Unresponsive vendors....grrrrr

[Flying Scotsman]

Has everyone taken off for the last month for an extended holiday or something?

I'm having a h*ll of a time getting not one, not two, not three but FOUR vendors of various things to respond to either emails or phone calls. And these are normally very responsive sellers, so I don't know what's going on here...

Has anyone else noticed a rash of "missing in action" vendors, or is it just me?

I'm getting sorta PO'd, as they are providers of things I *need* at this point in the build...

[Buggsy2]

I've been ordering and getting stuff normally from the usual suspects. Actually one vendor, Ray-Allen, told me an item wouldn't be available until January but it arrived a few days later.

My only gripe is the vendors rarely email a tracking number so you don't know when the goods have been shipped or when they might arrive.

[Paul K]

Sorry to hear that. I'm not having those problems at all. In the last week I have called or ordered from Stein, Spruce, and E-mag and all have shipped or called back the same day! My experience has been nothing by excellent

[Brandi]

I have unanswered emails and phone calls from four different companies this week also.

[flion]

It's a tough time of year, I guess. I have one vendor who I will not name because I've had good contact with him in the past. A couple of weeks ago I ran across some missing parts and he responded that I could pay for shipping and he'd send me replacements (it's been a while since I inventoried the original shipment, so that was fair). So I sent him the payment and that's the last I've heard. But I'm only mildly inconvenienced and not worried; I know he'll come through. Now, if he'd been like this all along, I'd be angry (and there have been vendors like that) but he isn't so I'm willing to be patient.

[bruceh]

I've been ordering stuff like mad over the last month so I can get to the wiring work. The only problems I have experienced is with the Post Office misrouting things. Some of my electrical supplies headed to Malibu (90265) instead of Ramona (92065). So far everything has showed up!
I prefer to contact vendors via email, and it seems that many of the vendors here do better on the phone. I followed up in email to more than one vendor I talked to on the phone, and never get any responses. That can be frustrating.

[DCat22]

On the flipside, Cleveland, Avery, Isham, Stewart Systems, and Mouser are some of the best of the best that I've worked with so far. (Mouser has been awesome for me for over 10 years now, and in Texas, UPS Ground is next day guaranteed!)

I don't mind the places that are smaller, side jobs, or just behind or slow...just be honest and tell me "this will ship in 3 months". Then I can plan and deal with it.

[RV7Guy]

With todays modern technology the delays and lack of response should be very minimal.

When we started JD Air Parts, the very first piece of business was to insure unequaled customer service. When you place an order with www.jdair.com and it is acknowledged, the customer is sent an email. At the same time, the shipping label is printed. Every effort is made to ship the same business day.

In one case, Jason was in the process of shipping some items. An order came in and he processed it on his iPhone, printed the label at the UPS store and the guy got a shipping confirmation 3 minutes after placing the order!!!

Product questions are answered generally within minutes (unless we are flying). With fancy phones, no problem. We are no different. We are both repeat RV offenders and want out stuff now too!!!!

Check out an exciting new item at WWW.JDair.com.

[rleffler]

I'm not in support of company's poor communication and response times. As an IT geek, it always surprises me how email phobic some small business are these days. With the Internet, we tend to think that instant gratification of placing an order and receiving within a couple days is a standard that all need to comply with.

With that said, there may be a flip side that we aren't considering. Many of the vendors that we deal with are small businesses run by individuals and a portion of them are done as a part time business. It's always awkward when the proprietor needs to take some time off. That means no product, no emails, and no telephone support for many vendors.

A great vendor would communicate and set appropriate expectations for the delay. But as with most things in life, not everyone steps up to such high expectations.

I am thankful for those vendors that do. I have personal cell phone numbers of many of the folks I've purchased products from. I was thirty minutes into a call with Rod Bower one Sunday afternoon last year, when I found out he was in a hospital bed. You can't get any more dedicated than that!

So while there are vendors that don't meet our high expectations, there are many that do. All we can do is to plan accordingly when dealing with small companies to get deliveries made before it becomes critical and direct your business to those that provide outstanding service. Vendors that are on the top of my list are:

Advanced Flight Systems
Aerosport Products
Aircraft Spruce
Airtronics
Avery Tools
Barrett Precision Engines
B & C
Cleaveland Tools
JD Air
Plane Around
Plane Power
Rod Bower
Skytec
SteinAir
TruTrak
TS Flightlines
Vertical Power

I'm sure that there are other great vendors. These are a few that I would highly recommend using. With the holiday season, let's give kudos to those vendors that do a great job!

bob

[Captain_John]

I have YET TO RECEIVE the order I placed last August from http://www.rst-engr.com/!!!

He has told me twice now that it is being "kitted" and I have yet to see even a tracking slip!

His email repeats that he hasn't "screwed" anyone yet. I don't know what that means?

I think this one is the topper!

FOUR MONTHS and NOTHING!!!

CJ