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Post by jbs2212 on May 2, 2008 15:34:18 GMT -5
has anyone had a bad shipping experience with them? it's been 10 days and still no tracking # for shipment, I can't seem to get a hold of Micheal, when I called last I had been told that my items were on back order and would ship on this last wednsday but my credit card hasn't been charged yet! they should let the customer know before hand if they have their items in stock, preferably on the website. ok, i'm venting, but I would really like to know if anyone else has experienced this. thanks.  |
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Post by ron22 on May 2, 2008 16:15:55 GMT -5
I just ordered my Scooter from Scootertronics. I have not received in yet in fact it has not shipped yet. After I ordered I received an email with all there info saying standard shipping time. Since reading the instruction was just not good enough for me I sent an email. I received a nice email the same day telling me the schedule ship date (same as if I would have read email). You have to remember it is the start of the busy season so I am sure they are swamped.
If they did not charge you credit card yet I would be happy. It is hard to tell sometings how long thins are going to be on back order.
A bit of reassurance Scootertronics seems to be one of the few dealer that no one has a problem with. This is why I ordered from them.
I do agree here web page could use some work.
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Post by scooterollie on May 2, 2008 17:03:16 GMT -5
jbs2212,
Welcome to the Dawg Pound!
I second what Ron said and add that this is a very busy time of the year for these guys.
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Post by indy50 on May 3, 2008 9:07:46 GMT -5
I have ordered parts form scootertronics on numerous occasions, and each time I recieved product within 7 days. My most recent order was 2 weeks ago and my bore kit arrived in 6 days. USPS tracking is not very efficient, you dont get any info until package has been delivered. Also scootertronics didnt charge my credit card until 2 days after parts were installed. I would reccomend them to all. As others stated they are busy right now, so I would be patient. If you have questions regarding back order just give them a call.
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Post by banditms on May 3, 2008 13:09:48 GMT -5
Fellow Dawgs,
I just want to interject my two cents as a supporting dealer right here... or rather, I want to vent! Yes, another 'cynical' rant by Jim at Bandit is what everyone needs...
Believe it or not, we're bustin our asses over here trying to get sh!t done for as many customers as we can. We're not on holiday. sh!t takes time. And in 90% of situations, it's out of our hands. Suppliers are taking a while to fulfill orders. The trucking industry is taking it's time getting things delivered.
Because of season coming on... and gas prices being high... demand is very high for scooters themselves. Then there's the calls and e-mails from people needing parts. We're averaging 80 calls per day now... our voice mail actually filled up yesterday because we couldn't get to every caller. And what happens? People get freaked out. If we don't call them right back... or answer the phone right away - they become agitated and billigerent. We're busy!! It's the busy season!! Gas prices are making it worse than ever before!! In all regards of customer service!! Get over it damn it!!
I think the thing that irritates me the most is that, when we try and help customers with other brands of bikes get parts, they feel its our obligation to send the parts the same day... that we should be looking out for their immediate needs. That's complete and utter bullsh!t! If you didn't buy a bike from me, you sure aren't going to be more important than the customer that did. I've had to cancel some parts orders recently because those customers got a little testy... I basically told them that I was trying to be a nice guy and get the parts they needed - and they got hostile cuz I didn't make them a priority. I got a ton of priorities at this time!
I have other paid customers who believe I'm stalling on shipping and supplying my scooters. The whole damn process is taking way more time than it did just two months ago. What used to be a 3-4 day excersize is now two weeks. The distributors are slower to satisfy the orders of the dealers (us) because their swamped! The trucking industry is taking 10 days to go across the country vs the old 5 days. It takes time to get payments from here to there, organization as to where product is going... and getting it right!
And when I, as dealer, have sales, I try to consolidate orders so I can get cheaper shipping costs - a goal of any business man. That means, I may not ship a customers bike the same day... I may wait 3-4 days just so I can save some money on the shipping and do several customers bikes at once to save a few dollars. Anybody got a clue as what the hell gas costs these days?? And how much truck freight has increased in the last two months?
None of this sh!t happens overnight any more! Not parts, not support, not sales! I'm very sorry but that's the blunt edge of the situation. When demand skyrockets, things slow down...
I believe that ScooterTronics and most of the other online sellers are probably in a similar situation as us. Maybe worse since they offer more in accessories...
Ok, I'm semi-done ranting... ( ;
Later, Jim J...
