WM Garage Auto Shift Knob Replacement- Pre-orders Tuesday

[T1000]

Hey guys very interested in this, but have been trying to call this company for 3 days and always get a voice mail. I also sent an e-mail and didn't get a response. Now that a couple months have gone by, I'm wondering if they are still up and running or not? Anyone place an order recently?

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[DeepImpact 5.0]

They were fixing and improving a couple parts of the design. They contacted me today about something, easiest way I get in contact is a dm on Instagram, they answer relatively quick.

 

[dotJake]

Hey guys very interested in this, but have been trying to call this company for 3 days and always get a voice mail. I also sent an e-mail and didn't get a response. Now that a couple months have gone by, I'm wondering if they are still up and running or not? Anyone place an order recently?

Hmm. I sent an email on the 23rd and was emailed back same day. Sounded like he was just waiting for me to place my order (which I'm still on the fence about).

Judging by dude's LinkedIn page he has another job or two. He didn't even list WMG but there were references to Mishimoto on there and the pic was a Mustang like the one on his site. Had to be him.

 

[Dirtyblueshirt]

Here's their post on Instagram regarding a fix. Good news all around!

View attachment 92751

 

[BlueThunder]

Interesting. The knob has been extremely loose on mine, and I am very gentle even when my hand rests on it as I'm worried it will come apart. Are they going to be reaching out to those of us who have already received the orders or are we supposed to contact them? Considering this was a design flaw they should offer return shipping I think. It took them 3 weeks to send my order out, hopefully this is a much smoother process.

I kinda hope it's something they can send us to do ourselves. I'd rather not have to put the stock crap back on for a month while I wait. Though if it tightens the whole unit up and is more durable than the black plastic that's come apart on other people's knobs, then it'll be worth the wait.

 

[Blk2015GT]

Yeh sending it back without a new one sent is not gonna work for me. They need to figure something out without people being out their sifter since it's their design flaw.

 

[Gumbercules]

Here's their post on Instagram regarding a fix. Good news all around!

View attachment 92751

So are they doing a straight swap with a new shifter or just modifying your existing one?

 

[Blk2015GT]

They said "Please prepare to send your staff back for a recall..."

Unfortunately that's not an option for a lot of us. they will need to find a way to send a parts kit, or a way to get you a new one; even if they have to authorize your credit card while it ships like many companies do for replacements, and a label to get the old back without being without a shifter.

This is their defect to fix, not inconvenience the customer. To hand do each and round trip shipping could be 2 to 3 weeks.

 

[BlueThunder]

They said "Please prepare to send your staff back for a recall..."

Unfortunately that's not an option for a lot of us. they will need to find a way to send a parts kit, or a way to get you a new one; even if they have to authorize your credit card while it ships like many companies do for replacements, and a label to get the old back without being without a shifter.

This is their defect to fix, not inconvenience the customer. To hand do each and round trip shipping could be 2 to 3 weeks.

Yeah, they should be able to send out a kit of sorts. I mean if you can do the swap in the first place, you can replace a couple of frickin' plastic bushings. They're not sending out completely new knobs, no way no how. That would kill them financially. Then they'd be trying to resell the old ones we sent back with possible markings from usage?

Unless this is something they're doing as part of the production, like building the shaft portion with the new poly bushing as part of it, in which case, eh, dunno.

I'd still send mine back as a last resort, but they should be approaching this from the standpoint of a kit that we can do ourselves. It find it unlikely to be more difficult than the original swap, especially for us dorks who used a manual boot.

 

[Blk2015GT]

Yeah, they should be able to send out a kit of sorts. I mean if you can do the swap in the first place, you can replace a couple of frickin' plastic bushings. They're not sending out completely new knobs, no way no how. That would kill them financially. Then they'd be trying to resell the old ones we sent back with possible markings from usage?

Unless this is something they're doing as part of the production, like building the shaft portion with the new poly bushing as part of it, in which case, eh, dunno.

I'd still send mine back as a last resort, but they should be approaching this from the standpoint of a kit that we can do ourselves. It find it unlikely to be more difficult than the original swap, especially for us dorks who used a manual boot.

I dunno either. I meant more like they ship a new one, authorize our credit cards until they get the old back. Many electronics people do that like Apple; and remove the hold once they get the old item back. Then repair the old and sell it. But I guess you have issues with it being used then though....

Frankly they need to figure this out, this is their "recall." It's not like oh ok it was a defective Howler badge, no biggy the car doesnt have a back badge for a week. It's the freakin gear shifter lol. And honestly by the time you ship it there and fixed and back itll be 2 weeks. Not like they're going to spring for overnight where it would only be 3 days.

And who is paying for shipping? Im not shipping it on my dime for their mistake; and I threw out the packaging they mailed it in.

