[QUOTE=Ummgawa;347562]Am I missing something here? Do.Not.Charge. A. Man. For. Parts. And. Drag. it. Out. for. Months. Period. Tell him you can't and tell him how long until. If it's Twinkies or car parts.

When you hang your shingle out for business and you agree to serve the public with your wares, seems to me any business with a man's money and that man months without it (the cash or the goods) has the right to be pissed. Anything less is doubletalk.



X2!!!!!!!!

Jim, that is real simple but it was not a plan to take this long. A lot of the problem with these big orders has been coordinating all the products and trying to get everything to ship around the same time. and coordinating stuff to show when it is convenient for the buyer. You get a part on back order from one of the 20 suppliers, and it throws a wrench into everything. Postpone ordering part of a order so it does not show up too soon, then things get forgotten. 200 other things are happening at once and the ball gets dropped.

I lay NONE of the blame on any supplier. Here is the deal, up till now we have drop shipped 90% of what we sell. But the entire industry is one "doo doo flows down hill" backorder. I deal with the presidents of biggest companies in the business and everyone is complains about back orders. We drop ship almost everything, it is really hard to keep up with what shipped and what did not. Then if you try to time a order and delay ordering a part because you want it all to show up at once, it is easy to forget when your doing EVERYTHING.

A perfect example, today, all the money in the world and red labels cannot make the transmission kit ship complete today. Could this have happened during the last few months, yes it could. Did I totally forget about it, yes I did. Is that excusable, Nope. But it is what it is.

I said it already I cannot do much about yesterday but have made a huge capitol investment in tomorrow.

So here is what we are doing about it.

We bought a 9,500 square foot facility with 1800 sq ft office space. We DID NOT buy the bigger shop to do more car builds, the extra space is for the parts business. The office space is for more people we are hiring just to answer phones and for order / back order follow up and logistics. As we speak we are installing a computer network and invoicing / order program that is much more detailed then our previous program that will automatically do things we do manually now. We are also integrating that new system with our store which up to now is not integrated. We have finished building a large parts area that will house inventory for hard to get items and also inventory support items that go with out kits. There is room to grow with another 4500 sq ft of mezzanine that will come once we settle in and then even more inventory.

It will take a while to get used to for those that are used to Frank answering every call. That will not happen anymore and the cell phone number will be moved to a land line on a rotary with 4 lines. As barraza mentioned, my phone rings off the hook for technical calls. Many of those calls just free advice with no purchase. I love that, I like helping people out and there is no person that can say I have ever suggested they must buy from us for using my services. In fact there are many that can tell stories of me telling them where they can find a better deal then I can offer. So that tech will still be available, I just won't answer every order follow up, telemarketer, call that comes in. I am going to learn to delegate.

Guys, I can't do anymore then I am doing.

As a vendor now and a part buyer also I know how both sides are feeling.As a vendor it is real hard to please everybody all the time.As a parts buyer I also feel when my check clears the bank my parts should ship soon after.But in the real world some times thing's don't alway's happen that way.I have and will again placed large order's w/Frank.My wheel's showed up on time when he said they would,My brakes were Back ordered from the Mfg/but came in soon after.It's not hard to meet deliverly times when you are in control of your product's,but when someone else is doing the handling and shipping some times thing's go arey.I think there are alot more happy customer's w/Frank than there are mad customer's.I like speaking w/ someone I know on the phone.Now I will have to start all over again.We all call Frank because he save's us alot of dough.We don't want to call the mfg. direct because they usually don't give us that smoking good deal.To me it's worth waiting a little longer if I will save a few buck's.If you/anyone else as a part's buyer are unhappy w/Frank there are a ton of other vendor's to call.As a vendor and a part's buyer both just slow down give the vendor a quick call or email the explain your problem's and give some time to call back.Scott M.:thumbsup:

What I don't understand is how a person is being charged yet the parts aren't being ordered from the manufacturer that same day... in some cases the order isn't placed with the manufacturer for months.

