Vendor problems

[captcrash]

I will not post the name or company, as I spoke with them 5 or 6 times today. They are a good company that evryone on this site would know, and that is why I ordered from them. Part #1 has shipped and should be here tomorrow. Part number 2 should ship today and I should see it Friday. Part number 3 might ship next week, but that part is not a big deal. They have admitted that they screwed up and that they will make it up to me on the next order, but there probably wont be one. If every company could have 99% accuracy that would be huge, but that still means that there would still be one pissed off customer for every 100 orders, and I guess that I was the lucky #100. I feel comfortable saying that this will be resolved, and I dont think that I ever doubted that I would get my parts, my whole problem was with a lack of communication, and hopefully that has been resolved now.
Brian

[Mkelcy]

Not having your card charged until your item ships would be ideal. However, in my experience at least, this is never the case. If I have a relationship with the vendor I'm not going to make a big deal about it because they haven't let me down,..... yet. It is tough to see $2-3K sometimes be gone for 4-6 weeks or longer before any parts are in hand.

Not sure what it costs merchants put a hold on a card, like the rental car companies do while you have the car out, would be better. That way, the consumer can't max out his card while the part is being built. Then let the charge go through once the part ships.

There is only one vendor I've dealt with who charges my card before items are shipped - and they are a sponsor here. Everyone else charges the card when the item is shipped and not one second before. Frankly, it strikes me as marginally ethical/unethical.

My decision is that I will not deal with anyone who charges before the item is shipped. I simply don't feel like financing someone else's business and don't want to worry about how hard it will be to recover my money if the parts never show or the vendor goes under.

[Doug1]

It's good to know that they are making things right.

[DriverzInc]

Glad to see who ever the vendor is they are taking care of you. This why in the custom wheel industry it is common practice to take a 50% deposit, which I believe binds both parties to finish out the transaction. This way both the dealer and the customer are invested in the transaction. The only time we ask for 100% up front now is when the manufacturer requires 100%, which is unfortunately the case with Billet Specialties, and now Rushforth.

[Tony_SS]

I will not post the name or company, as I spoke with them 5 or 6 times today. They are a good company that evryone on this site would know, and that is why I ordered from them. Part #1 has shipped and should be here tomorrow. Part number 2 should ship today and I should see it Friday. Part number 3 might ship next week, but that part is not a big deal. They have admitted that they screwed up and that they will make it up to me on the next order, but there probably wont be one. If every company could have 99% accuracy that would be huge, but that still means that there would still be one pissed off customer for every 100 orders, and I guess that I was the lucky #100. I feel comfortable saying that this will be resolved, and I dont think that I ever doubted that I would get my parts, my whole problem was with a lack of communication, and hopefully that has been resolved now.
Brian

It's good to know you finally got an answer. Maybe the threat of posting their name helped that. Simple communication usually solves most problems. If the company is going to charge your account in full before the item ships, they owe the customer some respect by returning calls and answering emails.

[Steve1968LS2]

$$$$ they are paying to be protected and look good.

Not directed to you Larry, just the way the world works unfortunately.

Really?

Not that I know of.. I'm a mod and have never been directed to protect anyone.

If the post is kept factual then I see no reason why the vendor can't be named. Then they can post their side if they wish.

What's not allowed is bandwagoning where everyone (who has nothing to do with the situation) piles on.

[elitecustombody]

Posting the name would sure help others in future to avoid this type of hassle from this particular vendor .

I think it would be fair to refund 15-20% off your current bill, not on next order that most likely will never be placed.

There are thousands of guys building their cars and wouldn't want this kind of experience to slow down their build .

Looking at the bigger picture, this thread only helped OP and not anyone else,which is fine ,because that's what he wanted ,but posting the name would help many others to be be aware and this vendor to stay on top of his game. Just my .02c

[ErikLS2]

There is only one vendor I've dealt with who charges my card before items are shipped - and they are a sponsor here. Everyone else charges the card when the item is shipped and not one second before. Frankly, it strikes me as marginally ethical/unethical.

My decision is that I will not deal with anyone who charges before the item is shipped. I simply don't feel like financing someone else's business and don't want to worry about how hard it will be to recover my money if the parts never show or the vendor goes under.

I agree with what you're saying and I will point out the vendor I've had this experience with is Frank at Prodigy. Placed a couple orders of a couple grand each and each was billed right away and I waited for the parts. Of course I would rather be billed when the parts ship but one of the orders was for a set of Rushforths which it appears have to be paid up front anyway (he did at the time offer to take 50% up front and the rest when finished).

But, there's more to my experience with Frank. I asked him for some input on building my own g-link type rear susp. So far he has sent me some brackets for the axle side of the lower links and a pair of lower control arms he had laying around that he cut in half and tapped for some reason (can at least use for mock up), FOR FREE.
When I offered to at least pay for shipping, he said "don't worry about it". I would prefer a relationship with a vendor that sees the bigger picture and doesn't nickel and dime me on everything. In return I'll be a little more tolerant of billing methods and parts delays and not care if I pay a couple bucks more for something.

Customer satisfaction is EVERYTHING in business but each customer has their own requirements to be satisfied. It's up to the customer to communicate what they expect and the vendor to listen and deliver as much as it is the vendor's responsibility to communicate their business practices and keep the customer informed about their order status. Especially in this day and age of e-mail, Blackberrys and so on.

