Yeah, HWP are a real pain in the ass. My experience is with the bike parts shop. It was OK up until maybe 5 years ago when that old white guy used to work there; I think his name was Frank. But then he died of old age. Since then I had to get a hinge for my bike seat, for my bog-standard (at the time) Honda Cub 90. The usual BS line of "it's on order" was frequent. Anyway, it wasn't urgent, and I used to pop in every few months to check, but to no avail.

Finally, one year later I got the "it's on order" line again, and I lost it. I actually yelled, full volume, at they lazy arrogant asses behind the counter, making a huge scene in front of a bunch of people, saying it's been a freaking year, how much time to you need? They didn't like that one little bit and it felt really good. I demended to speak to a manager, not giving them much choice in the matter. I ended up seeing some guy in an office, and unloaded on him. He picked up a wrench, went out to the back where the old spare bikes were, and gave me a used hinge for free.

I'm interested in how this turns out Mike......

It's a miracle.  I'm not quite ready to retract my scathing comments toward HWP, (they have a long legacy to overcome), but they came through for me today.

The parts department was busy, but a young fellow sitting at the cashier's station asked if he could help me as soon as I entered.  I greeted him and he returned the 'good morning'.  I explained what I was looking for and gave him the registration card from the car so he could see the vehicle details.  He took a personal call on a cell phone, then vanished without a word.  About five minutes later he returned and said, "Ninety dollars, sir".  I asked if he had it in stock, and from the nod I assumed he believed it was here.  I told him I would take it and he vanished again, soon to return proffering a small, original equipment box.  I checked, and low and behold, it looked like an exact match!

Taking it to the cashier who had returned now, I managed to get a good morning out of her before handing over my money.  Not exactly friendly, but I wasn't there to make friends, and I had the needed part in hand.

Of course, I was so dumbfounded I had to drive back to the parts department after I'd realized the fellow hadn't returned my registration card, but that was a mistake anybody could make.

So, in half the time it took me to find the part online, I was able to get it from HWP.  I paid a premium price for it, but that is no surprise in a land where a gallon of milk is $8.