PSTOUT1

Yup, sums it up.

It's all about managing expectations. If the site says it'll take time to order, I'm ok with that and if I'm not I'll find somewhere where it's in stock.

For example, I ordered some carbon parts from Katech yesterday. I was told from the beginning these are backordered and will take at least two weeks -- maybe longer -- to ship.

I'm ok with this.

Jason even went a step further to explain why they were backordered. This exceeded my expectation and was a goodwill gesture that leads me to believe they'll be open and candid with me if I order parts again in the future. The reason he gave also tells me they take quality control seriously.

1rusty1

I think most of us gladly spend money on good products and services. I take issue when the goods and services are below par and the vendor seems to get free reign on this site. If I have an experience with a specific vendor and I want to share it so another is not burned, I should have that right. The money spent on MODs by CF members is the engine behind this forum or the vendors would not be here is the first place. We are complaining. Take heed.

bobeast

I think a lot of automotive vendors just don't "get" the internet. They seem blissfully ignorant of the concepts;

- If your inventory management system is not connected to your website, you have no business on the web.
- Just because you can't see your customers face, does not mean you can ignore them.
- If you post an email address you must be prepared to use it.

Unfortunately I think the mods are between a rock and a hard place. If you go after the supporting vendors for ignoring the above concepts, you risk losing the $$ they pump into the upkeep effort. If you let them get away with this non-sense, you P.O. the users.

I guess a balance must be maintained. Unfortunately, it seems the balance IMNHO, sternly leans towards the vendors.

PSTOUT1

That's a good point... CompUSA, Circuit City, Borders, and Blockbuster didn't "get" the Internet either, and we see what it cost them.

bolivar

I have no proof of this, but I bet a lot of problems are because the sellers have zero inventory. They just drop-ship to the buyer from a wholesale vender.

Don-Vette

The "in stock" moniker is the hook they use to get your order and money first. Then tell you later it's backordered. That ploy is so they can buy some time because they didn't order what you wanted until they got your money. The smaller companies don't carry much in stock.

AORoads

I agree w. the four posts immediately above mine, esp. bobeast's. I also believe the site and the moderators have a difficult job to manage expectations and finances. One may not believe that, but anyone who's run a biz probably does.

DezVette

In the proper business model you should not need to "hook" your business with false positives about inventory. Your "hook" should be quality service and fair business practices. Those two things alone will ensure repeat business. There are a few companies I have dealt with that have those qualities in spades. They have proven that time and time again. Then there are the ones who have not. The "have nots" are the ones who created the situation for posts like these.

I do not feel in any way that it is a forum moderator's responsibility to police these vendors who have poor business sense and customer relations. I am not even sure it is the mods responsibility to draw vendor attention to specific transaction feedback threads about said vendors. The fact they do this I feel is only a small effort to keep the peace and prevent "piling on" posts resulting in flame wars. I think the responsibilities of seeing and reacting to feedback threads lies squarely on the shoulders of the vendors themselves. Trust me, if I saw a thread titled "DezVette sucks" you can rest assured I am going to open that and see what it's all about...

As far as the "IN STOCK" website goes, the way I feel is that if you have no brick-and-mortar storefront, you have no excuse. There are no shelves to stock and clean, so your shelves are your web pages. If the only thing you have is a website to maintain, that should be a pretty damn well maintained website. If a customer sends you an email, REPLY to it! When you see that something listed on your site is NOT in stock, update your damn website to reflect that!

The acceptance of being at the mercy of drop shipments is the direct result of the mentality we have come to accept of every kid deserves a trophy just for trying. Well that is where I call bull----! Your kid is the reason why we are losing out there! Tell Timmy to stop chewing on his glove and get his head in the game, we are getting clobbered! Yes, I am keeping score!

PSTOUT1

So yesterday in one of my posts I said that if it was not resolved by today, I would post a proper transaction feedback.

Here it is:

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/tran...e-c5racer.html

Katech_Zach

AORoads

Well, now that you've identified who they are, I can't find them as a sponsoring vendor on CF. Maybe they are tho....

All I can say is that I looked up C6Perf... and found this thread. And, truthfully, if I were going to plunk down anything over a hundred (which is about 1/33 of what you are doing), I would have done a search for the name of the company right here on CF.

Altho this is from 2011, the name and the reaction times sound about the same, which would have led me to another company. Don't you agree?

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c6-c...ance-site.html

PSTOUT1

It's been 3 months since I did the due diligence (and yes, I do this for any significant purchase) so it's quite possible that I've mixed them up as a supporting vendor and perhaps found my reviews elsewhere. I've ordered more than $45k in Corvette parts from 7 different vendors (the custom interior taking the bulk of that pie) since March 1st so it's kinda hard to keep track.

The other vendor with whom I take issue is a sponsor, but as I have no open qualm then I cannot rant about them specifically. I'll just not order from them again.

If somehow I mixed that up then my bad -- but I hope my post still serves as a warning from others trying to buy from these guys.

AORoads

It does serve as a very good warning and clearly stated. Sorry if it was a harsh experience.

1rusty1

No matter, there are a few on here that do the same.

I have purchased as much from vendors on this site as I have outside the list. There are some vendors on here that I appreciate and believe work hard for my business. There are others that are dismal. I will stay away from them but my beef is that we have our post/threads pulled based on a vendor complaining that it (post) isn't fair. I say bull$hit on that. If I want to inform other members on this site that I was hosed by a vendor, I should have the right. I don't give a rat's flying cr@p about how that makes the vendor feel. If they (vendors) are worried about losing business because of bad press, they should do a better job of responding to their customers.

DillingerRadio

I feel where you're coming from.. Here are a few vendors I've had EXCELLENT service from:

CorvetteMods.com - Not sure if they're a forum vendor, but... Outstanding service, huge range of products, fantastic communication. I ordered the centennial cup wheels from them in gloss black with red stripe. Turns out the matte black with red stripes were what they had. They shot me an e-mail right away asking if that was OK. It absolutely was with me- and they shipped very shortly after that communication.

MGW - This guy makes THE short-shifter to have in your corvette. I got the shifter and lower box assembly for the price of the shifter, they were quick to communicate on all my questions, and everything arrived in a timely fashion. Not only is the guy behind it a great engineer, he's got a great team behind him. The product listed isn't always what you get (he's CONSTANTLY updating his designs) but it's never a disappointment. Not getting what you see initially, in this instance, is definitely not a bad thing. He's always striving for better and each iteration is great!

Adam@Amp'dAutoSport - Supplied me with my brakes. He listened to my various concerns, desires and setup, and cut me a great deal on a set of brake pads that suited what I wanted. A good guy and a great product.

Doug@ECS - What can I say about ECS that hasn't already been said? They have an excellent reputation throughout the forum. In this particular instance, Doug listened to my setup, desires, and offered me a great price on a Mantic 9000 clutch. I haven't yet pulled the trigger on it (not for lack of want). But it's pretty much going to happen as soon as my bank account recovers from Lingenfelter.

These are just a few of my interactions so far. I have to say, pretty much all of them have been pleasant. But these guys definitely stand out.

DOUG @ ECS

Thank you very much sir!

DillingerRadio

No problem Doug! But I didn't say anything that wasn't true! As soon as I'm done paying Uncle Sam, I'll be getting in touch with you on that clutch!

1rusty1

Ok now that I got that out of my system.

COMMANDER2OOO

I couldn't agree more I purchased hid fog lights from a forum vender the crappy hid,s worked for a week that's it I called the vender an all I got was the run around typically these venders sell pretty good products but if u have a problem they will dodge u like a family member that owe you money

Red Devil

I'm with you on this one!