Getting ripped off by thieves and vendors (Sometimes at the same time)

[Fluid Power]

Keep in mind that even manufacturers are beholden to their raw materials/parts suppliers. If their suppliers are not able to deliver the parts needed for whatever end product the manufacturer is producing then they are, in effect, in the same boat as their dealers in terms of being able to deliver on time. That being said, to try and run a business with a supply chain that only has one supplier in that respective category is just asking for the problems that we are seeing. This is where management is at fault as they are not doing their jobs correctly. ALWAYS have a back up plan!


It does happen. Happens almost every day. The way we work is we always build a little 'fudge' in the delivery date to our customers. My manufacturer says 7-10 days, we quote 14-18 days. When it shows up early, nobody calls us complaining, they call to thank us!

Now in a situation that is competitive, or somebody has a machine down in a plant, then we get or demand a drop dead date from the manufacturer.

It really boils down to communication between the manufacturer, the distributor and the end user. Plain and simple. Nobody likes surprises.

My saying around the office is: "Under promise, Over Deliver."

I wish I had thought of that myself, but it holds true....

[mrr1999]

I wonder if any of these vendors realize that taking payment in full and not completing a transaction without just cause and communication opens up a non-performance suit, which can quickly snowball into a class action. Not to mention if they are paid by Paypal or CC, they can lose their payment gateway if enough non-performance cases are filed.

The sad part is once the ball is rolling (and the consumer rarely knows it is), the operation can be shut down and the owner forced into bankruptcy. At that point all who are waiting for refunds sit on a list - many times forever without remedy.

Unless you have a crystal ball or ask for a financial statement every time you want to place an order , it comes down to luck when dealing with small to medium vendors. I hope it works out for all who got stuck in the middle of this.

[novanutcase]

Originally Posted by Fluid Power

It does happen. Happens almost every day. The way we work is we always build a little 'fudge' in the delivery date to our customers. My manufacturer says 7-10 days, we quote 14-18 days. When it shows up early, nobody calls us complaining, they call to thank us!

Now in a situation that is competitive, or somebody has a machine down in a plant, then we get or demand a drop dead date from the manufacturer.

It really boils down to communication between the manufacturer, the distributor and the end user. Plain and simple. Nobody likes surprises.

My saying around the office is: "Under promise, Over Deliver."

I wish I had thought of that myself, but it holds true....

Couldn't have said it better myself!

John

[JustinB]

At the end of the day all these threats about law suits are meaningless. If you force a so-called class action suit, they file BK and good luck getting your money. I think bringing it up on these sites, when warranted, forces the dealer to act. Making threats about law suits or I am flying down to (insert empty threat here) is not going to help anybody out. Obviously money is tight or the dealer would not be in the position in the first place. Finding several thousand dollars in an empty bank account to refund a customer might take a few days to work out. They know they are getting beat up, give them a couple days to work it out. If they still don't remedy the problem, you are either screwed all together or have to wait until they can find the money to fix the problem. It sucks but its the reality of the situation.

[Yenko LS]

Justin.. I hear and respect what you say.,BUT it is not a "empty" statement to say oneself would fly out for thousands of dollars. And the vendor should not have to "scrape"any thing up because no parts where bought from his supplier so he did not pay so the money should be in his bank..RIGHT?

[Rybar]

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

[Flash68]

Justin, I partially agree.

A class action is actually counter-productive in this case because, as you mention, the more that pile on the more likelihood of a BK filing. I have been in 2 similar situations actually with much larger dollars at stake so I do have some bckgrd here. You do want to push just hard enough to try to get some money out, but if you push too hard, and you pile on the plaintiffs, you may all get nothing. It's a case like this where I think "strength in numbers" backfires and is detrimental to the individual cause.

But the stronger individual threats, whether they carry any weight or not, should do a lot more to get a guy paid back than the guy who is silent and sends a polite email once in awhile. Squeeky wheel gets the grease?

If the company is intent on staying in business, and in this case it certainly appears so, an individual suit for $5 or 10k won't take them down.

[JustinB]

It is. What is it going to accomplish? If there is no money, there is no money. The reason you have not received your refund or parts is because there is no money. Showing up and getting into an pissing match is not going to magically make money appear out of then air. I feel bad for all involved. It sucks and I am not making excuses for anybody. I really hope the dealer involved takes care of you guys.

[JustinB]

Originally Posted by Flash68

Justin, I partially agree.

A class action is actually counter-productive in this case because, as you mention, the more that pile on the more likelihood of a BK filing. I have been in 2 similar situations actually with much larger dollars at stake so I do have some bckgrd here. You do want to push just hard enough to try to get some money out, but if you push too hard, and you pile on the plaintiffs, you may all get nothing. It's a case like this where I think "strength in numbers" backfires and is detrimental to the individual cause.

But the stronger individual threats, whether they carry any weight or not, should do a lot more to get a guy paid back than the guy who is silent and sends a polite email once in awhile. Squeeky wheel gets the grease?

If the company is intent on staying in business, and in this case it certainly appears so, an individual suit for $5 or 10k won't take them down.

Agreed on the squeaky wheel gets the grease. But that is my point. Outing the situation in the places where the dealer drums up most of there business is a REALLY good way to force the dealer into action. I think once you cross the line and say I am going to do .......to you, you negate your point and your complaints with fall on deaf ears. Basically all I am trying to say it, play your cards right. Don't screw yourself because you lost your head.

[mrr1999]

Originally Posted by Flash68

A class-action is actually counter-productive in this case because, as you mention, the more that pile on the more likelihood of a BK filing.

I completely agree. Although I said they are open to legal action in that fashion, class-action lawsuits only work when the company being sued has EXTREMELY deep pockets. In any other case, it actually assures that you will never get your money back because you force the vendor out of the game and can never recover financially. That's why you see law firms filing class-actions against drug companies, insurance companies and automakers - not the corner speed shop.