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Post by "Big Guy" on May 3, 2008 13:47:34 GMT -5
Jim,
I am hearing all of this discussion on freight charges increasing on this board and others which leaves me wondering why... what is your discount rate? Who exactly are you using? I'm confused!
I'm in the LED sign and container brokering businesses and I have to say, I don't see it! I just compared an invoice from June 07 to one last Monday, same product shipped to the same dealer in MI from New Orleans. It was a single oversize skid, 3'x8', 480lbs, freight class 100. In June of 07, it was $249, last week it was $263.94, that's a difference of 6%, or $14.94.
This has me wondering if you use a broker or not. Perhaps this is something you're overlooking? I know if the company in the next warehouse over from me calls Estes or Saia MF for a pick up, they get a 90% discount rate, whereas if my company calls, we get a 69% rate, so we can ship the pallet or container for a lot less than they can.
This leaves me wondering if you all are shipping direct instead of using a broker. Have you ever tried calling Freight Click or any other brokers to shop rates?
-Rich
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Post by banditms on May 3, 2008 14:19:36 GMT -5
Rich,
We're not using a freight broker at this time. We typically ship thru either FedEx Freight (70% discount), FedEx National (75% discount) or Estes (78% discount). Since gas prices have shot up since this time last year, and freight prices changed from this time last year... my avg shipping costs have risen about 30%. They've probably come up about 12-15% in the last two months.
The cost of my shipping is not a huge factor (I'd like it to be less)... being able to save some money by arranging multiple shipments for one day is. By combining orders, I can do this. But it adds some days to the overall process - waiting for more orders. Wiring funds when paying for 3-4 bikes instead of one at a time saves money. There's all kinds of little things that I can do as a buss man to save a little money here and there... the 'cost' is that I don't ship bikes or parts the same day they are ordered. I do 'batches'...
The freight companies taking longer to move product and deliver is a no brainer. They're now trying to maximize the amount of crates that they have stuffed into a trailer... so their costs per shipment go down - because gas price are up. In following these practices, they may have a specific set of crates that fill a trailer perfectly, but that may leave a customers scooter sitting on the dock until the next trailer comes along - a 1-2 day 'stay' at a random terminal. You recognize this as a 'minimal' increase in costs to you... because they can save against their increased fuel costs by shoving as many crates into one trailer as they can. The real 'cost' is time... and no shipments have a 'guaranteed' delivery date - unless you pay for it.
My whole point is, everything is taking longer. Order processing, payments, arrangements, shipping - because demand is so high at the moment. We're doing it... most of our suppliers are doing it... as far as I can tell, my freight co's are doing. It seems everyone in this industry is very busy. I had a discussion with the Linhai supplier on Thrusday and they indicated scooter sales were 'thru the roof - like up 300% in 2-3 weeks time'. If you don't have the logistics to take care of these spikes in demand, it all slows down... which is what has happened to us.
You are correct though... it's all just my opinion. I have no real proof, just supposition... ( - ;
Later, Jim J...
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Post by golflover on May 3, 2008 15:13:45 GMT -5
After getting advice from ReRun2, I have ordered my scooter from Scootertronics also. I'm having it modded up before delivery. Michael has been great to deal with and has answered emails and returned calls within a day or two. I know he is really busy as he was backlogged 7 scooters before mine and if he is on the phone or computer it means he's not working on scooters. I compare this to Dairyqueen on a hot summer day, you just gotta be paitient. (Where is the spellcheck button?)
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Post by jbs2212 on May 6, 2008 11:49:14 GMT -5
ok, recieved shipping notification sunday night, should get my package tommorow or thursday ;D
thanks for the feed back!
Jim, I understand where your coming from, However if there is a considerable amount of delays in shipping, back orders and other misc delays, the customer should be aware of this off the top, that way the customer will have an idea of what is going on and be less likely to give flak to the business selling the product. or choose to go somewhere else, saving everybody a headache.
With more and more competition on the horizon,in my belief, customer service IS key. Personally if I get treated like a second class citizen because I decided to purchase a drive belt instead of a scooter then I would more likley make my next scooter purchase (amoung other parts and accessories)elsewhere.
