyone else in the world, but the reality is that we, U.S. consumers, insist on buying the absolute cheapest stuff they can make. We're the ones who dictate that they supply us with the low-priced junk, so if anyone's doing any crapping it's us, crapping all over ourselves. You want better stuff? You can have it but it's not free, you're gonna need to pay for it.

[Cairo94507]

I am perfectly willing to pay for quality. I just think, as in the case that we are discussing, China is misrepresenting their products. They should not be able to brand and advertise their carbureutors as Webers when they are not.

[a few loose screws]

I am perfectly willing to pay for quality. I just think, as in the case that we are discussing, China is misrepresenting their products. They should not be able to brand and advertise their carbureutors as Webers when they are not.

That's the real issue, grey market crap being sold as the genuine article. I went through this when I was looking for a piece of audio equipment once. Two different companies with the same name, both in China. One is overseen by the U.S. owner, the other stole the name and to this day makes inferior products and sells them under the same name. It's an interesting story, the company is jolida if anyone wants to research it.

[DBCooper]

Yes, same story. Jolida, huh? Wow, noted. This the fault of Weber in Italy for not enforcing their trademarks. If Weber would file a formal complaint with U.S. Customs that would stop those imports. I know that works because I've had shipments held in Customs until every item was inspected, because a competitor had filed a complaint. In this case the problem is the importer, WeberCarbsDirect. They apparently have license to use the name and mark, and they're selling that product at the price of a real quality product, but apparently haven't established any quality standards. In other words they, in New York, are in control and they're crapping on the U.S. consumer.

My point is that the Chinese CAN produce quality products, and I know that because I and a lot of other U.S. companies buy good stuff from them, but no one's insisting that they do. Instead we're insisting on low prices and at the same time indicating (as far as the Chinese manufacturer knows) that we may care about quality but not enough to pay more for it. It's WeberCarbsDirect who has to communicate that for their customers, but they're not, instead they're making a few extra bucks. Don't blame the Chinese, they'll do whatever you ask them (and pay them) to do.

[a few loose screws]

I'll be buying webers for my own car. Just to clarify, Redline is the trusted dealer?

[DBCooper]

Yes, but at this point I don't think I'd put my hand in the fire for that.

[rhodyguy]

if you want webers, find a clean used set of italians. go thru them yourself or pay a PRO to do it. stock in used dels and idfs just went up.

joe, did the customer's carbs cause or contribute the other engine problems?

[ice cold]

This whole ordeal makes me want to pull my hair out. If you Google Redline Webers the first advertisement that pops up is webercarbsdirect. You look at their website and check the FAQ's there is a link for "What is a genuine Weber?" that states the whole licensing agreement for using the Weber name as well as their trademark W. They also specifically mention North American Weber, Interco and Worldpac as genuine and all Weber labeled carburators and parts must be licensed. I have contacted my credit card company and am waiting for a response. Webercarbsdirect website states that the carburators have a one year warranty. They were purchased 5/26/14. Yes the cylinder that had no compression is the same as the faulty emulsion tube was on. Thanks to DB for his responses regarding my situation. Funny thing is I pulled off the existing carbs which were the good Italian ones after I couldn't get them to operate properly.

[Jake Raby]

Weber has been owned by Worldpac for years.

Any carburetor that is bought today MUST be blueprinted before installation. I don't care who makes it or where it comes from.

That said, since we have to recreate everything anyway (right out of the box), I have had the best luck with the EMPI HPMX carbs, which is sad, as they are Chinese. The "Genuine" parts and carbs have a quite interesting source of origin, too.

Anyone who buys any carburetor new and thinks they are just going to install it and drive away has another thing coming. Sad part is people spend more money on "genuine" and etc to avoid problems, but they don't know, what they don't know.

Back when I had the parts sales division I stopped selling carbs, because everyone wanted their inability to be able to tune or understand their carbs to be the seller's fault.

[euro911]

Buy older carbs and rebuild them....it may be the only way to be sure

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/agree.gif)

Usually the older carb bodies have air leaks from wear around the throttle shafts. A good machine shop can remedy the problem by filling the orifices and align boring them, or better yet, additionally machining them for throttle shaft bearings. I only buy 'old' Italian Webers.

[brp986s]

ISO 9001, 6 sigma is as easy to fake as a 11 dollar bill. And crap quality isn't just affecting -4. Read all the threads on pelican 911 forums about crap bearings, clutches, etc. And I'm talking about genuine Glyco and sachs, but which are farmed out to BFE (or BFC or BF wherever).

[DBCooper]

ISO 9001, 6 sigma is as easy to fake as a 11 dollar bill.

Seriously? Help me out, I'd like to see how you do that.

[jeffdon]

You can bash China for sometimes producing crap, but as mentioned previously here, high quality is possible from there. Its all about finding an honest factory, clearly defining your standards, and them sticking to them. You can find dishonest business people in ANY country. I work with the technical outerwear market, and the finest technical garments in the world are coming out of Asia. We barely know how to make the stuff here anymore.

[Mike Bellis]

ISO 9001, 6 sigma is as easy to fake as a 11 dollar bill.

Seriously? Help me out, I'd like to see how you do that.

Here you go. Add this to your resume.

[euro911]

...
We barely know how to make the stuff here anymore.

I think that's been their plan all along. When 'we' can no longer manufacture anything, watch the prices for the junk stuff increase to more than what 'we' could have made the same products here for.

Ruin another productive country's industrial base and you win.

[DBCooper]

For my resume? Sorry, what?

Their "plan"? Come on, you're giving them WAY too much credit, and not giving our people nearly enough. It's called competition, and supposedly we're good at it. When it's worth our while we can manufacture anything we want. WHEN it's worth our while.