Ipk screens

[vitesse]

Originally Posted by macafee2

I have seen that item. £95 is too much for me to risk but if the same tantallon is cheaper and vouching for them

macafee2

Sorry don't understand the "to risk" comment. I bought one of these, sent it off to Rick and 100% happy. Even happier when I found the item location was Germany and not China so no levies.

Regards

[macafee2]

Originally Posted by vitesse

Sorry don't understand the "to risk" comment. I bought one of these, sent it off to Rick and 100% happy. Even happier when I found the item location was Germany and not China so no levies.

Regards

it is a lot of money from a buyer I don't know for an item I know nothing about.

macafee2

[vitesse]

Originally Posted by macafee2

it is a lot of money from a buyer I don't know for an item I know nothing about.

macafee2

Well you've got two endorsements: Tantallon's and mine. Both fitted and working. Good feedback too.

At the time I managed to get the "last one" of perhaps a batch of 5, some kind soul alerted us via the forum and Rick didn't have any new screens himself. It's the same seller as then, my feedback is there, but if he's now sending from China rather than Germany there'll be additional costs.

I believe Rick now has new screens and in fact believe there's little, if anything, to gain if you want to order one yourself and get him to fit it. Hopefully he'll comment.

Regards

ps Found the original comment by Tracker: https://the75andztclub.co.uk/forum/s...d.php?t=306355

[macafee2]

Originally Posted by vitesse

Well you've got two endorsements: Tantallon's and mine. Both fitted and working. Good feedback too.

At the time I managed to get the "last one" of perhaps a batch of 5, some kind soul alerted us via the forum and Rick didn't have any new screens himself. It's the same seller as then, my feedback is there, but if he's now sending from China rather than Germany there'll be additional costs.

I believe Rick now has new screens and in fact believe there's little, if anything, to gain if you want to order one yourself and get him to fit it. Hopefully he'll comment.

Regards

ps Found the original comment by Tracker: https://the75andztclub.co.uk/forum/s...d.php?t=306355

I have one on order with Rick but this offer was a lot cheaper and for my second car I was happy to pay the lesser price. tantallon's post about negativity should be a concern to everyone on the forum.
If there have been negative comments why and what evidence have these people got? Perhaps there is stuff I don't now about but just looking at the thread, I am disappointed.

People are welcome to pm me, it will stay confidential unless rude or threats.

macafee2

[rab60bit]

Originally Posted by tantallon

Gents
Due to the negativity shown by some I have decided not to have any further involvement with this .I was not doing this for profit or gain .All i will say is look carefully at the image in the listing and compare it with the image of more expensive items being sold to members .I wont get involved in trying to save people money in the future .

That's another positive, good news poster who's done some research (on behalf of the membership as much as himself) that's been p...ed off with sideways comments.
Can we stop it please - a 'like' or 'thanks but no thanks' would have been more appropriate/acceptable

[Rick-sta]

Originally Posted by tantallon

Gents
Due to the negativity shown by some I have decided not to have any further involvement with this .I was not doing this for profit or gain .All i will say is look carefully at the image in the listing and compare it with the image of more expensive items being sold to members .I wont get involved in trying to save people money in the future .

well don't see any negative comments on here really. Nice to see your attempt to undermine a trader on here who's the one who actually put many hours in over 2 years to make the remanufacture of these screens possible. Hours spent researching trying to find the missing data sheets and info on the parts used to make these screens, money spent sending samples back and fourth from UK to China to ensure the new screens worked correctly as there were some teething issues with the earlier prototypes which worked fine on chinese MG7 clusters but wouldn't on our clusters. All the time put into testing prototypes, time wasted with alternatives manufacturers in Europe who said they could manufacture them and then some time later said they couldn't or wanted minimum 2000pcs with huge up front tooling costs which wasn't viable and even if it was would have made the screens far more expensive, putting me back to square 1 each time. I pushed the manufacturer to change the design and manufacturing process of the screens to solve the design flaw that caused the lines on the original screens, otherwise they would have produced the screens identically to the original ones and a few years down the line you'd have started seeing lines again. What have you done to get these screens made Howard? How much time and money have you invested into these?