I guess since I don't understand it, someone needs to explain it to me.

something shouldn't be paid for until it has shipped. My business doesn't get charged for anything till it is shipped. being a reseller, the dealer should be set up on terms with their supplier, usually net30, so they arent being billed either till the product ships. the dealer gets/dropships the goods, gets paid from customer(credit card)immediately and walla everyone is happy. the dealer then has plenty of time to pay for part and possibly take a early discount if offered.

I agree Scott, if your C.C. is charged then the part's should ship.If the vendor calls and place's an order and is told the part's are backordered or not in stock then the customer should be called and told of the delay.And when part's are ready to ship and only then should the C.C. be charged.

I couldn't agree more, and that was a big motivation for my post, to let people know that this was not happening (at least in my instance). People need to be aware that this happens, and hopefully they can avoid the frustration that I have experienced by having this knowledge. If I have brought some awareness to any potential future buyers with any vendor out there, then hopefully I've helped others in some way.

Any dealings that I have in the future with any vendor will absolutely not be allowed to occur this way if there is anything that I can do to prevent it. I can understand a vendor requesting a deposit in some situations, but payment in full before completed shipment is simply unacceptable.

And to update the status for everyone else, Frank and I discussed the balance of my order today and have decided that he will complete the transmission delivery but we will part ways on the wheels. So someone else can get a great set of Forgelines pretty quickly as they are available for immediate assembly.

I've built businesses from the ground up so I understand about the wear all the hats/outrageously busy mode. What I learned from those businesses is that when you are ramping up due to the popularity of your business ALWAYS leave the apparatus you originally had in place until you are confident that the new one will be able to seamlessly integrate and enhance the one you already have. Otherwise, this is the mess that you will have on your hands!

In my business, for me to tell my customer "I forgot" or "I'm really busy doing X" would be suicide. They don't care and, in all honesty, they have every right to not care. They have enough going on in their own businesses without having to do the job they've contracted me to do. That's why they pay me.

I, like Frank, spend countless hours on the phone with people who I will never make a dime on but, in retrospect, have seen the ripple effect it has as word of mouth from the "Freeloader" get's to someone else that has cash in hand and is ready to spend so, really, those hours did yield me business and that is why I continue to do it so to say that those hours are there to serve the community and you don't make a dime off of it is not entirely true.

I'm sure Frank's intention has been honorable and he would like nothing better than to be able to resolve this matter but at the end of the day it's business so good intentions or not it's just bad business to do what has been posted by the OP. Charging the credit card and then not ordering just makes things more suspect. None of that issue can be attributed to "too busy" or "not enough people". You obviously had enough time to run the card!!

Like I've said before, the customers job is to write the check and make sure it clears. That's it. The vendors job is to deliver on what he promises regardless of his supply chain issues. It's the vendors job to stay on top of his vendors to make sure they are doing what they are supposed to do not the customer. His job ended when his check/credit card cleared.

John

there is something that seems to be getting skimmed over. It's not just that orders are being charged immediately even though they may be back ordered from the manufacturer. And it's not that he's holding some orders after being paid for to try to synch up the deliveries. What is also happening is that on some orders, even for single items like a set of wheels, the money may be taken immediately and the order may not go in for months. Literally.

In defense of Frank he has always delivered at some point. To my knowledge nobody has been ripped off. But it's a major red flag when someone uses your money for some other reason than placing your order with the manufacturer.

It pains me immensely to post this, but I feel a major obligation to our members to get the info out there. He did this exact thing to a very good friend of mine recently on a set of wheels, and it was a real eye-opener for me. :(

Bottomline for me..... don't charge me for parts that arent ready to ship right now. Small deposit to reserve my spot in line for the order....no problem. But unless my parts are ready to go, I shouldnt be expected to pay the full price. Chances are that I put the order on a CC, and I pay off my CC every month....so I may have paid that $$ out of my pocket weeks or months ago, but dont see the actual part for months??? Not cool....

