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 Posted - January 07 2011 : 1:46:01 PM
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I would really like it if some of these small specialty manufacturers and suppliers would respond to e-mail questions that are not addressed on their product page, like sizes and dimensions. If you're out of town or on vacation, at least set up an away message stating so. I understand that it can be overwhelming to respond sometimes, as I have already spent entire evenings responding to requests for information when I had an online store, but it makes me hesitant to purchase from them, even though they're a sole source.
Separately, I recently questioned shipping charges from a very large and well known supplier for a very tiny item. Rather than receiving a kind response, I was treated like an idiot who couldn't read and referred to their FAQ page which had no information on my original question.
I'm losing faith in humanity, one customer service representative at a time 
~ Dave
They're ALL toys
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Posted - January 07 2011 : 4:13:04 PM
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Shipping is almost alawys high from a place of business. Order something that weighs nothing and and pay a large shipping cost. Included in this handling cost is that box & peanuts they use, an hours pay for two employees, and a weeks rent on the building, and the fuel it takes to get it to the post office, though it was handed to the mailman upon him leaving the mail...
Walt
Luck, usually comes dressed in work clothes...
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Posted - January 07 2011 : 4:19:02 PM
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I needed a part for my old truck (1:1 scale). I called this transmission company, they said they had the part somewhere in the back. the conversation went something like this:
"yeah, we have that part. it's in the back somewhere"
"fine, I want it"
"well, it's used and I'd have to charge you 8 or 9 dollars for it.
"thats o.k., I need it"
"well, I'll have to charge you 6.95 shipping and handling and find a box for it."
"that's o.k., I'll pay it, I need the part"
"well, I have to go look for it and then I got to find a box to put it in"
"o.k. with me"
"well, I really don't feel like doing that"
"you don't ?"
"no, I really don't feel like it. You probably can find one locally"
I proceeded to explain that I have searched everywhere I could and they were the only source for that part. But, I still didn't get the part from them. The advice I got from my brother was to write down the name of the company with a note stating never to do business with them again.
I'm sorry to hear you had a bad experience. I hope it was not a model train hobby site.
Unspoken expectations are premeditated failures.
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Posted - January 07 2011 : 6:49:25 PM
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quote:Shipping is almost alawys high from a place of business. Order something that weighs nothing and and pay a large shipping cost. Included in this handling cost is that box & peanuts they use, an hours pay for two employees, and a weeks rent on the building, and the fuel it takes to get it to the post office, though it was handed to the mailman upon him leaving the mail...
Originally posted by walt - January 07 2011 : 4:13:04 PM
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The thing that makes me sore is that their web site says the item was shipped by the "best method", which happens to be Fed-Ex SmartPost, the worst method of all shipping methods and is not disclosed until the tracking number is provided. Fed-Ex is utilizing a deeply discounted rate intended for bulk mail order houses. I've had items take up to 16 days to arrive from 200 miles away. So, Fed-Ex handles the pickup and then delivers to the post office, saving fuel, labor, you name it. Another part of the problem is if a package is lost, neither the Post Office not Fed-Ex will take responsibility. The icing on the cake was the way that I was treated by the customer service rep. So, for $8.95 I get the county's slowest shipping and insults.
For $5.00, this company could have used Priority Flat Rate, received free boxes and blank shipping labels, spent roughly 25 cents on packing, they would have picked up the package and I'd have my product already.
If and when my package arrives, I intend to figure out what the real cost of shipping was, probably to my own dismay.
~ Dave
~ Dave
They're ALL toys
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Posted - January 07 2011 : 6:53:50 PM
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quote:I needed a part for my old truck (1:1 scale). I called this transmission company, they said they had the part somewhere in the back. the conversation went something like this:
"yeah, we have that part. it's in the back somewhere"
"fine, I want it"
"well, it's used and I'd have to charge you 8 or 9 dollars for it.
"thats o.k., I need it"
"well, I'll have to charge you 6.95 shipping and handling and find a box for it."
"that's o.k., I'll pay it, I need the part"
"well, I have to go look for it and then I got to find a box to put it in"
"o.k. with me"
"well, I really don't feel like doing that"
"you don't ?"
"no, I really don't feel like it. You probably can find one locally"
I proceeded to explain that I have searched everywhere I could and they were the only source for that part. But, I still didn't get the part from them. The advice I got from my brother was to write down the name of the company with a note stating never to do business with them again.
I'm sorry to hear you had a bad experience. I hope it was not a model train hobby site.
