I was wondering what one would consider acceptable delivery time from a sponsor or any other supplier. My question is based on the following, I placed an order with a sponsor to the left an received half of the order about a month later and the other half still has not arrived.
I have had emails request with very or limited responses. I'm sure they are doing the best they can, but two months for del of a product.
The order goes back to November.
Just wondering when frustration starts to set in.

Fernando

I had a similar problem with a comany who is not a vendor. I ordered a laundry list of stuff from Bob Mariots and chose 3-5 day delivery. When after 2 weeks I had seen and heard nothing from them I called and they told me that a 2 dollar part (from my $100) was back ordered and they were waiting on it to send out the package. I was more upset about the fact that they hadn't let me know of the back order than anything else, but none the less I emailed and complained. It turns out that another part was also back ordered as well, but the following day they shipped what they had Fed ex 2 day and made me a lot happier. Now its another 2 weeks later and I still haven't seen the back ordered parts, so I'll probably be calling this week to find out their status.

On the other hand Bob Mariots is a huge shop and probably does a ton of mail order business so I was less willing to cut them slack than I would be with one of the many fine smaller vendors on the left. Who (along with my local shops) I will shop with exclusively now that I've discovered this great board.

Your best bet is to call them directly and try to find out why it's late and when you'll see it.

I can't speak highly enough about Jann's Netcraft, I usually have my order delivered to Australia in about 6-7 days. I am just about to try another major sponsor that has been recommended by a friend, I hope they are just as prompt.





Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/01/2005 03:23AM by Myles Boon.

Myles
That's darn good time!! I live in New jersey and get stuff from Florida and central states in maybe 5 days.
Maybe I should move there LOL
It is always good to call some one you are not sure of, this way you can find out over the phone about what's in stock

I placed an order last week,after 5 days I was e-mailed that the order will be dalayed with no delivery date available because they were moving.I was given the option to opt out of the sale and did,letting them know it was bad business to wait 5 days to notify me(all weekdays).Then the response was the order got lost on the desk and the delay was not common but an oversight.Add insult to injury my card info was compromised in the mean time.I trust that it didn`t happen at the sponsers but you have to wonder what transpired while it was "lost" on the desk.So here it is 2 weeks later and I placed the order with a tried and true sponser but now my card is no good so the wait is even longer.

Freddwhy (Rapt-Ryte)

What I normally do is call to find out if they have the stuff I want in stock. If they don't then I can either use something they do have in stock or find another supplier who does. So far I've never had to wait more than about 7 days for anything.

On-line ordering is not infallible nor is email. I'm always amazed when I see posts on this board saying "I emailed so and so two weeks ago and they haven't responded." What's the point of posting that? Pick up the phone and call them, a lot of the sponsors have toll-free numbers and even if they don't, long distance is cheap, especially with a cell phone, and a simple phone call is probably the most effective way to get whatever it is you're looking for.

I placed an order with one of the larger suppliers to the left. When my order arrived, a small part of the order had been backordered. These were arbors, and I could have ordered a different brand if the web site had told me that the ones I wanted were out of stock. Instead, they shipped them out a week later, charging me again for shipping that, in effect, I had already paid for in my origina order. Very disappointing.

Like others have said, I find it best to phone in the order and find out what they have in stock. Then I can make the decision to leave it on backorder or to find another supplier who has it in stock.

I've never been able to get this info on a web order.

Other than this, I try to stock parts and reorder before I run out of them as much as possible. I've had to wait as long as 9 months on rod blanks and 6 months for other items...

Putter

The sponsor did lead me to beleive that the items were in stock, I'm not sure now of they are
brokers and fill orders via another party. I have never had a problem with Jann's Netcraft usually
when you are doing a web order it will notify you if the item is in stock or on back order.

Thanks for the info once again.

Fernando

Keep in mind that web software that ties into inventory can be VERY costly and the fact that many vendors are small companies makes that prohibitive in most cases
Also is the fact (pet peeve #1) that FEW vendors even have the items that they sell listed on there websites (although they still list items that aren't even made anymore0. Most rarely even update their sites. Like Putter said, if you need it now, use the phone (E-mail can be hit or miss)or better yet always order an extra (or two) to have on hand.

I have found Mudhole and Merrick to be very good about e-mail responses and if asked (even via e-mail) will let you know if an item is out of stock.

Mike

What really bothers me is that a sponser here recently charged my credit card for quite a few blanks that were on back order indefinitely. I realized this after i called them 10 days later because i had not received the order.

Victor: My experience has been that when a drop-ship is involved (vendor does not have item in stock, arranges for the manufacturer to ship it directly to you), then they charge you at the front end, regardless of how long you may have to wait. I do not like this practice either. The best recourse for you is to order by phone, as others suggest above. I had a good experience recently with a board sponsor: called them, they told me blanks were not in stock and would have to be drop-shipped, I asked them to call the maunfacturer about availability. They did and got back to me promptly, I then ordered only the blanks that were on-hand at the manufacturer. The blanks arrived within a few days. That's how I will do it from now on.

What I didn't like about my situation was that I had paid a shipping fee based on the cost of my order, including the backordered item. The items were sent, minus the backordered item, and then I was charged again for the shipping when backordered item was shipped. My opinion is that since I had paid for shipping of the full order originally, I shouldn't have been charged shipping for the backordered item.