[JamesJ]

Really?

Not that I know of.. I'm a mod and have never been directed to protect anyone.

If the post is kept factual then I see no reason why the vendor can't be named. Then they can post their side if they wish.

What's not allowed is bandwagoning where everyone (who has nothing to do with the situation) piles on.

I don't think you or anyone would be directed to protect anyone, but subconsciously nobody wants to see there friend get called out, and if your a sponsor here then you most likely have some type of relationship with the people on the board or whatever it is, and most people think that because they are sponsors they are good people, smart, have good products, things that you actually need, I just mean its marketing, they "sponsors" want to look like team players and sell stuff, thats why they are sponsors.

Its just that if someone started taking about some company nobody cared about and not a single person here used then, then I don't think much would be done, but if it was a sponsor or someone that was not, but everyone liked the chances of people stepping up would be much greater mod or users.

And I was not the one who said it was not allowed... Just giving a reason if it was not...

[chr2002ca]

Hi Brian,

That's an exceptionally frustrating position to be in and it's absolutely uncalled for. You took the high road by not posting the vendor's name, but honestly, I would have. If things went down as you described them, then they dropped the ball in several areas, the worst of which was how they disappeared on you. We all make mistakes, but when someone disappears with your money and can't even call you back and/or is shoveling you BS shipping info, then they've definitely crossed the line and don't deserve your future business or the opportunity to frustrate others like that. There are some really great vendors and dealers out there that I'm devoted to that actually and consistently care about their customers, and those are the ones that deserve our money.

Please feel free to send me a private message and tell me the vendor's name. You're helping me by doing that and I would appreciate it.

On a positive note, glad to hear that you're finally starting to get your parts.

-Chris

[Mkelcy]

I agree with what you're saying and I will point out the vendor I've had this experience with is Frank at Prodigy. Placed a couple orders of a couple grand each and each was billed right away and I waited for the parts. Of course I would rather be billed when the parts ship but one of the orders was for a set of Rushforths which it appears have to be paid up front anyway (he did at the time offer to take 50% up front and the rest when finished).

But, there's more to my experience with Frank. I asked him for some input on building my own g-link type rear susp. So far he has sent me some brackets for the axle side of the lower links and a pair of lower control arms he had laying around that he cut in half and tapped for some reason (can at least use for mock up), FOR FREE.
When I offered to at least pay for shipping, he said "don't worry about it". I would prefer a relationship with a vendor that sees the bigger picture and doesn't nickel and dime me on everything. In return I'll be a little more tolerant of billing methods and parts delays and not care if I pay a couple bucks more for something.

Customer satisfaction is EVERYTHING in business but each customer has their own requirements to be satisfied. It's up to the customer to communicate what they expect and the vendor to listen and deliver as much as it is the vendor's responsibility to communicate their business practices and keep the customer informed about their order status. Especially in this day and age of e-mail, Blackberrys and so on.

No doubt Frank has good customer service.

That said, I stand by my prior position. I have no issues with a vendor charging me some or all of the cost of a part if the part is a non-returnable special order item (most custom order wheels, for example) or if the vendor has to front the cost of a long lead time item with a manufacturer. I'm not looking to transfer my risk to a vendor; I'm simply looking to the vendor to bear the risk that is appropriately his.

Standard off-the-shelf parts should only be charged when shipped, either by the vendor or drop shipped by the manufacturer. The vendor has no risk until the part is shipped - so why is the customer put in the position of being out often thousands of dollars while the vendor and the manufacturer are processing the order?

I'd rather pay 5% more for a part and be charged when I've got tracking numbers, than save 5% and worry for months whether the part will ever show up.

[ErikLS2]

Standard off-the-shelf parts should only be charged when shipped, either by the vendor or drop shipped by the manufacturer. The vendor has no risk until the part is shipped - so why is the customer put in the position of being out often thousands of dollars while the vendor and the manufacturer are processing the order?

I'd rather pay 5% more for a part and be charged when I've got tracking numbers, than save 5% and worry for months whether the part will ever show up.

I couldn't agree more. I really like getting an email confirmation when the order ships as well as a tracking # so I know what day my expensive parts will show up and can be on the lookout for them, especially if they're going to sit in front of my house (one reason I have most stuff shipped to my workplace).

Also, like you said, there is no reason to be charged in advance for an off the shelf part or kit that could easily be resold if the buyer goes sideways on you.

I'm sure the vendors are reading all these comments.

[bret]

yep

[John Wright]

I'm sure the vendors are reading all these comments.

I hope so too.....I can think of one vendor who could use some of this information to help their position in the auto aftermarket world. I'm not speaking of some part-timer, who works out of the house on nights and weekends, this is a full time business.

I didn't personally have problems, but have heard several complaints similar to these about late parts, lack of communication, partial shipments without any information regarding the balance of the order, customers left to wonder where their parts are on a couple forums/boards....not good business practices, IMHO.

Hopefully they are listening and taking notes...I wish only the best for them, I know they are small and busy trying to get going, but they do need to take better care of their customers.

[Mr.VENGEANCE]

the funny thing is that post like these keep Vendors on their toes..

whenever a post like this comes up, they keep thinking..

"Is he talking about me?.."

paranoia sets in... ahahah

NO.. I personally am not talking about YOU.