I just dealt with this when i ordered a hood for my Cuda (not from Frank)..... was told 6-8 week lead time....no big deal. Was told they would contact me when it was close to being done and then they would verify and charge my CC at that time....no problem. Get a call 3 months later... they act like my hood is next...charge my CC..... another couple of weeks go by....no hood..... contact them and am assured my hood will be done soon. Another couple of weeks...same deal. So basically the hood finally ships almost 6 months after my original order and my CC was charged over 2 months before the hood was actually done and shipped. In the meantime I paid the bill on my CC 2 months ago.

I've ordered stuff from Frank and its gone okay....not great, but the parts arrived as promised, maybe alittle later than promised, but overall I have no major complaints.

First of all I really admire the way everyone has maintained an adult attitude about this issue and I appreciate the Admins. handling of the topic. It's a functional discussion and not cut off with "Oh no, no slamming vendors in here...."

Reading through this and other threads like it always reminds me of a couple mantras that get pounded into my head regularly at work.

"If we don't take care of the customer somebody else will."

"The customer is always right". <-- This one is especially tough for me quite often but it seems to always be the attitude that corrects a sticky situation.

Very well said. :thumbsup:

First post,so hi to all. I starting dealing with Frank a few years ago. I was on vac. in Florida and looked him up. He took me for lunch and treated me like a old friend...price of the whole deal i bought a DSE wiper motor kit?Cost to his sales ,3 hours at lunch taking no calls.Phone rang every 45 seconds,most calls free advice Point i am making orders have been lost,misplaced ,whatever,BUT if We as a bunch of car nuts are going to talk to Frank and want answers and tech stuff,how much free time does he have?? I work in a large jobber store 14 parts guys 600 invoices a day,i missplace a order a day. We take 4500 phone calls a day,multiple suppliers,shippers..so i feel the pain. We as a company charge the customer the second we get a order..reason if we didnt how many parts would we be stuck with if we didnt? I change my mind every other second,i think we are all like that. Frank you are a asset to the sport.. great day to all Wes

"Problems happen, delays happen, incorrect parts and products and defective parts and products happen...

Poor customer service does not "happen," it is created." -Bill Kistner

When a company, any company, gives poor service, it is, in a way, ripping off its customers. Excepting for a few people who actually enjoy Wall Mart style shopping, customers want to be served. They want to know that their money, their hard work, is respected, and when that respect is lost, they are cheated... and they'll let everyone know about it.

It is unfortunate, but "word of mouth" advertising is probably one of the least utilized yet most powerful types of advertising out there. It saddens me to read of instances like this because I know from experience that most vendors really care about their customers, they just don't know how to really "do" customer service right. Why do you think I started a business helping small companies with their customer service! Most of the people I work with aren't "business men," they're doers; they're mechanics, body men, cooks, accountants, etc, and they're great at those things, but they need to learn how to do the other "stuff" and stay in business at the same time... that's tough to do.

Shiny Side Up!
Bill

Yenko, first off, welcome to the best site on the net, period. Your first post is in defense of Frank and that's fine. What is happening is a legitimate concern for all here. Frank is a good guy, but when money is tossed in the mix everything changes. The main concern is this: parts paid for and not ordered, period. You are making excuses for Frank and Prodigy's repeated patterns of billing and not ordering, and it is repeated, and thus is not excusable. If his business is indeed doing as well as he sez, then he needs to hire a few logistics people to solve his logistics problems. Shipping? Hire someone. Outside calls for free advice on your project? Field as many as possible and hire a back up when he's "at lunch".

The man handing his hard earned scratch over to any vendor, regardless of who it is, HAS FULL-FILLED HIS END OF THE DEAL!

Excuses from Frank, you, President Obama, are just that...excuses! I will confess that the issues I have read here have prevented me from ordering from him. It sounds like my concerns are well grounded.

