Neil Clague LDC = BAD Experience
This happened a while back, but I never had a chance to share the bad experience. My Dad had me contact Neil to order a LDC for his 25 Cricket. I emailed him regarding it, sent him the dimensions from the gun he requested, and shortly after that Paypaled him the payment to get it scheduled to be built. He told me via email that the wait time was “about 4 weeks”. After waiting 4 weeks I had not heard anything from him so I emailed him to see if there were any updates.
My email: “I was just wondering if you could update me on the status of this order and how soon you think it will ship out.”
Neil’s response: “I do not answer questions on progress and when I expect them to be made. I give customers an approximate wait time when they place their order, it is on schedule, Neil.”
Next fast forward to after the LDC was received. The LDC was made with an aluminum piece on the end of the LDC that slid onto the barrel and then we tighten with a set screw to hold the LDC in place. When the LDC was installed it fit very tightly, when my Dad attempted to remove it the aluminum piece broke loose from the carbon fiber shroud and the set screw ripped through the carbon fiber on the shroud. The aluminum piece was stuck on the barrel and had to be cut off in order to be removed. Once the shroud came apart we noticed the low quality workmanship inside and the holes in the shroud were not drilled straight.
This was my email to Neil: “Over the weekend my dad was removing the shroud from his gun and one of the aluminum pieces stuck on the barrel and the set screw cracked through the carbon fiber. Also, we were disappointed to see the holes inside the shroud were not drilled uniformly. We would either like to have the main shroud rebuilt or a refund. Please let me what you would like to do.”
Neil’s response: “send it back to me so I can fix it, I do not have a cnc machine and have to drill everything by hand, it does not matter where the holes are drilled, they are behind the muzzle and only vent air to the back of the shroud, they have nothing to do with the performance or accuracy of the gun. I will reimburse you the cost of shipping the shroud back to me so I can fix it. It looks like I need to groove the end pieces so they have a better grip on the carbon fiber, I will modify the end cap and make sure it is firmly in place, Neil.”
We mailed the LDC back to Niel and this was his email response after he got it: “the shroud arrived today and I was surprised to see you had vandalized the end cap, what purpose was there in doing that? In future any deliberate damage done to parts will incur a charge, please do not do it. When I say a part will be replaced it will be replaced and damaging a component to make sure it is not used again is petty and something that I do not appreciate. The repaired shroud will be sent out tomorrow, Neil.”
Obviously there was no intentional damage done to the the LDC. If it had been made correctly to begin with we would have never had any issues.
I sent Neil one final email expressing my disappointment with him and his product and this was his response:
“I am sorry but I have very little faith in what you say to me, if the part was a tight fit you could have quite easily removed a little material with a file or sand paper or even returned it to me to have a little extra material removed. . Without having the actual gun there is never any guarantee of a perfect fit and your attitude about the hole spacing is nothing less than anal. The holes are just to vent the air to the rear of the shroud and do not effect the performance in any way and are hidden 8 inches inside the shroud. I do not believe the shroud was cracked I believe that was an intentional act because you wanted me to make a complete new shroud because of the hole spacing. Not once did you mention to me that the shroud was split or that it was a tight fit, all you seemed to care about was the hole spacing, that seemed more important to you than the end cap coming lose! Please do not contact me again, the shroud has been repaired for you and I have nothing more to say to you, Neil.”
Here is a picture of Neils embarrassing holes inside the LDC.
Here is a picture of where the aluminum piece from inside the LDC was made too small and got stuck on the barrel. Notice how it also rubbed the finish off of the barrel because it was made too small.
And this is where the set screw ripped through the carbon fiber shroud.
Neil did repair the LDC, sent it back, and covered the shipping. The repaired LDC fit correctly but it still had the crooked drilled holes in the middle piece inside the shroud. I did not like the horrible attitude he had in all of his emails when it was his fault for making a poor quality product to begin with. I would not recommend for anyone to do business with him.
All Replies
That sucks it marked up the barrel but if it was so tight i would not have forced it on. Littlesand paper around a dowel rod and size it a tiny bit at a time.
:8: :8: :8:
FROM: THE BIRDMAN
First, if the rear cap was far too tight, you should have remedied that yourself. No way Neil could know the exact dimensions without the gun in hand.
Secondly, Steel,, next to alu., will gaul. You need to use a product called Anti-seize to keep it from sticking. Neil probably should tell customers that. Too, they simply don’t think clearly enough to know NOT to force the LDC on when it is obviously too tight. Sometimes you have to think at least a little bit for yourself. Neil can’t be there to hold your hand.
When it comes to metal, to metal fit, you NEVER force it. Especially when it is two different metals.
The end cap could have been easily removed without cutting it. Simply notch a piece of 2×4 to fit around the barrel, and behind the fitting and tap the back of the board forward, Carrying the cap with it. There are better ways, but your skill level tells me that this could be disastrous. (This could have been done “Before damaging the LDC” showing a complete lack of the mechanical skills to work on this). This would also have prevented “You” from damaging the CF tube at the set screw location.
Yes, the thru holes in the rear, for air escape from the front, are not even. Nor do they have to be. this is not a place needing cosmetics. Only function. And It is clear from the pic, that they are fine for function. And the fit of the baffles outside Dia. to the inside wall is the important measurement. And the workmanship there, is just fine! In fact, it looks to be quite good.
Sorry Sir, but at this point, I would say that all problems with this shroud were cause by the end user. Not the Maker.
This is the biggest problem and headache dealing with the public. You never know what their level of mechanical skill is, or if they can figure out even the most simple problem. You just about have to assume that Any One that you deal with long distance, is a complete moron to be any where near safe. Common sense is nowhere near common. No where!
Any Craftsman, that has dealt with the public long at all, can tell you of Many Horror Stories. This one is Typical.
Knife
Sorry to hear About your issues. To start, he definitely lacks some customer skills then quality issues. Unfortunately not the first time I have heard this.
I am assuming he was referring to the aluminum piece that got stuck on the barrel. The end cap on the other end never had any issues.
What was the damage to the end cap he was talking about?
It is to bad the aluminium piece got stuck. Aluminum likes to gall, the problem is it has to be a as tight as possible to make sure everything lines up but not tight enough to get stuck.
His hole could have been perfect, but your barrel was a cunt hair to larger or the finish not polished enough to cause the problem.
The holes, while ugly would work just fine. Chances are he did not use a center drill first so the drill bit wandered at the start of drilling.
It sucks when an issue like this happens.
Scraped off the bluing that did :geekn:
Sorry to hear it.
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Tell me about it.