Minor question about parts backorders

I realize I could call Van's about this, but I almost feel guilty about calling them, as they seem so swamped lately. I'm hoping someone here knows....

I received my 12is power plant kit yesterday, and 6 or 8 items were backordered...some production parts, etc...including 2 small hardware bags.
As luck would have it, the items in the B/O hardware bags are preventing me from doing most of my pressing work.......so....

When Van's has backordered items on a kit, do they wait for ALL of the B/O parts to arrive before shipping ANY of them...(possibly to save shipping $$$) ?? Or do they ship them "piecemeal" as they are available ..??

They wait until they receive everything

I am in the same situation with my firewall forward kit for -12 ULS. I received it in May last year but still waiting for those hardware bags and some other stuff. I asked them about it and they told me that they will wait until they have received everything before shipping. But they also hinted (or so I understood) that they could make more shipments and send things as they arrive if I paid for the extra cost. I don't want to make things more complicated than they already are so I decided to wait for everything. I still find things I can advance on here and there, being careful not to overstep and do things I will have to undo once I receive the missing parts.

Hope it helps!

I picked up my emp kit will-call, which had four backordered parts. I think I got my kit a little earlier than some folks who ordered before me because of this. I received the backordered parts all at once a month later, but not until people who ordered the kit before me got their complete kit.

Here's how I think it works: For simplicity, let's say there are two parts (A and B) on backorder and you the 10th person in the queue waiting for those parts. Van's gets 2 of part A and 4 of part B. They will ship both parts to customers 1 and 2. Then they will wait until they get more part As before shipping both parts to customers 3 and 4. And so it continues.

Of course, you have to factor in multiple parts on backorder, plus folks ordering replacement parts through the store, vastly complicating things.

If there are some parts you need right away, calling to ask to have those parts shipped ASAP may or may not help, I don't know. For sure, they are not likely to anticipate your desire to have those parts ASAP if you don't ask.

If its hardare---like AN bolts, washers, nute etc, why not just get those numbers and out source them, instead of waiting 6 months for a bag of parts?

Tom

Well.....

TS Flightlines said:

If its hardare---like AN bolts, washers, nute etc, why not just get those numbers and out source them, instead of waiting 6 months for a bag of parts?

Tom

Click to expand...

I hope I didn't lead you down the primrose path...I used the term "hardware bags", but Van's bags seldom contain just "hardware" in the conventional sense.....they contain an astronomical amount of specialty parts, as well as unusual fasteners. There is really no reasonable way to outsource them. If it were just AN bolts, nuts, and washers, that is exactly what I would do...

And of course, I don't want to forget the elephant in the room. I've already paid for these items once...and really don't want to do it twice...particularly in this current economy...

If you’re truly blocked I would call them or shoot the kits team an email. On my RV-10 kits I’ve had varying experiences - sometimes all backordered parts come at once, other times they sort of trickle in.


Alex

bkc3921 said:

And of course, I don't want to forget the elephant in the room. I've already paid for these items once...and really don't want to do it twice...particularly in this current economy...

Click to expand...

They only charged me for the extra shipping. You're not paying for the same part twice, just the shipping and handling associated with the boxes they have to ship.

If the hardware (lets assume a bag of AN365 nuts) is backordered, they've been purchased and paid for with the kit. If I go to Aircraft Spruce, GAH or anywhere else and buy 100 AN365 nuts, I'm paying for them twice. I suppose the Van's ones will eventually show up, but then I have 100 more of those nuts than I need.

Depends on the hardware value and how much it's holding up my build, I may or may not care.

Paying shipping on the backordered parts also bothers me. It's not my fault that the item isn't available at crating time, so why do I pay extra? It's also not fair to Van's that their supplier can't deliver the product to them. I suppose I just chock it up to "life's not fair" and move on, bigger problems to solve.

David Z said:

If the hardware (lets assume a bag of AN365 nuts) is back ordered, they've been purchased and paid for with the kit. If I go to Aircraft Spruce, GAH or anywhere else and buy 100 AN365 nuts, I'm paying for them twice. I suppose the Van's ones will eventually show up, but then I have 100 more of those nuts than I need.

Depends on the hardware value and how much it's holding up my build, I may or may not care.

Paying shipping on the back ordered parts also bothers me. It's not my fault that the item isn't available at crating time, so why do I pay extra? It's also not fair to Van's that their supplier can't deliver the product to them. I suppose I just chock it up to "life's not fair" and move on, bigger problems to solve.

Click to expand...

These back orders are beyond Vans control. They did not charge you shipping for the parts not sent, so it's not really like you are paying double shipping.

For the original poster, if you are in a hurry, obtain the back ordered parts through a 3rd party. Then simply contact Vans to cancel the back ordered parts. They will either refund the money or give you a credit for future purchases. I've done this in the past. Vans is very fair to deal with.

Charlie