fenris222

That's a real good point STG. You have to smart about reviewing feedback. Numbers do not tell the truth. The major flags on feedback are "Item not as described", "Continious late shipper", "Item Damaged/poor packaging", "bad communication/slow e-mail and shipping response". You just look for patterns. But if you are in the thousands on feedback and you are at 97.7% Meh! Some people just don't pay attention to the auction details or descriptions. That is soooo stupid if they leave negative feedback for shipping, unless they are charged more than quoted on the auction. The reason for the high shipping on the grilles is that they can list at a lower price, reducing the listing fee and make up on the "good price" with the shipping costs. Not a bad price really including shipping.

teech

So i order the grilles and I got em the other day...

My advice: you get what you pay for. Sorry fellas, no super deal here.

Got it on and I wasn't impressed with it. I have pictures of the grilles, but not mounted. I kinda prefer the stock one to it now. The bumper insert didn't fit and the brackets included did not work. Actually the grille fit inside the bumper, but there was no way to mount it with what was provided. No instructions. No frills. Its actually black with a chrome face. They both require some modifications to get on and Im gonna get em checked out by a pro and see what they think about it and if they can get it on good and sturdy. i'll post more then (tomorrow or Sat. morning.).

Id appreciate any billet owners giving some feedback on theirs (what they look like and how they mount, etc.) Then I can really tell you how this one measures up. I'll post the pic too and you tell me how it looks-

GDZHHR

like I was saying........

You guys are right, the % doesn't tell the whole story you have to read the feedback. This seller's feedbacl had things that troubled me. "cheap, doesn't fit, missing pieces, damaged" those are the kind of statements that indicate a good chance of getting taken.

And for the record I too have sold a lot on ebay and have had my rating hurt by a few people. But that's why there is a comment section so that you can read why they are giving a bad rating. 97% can be a great rating, it can also be a sign of someone who has some issues. Often its how a problem is handled which tells the real story. Those are the feedback comments that I look for. If someone has a less than perfect rating and I don't see comments like "didn't answer emails, no customer service, no response...." this shows that when there is a problem this merchant takes care of problems. If they are many of them though, it could mean that if there is a problem, you might not be able to have it corrected.

This happened to me on half.com just a few weeks ago. I bought a book for a client and paid extra for express shipping. After two weeks, still no book. (yes, I know about media mail and other methods and times) I emailed this merchant 3 times over a week without any response. When I did get a response it was not even about my order. This went on for three weeks. In the mean time I have a PO'd client and had to buy another book from a different merchant. I didn't check the comment for the original seller as I ussually do. They had a high rating 98+. after there was a problem though, I went back and read what the negs did say. Big surprise there....never got book, no response, no customer service.... I am now in the claims process which if anyone has done this with ebay or half.com, if the merchant isn't willing, this can take a while.

High ratings do not mean a good merchant!!

Sorry to hear your not happy teech, hope you can work it out. I know others here have had to modify theirs to get them to work.

I only got a lower and it came with 4 pieces and bolted on very solid. Took 5 minutes. Got it from Mike at SoCal. I would think if the lower was this easy and secure the upper would be too.

Mine too was mostly black with a chrome edge.

Harpozep

Agreed. I get put off by folks who expect someone to have perfect feedback. Prefect feedback , if someone has solds a lot of stuff , is nearly impossible. There are A-holes everywhere and one will invariably give a seller a negative over something entirely out of the seller's control.
I used to sell out of print Video tapes on ebay. I got a negative because the buyer rewound one of these TWENTY YEAR OLD TAPES on a high speed rewinder and the leader broke!
I was specific in stating these tapes were fragile and should be treated as such. Oh well, I had a black mark... We had over five hundred positives and a few negatives from those who were foolish or could never be pleased. A few negatives does not spell doom. I actually trust some one with a few negatives just fine. Still, it always pays to read the details when you can!

courthousedeb

courthousedeb

booksmitty bought what looks like the same thing here on eBay from a different seller. Guy has 100% positive feedback (only 3, but booksmitty is one of them). You might want to PM him and see how his worked. Just trying to help any way I can. I know money is tight for alot of us.

teech

update: I've been looking at pictures and counting rungs on the grills.

Upper:
Precision grille: roughly 24 rungs
ebay special: 18 rungs

lower grille:
precision: roughly 9
ebay special: 7

I visited on place and they tried to tell me that its a cutout when I KNOW that it isn't. I actually put it on and took it off, I just wanted to make sure it was on right. I'll be checking some else out this week. Still cant figure out the lower...is there any change someone can send (email or post) some simple instructions for installation. As stated before, mine didn't come with any and the folks on ebay don't respond, hence my feedback.

When I get em on, I post pics and you can tell me if they really suck or if Im just paranoid. Ive seen pics of others on here and I can only hope this comes close...if not I'm gonna destroy them. I couldn't pass them on to somebody else if we, THE HHR COMMUNITY do not approve!

teech

I decided to just bite the bullet and get out there and try and figure this thing out. The seller sends a ziplock bag of screws (no nuts and bolts), the little fasteners that make the hood holes smaller and two brackets (correction: the brackets are in a separate bag with two long nuts and bolts that don't fit).

Got the OEM grille off, no problem. Most of the holes in the billet line up good enough to get a attached, a little bending was required. Bolted it down in five places, one of which is kinda questionable cuz Im new to this stuff.

I think I attached the lower correctly. Its does fit (you place it on the outside with the brackets inside) and with some new nuts and bolts from Pep boys, its on pretty sturdy. check out the pic and tell me if I got it right.

Without any further adue, the pics:












Couple spacial issues, namely in the corners and at the very bottom, but overall not terrible, not mindblowing. Total price: $141+ screws.

courthousedeb

Ok...you want honest opinions, right? I think the bottom one is acceptable...the gaps appear a little larger than what I see on mine that I bought from Mike, but I think that one is ok. The hardware used to mount the bottom one looks like what I used, so it should be ok.

The top one...in my opinion is unacceptable. From the pictures you posted it doesn't fit in the corners around the curve and seems short on the bottom.
If it were me...I would put the old OEM top grille back in until you can get something that fits better. It looks incomplete in my opinion.

The only way any of us are going to learn if things work or not is to try them and see what happens. As a group, it helps all of us to report the good and the bad, so that we don't all run into the same thing.

I don't know alot about all this stuff, so I'm just going by what I see and what I've learned since I've owned my HHR.

Now...you can tell me to drop dead if you like.

DYLANSHHR

I wonder what it would look like if you put some 3/4 in chrome around the grill ?