NOT HAPPY WITH STRONGFLEX

[Ladderman]

I placed an order for 2 sets of rear drop link bushes from Strongflex UK on the 31st Aug, assuming they would be coming from the UK. The shipping came to £9.05, which I thought was a little steep.

It turns out they are coming all the way from Poland. I checked the DPD tracking information a short while ago & they haven't even reached the UK yet.

As far as I'm concerned if I order something from a UK site I expect it come from the UK. The head office in Working doesn't even have a contact telephone number.

I bet if I order a set from Powerflex today I'll get them before the Srongflex one's arrive. In fact that is exactly what I'm going to do. I'll send an email to Strongflex canceling the order.

So for anyone wanting to place an order with Strongflex UK be aware that the items COULD be coming all the way from Poland !

 

[Ed Doe]

Not really sure what you're fussing about. Plenty of UK companies outsource stuff to Europe or elsewhere for manufacture. Unless the website specifically stated 'made in the UK' then you've not a leg to stand on, and if it bothered you that much, you should have checked before you ordered.

The fact a set of Powerflex bushes would arrive more swiftly is completely irrelevant again unless you specifically stated something like next day delivery.

Dont forget you're comparing a small comparatively new 'homegrown' company (Strongflex) with a large pre-existing company that's been going for years (Powerflex). With the latter comes the ability to hold larger stock to fulfill orders more quickly.

 

[Ladderman]

Not really sure what you're fussing about. Plenty of UK companies outsource stuff to Europe or elsewhere for manufacture. Unless the website specifically stated 'made in the UK' then you've not a leg to stand on, and if it bothered you that much, you should have checked before you ordered.

The fact a set of Powerflex bushes would arrive more swiftly is completely irrelevant again unless you specifically stated something like next day delivery.

Dont forget you're comparing a small comparatively new 'homegrown' company (Strongflex) with a large pre-existing company that's been going for years (Powerflex). With the latter comes the ability to hold larger stock to fulfill orders more quickly.

I think the clue is there in the text if your not sure. When I placed the order on the UK website the items showed in stock. So please excuses my stupidity for not realizing they would be coming from Poland. If I order something from a company like Hack Engineering in UK I'm aware that a lot of the things they sell come from other countries & they give you an estimated delivery time.

If Strongflex UK is getting there stock from Europe they should inform the buyer of delivery times. They don't even have a contact telephone number. Just to inform you that the reason I placed the order with the in the first place was exactly because I like giving my business to smaller companies, like Hack Engineering. I'll be taking my car to JC racing @ Thirsk to have my Diff done.

I'll assume by your reply that you think i'm being unfair. That is not my intention, I merely want to put my view across that I'm not happy with their service.

 

[Nictrix]

Its getting more and more difficult to find exactly where a company is based when thinking about buying things.
We have been caught out a couple of times thinking a company is in the UK only to find after ordering that its coming from China.
This is slightly different from your issue but there should be laws against falsely stating your company is in the UK when its not.
Amazon seems pretty bad for it.

 

[Ladderman]

This is what Strongflex UK state on their about us page.

About us
Strongflexuk.com – the UK based online shop for affordable race quality polyurethane products.
For over 10 years we have produced suspension components for passenger cars, commercial vehicles, trucks and the motorsport sector.

We also undertake individual and unique orders for one off applications.

The Polyurethane elastomer used in our products is the cutting-edge of polymer systems, which thanks to its features and technical parameters replaces the widely used rubber in OEM vehicles. The high strength / resilience of elastomers against temperature repeatedly exceeds the quality of the traditional rubber.

Product main features:
high flexibility in the whole range of hardness,
very good resistance to dynamic load,
high abrasion resistance,
wide operating temperature range,
high resistance to tearing and cracks,
resistant to oils, acids, solvents and weather conditions.
We continuously update our catalogue with new products

They say they "For over 10 years we have produce suspension components".

Again it must be my stupid Northern mentality that doesn't realize the parts are coming from Poland.

Just a little footnote. I would never order anything as small as drop link bushes to come all the way from Europe.

 

[Ladderman]

Its getting more and more difficult to find exactly where a company is based when thinking about buying things.
We have been caught out a couple of times thinking a company is in the UK only to find after ordering that its coming from China.
This is slightly different from your issue but there should be laws against falsely stating your company is in the UK when its not.
Amazon seems pretty bad for it.

cheers mate

 

[Rockhopper]

I’ve ordered bits from Germany and various other European countries and they often turn up more quickly than companies with UK stock. China stuff can take a while but always turns up.

 

[IRD]

I’ve ordered bits from Germany and various other European countries and they often turn up more quickly than companies with UK stock. China stuff can take a while but always turns up.

