Hello Everyone,
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 Elisabeths
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.
I hope this helps..............
Michael Howlett
Boring Oregon