California Import Parts Ltd. Reviews 

I had an issue with a part that was missing finish, arrived damaged, and very poor quality (VW rear deck rack) For weeks they kept saying they would check with their vendor to see what they could do to return or discount. I never got any resolution. Poor way to run a business. See Samba, for more similar issues

I purchased white wall tires for my classic beetle from cip1 because of the price. BIG mistake!! The white walls turned brown within a month and would
not clean up no matter what I used to clean them. I email Cip1 to tell them about the problem and their respond was to use SOS pads to clean them
like I have not done that and more. Do yourself a favor and spend the extra cash on a better tire like Coker tire. By the way, they are not in California as the name implies. They are out of Canada which also created a problem with shipping. The tires were held up in customs and I had to wait almost a month to get them. Stay away from this company.

Kris the owner is a piece of work.
Shirk, deflect and ignore.
That liner and cylinder we sold you damaged your engine?
The manufacturer agrees its a product failure, puzzled why he can’t refund a single sku, not precisely happy to have C1P represent the product.

But don’t worry good old Kris ingaldson will give you discount on another piece of crap.
Take him to court, he might understand that.

a company that sells crappy parts and wants 20% restocking fees and wants the customer to pay for the shipping to ship it back. go pound sand cip1. your a shitty company.

Ordered vent windows for my split bus because both my original ones had a broken latch and one had a cracked window, which I didn't want to go thru the hassle of taking the glass out etc. latch immediately broke on one of the new ones I emailed to have a new one sent and was told they'll send me a lock when I order again from them. Im aware that just locks are available but removing and replacing the glass is the reason why I didn't just order the lock. Won't be ordering from them again

I ordered "nice quality" safari windows. They are listed as a CIP1 Four Star product they manufacture. They are absolute garbage. They don't fit properly and all of the mechanisms that allow these to open and close are so flimsy and poorly engineered that I had to cut it all off and rebuild them properly. Stay away from these. Spend your money on some quality ones from somewhere else. You'll save time and money ultimately.

Whoever shipped my package didn't provide whatever customs needed. So now my package is probably as good as gone now. I'll reorder from a USA company for now on. Lesson learned.

I should’ve read all the reviews before purchasing an item and counting on the shipping to go well. I bought an item I’m on December 5 and CIP one says they shipped it on the eighth with DHL. DHL says they shipped it to United States Postal Service in Louisville Kentucky on the ninth but the USPS indicate they do not have the package yet. So here I am, no one can tell me exactly where my package is. I will know better than to buy anything to be shipped from CIP one in the future.

Recived damaged exhaust dented and Scratched and would not cover shipping.

They used DHL to ship package, did not get delivered to address given, never knew it got delivered after 14 days of transit. Was told by customer service "DHL does what they want our hands our tied"
Why us DHL to begin with?
ZERO accountability! Shop elsewhere! There's plenty of places that will take accountability and treat you better!

Delt with Chris for years. Awesome guy very knowledgeable and polite.got another of parts from there. Was never disappointed. Great deals.

CIP1 definitely needs to train their employees on the aspects of customer service and being more customer friendly. If the employees are only following CIP1 company protocol, then the company needs to change its policies.
Kacy
Yes we "sorted" the problem with the mirror, but we did not sort the experience I had. In todays modern world, I have purchased hundreds of items from hundreds of retailers, and I have NEVER experienced what I had to go through with CIP1. with any of them. I have purchased apparel, pet food many, many car parts and many other items, and on occasion I have received the item either damaged or unsatisfactory. I would notify the supplier, and, on almost every occasion, I was told "no problem, we'll send you a new one and get it right out in the mail". If I wanted a refund it was returned to my credit card. I wasn't informed after a purchase that the supplier does not issue refunds such as in the case of CIP1. On several occasions over the years the supplier even allowed us to keep the item in question. NEVER did I have to 1) take pictures to prove the item was defective, 2) take pictures to prove I "destroyed" the item and 3) jump through hoops explaining myself and the situation to a representative and a manager of a supplier.
I am a member of the Long Island Volkswagen Club here in NY. I have made our members aware of what I experienced and advised them not to purchase any item from CIP1 unless it is necessary.
In closing the negative review stands and unless extremely necessary you and your manager managed to lose a decade long customer.

Barney

One of the worst companies you will ever deal with. Primarily the owner, they sell cheap ok quality parts which is good, and get away with "no sales tax because we ship from Canada" although they label themselves as a Washington and California themed company. I foresee tax and business fraud in their future, pray you never need to deal with customer service or the spiteful spineless owner.

