Imperial Home Page -> Parts -> Vendors -> Reviews -> SMS Auto Restorations
Below are a few reviews of SMS Auto Fabrics. If you would like to include a review of this vendor, please fill out our form and we will add your comments as soon as possible. Make sure to include your email address because we will not include your review without a verifiable address. After you write your review, you will receive an automated response from us which will confirm your email address and shortly after, your comments will be added to this page. Thank you so much for your participation! We appreciate your comments!!
Michael H. wrote:
I have just returned from a quick trip to SMS Upholstery here in Oregon. Here is what I learned: Very nice people there, they took the time to answer ALL my questions. They had 6 people (that I could see) on the phones, and the phones never stopped ringing the whole time I was there. I talked to the owner and he took the time to look up the orders from Philippe's friend M. Mendez (France) and Elisabeth (Sweden).
Regarding M. Mendez' order, He told me that their mill supplier (in New Jersey) had sent some vinyl back to Portland, but the "Pewter" color did not match, so they had to re-order the vinyl to match the original samples from M. Mendez (which I saw). They also had a problem with the embossing of one of the vinyls. They are very meticulious and will only send the order out if it is perfect and correct.
Regarding Elisabeth's order, he showed me the order and said there were 6 different cars that she was buying material for. He said that some of the fabrics had to be specially made at the mill in New Jersey and might take 2 weeks, 2 months, or 6 months.
One thing he kept saying was that people don't realize that some of these orders may take 6 months or longer, he said the best thing to do is to plan ahead and allow at least 6 months for any fabrics, or panels, or vinyl, that might have to be dyed, or embossed, or made from scratch.
He was very concerned about his customers, his office was well organized and it only took him seconds to find M. Mendez' order and also Elisabeth's order. This was significant as they are also in the middle of a major move, moving the whole business from Portland to Canby (a small suburb of Portland) and into a larger warehouse.
I have no involvement with this company, I went there in person to help the people on the IML list, and to see what they have available for my Imperials.
Eric wrote:
I have bought a few items from SMS here in Portland, Oregon. Being local, I've been able to go directly into their store/warehouse, which is a treat to any car oriented person. They have rolls and rolls and rolls of OEM auto fabric. They even had some of the ivy gold cloth for my '72 Newport.
I redid the headliner in a '63 NY Salon I had years ago, they provided the material. The material turned out to be stained. They made good on it, but it was important to speak with the more helpful people in their office, I recall one individual that wasn't very helpful. Again this was years ago.
My most recent trip there was this spring. A very knowledgeable employee found my material for my '72 and even made quite a deal as some of it was remnant pieces. I don't have experience w/thier carpet sets, but they are likely capable of doing a correct job.
Gerry wrote:
It took over a year to get seat and headliner material which was understandable. I ordered a pre-sewn headliner which was another mistake. The seams did not line up with the hoops by about 3 inches and we had a terrible time to get the thing to fit. Thank goodness my upholstery guy was extremely patient. The seat material is very nice and pretty much looks like the original stuff.
In future I would not order a pre-cut carpet or headliner. Get your upholstery person to do it up after they receive the material.
David M. wrote:
I have to say that I ordered and got the headliner for my '66 Crown Coupe very fast. I found that SMS supplied me with the correct stuff and made it up perfectly and not expensive either. I recently ordered material for seats and headliner again made up for my '55 Imperial and once again, excellent service was provided.
I live in England and service like this is much appreciated, whilst I don't doubt people can have long waits for stuff I can only speak as I find and SMS has been A1 all the way for me.
John wrote:
In case anyone is curious, I have dealt with SMS fabrics. I got my headliner and three hides of black leather for my interior. The leather was a near perfect match to the original which had very little grain. It was twice as much as the next expensive place I researched, but ultimately worth it. It should be noted that my interior guy at Henkel's in Pasadena, CA, (great work) said the leather had a lot of imperfections in it, making his job a little harder. He had to find the cleanest parts to put in the most noticeable places. In the end, my seats look great! but I did pay a lot for it.
As for the headliner, the material was a perfect match; the color, the hole pattern, they even stitched it correctly. All I had to do was pull down my old one and install the ribs in the new headliner and install; a lot harder that it sounds believe me. The only problem I had with them was that they sent me an extra piece of fabric for the rear window and two side pieces (where the reading lamps are) that was way too small. It was enough for the side pieces but not even close for the rear window. I explained to them my problem, and they said they'd be glad to send me another piece large enough. But I had to pay for it! What could I do? They had me by the jewels, I acquiesced. They sent me the piece, about two months later.End of story: SMS has the right stuff, they are friendly, but they do take their time (a good thing, I guess). I just wish their customer service was of a slightly higher caliber. If I paid you for a complete headliner, I expect a complete headliner, should I have to pay for your miscalculations? Oh well, it's all history. My interior looks great and more importantly, feels luxuriuos.