Not always. I ordered some genuine E89 mirror caps from China. After two months PayPal refunded my money. :roll:

 

[Ed Doe]

I think the clue is there in the text if your not sure. When I placed the order on the UK website the items showed in stock. So please excuses my stupidity for not realizing they would be coming from Poland. If I order something from a company like Hack Engineering in UK I'm aware that a lot of the things they sell come from other countries & they give you an estimated delivery time.

If Strongflex UK is getting there stock from Europe they should inform the buyer of delivery times. They don't even have a contact telephone number. Just to inform you that the reason I placed the order with the in the first place was exactly because I like giving my business to smaller companies, like Hack Engineering. I'll be taking my car to JC racing @ Thirsk to have my Diff done.

I'll assume by your reply that you think i'm being unfair. That is not my intention, I merely want to put my view across that I'm not happy with their service.

Nowhere in your original post did you mention about them being in stock?

Did you try emailing them? Have you given them the opportunity to reply to your email? You do realise Strongflex is a tiny company run by I think one guy - it's exactly the kind of you want to try and support? Flaming them on the internet because the stuff you ordered isn't specifically in stock in the UK is a bit unfair, especially if as I suspect, you haven't tried to contact them or waited for their reply. In my opinion of course. You could even look at it as an opportunity to give a bit of constructive feedback to Strongflex - mention you felt misled by their website stating 'in stock', and that you felt it should be made clearer. Try and help the little guys....

 

[Ladderman]

I think the clue is there in the text if your not sure. When I placed the order on the UK website the items showed in stock. So please excuses my stupidity for not realizing they would be coming from Poland. If I order something from a company like Hack Engineering in UK I'm aware that a lot of the things they sell come from other countries & they give you an estimated delivery time.

If Strongflex UK is getting there stock from Europe they should inform the buyer of delivery times. They don't even have a contact telephone number. Just to inform you that the reason I placed the order with the in the first place was exactly because I like giving my business to smaller companies, like Hack Engineering. I'll be taking my car to JC racing @ Thirsk to have my Diff done.

I'll assume by your reply that you think i'm being unfair. That is not my intention, I merely want to put my view across that I'm not happy with their service.

Nowhere in your original post did you mention about them being in stock?

Did you try emailing them? Have you given them the opportunity to reply to your email? You do realise Strongflex is a tiny company run by I think one guy - it's exactly the kind of you want to try and support? Flaming them on the internet because the stuff you ordered isn't specifically in stock in the UK is a bit unfair, especially if as I suspect, you haven't tried to contact them or waited for their reply. In my opinion of course. You could even look at it as an opportunity to give a bit of constructive feedback to Strongflex - mention you felt misled by their website stating 'in stock', and that you felt it should be made clearer. Try and help the little guys....

After I placed my initial order I realized I would need some extra sachets of grease because H&R don't supply any with their ARB kits. So I emailed Stongflex to see it I could perchance some & have them added to my order. At no point have I had a reply. If you look at the photos I have posted in the "what have you done to your car" section, you will see 6 sachets of grease that I had to order from Powerflex because Stongflex ignored my request. I'll also add that Powerflex shipping is free.

You seem to know quite a lot about Strongflex & I'm starting to wounder if you've got a vested interest with this "tiny company"

I'll repeat again to you I'M ALL FOR HELPING SMALLER BUSINESSES. Why's he not got a contact number?

I build high end liquid computers & have always been able to talk to component suppliers on the Phone.

I going to Kefaliona on Friday, maybe I should meet this package halfway

 

[Argyll Andy]

I ordered 2 rear springs from a company with a London address showing in stock and 1-2 day delivery.

15 days later 1 spring turns up from Poland still waiting for the 2nd one 10 days later and company don’t know where it is. I told then to cancel that one.

Ordered one to replace the missing one from AUTODOC knowing it was coming from Europe - here in 5 days

 

[M1k3yC]

It says "The Official UK Distributor" at the top of the UK site. Did a bit more digging, looks like a pretty big company (or operation, depending on how it's made up) to me:
https://www.strongflex.eu/en/stores

Interesting that all the other country stores have phone numbers listed.

 

[Ladderman]

It says "The Official UK Distributor" at the top of the UK site. Did a bit more digging, looks like a pretty big company (or operation, depending on how it's made up) to me:
https://www.strongflex.eu/en/stores

Interesting that all the other country stores have phone numbers listed.

yes all the European ones have phone numbers. Maybe Ed Doe can give us an answer as to why “the little guy” doesn’t have one?
When someone says they’ve have been producing parts for over 10 years, I would assume they were being made in the Uk. But if the Uk base is run by one person this can’t be true. Also the company in Working is described as the HEAD OFFICE? Head office of the one man band in the Uk, or head office of the network of European companies too?