Just a mess. They need to have parts kits to send to some (100% on their dime) who cannot be without a shifter.

 

[Dirtyblueshirt]

WM Garage just posted another IG photo. It looks like existing customers are going to get a return label to send their knob back for 'repair'. I hope nobody threw away their stock knob.

Honestly guys, I don't get all the complaining about this process. You have to realize this is a single guy knocking this out at a shop in New York. It's not Steeda or Roush or Ford. They don't have a massive logistics backend to get these knobs out quicker. As mentioned before, almost all of these knobs are made 100% custom, bespoke per user. This kind of work takes time. The fact that he IS willing to take the older versions back to fix them is a HUGE undertaking and cost for such a small shop. Cut him some slack here, he's been extremely upfront, professional, and honest with his products.

 

[Fuse]

This is nice to know, good thing I am slow to install parts. I haven't installed mine yet due to hot weather lol. Maybe I can get a different color if they do a recall.

 

[Blk2015GT]

WM Garage just posted another IG photo. It looks like existing customers are going to get a return label to send their knob back for 'repair'. I hope nobody threw away their stock knob.

Honestly guys, I don't get all the complaining about this process. You have to realize this is a single guy knocking this out at a shop in New York. It's not Steeda or Roush or Ford. They don't have a massive logistics backend to get these knobs out quicker. As mentioned before, almost all of these knobs are made 100% custom, bespoke per user. This kind of work takes time. The fact that he IS willing to take the older versions back to fix them is a HUGE undertaking and cost for such a small shop. Cut him some slack here, he's been extremely upfront, professional, and honest with his products.

It's not the point. Simply hoping someone didnt throw away their stock setup is not the right way to go about this. If someone does not want to be without their shifter they should allow you to pay for a new one and return the old and then refund your card when they get the old back.

What about a box and foam to package it? Didnt keep that; no reason to. $ out of our pockets now to make sure the paint doesnt get damaged getting back to them and back to us.

Look, Im glad theyre taking the initiative to fix the problem; albeit this is a R&D failure to begin with on their part. Lets say you get a label today to ship out Tuesday after the holiday. It'll get to them Thurs/Fri, then what once they get 100 back to repair? 2-3 weeks turn-around with such a small operation/part time business?

I can see from the photo they are screwing the inserts into the bottom of the ball now. Very risky process drilling in a painted part not scratching anything trying to hold and drill a perfect hole. Again, my simple solution was bill me ship a new model one with a return label in the back for the old, and refund once mine goes back in that box. But no answer from them. What they do about re-sell new vs "used" is not my problem, I am the customer and this is their mess-up.

And it needs to be be repeated, this is their R&D failure. It was evident brand new in the box the bushing was very loose and would be an issue; everyone here noticed it they must have too. They need to accommodate people now, 2 employees or 200, that part isn't the customer's problem/fault.

If this was say the Howler badges and it got messed up. No big deal being without a badge on the car for a bit. The shifter is a functional part of the car, they can't just expect people to go without for 2-3 weeks.

And speaking of Howler, SCS replaced my badges damaged in shipping from their stock no questions asked. I didn't have to wait for a repair or a new order from their supplier or 2-3 weeks to fix the issue. THAT is how you do customer service in a small business. WM has extras to spare, or should stop taking new orders until getting their customers who paid covered.

 

[Dirtyblueshirt]

It's not the point. Simply hoping someone didnt throw away their stock setup is not the right way to go about this. If someone does not want to be without their shifter they should allow you to pay for a new one and return the old and then refund your card when they get the old back.

Look, Im glad theyre taking the initiative to fix the problem; albeit this is a R&D failure to begin with on their part. Lets say you get a label today to ship out Tuesday after the holiday. It'll get to them Thurs/Fri, then what once they get 100 back to repair? 2 weeks turn-around with such a small operation/part time business?

They have extra unsold ones, take care of the people who paid money, or ship a parts kit. Most of us who mod have no issues repairing it ourselves with the parts.

You could try contacting him yourself instead of complaining on a thread he probably doesn't read.

 

[Blk2015GT]

You could try contacting him yourself instead of complaining on a thread he probably doesn't read.

And I did on Instagram on the first post with the fix. No response many days later, so deleted that comment just now, and just tried again on the new post too.

Not bashing them but not trying to fluff them either here because aw they're a small shop or do this part time. Not my problem honestly, I paid a lot of money for this part (and was the literal first order they had on these #00001 so always supported the project).

This product failure isn't our fault to have to deal with figuring out how buy a box and find foam now to protect it to get back to them when I bet 99% of us threw away the box/packaging, and then wait 2-3 weeks for a solution.

Ill again point to SCS and the Howler badges who replaced peoples' out of their stock before selling new orders. That's the way to run a small business when something goes wrong.

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