The manufacturer could not produce the screens themselves without my input, prior to these they bought in the left over stock of the old MG7 screens which I was able to supply back in 2018 until they ran out. They could not manufacture these themselves as they had no data sheets for these screens. If it wasn't for all the time and effort I put in you wouldn't have been able to buy one yourself and then post this thread.

I received no payment for my time or effort from the manufacturer, nor did I seek it. But with the amount of these they're selling in Asia for the MG7 models and directly themselves they're making a nice mint out of it, I do not earn any commission from that. It was a joint effort between us to not only make these available again but make them better than the original factory ones.

One thing you're missing here is the large import tax/duty VAT and handling charge you'd be invoiced when the screens reach the UK. So the screens aren't as cheap and cheerful as you're making out in this thread. Same goes for the LED sill trims, LED gear knobs and other accessories like the LED side repeaters I've offered which is what makes them more expensive. Would that have been a surprise additional cost to everyone after you've had everyone pay you £65 for the screens?

So there's not really much saving there buying them via you. And most would end up having to send the screen to me anyway to have it installed.

You've made no mention of the fact that the screens aren't exactly a DIY fit. The instrument cluster has to be stripped down and the old screen has to be carefully desoldered from the board, then the replacement screen is soldered in place. The contacts that require soldering are tiny and very close together so it is very easy for the solder to jump across 2 or more pins joining them together. When that happens it can be difficult to separate the pins without damaging them. There's 44 of them per screen and if any one of them does not have a good connection it prevents the whole screen from working. And if you break any one of these connections the screen is now useless and unrepairable. Hence why in my posts I highly advise you send the cluster to me to have the screen fitted or if that's not possible, then have it professionally installed by someone if you can. I don't make that point clear in my sales posts for my benefit, I make it clear so there's no surprises or owners left with a dead screen and money wasted. I see you didn't install your one yourself and had someone install it for you.

Out of all the screens I've done so far only 5 have been posted to buyers to arrange their own fitting, all of which were outside of the UK where it was too expensive to send the cluster to me to have the screen fitted.

There's also the risk of failing your instrument cluster in the process, something that happened to me a couple times in my early days when changing the screens or the LEDs. I also had a few screens fail during the installation when I first started doing the MG7 ones years ago. When this happened, and if it were to ever happen again I supply a replacement cluster or screen with no additional charge to the customer, that's a risk I'm taking when fitting these that I have to cover out of my own pocket. Not sure if you'd get the same assurance if having the screen fitted elsewhere, and leaves you in a bit of a pickle if you damage the screen or the cluster yourself in a DIY install attempt.

I've lost count of the number of instrument clusters I've received over the years for me to fix because either the owner has attempted to repair the lines on the screens themselves, or even where owners have taken the cluster to a repair shop and they've killed the screen and left the owner to get it sorted elsewhere.

Just a few weeks ago I was contacted via my facebook page by someone who ordered one of these new screens via ebay paying nearly £100 and broke several of the contacts whilst trying to install it DIY, and asked if I could salvage it. But unfortunately once the contacts break the screen is binned and can't be fixed.

The screens come with 12 month warrant if it were to fail within that time (that does NOT cover failure due to installation error), but who's the person who has to deal with that warranty claim if it were to happen? ME. The customer isn't going to directly deal with the manufacturer to sort that. And if the screen was installed by me who's covering the install of the replacement screen? oh ME again. All of this I have to take into account + the 20% the tax man helps himself to at the end of the year.

If you go ahead with a batch of screens ordered through yourself Howard the manufacturer will be supplying you with the screens, they'll be invoiced to you which means any warranty claims will go through you. Will you be available to deal with any for the next 12 months if it were to happen? And if anything goes wrong would you take the responsibility?

If you want to go ahead and organise your own batch to give yourself a pat on the back feel free. But if this is the kind of antics members like you are going to pull on traders on here then all you'll achieve is losing traders who pay monthly to be on here.