So on this deal when we Bryan's orders were placed we knew stuff would be back ordered and did not charge until we THOUGHT we would be able to get parts. At the time Bryan ordered his transmission I told him they were on back order everywhere so we did not charge yet. In the meantime I put request (not orders) into 3 distributors I use as know one had a firm date as to when they would receive them and I was going to order with whomever got them first. Whenever we did charge it was because we got a indication the trans would be coming in very soon, however it did not. In fact during this same time period Modern Museum decide to accept a wide ratio box as the close ratio simply was not coming in. All the while I had not placed " orders" with all 3 vendors or I could have wound up with 3 of each for each customer. So I out is a request for 3 units for Prodigy Customs, no customer name attached. There was some courtesy copy emails informing all 3 customers of delays and expected times of delivery.

When transmissions did come in to the distributors there was confusion with Lisa and I over who was handling what order. We ran no sales, no promotions, nothing this past Christmas season December, January and February were HUGE sales months, up 50% over the previous year, and Lisa and I were past our limit of what we could handle quite bluntly. I have not thrown any blame on Lisa, but realistically she has a much lower pain tolerance than I do and as things get super busy I have to take the lions share of the load. That is not saying anything negative, some people can handle more then others.

In the meantime Bryan however was politely quite, which is appreciated, but unfortunately as someone mentioned, the squeaky wheels gets the grease and I got so busy, if I thought about it for a second, the phone would ring. I kinda needed reminders weather it should be that way or not

When the transmissions came in to various distributors. I thought Lisa handled Bryan, she thought I handled it, no one handled it. How can this happen, we was handling litterly 100s of orders.

So the decision was made we had to step up, move into a larger facility to handle all this, or lose it all. So we moved which is all consuming in it self when you move from someplace you have been 22 years. So knowing I was moving I ran zero sales, pulled back on forum activity replying to people asking where to get this and that, to soften sales. I often refereed to competitors if I was in a position i could write a invoice.

So bottom line, the transmission parts were not available for a long period of time, and when they were my head was somewhere else and I forgot which as nutcase said is terrible to say, but it is what it is.

As for charging up front. 90% of the vendors we use charge up front (we run zero open accounts), so we charge up front. It takes 3 days for funds to post to a account by credit card, we have reminders to order, sometimes they get dropped Sometimes you can be ready to place a order, the phone rings, someone wants to talk about their project, someone needs you in the shop, you have lunch and forget. The new system will not allow that. It will hound us with reminders. having someone that is not taking tech calls that is only doing POs, will make that much less likely also.

BTW, FWIW, this goes the other way also. I got a call from Australia today reminding I need to charge for a A/C kit that is on the way. he needed it ASAP, I was on the road when he called, so I got the order going driving down the street. I simply have not wrote the invoice yet. A item shipped yesterday and I have not even charged for it yet. He is a good customer, I trust him. I will get to it. just need to get his card number.

Bottom line this is not a grab and go deal. It is not a cash flow issue as some have eluded too. It is simply too much too fast and as I said I am doing everything I can do to fix it. FWIW, the company is 100% debt free. Accept for a very short term mortgage on the building, if you see me with it, we own it. Includes all equiptment, inventory, cars, everything. No floor planners, investors, lines of credit.

I just thought I would throw that out there for the speculators that think it is something it is not.

I cannot lay it out any clearer or accept more responsibility. And I cannot do anything more then i am doing to fix it.

Welcome aboard, Wes.



The contention here isn't about how many phone calls that Prodigy Customs receives. This problem is about people being charged for parts/items that are ordered months after the order is placed and payment is made.

The sheer volume of PM's, e-mails, and phone calls that I've received over the past 48 hours from people that are or have been in this same situation with Frank is shocking. I've also taken phone calls from several manufacturers that tell me how they get phone calls from irate customers demanding to know why X part has been backordered for months - when in reality they have the part in stock and ready to drop ship. The excuse was produced by Frank to cover the issue of it never being ordered in the first place.

