Man these kinds of threads are really starting to get out of hand.
I am middle man myself, owning a retail furniture store. The second I take a 50% deposit the order is immediately placed with the supplier who then sends me a confirmation. I try to relay order status continually to my customers as information arrives to myself. Once in a while customers call the suppliers direct to get updates or sometimes complain.
The only thing I can guess (and I don't know the auto part industry) is that Frank is obviosuly offering some better prices. He must take full deposits and then wait until he has volume orders to then place at the manufacturers so he can get the volume discounts and then pass that savings onto the consumer. This has to be why he is so hush hush on his business problems. If he were to admit this secret then people would most likely stop buying from him all together UNLESS the guy was up front with people saying: "I can get you said price, if you are willing to pay up front AND wait approx said amount of time"
I ordered about $10k worth of parts from him a 1-2 years ago, he was a good salesman and offered some good suggestions. But have to say his logistics and followup in regards to orders and mis-shipment of parts was a real pain in the ass as I had to call and deal with the manufacturers directly myself. IE he provided barely any after sale support unless I was calling/emailing him and busting his balls reminding him which in my experience is NOT what the consumer is supposed to be doing. That is the dealers job NOT the manufacturer. The manufactuer should only step up and get involved if theres a delivery problem, or actual problem with thier product.
Good luck everyone and I hope these vendors and manufacturers in Question can somehow step up and take some accountability for their problems and from my personal experience this is getting worse and worse in every industry. Everyone is happy to make the sale and collect the money, nobody gives a damn to help out and sometimes LOSE money to get the customer what they ordered and keep them happy.
Ryan
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