John
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Post by griff10 on May 8, 2008 1:09:57 GMT -5
Fellow Dawgs, I just want to interject my two cents as a supporting dealer right here... or rather, I want to vent! Yes, another 'cynical' rant by Jim at Bandit is what everyone needs... Believe it or not, we're bustin our asses over here trying to get sh!t done for as many customers as we can. We're not on holiday. sh!t takes time. And in 90% of situations, it's out of our hands. Suppliers are taking a while to fulfill orders. The trucking industry is taking it's time getting things delivered. Because of season coming on... and gas prices being high... demand is very high for scooters themselves. Then there's the calls and e-mails from people needing parts. We're averaging 80 calls per day now... our voice mail actually filled up yesterday because we couldn't get to every caller. And what happens? People get freaked out. If we don't call them right back... or answer the phone right away - they become agitated and billigerent. We're busy!! It's the busy season!! Gas prices are making it worse than ever before!! In all regards of customer service!! Get over it damn it!! I think the thing that irritates me the most is that, when we try and help customers with other brands of bikes get parts, they feel its our obligation to send the parts the same day... that we should be looking out for their immediate needs. That's complete and utter bullsh!t! If you didn't buy a bike from me, you sure aren't going to be more important than the customer that did. I've had to cancel some parts orders recently because those customers got a little testy... I basically told them that I was trying to be a nice guy and get the parts they needed - and they got hostile cuz I didn't make them a priority. I got a ton of priorities at this time! I have other paid customers who believe I'm stalling on shipping and supplying my scooters. The whole damn process is taking way more time than it did just two months ago. What used to be a 3-4 day excersize is now two weeks. The distributors are slower to satisfy the orders of the dealers (us) because their swamped! The trucking industry is taking 10 days to go across the country vs the old 5 days. It takes time to get payments from here to there, organization as to where product is going... and getting it right! And when I, as dealer, have sales, I try to consolidate orders so I can get cheaper shipping costs - a goal of any business man. That means, I may not ship a customers bike the same day... I may wait 3-4 days just so I can save some money on the shipping and do several customers bikes at once to save a few dollars. Anybody got a clue as what the hell gas costs these days?? And how much truck freight has increased in the last two months? None of this sh!t happens overnight any more! Not parts, not support, not sales! I'm very sorry but that's the blunt edge of the situation. When demand skyrockets, things slow down... I believe that ScooterTronics and most of the other online sellers are probably in a similar situation as us. Maybe worse since they offer more in accessories... Ok, I'm semi-done ranting... ( ; Later, Jim J... Being in business for yourself has never been particularly easy. Keeping in contact with your customers is the key to keeping them as your customers. That is normally called customer service. Most customers will be happy to wait for parts "if" they are kept in the loop, if they are ignored they get upset, as they should. Ranting in public to me at least is poor form. (sorry if that upsets you) Bill H. |
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Post by mortar235 on May 8, 2008 15:21:18 GMT -5
Rich, We're not using a freight broker at this time. We typically ship thru either FedEx Freight (70% discount), FedEx National (75% discount) or Estes (78% discount). Since gas prices have shot up since this time last year, and freight prices changed from this time last year... my avg shipping costs have risen about 30%. They've probably come up about 12-15% in the last two months. The cost of my shipping is not a huge factor (I'd like it to be less)... being able to save some money by arranging multiple shipments for one day is. By combining orders, I can do this. But it adds some days to the overall process - waiting for more orders. Wiring funds when paying for 3-4 bikes instead of one at a time saves money. There's all kinds of little things that I can do as a buss man to save a little money here and there... the 'cost' is that I don't ship bikes or parts the same day they are ordered. I do 'batches'... The freight companies taking longer to move product and deliver is a no brainer. They're now trying to maximize the amount of crates that they have stuffed into a trailer... so their costs per shipment go down - because gas price are up. In following these practices, they may have a specific set of crates that fill a trailer perfectly, but that may leave a customers scooter sitting on the dock until the next trailer comes along - a 1-2 day 'stay' at a random terminal. You recognize this as a 'minimal' increase in costs to you... because they can save against their increased fuel costs by shoving as many crates into one trailer as they can. The real 'cost' is time... and no shipments have a 'guaranteed' delivery date - unless you pay for it. My whole point is, everything is taking longer. Order processing, payments, arrangements, shipping - because demand is so high at the moment. We're doing it... most of our suppliers are doing it... as far as I can tell, my freight co's are doing. It seems everyone in this industry is very busy. I had a discussion with the Linhai supplier on Thrusday and they indicated scooter sales were 'thru the roof - like up 300% in 2-3 weeks time'. If you don't have the logistics to take care of these spikes in demand, it all slows down... which is what has happened to us. You are correct though... it's all just my opinion. I have no real proof, just supposition... ( - ; Later, Jim J... hire more people? |
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