Called with a small order because I have little or no data signal where I live. The guy said no problem, took the time and didn’t try to rush off the phone, answered questions about wheels, AND I got the part in 2 days. I don’t know what else a customer could ask for or need?! I’d give 10 stars if I could!!

Ordered a transmission solid mount with 2 holes on each side. One set of holes to mount to car and one set to mount engine cage. So cip1 sent me a solid mount with 1 hole on each side. Called them the same day I got it. And sent pictures. Had to wait a week for them to tell me the other 2 holes don't matter, which for my application the 2 holes do matter. They then proceed to tell me to sell it on the samba. All I wanted was my money back but they won't give it back then they wanted to charge me 20% restocking fee plus the return shipping, This is the company's mistake and I shouldn't have to pay a restocking fee or return shipping. They will not send me a prepaid shipping label, instead they told me cut it up or run over with my car to destroy it. I just wanted to ship it back to them on their dime because they made the mistake why should I pay the price for their mistake. Their customer service is crap. Will never buy anything from them again. Called my credit union to see if they can dispute the charges

I am not one to give a negative review. But this was by far warranted. A few months ago I ordered a AA pistons set. When my engine builder opened up the jugs, one of the rings was broken right off the bat. I contacted the service department at cip1. They wanted to file a warranty claim. I thought that was a little strange rather than just sending me out another set of rings but okay. Then a few days later we were messing with the pistons again when we noticed one of the wrist pins were so tight you had to use a hammer to push it through. At this point I was not happy with the quality and just wanted to return them. I sent both video of the wrist pin and a picture of the broken ring. It took multiple phone calls over a week or two to finally be able to get them to send me a shipping label. 3 weeks weeks after returning them I still had not received the refund So I contacted them. That's when they told me that they had to fulfill the warranty claim on the parts to be able to give me a refund... Nowhere else would this be expected. Then once the parts came in they told me now that that it was a second broken ring in it there was nothing wrong with the wrist pin. With that, they acted like they were doing me a huge favor by doing this and that " they normally don't send a return label" and that " they were going to give me the benefit of the doubt" that I didn't break a second ring. Gary, the parts manager was going on how he could send me a video of nothing wrong with the wrist pin and to send me a picture of a second ring broken. At this point, I'm really doubtful that they're even the same set of jugs and pistons that they're looking at but whatever. Because wrist pins don't magically start going through and there was distinctly just one broken ring when we packaged them up.

They told me that they had to wait till they got a new ring in stock to be able to give me a refund. I have never heard of such a thing in my life but okay whatever as long as I will get my refund. I tried working with them and waiting for this. They said they expect a refund within the next two weeks. Another 3 weeks go by and still no refund and I reached out yet again about this and to expect a refund within the next day or two. This is also when I said to Gary the parts manager that after all this I'm not going to be doing business with them because this process has been ridiculous . He then said " Good because you've been a hassle". Within 48 hours I still had not received a refund so at this point are you given them more chances than anybody said I should. All of my friends have been saying that the dispute the charge from weeks but I wanted to see CIP1 do the right thing but at this point I gave up.

So I reached out to PayPal to dispute it. (At this point they had both my money and the product back for almost 2 months) About 5 days later I received from PayPal that cip1 was willing to give me back 237.48 of the 250 for the jugs and pistons, which at this point I was just glad to get most of it back.

My point is this. I wanted to make CIP1 to make it right but I had the force their hand by reaching out the PayPal before I got the money back.
This is beyond poor customer service. No other company would make you wait to deal with the warranty of a product that they are selling through the manufacturer to be able to issue a refund.

I have been able to get ahold of technician every time I’ve needed him. Took me through different carburetor scenarios for my application. Different VW we online stores for different parts. After owning Aircooled VWs long enough, you know who to call for each project. Love CIP1, I’ve never had the issue the previous gentleman had.
Joe, Dayton, Ohio

Customer service, generally, is ok - until you have a problem... then they can be rude and belligerent. When you complain about poor service, management’s solution is to ignore the issue, deflect and finally blame the customer.

Beware of promises made in ads... ‘free shipping’ isn’t necessarily free (read fine print)... and 4 to 5 days shipping can be a week or longer before it finally leaves the warehouse... and known carrier problems (which they fail to disclose at time of purchase) can delay delivery much longer. 50/50 chance items show up as promised.. which they acknowledge only after delays and you call to inquire about your stuff. Be prepared to pay extra for ‘free’ delivery... if you want to avoid delivery problems...

Management’s business philosophy is simple - ‘mind over matter’... they don’t mind ignoring your complaint because you don’t matter.

That was my experience... your mileage may vary...