Experience with Benda Products?

[louielouie]

Anyone buy stuff from Benda or know of US based companies with the same offerings? The alcantara items they offer

[swagon]

any good car upholstery shop should be able to do the same. i have seen the stuff from benda and it's quality work, though.

[MSlv]

I had ordered the nappa wrapped centre console with cup holders from them, very good quality job on their part, it looks absolutely amazing, excellent craftsmanship.

However…

It took a very long time to ship and customer service was not helpful… I don’t mind waiting as long as they are open about the true status of the job but they were outright lying that it would ship “next week” and some weeks later there was still no change in order status. I was starting to threaten with cancellation and asking for chargeback out of frustration with the customer service…

It arrived, finally, and I forget about the shitty experience every time I look or touch the trim… it’s just so beautiful!

Second thing, I asked them to supply the parts (the increase in cost I felt was worth it for me) and I sold my original trim to recoup some of the costs (was looking brand new).

BUT it seemed that they used at least some used parts, as the buttons were in a worse shape than my original ones and even had a small scratch on one of them. I just replaced the buttons with my own and all was ok but I didn’t expect this for the money the charge.

So… I would personally half heartedly recommend them because the craftsmanship is top notch but there were issues with delays, poor customer support and suspected use of (some) used parts.

Of course, this was my personal experience with them and it may have been an outlier. It was also during COVID…

That being said, I WOULD buy again from them because of the craftsmanship.

Maybe some upholstery shop would do a good job too but having an actual picture of the item proves that they have done it before and that there is no experimentation being done with your money.

[louielouie]

Originally Posted by MSlv

I had ordered the nappa wrapped centre console with cup holders from them, very good quality job on their part, it looks absolutely amazing, excellent craftsmanship.

However…

It took a very long time to ship and customer service was not helpful… I don’t mind waiting as long as they are open about the true status of the job but they were outright lying that it would ship “next week” and some weeks later there was still no change in order status. I was starting to threaten with cancellation and asking for chargeback out of frustration with the customer service…

It arrived, finally, and I forget about the shitty experience every time I look or touch the trim… it’s just so beautiful!

Second thing, I asked them to supply the parts (the increase in cost I felt was worth it for me) and I sold my original trim to recoup some of the costs (was looking brand new).

BUT it seemed that they used at least some used parts, as the buttons were in a worse shape than my original ones and even had a small scratch on one of them. I just replaced the buttons with my own and all was ok but I didn’t expect this for the money the charge.

So… I would personally half heartedly recommend them because the craftsmanship is top notch but there were issues with delays, poor customer support and suspected use of (some) used parts.

Of course, this was my personal experience with them and it may have been an outlier. It was also during COVID…

That being said, I WOULD buy again from them because of the craftsmanship.

Maybe some upholstery shop would do a good job too but having an actual picture of the item proves that they have done it before and that there is no experimentation being done with your money.

Appreciate the detailed feedback. I'd be in the same boat - I don't care if there's delays but I don't like the idea they outright lied. Used parts when paying for supplied isn't ideal in my eyes either. I'll think about it and weigh my options before pulling the trigger.

[mike@x-ph.com]

Not familiar with the brand but please share your feedback if you decide to get their products

[YASBBYM3]

Originally Posted by mike@x-ph.com

Not familiar with the brand but please share your feedback if you decide to get their products

They do the best custom work I’ve ever seen and I’m very picky with attention to detail.

[eff32fl]

Originally Posted by MSlv

I had ordered the nappa wrapped centre console with cup holders from them, very good quality job on their part, it looks absolutely amazing, excellent craftsmanship.

However…

It took a very long time to ship and customer service was not helpful… I don’t mind waiting as long as they are open about the true status of the job but they were outright lying that it would ship “next week” and some weeks later there was still no change in order status. I was starting to threaten with cancellation and asking for chargeback out of frustration with the customer service…

It arrived, finally, and I forget about the shitty experience every time I look or touch the trim… it’s just so beautiful!

Second thing, I asked them to supply the parts (the increase in cost I felt was worth it for me) and I sold my original trim to recoup some of the costs (was looking brand new).

BUT it seemed that they used at least some used parts, as the buttons were in a worse shape than my original ones and even had a small scratch on one of them. I just replaced the buttons with my own and all was ok but I didn’t expect this for the money the charge.

So… I would personally half heartedly recommend them because the craftsmanship is top notch but there were issues with delays, poor customer support and suspected use of (some) used parts.

Of course, this was my personal experience with them and it may have been an outlier. It was also during COVID…

That being said, I WOULD buy again from them because of the craftsmanship.

Maybe some upholstery shop would do a good job too but having an actual picture of the item proves that they have done it before and that there is no experimentation being done with your money.

Do you have any pictures of the leather wrapped center console installed?

[YASBBYM3]

Originally Posted by eff32fl

Do you have any pictures of the leather wrapped center console installed?

There really is a link here. However something about bimmerpost. It only displays in app. Not on web browser.

[louielouie]

Originally Posted by YASBBYM3

Does that link really only show up on the app, not web browser?

Wouldn't put it past a FB owned platform

[MSlv]

Originally Posted by eff32fl

Do you have any pictures of the leather wrapped center console installed?

Hey, sorry for the late reply, I had o lot going on these last few days. Also excuse the mess...