Unity Equip . . Dont Bother

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Some feedback for every one on Unity Equip and the new owner John (believe he may be known as Bantam John??) . . . . . .don't waist your time.

I have been trying to order parts off him for some time now, fairly simple parts for a domi-racer project, Slim-line seat, oil tank etc etc. I had called him up about 2 months ago to placed the order when the buisness had just been sold to him I believe. He told me at the time that he was snowed under and it may take a week or so to send which was fine.

I waited about 6 weeks and wondered where my gear was so gave him a call, to which he said again he was very busy and trying to hire staff, which again I said fine to, though told him I really was needing the parts.

Called again yesterday (now about 9 weeks) and asked on my order, John told me he was very busy and said he would get more work done of people didn't call him and then hung up. . . . . . .

Not sure if they are so busy and so popular that they can treat customers that way or that they are going boke and have no stock, either way I called him back, canceled the order and really recommend avoiding them.


Bit of a shame really. . . .
 
He won't move anything on if he doesn't complete people's orders. I've heard he's not the nicest person to deal with.
 
I have met many people who tend (being polite) to blow up big time at the mere mention of Bantam John. One tale I heard a few weeks ago is that a possible customer phoned asking if he had a part and he went and looked but eventually reported he did not have it but then tried to get the guy to pay for the time he had spent in looking!! If true I wonder what was said??!! I know what I would of said .........
 
J. M. Leadbeater said:
I know what I would of said .........
Click to expand...

"I'll send you my bill for wasting my time waiting - when you should have known you didn't have it "
Or something less polite and more to the point...

Yeea, this could open up a whole new avenue of customer 'service' and phone enquiries.
Heck, you wouldn't need to stock any parts, just bill anyone who calls...
 
Bantam John bought over the OTJ setup covering BSA Unit Singles, they had a lot of otherwise unobtainable NOS spares, now completely unobtainable as no one who knows him will ever buy from him again.
 
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Does anyone know if Unity Equipe is still in business? Have they overcome these initial customer service problems? Their website still seems to be stuck with the 2015 catalogue and no further updates. It lists all the desirable stuff for my Slimline Harley project, but is it actually obtainable these days? Or is there an alternative supplier of Manx style tank, seat, mudguards etc for Slimlines these days?
 
The new owner Bantam John is internet adverse, the website is old as its the one from the old company and I doubt he even knows it exists. The Google reviews are not good so go elsewhere.

Update

Seems he has retired and there is a new owner Andy Johnson and they trade as Sheffield Motorcycles.

Bantam John | General Discussion

www.bsabantamclub.com www.bsabantamclub.com

Sheffield British Motorcyles

Online shop and website
sheffieldbritishmotorcycles.com sheffieldbritishmotorcycles.com
 
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I’ve never bought from them myself, but these folk seem to be the Unity Equipe of today:

nortonraceparts.com

NORTON RACE PARTS

Aluminium Oil Tanks,aluminium Petrol Tanks for Nortons. Genuine Norton parts, Road, Race, and speedway/grasstrack parts and clothing.
nortonraceparts.com nortonraceparts.com
 
Thanks for the feedback guys. Gives me something to work on. Always a bit cautious when trying new suppliers on the other side of the world. Makes it hard to sort things if they go wrong. But we'll get there.
 
Don't know if its the same place or not but Jay Leno was complaining of the same type of treatment in a column he wrote for Hagerty Insurance magazine. He tried to order clutch friction inserts for a Brough and the shop owner told him it was a very popular item but he was far too busy fielding calls for them to be able to take the time to actually look for them, pack them, and ship them. o_O
 
Speaking of UK part suppliers before internet online purchasing to refresh my memory (used to sit up at night and call them)
Was Les Emery originally the UK Fair Spares go to guy that now works at Norvil. ?
If so ...I have detected but not sure a mistrust/quality issue..possibly with this guy or have I mis comprehended things ? ?As they supply alot of parts down under
 
The Norvil guy here on the east coast of US is Fair Spares New England. A good fellow to deal with.
 
MikeG said:
The Norvil guy here on the east coast of US is Fair Spares New England. A good fellow to deal with.
Click to expand...
We have a couple of sound British part suppliers here in NZ but in the last couple of years you got to shop around as stock supply is a little spasmodic at times...I generally deal with CNW if im requiring modified spec Commando parts....bloody nice guy
 
KiwiShane said:
Is it because of quality price or something else ?
Or just dam well dodgy
Click to expand...
Quality and attitude. First met him when he visited a dealer in Birmingham where he went to collect some mag rebuilds, as he left the owner recommended we all checked our wallets.

Interview with Les Emery

This is The Sump mag. Folks from the old country are probably familiar with it, new to me. Nice to put a face to Mr. Emery. Funny, he looks a little like Marshall Hagy, Come to think of it, you never see them together at the same time.. http://www.sumpmagazine.com/classicbike ... mandos.htm
www.accessnorton.com www.accessnorton.com
 
kommando said:
Quality and attitude. First met him when he visited a dealer in Birmingham where he went to collect some mag rebuilds, as he left the owner recommended we all checked our wallets.

Interview with Les Emery

This is The Sump mag. Folks from the old country are probably familiar with it, new to me. Nice to put a face to Mr. Emery. Funny, he looks a little like Marshall Hagy, Come to think of it, you never see them together at the same time.. http://www.sumpmagazine.com/classicbike ... mandos.htm
www.accessnorton.com www.accessnorton.com
Click to expand...
So he basically operates a counterfeit/imported/ recycled/ reconed / rebuilt parts operation and is a stranger of the truth
 
John found me a set of hi compression pistons for my pre unit 500 Triumph.
I had been looking for years. There are a lot of bike on the road because of him. Not least all those Bantams. I got to know him & he was consistent! I liked him. Saved huge quantitys of spares from all over the place & maybe it got too much for him. He has been ill for a while. Give the new guy a chance because he does have the stock.
 
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