Now, while Bryan has his ordered problems figured out and both parties have parted ways, there are several more people with this same problem RIGHT NOW that do not feel comfortable placing their issue out here in the wide open for public consumption. But they are out there, reading this thread, wondering if they will ever get their stuff.

Scott, I have not recieved one phone call, email, PM from anyone in this position since this thread has started. I actually expected everyone in the world to call that has been waiting more then 5 minutes but it has not been that way at all. Sure we have orders open Please forward me anyone PMing you, I will be happy to address. They should have no problem contacting me.

Frank, you know exactly what is going on with what customers. You think I'm making this up?

Frank,

You should not be expecting any calls. If an order has been placed and delays are incurred, you should be the one contact them. Customers should not have to be expediters. Once an order is placed, the vendor should be responsible for for updating customers with logistical issues and expediting their execution.

Thanks to the mods for stepping in to resolve this issue. I hope everyone gets their parts in a timely fashion.

I'll be in touch in a week or so concerning my drive shaft, the last piece of my order.

:lateral:

I've been following this post for two days. I feel like I've gone through some bumps in the road on my build. I've had my fair share of losses. I had some really cool stuff happen too.
I can't say enough how much I've learned just from Lateral g. It is great that the people that run Lateral g., the business and customer have said what they have to say and are informing all of us.:thumbsup: I hope in the end the customer ends up with a cool car!!!:cheers:

I hope all realizes that this is not an isolated event. We have been trying to figure a way of handling this issue for a year or longer. Glad it finally is getting discussed.

I am going to side with the hard working man that has paid his bills and little by little saved his money and dreamed about having a modern kick ass ride, and is having to wait and is maybe afraid to "rock the boat" in fear of never getting his parts or being shoved to the bottom of the list as far as delivery is concerned. Even if it perception, it's bad for us all, because in his case, perception equals reality. Someone needs to get out of his pajamas and get to work.

Something just isn't adding up here. One plus one does still equal two doesn't it?

No Scott, I do not think you are making this up. I know plenty of people have gone through this, I have acknowledged that over and over again and have made it clear why we are doing what were doing to fix it.

No it is not the customers job to call, however if somone is worried they will never get their stuff they should call. I have not heard from anyone or aware of anyone that is hung out on a order that is not in direct comunication and updated. I am working over 200 orders right now some 15 minutes old, some a few months old, so no I cannot possibly know who has contacted you. As I know right now everyone is cool and knows what their situation is. There is not a single customer that has not got what they ordered. In fact my oldest invoice right now is for a very custom motor, and he has a ton of money in it and we talk regularly. He just called and is talking about ordering more stuff. Expensive custom stuff.

So, here is the deal, if there is ANYONE worried about getting their stuff or wants a order update, pease call me.

As for manufacturers getting calls, I can think of one manufacturer last week that got a call and we had not got the order in last week and it was a case of a emailed PO going to a ghost.

Our new system will have someone following up with a phone call after every PO is sent making sure it was gotten, And the new system will remind us if a PO has not been sent.

Again, I am doing everything I can to fix it.

The number one thing that needs to be fixed is charging CC's then ordering parts at a much later date. That is a no no.
We need to protect the members from potentail issues from the vendors that are endorsed here. Bottom line.
People will understand delay in getting stuff, but when the vendor has the money already and the parts are not ordered immediately, that is not flying here.

...anything less is just a Ponzi Scheme, plain and simple. Perception equals reality and the perception is that members cards are getting charged some big numbers and having to pay interest on those charges while they wait for parts. The reality is, members are getting charged for their parts, and having to wait months with no communication from the man they gave their hard-earned, let me say again, hard earned money to without the items they were promised. Seems to me their needs to be a conversation something like this:

"OK, here's the deal, I'm going to charge your credit card in a crappy economy for the full price of your order and you'll probably not see the parts for two to six months, but I'll be sure to wait for YOU to call me about your order because it is after all, your money. But please wait until you are good and pissed off before you call, so I'll have my excuses about other peoples stuff, stuff that is obviously more important than yours, ready. I'll lament about how great I have done for everyone else but you and how rare this is and I'm moving and Vendors suck and people lie and I'm always right. Oh and by the way, you may even have to post it on a major Board like Lateral-G.net to get me moving. If you agree to those terms, we can do business"

That is what all your posts are telling me Frank. There are just too many people upset about this to be a rare occasion. You have got to stop charging folks for stuff you know you are not about to order and may not for months, period, end of story.

