Vendors If You Want My Money Read This!
After several unhappy incidents involving parts ordered from forum vendors and non-forum vendors for my SRT-4, and experiencing the frustration & disappointment in visiting their web sites, I decided to start a vendor FAQ related to: How to Get My Money!
Disclaimer: Obviously not all vendors are the same. This only applies to a few and is not targeting or implicating any specific ones.
The simple and short answer is SHOW ME THE PARTS!
The long answer is what I perceive as a lack of one or more of the required capabilities to run and maintain a successful business. I invite other forum members to add their personal feedback based on their own unique experiences.
RECOMMENDED RULES FOR VENDORS:
1) If you are primarily an import parts vendor, don't suck me into your web site with references to the SRT-4 if you don’t support it. Once I have clicked through to your site, I am not happy to click an SRT-4 link that takes me to a page that says "Coming Soon!" and says “Coming Soon!” for 18 months. At some point, I will not come back.
2) I don't want to wade through a bunch of Viper parts to find out you offer three parts for an SRT-4.
3) Don't intermix all your different brand vehicle parts offerings into one big pot and expect me to wade through them. Give me a link to a page for my particular vehicle.
4) Don't make stupid statements like "Bolt on turbo guaranteed 250 HP - no tuning required - better drivability than stock. No computer or injector upgrades!" without some discussion of this claim. Please answer my Emails when I ask simple questions about claims like this. Otherwise, I have to seriously doubt the claims you make and your ability to provide friendly, customer service. Delays are reasonable, but failure to respond is completely unacceptable if you expect to make your livelihood online.
5) Don't show parts without a description - otherwise I may buy from the guy who provides a description.
6) If you don't accept phone calls and only communicate with your customers and potential customers via Email, please indicate that on your web site. Or vice-versa. Also, if you don't list your physical address on your website, I am forced to conclude you work out of a phone booth or your momma's house.
7) If you don’t stock some parts, and use drop-shipping arrangements with other vendors, I expect your website to state this. At a minimum, I expect to be told when I do place an order. Incidentally, if do not happen to be a stocking dealer, I expect your price to be lower reflecting the fact that you are not investing your money to stock the product in inventory.
8) If you have links on your web site that lead to the 5th dimension or to the interior of a neutron star, why not fix or remove them?
9) Don’t list parts manufacturer’s names on your webpage and then say call for my specific vehicle applications, because I won’t. I visited your web page for specific information not a suggestion to call you. Even if I get the nerve to call, please answer your phone—most of the time you don’t.
10) No, I don’t want to call you for prices – that’s why I went to your web site. I usually interpret that AS “Prices Too High to List.”
11) You show a Dodge logo but for the life of me I can’t find anything on your web site but a discussion about your ten-year old import project car.
12) If my shipment gets damaged by the shipper, I will never buy parts from you again if you don’t cooperate by completing the shippers insurance forms so that they can process my claim.
13) If your mother answers my call seeking parts and tells me you’re not allowed to take orders until you finish your homework, you can be assured I won’t disturb you again.
14) If your website shows a backorder situation for over a month, I assume you're too lazy to update your site. If you're truly backordered for over a month, you need a business manager/consultant or new suppliers.
15) If you can't give me a tracking number, you haven't shipped the parts. If that tracking number doesn't work on the shipper's web site, you haven't shipped the parts. If your computer went down and you lost all your orders, you're either a liar or an idiot.
16) You're allowed to lie to me once about when the parts are shipped. When I call back looking for them you are required to tell me the truth about when they're actually being shipped. If that turns out to be a lie, then its credit card reversal time without further ado.
17) Under no circumstances will I let you horse me around about a parts order until my grace period for reversing the credit card charges expire. I learned not to do that the first time it happend.
I’m sure other people have their own suggestions. These are just a few that came to mind after an evening of frustration once again with a vendor.
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ICouldaBeenAV8
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