[AX-O]

I have ordered a few things from Vans before and seen a $4 charge for I don't know what. Ok I will pay it. Yesterday my order came in and my extra charge was $19. Tack another $48 for S&H. I am building an airplane and I know it is going to be expensive but minimizing charges like those will help out tremendously. How does Vans figure out their "EXTRA CHARGE"?

 

[Rick6a]

I have ordered a few things from Vans before and seen a $4 charge for I don't know what. Ok I will pay it. Yesterday my order came in and my extra charge was $19. Tack another $48 for S&H. I am building an airplane and I know it is going to be expensive but minimizing charges like those will help out tremendously. How does Vans figure out their "EXTRA CHARGE"?

The fee structure is nothing new. There has been a minimum $4.00 handling charge on individual accessory catalog purchase orders for as long as I have been a customer...March 2000. Years ago, the charge was sometimes referred to as a crating charge. This fee is in no way connected to shipping or freight fees. There have been occasions in the past when I was party to 2 or more local builders consolidating our purchases in order to minimize S/H costs. A hard working Van's employee has to note your order, assemble your order, and package your order for shipment.

 

[Davepar]

Vans makes a great airplane kit, but is a lousy parts company. They're expensive and slow. My advice is to buy your parts from Spruce, Wicks, or others unless Vans is the only choice (replacement kit parts).

 

[cytoxin]

duck

****s gonna fly, and your gonna get schooled on what great planes these are,(as if you didnt already know that and thats why your building ) and how much more they would cost if they didnt charge, you should buy all you can elsewhere, and how much more resourceful than you everyone else is and they think ****y post customer service is ok. yadda yadda yadda.
guess i should duck too
in the end vans isnt trying to be clever about the cost of running a buisiness they itemize it for what it is. .....see they even got me believing it

 

[rv6ejguy]

Vans makes a great airplane kit, but is a lousy parts company. They're expensive and slow. My advice is to buy your parts from Spruce, Wicks, or others unless Vans is the only choice (replacement kit parts).

Ordered some parts from Van's on Jan. 2, had them Jan. 4. Now ACS, had several order screw ups in 2006 and I've been waiting 9 MONTHS now for a gyro.

You are going to have some good and bad experiences with both companies. They both are trying to do a good job and I've found their CS desks helpful and courteous for the most part. With humans running the show, there will always be some screw ups. I can't agree that Van's is expensive on most airframe and replacement parts.

 

[alpinelakespilot2000]

I think Van's is very fair and has great customer service, even if at times it may be a little slow. We're all used to most mail order places building the cost of assembling an order into their inflated product prices or inflated shipping rates. I think Van's gives us fair prices for the products and ships at close to cost for postage and packing materials. Thus, the $4.00 has to be there to pay for the people who pack the boxes. To be sure, there's no one-stop-shop for all of your parts need. Shop around as necessary and when you do order from Van's, just try to place bigger orders less often.

 

[rv6ejguy]

Well after saying such nice things about Van's earlier this morning, I received a mystery package from them today by mail, two days after receiving my proper order via Fedex. Hmmm. Opened it up. Appears to be a duplicate order with improperly picked parts. Guess I'll be wasting some of my time phoning them back and sending it back. Oh well!

 

[AX-O]

when you do order from Van's, just try to place bigger orders less often.

That is what I did. I was expecting to see a $4 charge not a $19 charge. That means that there is a proportional charge base on what you order or how much your order cost. I just wanted to know how they figure out the extra cost.

 

[PJSeipel]

That is what I did. I was expecting to see a $4 charge not a $19 charge. That means that there is a proportional charge base on what you order or how much your order cost. I just wanted to know how they figure out the extra cost.

If you call them, they'll explain it to you. That $4 is a minimum and is to cover the cost of whatever container they shipped your order in. If it's a standard FEDEX / UPS box, then it costs $4. If they have to build a crate, or put it into 3 boxes, or 2 boxes and an 8 ft pipe or whatever, then they charge you the cost for the packing materials.

Based on $48 in shipping costs, I'm guessing the packing materials for your order were fairly substantial.

PJ
RV-10 #40032

 

[briand]

If you tell us what you ordered we might be able to explain it to you better.

I have ordered extras from Vans more often than I would have liked and only got blown away by the extra charges once, most other times the charges were about what I had expected and once I was actually impressed/shocked by how low the charges were.

They dont want to be doing a hundred $2.00 orders for 5 AN3-5A bolts and .03 lbs of rivets every day so I can understand the $4.00 handling charge. Now 2 $5.00 cutting charges for cutting one pc of alum 2 times the same size is a little harder to take.

 

[mdredmond]

That $4 is a minimum and is to cover the cost of whatever container they shipped your order in. If it's a standard FEDEX / UPS box, then it costs $4

As far as I remember, FedEx boxes are FREE. I can go to FedEx and just grab a box. Maybe it's different if they deliver boxes to you in bulk?

 

[osxuser]

Not the cost of the box they are worried about, but the cost of FILLING that box.

As far as I remember, FedEx boxes are FREE. I can go to FedEx and just grab a box. Maybe it's different if they deliver boxes to you in bulk?

 

[RV7ator]

It's all about being a wise shopper, not just price, because the
Shipping, Handling, Insurance, Taxes adds up (there's an acronym buried in there). Compare your vendors all the way to your door, 'cause they're in business to cover their costs and make a profit, and sometimes they are brain dead when spending your money on shipping. E.g., USPS priority beats UPS/Fedex on smaller, lighter buys, but you have to specify it. Need something that's a few ounces? Consider USPS first class, less than a buck.

Van's breaks out handling costs as a line item (used to be $2 minimum, not $4), so I feel like I'm being nibbled to death by ducks. Again, look at the costs to your door, and keep 'em competing with each other by letting them know what influences your decisions.

John Siebold

 

[LettersFromFlyoverCountry]

I ordered new rear spar doubler forks (and a calendar!) on Tuesday morning from Van's. The package arrived here on Saturday. Fastest service ever. $4 handling (I figure the box, the peanuts, and all the paper inside probably amounted to close to that) and $7.50 for shipping.

I figure if I'm not happy with the cost of this stuff, maybe I should just stop making mistakes.

 

[AX-O]

I figure if I'm not happy with the cost of this stuff, maybe I should just stop making mistakes.

I feel the same way. Someone told me at the start of my project that I would have to learn to use parts that are not perfect or I was going to end up buying enough parts to build about 2 or 3 planes