[xj-s] BRITISH AUTOWOOD - WARNING TO LIST! - Long

In a 2/28 email to Mike from Gary britishautowood.com is mentioned as a
potential source for wood product replacements for our XJS cars. Before any
lister sends any money to this outfit, or the owner - Saul Chaplin - read my
story below.
In early December of 2001 an auction on Ebay advertised: Jaguar XJ6, XJS,
XJ8, XK8 wood gearknob. There was a very nice picture of the knob made from
dark burlwood; a thing of beauty; I had to have it. Apparently someone else
had the same idea so I had to up my bid to $ 109.49 to get it. I immediately
paid my money (to Saul Chaplin) and waited for the knob to arrive.
To make a loooong story short: The first knob did not fit my 95 XJS coupe
v12. It would not fully screw onto the gear selector. If I had forced it it
would have cracked (in fact he accused me of damaging the first knob). The
second knob he sent (which was a different color) did not fit either, nor the
third knob. For good reason: they were all exactly the same except for the
color of the wood.
This whole process took about 1 1/2 months with reams of emails going back
and forth. Although polite in the first email, the second email and on showed
the real Saul Chaplin: unpleasant, rude, I-am-right-and-you-are-wrong
attitude and basically: if the knob does not fit your car it is your problem.
Sure enough I am out $ 109.49 and I have nothing because I have no use for a
gear knob that does not fit my car so I returned them all.
He absolutely refused to return my money - his answer “I am not Sears &
Roebuck”. I had no choice but to report him to Ebay for fraud: taking my
money without delivering the promised goods. Ebay’s insurance company is now
involved and so is PayPal, the company through which I paid him, and I have
no idea how this whole thing is going to come out.
Apparently some other buyers have been happy with the products they bought
from him, but if you are unfortunate like me, you are out of luck ! He will
see to that.
One interesting aspect of this sad story: 94, 95 and 96 gear selector knobs
were different than those on previous years - round knobs rather than bars -
but were there also differences within those three years, maybe for the 6 cyl
(having a different transmission) or maybe even between the coupe and the
convertible? If anybody can educate me on this I sure would like to know.
Thanks for taking the time to read this unhappy story.
JON
95 XJS coupe v12 (with the same old gear knob)

It’s funny. He seemed like a very amiable fellow. (Or chap or bloke or
whatever. I don’t know. I spell “tire” with an “i”.) I was talking to him
the other day, confirming my order, when the subject of an unhappy customer
came up. He told me about the unhappy customer with the $109 gearshift knob
that supposedly didn’t fit. I don’t doubt you at all, Mike. But, after
mid-94, they all should be using the standard Jaguar screw thread for A/T
shift knobs. Your car may have been modified unbeknownst to you. He should
have given you a refund if it didn’t fit or you were that unhappy, though.

BTW, why bid $109, when it clearly mentions his website URL in each of his
eBay listings? If you go there, and order directly, the knobs are $35-$65,
depending on style, logo, inlay, etc. For instance, my light/medium walnut
knob with leaper on top and brass inlay around the circumference, is $64.95
shipped. I’m amazed every time I see people bidding like crazy on one of his
products! They invariably pay 50-80% more than just ordering it from his
website.

Wood shades will always differ slightly on different pieces, unless all the
pieces are from the same hunk of wood, and stained at the same time, using
the same lot of stain.

XK’s Unlimited also has a selection of wood gearshift knobs, if you are
still looking. Of course, there’s always the dealer. But, then you’ll have
to pay TWO HUNDRED and nine dollars.

Gary
94 4.0L Convertible
Saint Joseph, Californium-----Original Message-----

In a 2/28 email to Mike from Gary britishautowood.com is mentioned as a
potential source for wood product replacements for our XJS cars. Before any
lister sends any money to this outfit, or the owner - Saul Chaplin - read my
story below.
In early December of 2001 an auction on Ebay advertised: Jaguar XJ6, XJS,
XJ8, XK8 wood gearknob.

<snip - very unhappy customer story>

JON
95 XJS coupe v12 (with the same old gear knob)

Hi folks…

PLEASE do not get into this on list!

It’s against Jag-Lovers policy.

If you want to state that you weren’t pleased with a transaction, fine, but
go into details off list on request.

I’m not this list’s admin but Rusty will agree.

I gave him a call and he will post when he gets a chance.

FWIW, I just got some woodwork back from him TODAY for a project of mine,
his service was fast, courteous, and professional.