This is not in any disrespect to the forum in any way, as I do enjoy being on here and very much appreciate the moderators and members having me, but in truth I get very little income from this forum these days as activity on the forum has declined in recent years. I pay £12.50 a month to be on here, and from that on average I receive 1 or 2 IPK deline enquiries a month and maybe a custom headlights order once every 2/3 months on average. 90-95% of my business comes via my facebook page. I will be getting my butt in gear to get my website done soon which I've been meaning to do for 4 years now, and I will soon also be offering my services via ebay for those who aren't on here or on facebook. I could cancel my trader subscription and just return to being a normal subscribed member and no longer trade on here and it wouldn't really make much difference, as anyone who couldn't contact me on here would be able to get in touch in other ways.

However I keep my subscription going to benefit anyone on here that does need my services for anything, if it helps out 1 member a month then its better than helping none. And as part of the agreement when I took over from Klarzy was I continue to offer the services he offered to this forum.


Over and out.

[bl52krz]

Hi Rick. I must admit that when I first read the start of the post, I thought that it was close to being a bit ‘near the knuckle ‘, and thought of all the work that you had personally put into getting everything you do, to keep our cars systems and modifications that you can do for us. I have not got any knives to grind as I have never asked you for anything to be done to my cars, as yet, but I think it was possibly a lack of forethought by the poster to start this post up. I also do not think it was done with malice, just a lack of forethought.

[MDMH757]

Hi all,

I would just like to say, I have had one of the new screens (last batch) from Rick-sta, the service he provides is top notch, my screen is excellent, bright and clear, and as I live in the north west I posted the cluster on a thursday, and it was back in my car the following tuesday.... 1st class

I think the replacement screen service he offers is well worth the outlay he is asking, its just not worth cutting corners.

Maurice

[tantallon]

Originally Posted by Rick-sta

well don't see any negative comments on here really. Nice to see your attempt to undermine a trader on here who's the one who actually put many hours in over 2 years to make the remanufacture of these screens possible. Hours spent researching trying to find the missing data sheets and info on the parts used to make these screens, money spent sending samples back and fourth from UK to China to ensure the new screens worked correctly as there were some teething issues with the earlier prototypes which worked fine on chinese MG7 clusters but wouldn't on our clusters. All the time put into testing prototypes, time wasted with alternatives manufacturers in Europe who said they could manufacture them and then some time later said they couldn't or wanted minimum 2000pcs with huge up front tooling costs which wasn't viable and even if it was would have made the screens far more expensive, putting me back to square 1 each time. I pushed the manufacturer to change the design and manufacturing process of the screens to solve the design flaw that caused the lines on the original screens, otherwise they would have produced the screens identically to the original ones and a few years down the line you'd have started seeing lines again. What have you done to get these screens made Howard? How much time and money have you invested into these?

The manufacturer could not produce the screens themselves without my input, prior to these they bought in the left over stock of the old MG7 screens which I was able to supply back in 2018 until they ran out. They could not manufacture these themselves as they had no data sheets for these screens. If it wasn't for all the time and effort I put in you wouldn't have been able to buy one yourself and then post this thread.

I received no payment for my time or effort from the manufacturer, nor did I seek it. But with the amount of these they're selling in Asia for the MG7 models and directly themselves they're making a nice mint out of it, I do not earn any commission from that. It was a joint effort between us to not only make these available again but make them better than the original factory ones.

One thing you're missing here is the large import tax/duty VAT and handling charge you'd be invoiced when the screens reach the UK. So the screens aren't as cheap and cheerful as you're making out in this thread. Same goes for the LED sill trims, LED gear knobs and other accessories like the LED side repeaters I've offered which is what makes them more expensive. Would that have been a surprise additional cost to everyone after you've had everyone pay you £65 for the screens?

So there's not really much saving there buying them via you. And most would end up having to send the screen to me anyway to have it installed.

