Trouble with KEP, Can't decide if I'm getting hosed Options

[aircooledboy]

Hey boys. Been lurking all these years, just no time to post.

I can't decide if Kennedy Engineered Products is screwing me, or if I'm being unreasonable. Here's my deal:
I've lost most of another short 914 driving season chasing down a clutch problem that turned out to be a broken diaphragm spring on my pressure plate. My driver is a 73 Renegade conversion with a SBC 350 V8. The pressure plate is about 5+ years old, Stage 2 from KEP, but only has 5000 miles max on (in a good year I might get to put 3000 on the car, it was in body work for 2+ years, and this year I was only able to put 200ish on it due to chasing said clutch issues). I called KEP last week and spoke to them, and ultimately decided just to have them send me a new pressure plate. They were willing to have me send them the broken unit and they would rebuild it, but no discount on a new one, and no credit for a core if I sent it to them in exchange for the new one. That pissed me off a little, but I wanted to drive my car before the beautiful fall weather was gone, so I bit the bullet and just had them send me a new one.

New plate arrives Friday, I'm pumped to get it slammed in Saturday morning, and enjoy probably the last warm weekend of the year in this part of the world. Get the car in the air, hold pressure plate up to fly wheel: IT'S THE WRONG FREAKING PLATE!!!! Grrrr. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/mad.gif) Looking at the plate and the packaging, it's a standard Sachs 914 pressure plate. Call KEP today, talk to the same guy, he says "there are 2 ways to set up that clutch", and that's why he sent me that part. Funny, he never told me that when I was giving him my credit card number. He never asked a single question about what size my pressure plate was.

I'm not sure he's not full of shiat when he says that some V8 conversions use a standard sized pressure plate, but more importantly, he tell's me that I will have to pay to ship the wrong part back, AND shipping to get the correct part shipped, AND they will charge me for the second pressure plate, not refunding the wrong one until they have received it. For those keeping score at home, I will have paid to ship a part THREE times (to the tune of about $100) that was sent out wrong through no fault of mine, and they not are giving me so much as 1 cent off the price of the new part to compensate me for nearly new pressure plate that failed after less than 5000 miles (trust me, you can tell by looking at the failed part, it has almost no wear).

I think I'm getting bent over, but sometimes I'm not sure I trust my perspective on stuff like this when I'm buried with other things in life. What say you?

[mepstein]

I wouldn't expect anything for a five year old part. No matter how little wear it has. The more recent sale should have been handled better by the seller. Your paying way too much if shipping is $33 each way for a single part. Many companies will not credit you back until they get their part back. Even if its their mistake. Its the way things are done now. I dont like it but its done anyway.