Originally posted by NC shortlines - January 07 2011 : 4:19:02 PM
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Wow, I hope that transmission story isn't a true story!
Yes, in fact it is 4 different train hobby sites. Site 1 thinks I'm an idiot, sites 2 and 3, after repeated attempts to contact them have yet to respond in over 2 weeks and site 4, Yardbird has been pretty good and I think he's a one man operation.
~ Dave
~ Dave
They're ALL toys
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Posted - January 07 2011 : 7:50:35 PM
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quote: I recently questioned shipping charges from a very large and well known supplier for a very tiny item.
I'm losing faith in humanity, one customer service representative at a time
Originally posted by RDC1Â -Â January 07 2011Â :Â 1:46:01 PM
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Economy is tight. Shipping is expensive, the costs due to fuel price rises have gone WAY up ( I ship for my company, so I see the prices go up ). If you buy a small part, and wonder why it costs $8-9 to ship it, it's because a company doesn't make much on a $1-2 part or some thing small, and it takes the same amount of time to process that order as a $100 order. Not saying it's a good company trait to insult your customers, but small purchasers are a pain to businesses. Again, I know, I ship out a single piece, and it can take an hour to prepare it, box it , label it, etc. AT $23 per hour, you won't make much from someone buying a $3 train part. So you have to charge a bit more for shipping to make up for it. I'm not sure if USPS offers customer accounts for shippers, but I can order supplies for FedEx and UPS online and they ship them to me. Not sure the USPS delivers the boxes and supplies to our door never tried that. They are cheaper, but not sure of the convenience of their shipping supplies. And that's part of a business as well, the convenience. Anyway, I hope you have better experiences this year with your purchases. And try not to buy small items.  One at a time, anyway. It's an economy-of-scale business, so you're going to lose if you only buy a tiny part for cheap. Sorry, that's biz.
Jerry
" When life throws you bananas...it's easy to slip up"
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farace
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Posted - January 07 2011 : 8:20:32 PM
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Companies forget the PR value of good customer service, even for the small parts. Get treated well for the small stuff, who do you think they're going to come to for the big stuff. The inverse is also true--not treated well for small items, I'll look elsewhere for the big ones.
I know it's not a small operation, but Bachmann surprised me this morning. They goofed when I sent in a 2-6-0 for repair and they sent me back an 0-6-0. This was right before Christmas, so I figured I'd wait until after the holidays to get it sorted out. This morning I remembered it and sent email. I don't think it was 15 minutes later they called me on the phone to get it squared away. That sort of thing goes a long way toward earning repeat customers.
What twists my knobs the wrong way is when a company charges for shipping based on price. So you could end up spending more to ship a small, expensive item that will fit in an envelope than you will for a large, bulky, lesser-value item. I know it's for their convenience, but that's just it--it's their convenience, not the customer's. I hate that.
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Posted - January 07 2011 : 8:23:22 PM
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quote:Yes, in fact it is 4 different train hobby sites. Site 1 thinks I'm an idiot, sites 2 and 3, after repeated attempts to contact them have yet to respond in over 2 weeks and site 4, Yardbird has been pretty good and I think he's a one man operation.
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Other than Ebay, Yardbird is the only place online that I've bought train parts from. Everything went smoothly with them 
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Posted - January 07 2011 : 9:41:53 PM
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Yes, the transmission story is true.
Dan Bush at Yardbird trains has been excellent to deal with. I've ordered just 1 small item, he charged $1.65. Which was the actual postage. Larger orders have also been just the cost of postage. He has taken time to answer my questions. Now this was a couple of years ago and I had no problems contacting him. Email replies the same day and answered the phone every time I called. Last year I think he moved his business to another state and I heard folks were having difficulty contacting him. I hope that situation has resolved.
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Posted - January 07 2011 : 9:42:07 PM
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NC shortlines comment about the tranny part. I have experience the same with automotive salvage yards. They don't want to nickle & dime parts when the can sell a large part. They pay the parts remover the same pric eper hour for $2.00 worth of parts or $200.00 worth. I worked ta and owned my own body shop many years and people will attempt those small requests. Myself I try to help them if I can, as long as the request is going to a decent cause.
Walt
Luck, usually comes dressed in work clothes...
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Posted - January 07 2011 : 9:59:12 PM
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I realize that time spent to ship a $5.00 part is not economical for many businesses. But his profit for that part was 100% and I would have paid the $6.95 ship/handling.
I try to order everything I need from one source at one time. Thats better for them and me.
By the way, I did find the part in California. I live in North Carolina. So I guess, it was locally. It was on the same planet.
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