I don’t mind buying From around the world. I purchased my GruoppeM intake direct from Japan. I have a set of Apex Arc 8 wheels that I purchased through Tegiwa & there is no confusion that they originated in America.

I’m normally pretty thorough in my research of things, but maybe I got it wrong when I assumed Srongflex bushes were a small company in Working making bushes.

I’ve sent an email cancelling my order, it will be interesting to if I get a reply. If I do I’ll share it on the Forum.

 

[Chris_D]

I build high end liquid computers ...

You mean liquid-cooled computers I think. We're a way off stable fluid memory medium just yet

Reminds me of my days overclocking the sh!t out of i7 chips @ 5gHz when they were rated for 2gHz with liquid Nitrogen. :evil:

 

[Ladderman]

I build high end liquid computers ...

Well spotted. I’m well Impressed getting 8 ghz on LN. Did it stress test ok? I’m more of a case modder. The Tower 900 is the size of a small fridge & gives the opportunity to put your own design stamp on it. I do all the acrylic work other than the reservoirs. The pain in the butt is doing custom cables, cos my eye sights not as good now for detail work.

You mean liquid-cooled computers I think. We're a way off stable fluid memory medium just yet

Reminds me of my days overclocking the sh!t out of i7 chips @ 8gHz when they were rated for 2gHz with liquid Nitrogen. :evil:

 

[Chris_D]

I build high end liquid computers ...

Well spotted. I’m well Impressed getting 8 ghz on LN. Did it stress test ok? I’m more of a case modder. The Tower 900 is the size of a small fridge & gives the opportunity to put your own design stamp on it. I do all the acrylic work other than the reservoirs. The pain in the butt is doing custom cables, cos my eye sights not as good now for detail work.

You mean liquid-cooled computers I think. We're a way off stable fluid memory medium just yet

Reminds me of my days overclocking the sh!t out of i7 chips @ 8gHz when they were rated for 2gHz with liquid Nitrogen. :evil:

No I was bullsh!ttin there... it was actually 5gHz from looking back a thte data so I edited the post just in case some plank decided to start whining about it being a new world record or something :roll:

I went through a phase of using peltier coolers but got frustrated with the unreliability. Leaks from water-cooling scared me a bit so I went back to air and down to about 4gHz on i7 chips for a 20 node render farm.
What do you do about corrosion/algae in your water-cooling systems?

 

[john-e89]

What do you do about corrosion/algae in your water-cooling systems?

??

 

[Chris_D]

Very droll John, very droll.
:roll:

 

[Ewazix]

Liquid Nitrogen & chips? This thread's gone all Heston Blumenthal :hijacked:

Back to the OP's complaint, I think he has a point. The Strongflex site https://strongflexuk.com/ is deliberately deceptive about where goods are coming from with everything shouting about it being a UK operation. In fact there is no company of that name registered in the UK. The European company operation is Strongflex.Eu Sp. registered in Poland described as an "electronic Shopping and Mail-Order" company. The UK contact address is again deliberately vague StrongFlex UK, Home Farm, Rad Lane, Dorking, RH5 6RA does not in itself exist, Home Farm is a small industrial estate with several units most of which are auto / performance related businesses, so it looks like the Strongflex UK webiste is being run from one of them. It might be worth contacting Carson Performance https://www.carsonperformance.co.uk/products-1 they are based in Unit 8 at Home Farm and are linked to Strongflex on Facebook, also selling their bushes on their website tel 01306 730 158 so may know more about Strongflex UK :wink:

So a lot of effort has gone in to making Strongflex look like a legit UK operation, when it's actually flogging cheap stuff made who-knows-where? Poland? or China where an company called Strongflex make similar components? Using a name that can easily be confused with a well established brand (Powerflex) is also suspect. I'm not bothered where stuff comes from, it's the quality and delivery time that needs to be checked carefully before buying, Strongflex look shady on about their identity and sourcing so that would cause me to question buying or fitting their product to my car :thumbsdown:

 

[Liam22]

Just FTR, Strongflex themselves are a legit company.

https://www.strongflex.eu/en/content/4-about-us

In my experience they make high quality bushes at reasonable prices. They're made in Poland. I dealt with them directly and paid in Euros to avoid being stiffed on the exchange rate.

Strongflex UK are shown as a "store" so the relationship is official. If the UK store says "in stock" then I would expect that to mean UK stock.
https://www.strongflex.eu/en/stores