I recently ordered a wood dash kit for my '08 XK coupe. Unfortunately, the wood color was a bad match: too much brown and not enough red. Other than that, the pieces are well made and will fit nicely, if I can get the color corrected. Has anyone on this forum purchased a wood kit for their Jag? If so, did it match the wood in your car? I called the company and they said it was because the colors of the "real wood" in Jaguars are not all the same. I question that. Any ideas???

 

iamddo,

From what I've seen, the factory maintains good quality control over the wood dash colors. I'm not sure if more than one wood color was available in 2008, or if different wood colors were available for XK and XKR models and the merchant simply sent you the wrong color. In any case, I think the company's explanation is a sad excuse for an obviously defective product.

Will you let us know the name of the company and if their product is real wood veneer or simulated (plastic)? If real wood veneer, how can you get the color corrected? Isn't there is a clearcoat over the stained wood veneer? Did the company tell you that they can correct the color?

You did not receive what you ordered; you expected to receive a dash kit that would match your factory wood color, which it did not. Did you try to resolve this with the merchant? Did the merchant refuse to accept a return from you and refund your money? Do you feel ripped off?

If you paid by credit card, you are protected by Federal law and stand a good chance of getting your money back. See this link for an excellent discussion of how to dispute a credit card charge: How To Dispute A Credit Card Charge Be sure to follow the steps detailed in this article.

It is important to be timely, polite, and have complete documentation.
(1) Timely: you have 60 days to file a written billing dispute with your credit card company - that is, within 60 days after the bill with that merchant's charge was sent to you. The sooner, the better; you snooze, you lose.

(2) Polite: try to resolve this with the merchant to your satisfaction. Be sure to tell the merchant that you relied on their advertisement that their product is a "factory match" and when you received it the color was way off. Include dates, names and details of your phone conversations.

(3) Documentation: You must document your efforts to resolve this with the merchant and send him a copy by certified mail, return receipt. Be sure to include in your documentation the fact that you placed your order in reliance on the merchant's advertisement that their product is a "factory match", which it was not. You will also have to send a copy of this documentation to your credit card company as part of your billing dispute, also by certified mail, return receipt.

Even if the merchant has a "no return" policy, if you paid with a credit card (not a debit card or check), you stand a good chance of getting your money back provided you timely dispute this charge with your credit card company and claim that you were mislead by the merchant in placing your order.

Good luck and let us know what you decide to do.

Stuart

 

Attachment 38097Thanks for the feedback, Stuart. I used the term "recently" pretty loosely. Actually, it was over a year ago when I had this discussion with the sales agent, Sam (dashsales@earthlink.net) about the poor color match. Then things got busy for me...and you know how time passes. My fault for not staying on them, and now I think it's too late to make demands.
As I recall, I ordered the wood dash kit from Pro Trim, one of the many companies that offered them. The names of these companies come and go or change over time, but the orders are fulfilled by the manufacturer, Sherwood Innovations Inc., based in Toronto. I called them last week and explained my original complain, but they seemed unaware of any problems. They are sending me new color samples to check against my car before I try reordering. The attached photos show the mismatch in color, as well as one part for the overhead console that is the wrong shape. They seemed unaware of that problem, too.
Attached photo shows the problems.Attachment 38096

 

Here is a photo of the overhead console trim piece with the wrong shape.

 

iamddo,

It's good to know that the manufacturer, Sherwood, is taking an interest in your problems even though more than a year has passed since you bought their kit. Hopefully, they will make it right and you will be a satisfied customer!

Keep us posted as to your progress.

Stuart

 

I've ordered wood kits several times and found it was not the kit that was discolored but my wood in the car. After years of UV rays and my wiping it to keep it dust free, it gonna fade a little.

 

About 8 or 9 years ago I ordered a wood dash kit for my 2004 Chrysler Pacifica and the match was so perfect it was indistinguishable from the OEM trimmed pieces in both color and pattern. Slight fading aside, yours are two different colors that are not good matches. Hopefully you'll get a better match with the next batch.

 

That wrong shape supports your claim
that Sherwood supplied the wrong color match for your car. If you can determine what year/model that overhead console fits, you might find the car whose wood trim matches the kit that Sherwood sent you.

 

To all who responded, thanks for your interest and support. A few responses to your posts: I don't think I can demand a replacement or refund since my original order dates back to July, 2011. My dash isn't faded at all. Although my XK is an '08 model, it has only 12K miles on it, and it is always garaged. Regarding the shape of the overhead console, the overall shape is correct, but the switch opening is wrong. The only possibility that I haven't checked is the 2007 XK. Can anyone help me with that question? Although the sales agent offered to send "color samples" to me (at a cost of $10), I don't know if Sherwood will actually produce an XK kit based on a color sample, since the order form limits my choice to "factory" finish only (which I already know is the wrong shade). Maybe I could find a talented air-brush artist who could spray a transparent stain on the kit to make it match, but I'm afraid that would take a lot of trial-and-error tests. I'm hoping the folks at Sherwood are reading my comments and yours, since there is strength in numbers. It seems like they would want to correct such obvious errors in their product, but that's what I thought before. Could it be that I'm the first and only person to complain about it? Attached is one more photo showing the mis-match. Again, thanks for your comments and support.

 

2007 Overhead (apperars convertible) console. They sent you the wrong part/year and probably by extension, color, entirely.