Non existent customer service....

[Dynomutt]

I don't think I'm asking too much when I order parts from venders all I ask is that you send me what I ordered, and ship it when you say you will. I've had issues with both GMC Paul's and Brothers. My latest issue is with Brothers. I have 2 open orders with them and for over a month now I've been getting the run around on when the parts will ship and why they didn't ship when they were supposed to (the day after the order was placed). Nothing on their site will tell you if the item is in stock when you order it, they send out flyers with "specials" that they don't have inventory of, they won't communicate with you unless you call them and even then the standard answer seems to be that they didn't get the container from overseas or they did get it but my parts weren't on it. I was told again today that the container ships on 10/14 and SHOULD be in by the end of the month. Still no guaranty that my parts will be on it (all of which were in the "specials" flyer and email).

How hard is it to find a vendor that actually knows what they have in stock and does what they tell you they will? I'm doing a frame off on my 72 and will be ordering several items and I don't want to go through this every time. I'll be so frustrated and behind schedule it's ridiculous.

Please help if you have any suggestions for a GOOD and HONEST vendor.

[teeitup]

try Classic Heartbeat, Wes is good to deal with, or try Manes truck parts, Ron is also good to deal with

[mbgmike]

We can help you out. We work on these trucks as well as sell parts. Plus we know what fits and what does not. Or since you are in North Texas try Kennys Trucks in Mounds OK. Great people to deal with. Having parts in stock is always a problem with all vendors and even the suppliers. We go through it day in and day out 7 days a week. I tell customers all the time don't wait until Tuesday or Wednesday to get parts to install on that weekend. It may not happen and also its that time of year where ice and snow are starting to affect delivery times to.We have customer service 364 days a year. We have miised calls but try to get them all taken care of. All companies have growing pains no matter how large or small. I do know for a fact that both companies mentioned their supplier of sheetmetal parts has reduced stock to move their warehouse so the inventory is down right now and could be part of the problem. Both companies have a good rep

[68 short step]

Originally Posted by Dynomutt

Please help if you have any suggestions for a GOOD and HONEST vendor.

kennys trucks in mounds OK.....wont find a better, more honest person.... has everything in stock you need, and will tell ya if he doesnt....no non-sense kinda guy...

[Dynomutt]

Thanks guys. I'll give these vendors a call.

Mike I'm not in a hurry for anything but I needed my rear bumper to fab up a fuel tank so I could send the frame to powder coat. Brother's told me it would ship the next day (that was over a month ago). Now, several excuses later, they say it MIGHT be here by the end of the month. The only way I've gotten ANY information from them is if I call and ask. That's just not good service.

[Liz]

Have you tried contacting brothers through the site here? I would PM them and see if they can step in and help.

Mike(mbgmike), Wes(classicheartbeat) and many others are great guys and support this site. I would not hesitate to buy parts from any of them.

[Liz]

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/member.php?u=11334

[GMCPaul]

To try and help explain why everyone that is a retailer is having a harder time keeping parts in stock is explained below.

The reason we've heard for all this from our manufacturers & suppliers is

The manufacturers of these and everything else it seems are waiting longer to make parts ( instead of stamping parts when they get close to running out or reach order quantities of 50-100 many are now waiting until there are 250 or more ordered before running a production run and then only doing as much as is needed at the time rather than making any extra) , then the companies have also reduced the amount of raw materials on hand so that they do not have the material to make the part and then they order the materials after they reach a certain order # until they reach the # they wait to order the material. A very good example of this is the case currently with our rubber manufacturer they say that in the past when they ran low on something that part may have had a 30-60 day lead time from order till in-stock has now become as bad as 180-270days ( 6-9 months )on some of their rubber products because now they place the order, then the manufacturing plant orders the raw material, then they later take delivery of the raw materials and begin manufacturing the product. So we are placing orders sooner to re-stock, placing orders that are larger and carrying a larger inventory to try and make up for this reduction in finished product inventory & raw materials by the suppliers. What further compounds things even worse are the raw material suppliers for the manufacturers are not keeping as large a inventory thus delaying their supply to the manufacturer in many cases, which then delays them making a full production run of the part or causing them to do only a partial run.