Ronald wrote:
Don´t send any money. I´ve ordered some vinyl more then two years ago. I´ve paid the total amount and after a year, I got a sample that was almost OK, but Doug promised to make some improvements. It´s almost 2.5 years later now and I´ve still not received anything yet. I´ve called a 100 times, spoke to everyone in the company, wrote letters, send e-mail, but never got an answer from Doug.
(13 Sep 2004) Eric K. wrote:
PERFECT MATCH FOR MY INTERIOR OF MY 66 PLYMOUTH BELVEDERE 2.I HAD BEEN TRYING TO GET HIS MATERIAL FROM OTHER SOURCES FOR ALMOST 19 YEARS AND THEY HAD IT READY TO SHIP.GREAT PEOPLE
ERIC K.
CUMMING GEORGIA
(15 Jul 2007) Mark Reynolds wrote:
Ordered fabric + vinyl for my 58 Imperial from SMS vs. Original Auto based on SMS claim they had the original trim books. Not true (they admitted it later), since they sent two completely wrong vinyls. Finally after twice loosing my samples sent a marginally acceptable vinyl. I am not happy, try the supplier in St. Lair Mi first.
(8 August 2007) Mike wrote:
charged my card over 1200 and never received Items, no one will speak to me from SMS Do not deal with sms.
(21 August 2007) Leo De Lullo wrote:
I ordered material and vinyl from SMS Auto Fabrics A year ago now. They debited my account straight away and I am yet to receive my shipment. I have sent numerous emails and Dougs responses have all been the same "I will get the shipment to you soon". I will never order anything from SMS again and will advise anybody not to use them. I am still waiting for a response and cannot believe that somebody will debit your card before providing the goods and think they can get away with it. This business should be shut down from trading due to such conduct as I consider this as theft. I will not stop until I receive my goods or a complete refund to my account. I hope that Doug or SMS do not think that distance will be a barrier with regards to such conduct as this will be their fall as a business.
(28 August 2007) Frankie De Balls wrote:
Horrible theves to work with. They'll get your money and you'll never hear from them again. STAY AWAY!!
(18 Oct 2007) Mike Ensley wrote:
After 6 months, multiple phone calls, and having my money for 6 months, I finally recieved the door panels for my 64 Chrysler 300K. The good news is the panels are beautiful and just like the factory made them. However customer service and communication is spotty.
(12 Jun 2008) Jon Limes wrote:
After 7 months of phone calls, numerous samples that I have sent, so they can get it right, I still have yet to recieve my material. The first time, they sent the wrong material, nothing like the sample that they said they had an "exact" match of, you know, that piece of paper they send you that has the samples you hope you will get. I spent over $1200 for material, they vinyl they sent me was 1/2 the thicknes, wrong color and would not stretch, like the type they use for door panels, and yes there is a difference in the vinyls used in a car between seat and door panels. Nothing like the sample, which is "expanded vinyl". Now for the comfortweave problem, I'm working on a 70 Trans am RA4 with bright blue interior, it has comfortweave in the center sections of the seats with pleates every 2 inches, I sent them 2 large samples so they had something to work with, they said they can do it "just as original" When I recieved the comfort- weave it had no material in-between each plete as they promissed, so when you try to install the seat cover, the pletes will have no support and will be very wavy and look like SH... when installed! It had NO support. I have no idea what else to do, they have my money and material, I know I can dispute the charge and the credit card co. will credit me, but I still need the material. I am going to call Doug and see if I can get anywhere with him. I am told I they wiil ship my material in 2 weeks, will see, I have been told that before, but you know, 2 weels never comes!!
(19 Jun 2008) Don Dudley wrote:
Ordered vinyl and cloth for my '68 Rambler. I was told both were available. Charged my credit card. Then told not all of the cloth was available (1.5 of needed 3 yards) and needed to be ordered. Waited length of time that I was told to wait. SMS said the fabric came in and shipped to my upholsterer. Upholsterer calls me and says they only shipped the 1.5 yards. I called to complain - this is not what I was told. I informed the staff that I would encourage others not to use SMS. The person tells me that SMS is pretty much the only choice a lot of folks have. I will be filing a complaint with the Oregon Attorney General and encourage you to do so as well.
(26 Aug 2008) Gary Leonardwrote:
I ordered cloth insert fabric blue / black hounds tooth for my 76 ford bronco it took about 4 months to get , they do take their sweet time, but it was nice stuff and looks great
DISCLAIMER
The vendor review section of this website is provided as a means of keeping club members informed about practices and experiences concerning various providers of parts and services. This section contains unedited, unsolicited opinions expressed by members of an online car club. No attempt has been made to bias the opinions, or slant the number of viewpoints on one side or another. All opinions have been included, as supplied. If any vendors don't like the viewpoints expressed here, they are welcome to provide a rebuttal, which will be posted as well.
This page was last updated 10 September 2008. Send us your feedback, and come join the Imperial Mailing List - Online Car Club