You've made no mention of the fact that the screens aren't exactly a DIY fit. The instrument cluster has to be stripped down and the old screen has to be carefully desoldered from the board, then the replacement screen is soldered in place. The contacts that require soldering are tiny and very close together so it is very easy for the solder to jump across 2 or more pins joining them together. When that happens it can be difficult to separate the pins without damaging them. There's 44 of them per screen and if any one of them does not have a good connection it prevents the whole screen from working. And if you break any one of these connections the screen is now useless and unrepairable. Hence why in my posts I highly advise you send the cluster to me to have the screen fitted or if that's not possible, then have it professionally installed by someone if you can. I don't make that point clear in my sales posts for my benefit, I make it clear so there's no surprises or owners left with a dead screen and money wasted. I see you didn't install your one yourself and had someone install it for you.

Out of all the screens I've done so far only 5 have been posted to buyers to arrange their own fitting, all of which were outside of the UK where it was too expensive to send the cluster to me to have the screen fitted.

There's also the risk of failing your instrument cluster in the process, something that happened to me a couple times in my early days when changing the screens or the LEDs. I also had a few screens fail during the installation when I first started doing the MG7 ones years ago. When this happened, and if it were to ever happen again I supply a replacement cluster or screen with no additional charge to the customer, that's a risk I'm taking when fitting these that I have to cover out of my own pocket. Not sure if you'd get the same assurance if having the screen fitted elsewhere, and leaves you in a bit of a pickle if you damage the screen or the cluster yourself in a DIY install attempt.

I've lost count of the number of instrument clusters I've received over the years for me to fix because either the owner has attempted to repair the lines on the screens themselves, or even where owners have taken the cluster to a repair shop and they've killed the screen and left the owner to get it sorted elsewhere.

Just a few weeks ago I was contacted via my facebook page by someone who ordered one of these new screens via ebay paying nearly £100 and broke several of the contacts whilst trying to install it DIY, and asked if I could salvage it. But unfortunately once the contacts break the screen is binned and can't be fixed.

The screens come with 12 month warrant if it were to fail within that time (that does NOT cover failure due to installation error), but who's the person who has to deal with that warranty claim if it were to happen? ME. The customer isn't going to directly deal with the manufacturer to sort that. And if the screen was installed by me who's covering the install of the replacement screen? oh ME again. All of this I have to take into account + the 20% the tax man helps himself to at the end of the year.

If you go ahead with a batch of screens ordered through yourself Howard the manufacturer will be supplying you with the screens, they'll be invoiced to you which means any warranty claims will go through you. Will you be available to deal with any for the next 12 months if it were to happen? And if anything goes wrong would you take the responsibility?

If you want to go ahead and organise your own batch to give yourself a pat on the back feel free. But if this is the kind of antics members like you are going to pull on traders on here then all you'll achieve is losing traders who pay monthly to be on here.

This is not in any disrespect to the forum in any way, as I do enjoy being on here and very much appreciate the moderators and members having me, but in truth I get very little income from this forum these days as activity on the forum has declined in recent years. I pay £12.50 a month to be on here, and from that on average I receive 1 or 2 IPK deline enquiries a month and maybe a custom headlights order once every 2/3 months on average. 90-95% of my business comes via my facebook page. I will be getting my butt in gear to get my website done soon which I've been meaning to do for 4 years now, and I will soon also be offering my services via ebay for those who aren't on here or on facebook. I could cancel my trader subscription and just return to being a normal subscribed member and no longer trade on here and it wouldn't really make much difference, as anyone who couldn't contact me on here would be able to get in touch in other ways.

However I keep my subscription going to benefit anyone on here that does need my services for anything, if it helps out 1 member a month then its better than helping none. And as part of the agreement when I took over from Klarzy was I continue to offer the services he offered to this forum.


Over and out.

Nothing whatsoever was intended to undermine you or any trader .You dont know me or the links i have with China as regards to purchasing from them .The facts are clear to me .Profiteering at excessive levels and sour grapes when someone tries to HELP members.In addition there is nothing difficult in fitting the screen .I watched a capable man solder mine

[Rick-sta]

Originally Posted by tantallon

Nothing whatsoever was intended to undermine you or any trader .You dont know me or the links i have with China as regards to purchasing from them .The facts are clear to me .Profiteering at excessive levels and sour grapes when someone tries to HELP members.In addition there is nothing difficult in fitting the screen .I watched a capable man solder mine

if its so easy why didn't you fit the screen yourself?