It all basicly boils down to the credit crunch caused by the financial markets I feel, companies like Citi that loaned to commercial bussiness's for financing to help them maintain inventorie levels or order raw materials have tightened credit lines & increased fees on money loaned over short time spans considerably making it harder to access the money needed and more costly to do so. Which then means the companies are having to tighten their inventory levels on both raw materials and finished products. With the fact the recession slowed the purchasing of products by retail customers this caused manufacturing companies to reduce the amount of inventory they kept as it was now excessive for the market, now that the market is beginning to turn around these low levels are causing backorders.
GMCPaul

[jb4short]

The factories do not have large warehouses of all of their parts waiting for people to order. They'll have some but, even when you feel like you've planned every detail of ordering, the fact is that right after every invoice comes the B/O list of parts you THOUGHT you had coming.

[John @ BROTHERS]

PM sent.

[Dynomutt]

Originally Posted by GMCPaul

To try and help explain why everyone that is a retailer is having a harder time keeping parts in stock is explained below.

The reason we've heard for all this from our manufacturers & suppliers is

The manufacturers of these and everything else it seems are waiting longer to make parts ( instead of stamping parts when they get close to running out or reach order quantities of 50-100 many are now waiting until there are 250 or more ordered before running a production run and then only doing as much as is needed at the time rather than making any extra) , then the companies have also reduced the amount of raw materials on hand so that they do not have the material to make the part and then they order the materials after they reach a certain order # until they reach the # they wait to order the material. A very good example of this is the case currently with our rubber manufacturer they say that in the past when they ran low on something that part may have had a 30-60 day lead time from order till in-stock has now become as bad as 180-270days ( 6-9 months )on some of their rubber products because now they place the order, then the manufacturing plant orders the raw material, then they later take delivery of the raw materials and begin manufacturing the product. So we are placing orders sooner to re-stock, placing orders that are larger and carrying a larger inventory to try and make up for this reduction in finished product inventory & raw materials by the suppliers. What further compounds things even worse are the raw material suppliers for the manufacturers are not keeping as large a inventory thus delaying their supply to the manufacturer in many cases, which then delays them making a full production run of the part or causing them to do only a partial run.

It all basicly boils down to the credit crunch caused by the financial markets I feel, companies like Citi that loaned to commercial bussiness's for financing to help them maintain inventorie levels or order raw materials have tightened credit lines & increased fees on money loaned over short time spans considerably making it harder to access the money needed and more costly to do so. Which then means the companies are having to tighten their inventory levels on both raw materials and finished products. With the fact the recession slowed the purchasing of products by retail customers this caused manufacturing companies to reduce the amount of inventory they kept as it was now excessive for the market, now that the market is beginning to turn around these low levels are causing backorders.
GMCPaul

Paul,
I can certainly understand and appreciate ALL of that, however, all I ask of ANY vendor is to tell me that UP FRONT. For example, Don't say "it will ship in 24-48 hours" when you're really not sure when it will ship. Be honest with me UP FRONT. That way I can make provisions on my end to make things come together when I need them to. If something changes with the order or shipping or whatever, call me, email me, text me, IM me, do something to let me know it has changed. Don't wait for me to call you, angrily, inquiring about it. What it seems to me is happening is the old fish on the line thing, if someone wants to place an order, tell them whatever it takes to get it. Who cares if they don't do more business with us, we got that order.

I'm not saying that you or Brothers did or does that specifically, it just often seems to come off like that with some vendors.

I'm in the customer service business myself and if I treated my customers like I have been treated by some vendors, I would be out of business.

Sorry for the rant but the fact that there is very little TRUE customer service any more is just very frustrating to me.

[Dynomutt]

Originally Posted by John @ BROTHERS

PM sent.

I spoke with John earlier and he is looking into my situation to see what he can do to help.

I do appreciate the effort John. Thanks.

[Dynomutt]

John with Brothers really stepped up for me today and is sending me a bumper to use for my mock-up while I wait on the other to come in. I could not ask for more and also could not be happier with the way it was handled once John got involved.

Thanks again John, much appreciated.

Kudos to this site too for providing a format that brings vendors and customers together.

[Liz]

Thank you John for stepping in. Great Job