The customer is always right, man, he's the reason you eat and have car's and shop's and vacations and everything else. You need to wrap your brain around that.

Jim, your fired up. You say I need to wrap my brain around this? I am, I have been doing everything I can to prevent this. I am not running from any of this. The wild assumptions are just that. It is not a ponzi scheme, it is horrible overstressed disorganization, plain and simple. Under no circumstances is someone charged and it expected to go down like Carbuff. I even did not charge on Carbuffs order until I thought we had stuff coming because I knew stuf was out a while. He ackowledged that.

Now, there are situations where someone is charged knowing they are going to wait, like on our engine deals. I buy them in batches of 5 and do them group purchase style and turn them for a few hundred markup. Those people know they are waiting and we are using their money to buy them with so we can run a low profit margin with no investment. And it may take 2 to 4 weeks to get a group together and 3 to 4 weeks to get the 5 motors. Also there are specials I run were I make a commitment to take say 10 of a product to get a deeper discount I can pass to my customer, and we gather cash and order 10, gp style. But those people know they will wait.

Then there are things that simply require full payment before the manufacturer will start, no matter who places the order. Those people know they are going to wait.

But you are correct, the buyer should be aware of this situation from the get go, and I acccept full responsibility when that has happened.

And Jim, there is another side to this coin. There is the side when you only take a deposit, the parts are ready, manufacturer charges us for the full cost, and the customer becomes invisible when it is time to collect the balance. And you can wipe you butt with a CC autorization, that is about useless. How do you think I end up with so many "deals". Because someone could not pick them up.

I have a motor ready, been ready a few days, but I have not heard back from my buyer. He only owes a couple grand more but today I am upside down on the deal a good $1500. I have 2 sets of wheels ready and the buyers are not around. Maybe on summer vacation, but I am upside down $3500 in the meantime.

I am not trying to cry the blues, but there is a lot to all this.

Frank, I can assure you, I am not fired up. You have a lot of upset folks you owe either money or parts to and they are not happy. Why? Because you charged them for the parts and haven't delivered in a timely fashion, that is the recurring theme here. You are compounding the problem by saying the person (your customer) is responsible for making sure they get the stuff they paid you to get for them. If you are doing the volume of business you say you are doing, then you know the bad vendors and know their build times and it is your responsibility to steer them away or give them warning.

As for the other problems you are experiencing, I cannot address, but the ones that have chimed in, sounds to me like they paid in full.

Frank: No one else I've dealt with charges me for parts until they are shipped. No one. The issue that keeps falling off your radar is charging the customer's credit card when the order is taken, rather than when - and as - the order is filled.

For myself, I don't care how much you do to straighten out the ordering process; if it continues to be your practice to charge when the customer places the order, rather than when the parts have shipped, I'll take my business elsewhere. There is simply no reason for me to help finance your business by providing the float between when I place my order and when you have to pay the manufacturer for my parts.

Jim, I do not owe anyone money. I have refund I sent this week because a customer went in a different direction with his fuel pump. Those kind of statements stick and are not true.

And the people I owe parts if they are mad I have not heard it in my conversations.

As for making them responsible, I have said it at least 10 times the customer shoulkd not have to call, can't say that enough. In the same sentence when I am running arund with my hair on fire a reminder helps. As I said a dozen times, I have cooled the sales so i can finish the build out, and get this going.

And I will say it again, if there are a LOT of people upset I owe parts to, tell the mods, but PLEASE call me

And if I owe someone money, I really need to know about this.