It was also less than I expected.

Jeb Boyd
V12-Engine List Admin
British Car Junkie
Dillsburg, Pa
@Jeb

1 Like

There are UK suppliers who will do you a nice burl walnut matching gearkbob
for about �20 (US$ 35)
Saul must have thought it was his birthday.

Steve----- Original Message -----
From: Hixmuu@aol.com
To: xj-s@jag-lovers.org
Sent: Thursday, February 28, 2002 7:37 PM
Subject: [xj-s] BRITISH AUTOWOOD - WARNING TO LIST! - Long
In early December of 2001 an auction on Ebay advertised: Jaguar XJ6, XJS,
XJ8, XK8 wood gearknob. There was a very nice picture of the knob made from
dark burlwood; a thing of beauty; I had to have it. Apparently someone else
had the same idea so I had to up my bid to $ 109.49 to get it. I immediately

Hello,

First time I’ve read this–I never google myself, but today I had cause to do just that.

Of course, not everyone can be satisfied, and some people simply -just fail to read- descriptions, but I can say that 99.9% of the Jaguar owners I’ve dealt with over the last 35 years have been absolutely fabulous people, and it’s been a real pleasure.

I’m still here at the same central Florida location, my 5 daughters are all but grown now (and thankfully have kept my sanity through it all…just!).

Lets continue to keep those old beauties on the road, and don’t forget to support the small businesses :+1:

Cheers,

Saul Chaplin
British Autowood Inc.

5 Likes

Well, every 19 years, it’s good to get updated!

:grimacing:

3 Likes

For some reason, I’m thinking that on the post-facelifts the knobs were a bit different for the V-12s and the 4.0s (probably b/c of the different transmission types?). Are you sure your cat has a stock 6.0 transmission? :confused:

As to Ebay’s “enforcement” of rules against wayward sellers, don’t get me started. About a year or so ago I ordered a full set of 4 of those rear suspension bushings (or whatever Jag calls them :roll_eyes: ) for Superblack from an Ebay seller (co.) of new Jag parts. After my ex tech bud had climbed under there and checked, he found my old ones all still good (supposedly :roll_eyes: ) so I decided to return them for a refund (I think the amount was like $85 or so). I notified the seller of my desire, and they sent over a pre-paid shipping label for the return. I then mailed them off and, after a couple of weeks or so went by, never heard anything more from them. :open_mouth: We then began a long “game” of my inquiring about the return and either not receiving a direct answer from them, or some claim they were “looking into it” whenever they did respond. I even pointed out the tracking info. on my return showed they had in fact received the parts shortly after I mailed them back. :blush: Still, they kept stringing me along, by not answering or answering only after a considerable amount of time had passed, and then again claiming they were “looking into it”. Finally, after about 3 months or so had gone by, I decided to get Ebay involved in things. :police_car: After showing Ebay the proof of receipt of the return by the seller and copies of their evasive emails with me, Ebay THEN informs me that they basically lose all enforcement power over a completed order 90 days (IIRC) after receipt of the item by the buyer. EBAY REALLY NEEDS TO GET THE WORD OUT ON THAT POLICY (and I told them so). :rage: So, basically, it looked like the seller had it all planned out that on refunds they are to direct the buyer to mail the item back, and then string them along until 90 days after original receipt and say “adios” to their refund $$ :money_with_wings: They get to not only keep the $$ paid by the buyer for the part but the parts too, w. no adverse consequences (save for negative feedback) . After checking some past (negative) feedback on the seller, it appeared they pulled that same ruse on some other buyers/customers. Again, I pointed all this out to Ebay and demanded the co. be bounced off Ebay as an abusive seller, but was told again it was out of their hands due to the time lapse on those orders. :rage:

Err, I think you meant to say “11” years, Wiggler … :confused:

Wait a minute - had we already switched to the new website in 2010? If not, then how did a member on the old website automatically get carried over to our new one? I know I had to reregister again all over for the new site. :confused:

Well, the date stamp of the original post is 2002, AND, the new forum interface actually tells you that it’s been indeed 19 long years:

You’ve (both) lost me, I guess … it says his last post was “11 years ago” and no “date stamp” mentioned ? and what is the “interface” function? :confused:

His last post was 11 years ago, but the reply now was to a post from 19 years ago. «Forum interface» refers to the new forum software we moved to some years ago, where we were able to import messages going back to 1993.