Just a thought..thinking out-loud. How is a guy to run a company with little margins,give service and beat other prices. We have all tried to price things direct,usually 30 points higher and have to pay shippng. Credit card companies usually take 2-4%. This problem with Frank will be fixed im sure,but as far as big ticket items,i think it will stay take time.You guys are amazing how civilized u keep ur chats. GREAT JOB. Wes

Really? I started listing company names then realized this is the wrong thread for that. I should not list names, but I promise that more then 50% of the companies we deal with will not take your order without payment, even if it is a 4 to 6 week build item. Order a subframe? A Chassis, A motor? Order a set of wheels from anyone? Your paying 50% to 100% up front.

90% of the product we buy is charged at the order, not the delivery. SOME companies as of late that have got into back orders situations have started charging when products ship. But that is a problem for us also as we have zero warning and usually get a UPS notice it is gone, and if we have not collected, to bad, to sad.

Truly, our answer to a lot of this will be inventory on hard to get items and we plan to load the shelves with this kind of stuff, tomorrow, not yesterday! This business has simply out grown drop ship statues

FWIW, everybody's beloved DSE charged my CC for the full amount of my Vintage Air front runner. Took about a month and a half to get it. This was several years ago but it did happen.
Darren

I expected this response, but not everything is a custom ordered part and the most troubling complaints are that customers are charged for parts which are then not ordered for weeks or months. For my part, when someone has thousands of dollars from me, I'd like them to act as if it's also important to them and to follow up on their commitment.

Your response appears to be that Prodigy will continue to charge customers when orders are taken, regardless when the order is placed with the manufacturer, when Prodigy has to pay for the part, or when the part is shipped.

I guess that model is working for you so far, and my cars are mostly built and equipped, so the loss of my small amount of business won't hurt Prodigy.

Good luck.

Mike, Almost everything we sell is a order part from the manufacturer and that is why we are going to inventory that stuff as we grow.

Wilwood brakes, Baer brakes, AME subframe, DSE subframes are not on the shelf right now, Vintage Air, Chassis works suspension, 2 to 4 weeks right now are all order itlems with options and secifications and take 2 day to 2 months! And out of the ones I listed all but (2) charge instantly.

And when we can avoid charging knowing we have a back order, like with Carbuffs order, we will postpone charging until we have a idea when stuff will come in. That T56 Magnum close ratio back order was nasty, no one knew for sure when they were coming in. I have 3 distributors and all 3 were guessing at when they might see one.

Was the order placed close to the date of payment is the issue. Delay like I stated happens. But people paying and the order not place for months don't fly.

The difference is not in backorders, it's about a company charging the customer before that company has placed the corresponding order with the vendor. If any random company had charged you immediately and then placed the order 5 weeks later it would be treated the same as this situation.

Worse still would be if you had to call 5 times before you pushed the company to order the product you had already paid them for.

Bottom line guys is we have had multiple members , including friends of the moderators being charged for parts and been told it's on backorder or whatever. Then the customer calls the manufacturer directly to find out it's in stock or it takes two weeks to get. Mind you it's already been 3 months. That is the issue.

Talking about how long, backorders , etc if fine and dandy. It happens in all line os work. It's the issue of payment and order date.

Vendors might want payment now, half payment that's great. Just order the dang parts when the payment is made!!

Actually, you are incorrect about this statement. I had several vendors charge me in full, the day that I ordered the part. I can list them if you want, and you be shocked on how many charge the day you order the item. Then you start the waiting game. I have ordered from Frank before and it took about 3 months to get my parts. I just kept pinging him either email or phone. I do that with all vendors and I always got my parts. Typically, a subframe, wheels, etc is 50% up front. Although, some now are going to making you pay in full, and you wait 2 months before they ship your part.


Frank, this will work. Although, you have to figure out on how many items of inventory to stock. Majority of the manufacturers are using Just-in-time, but it is really hard on the suppliers that stock the part. The problem is that inventory on hand costs you money at the end of the year.

Jeff