Fred:
I'm not going to go into specifics, as it will just drag the thread
out.
There are lots of reasons for carrying substandard parts. I hate to
say it, but something is better than nothing. If a part is unusable, we
will know about it pretty quickly. There is no question that unusable
products are junked and some thing else has to be done. Unfortunately the
system is very fallible, and there have been cases or new orders going out
to the same vendor for the same product. What is worse is that we will
scrap a product, reorder from another vendor, only to find reboxed versions
of the first product.
If a part can be made to work, or is unpretty, then a decision has
to be made. If possible we will rectify the product. In some cases we will
still sell substandard parts because that is all we have. No one likes that
situation, and yes we are taking advantage of our loyal unsuspecting
customers. If we do that enough, then they will no longer remain customers.
The flip side, is that if we eat too many of these production problems, we
won't care about customers any longer as we will no longer be solvent.
Like I said earlier, if we were getting rich doing this, then I may
have more difficulty sleeping at night.
Most of the parts we buy have little or no recourse. Unlike the retail
arena, wholesale does not give satisfaction guarantees.
Example. We are sitting on $15,000 worth of junk tools that we
bought from a very well know American company. We pulled them off the
market, then tooled up and had our own version made. Our made in TAIWAN
version works very well. The vendor has offered us credit, less a 25%
restock for their products that were unusable.
We do not buy anything else from that vendor. We had a choice,
offer the unusable product for sale cheap and flood the market. Or scrap.
It is in our best interests to scrap. If we returned them, they would
probably end up on someone elses shelves advertised as just like ours.
My apologies about the 80% quote. My intent was that 80% of
complaints were from customers who should not be allowed to work on a
British car. I stand by that statement.
I love our customers, they love their cars. I still state that of
the complaints we receive most are from people who have no clue how to work
on their car. Think about it. Think about the number of problems an
automotive neophyte can have bolting parts on their car. Have you any idea
how many piston rings are broken when the customer receives them? The
number of parts incorrectly ordered, because the customer did not take the
time to check basic things. "Yep, that part will not fit your car sir, even
if you hit it with a hammer, you have an MGB, not an Midget". "Yes sir, I
do understand that you think only a midget could fit into it". There are a
heck of a lot of people out there who have a real tough time figuring out
what direction to turn nuts. We are here to help them, and appreciate the
heck out of the internet list folk who now are answering many of their
questions.
Just to make one thing clear. I am not the official voice of Moss
Motors. I'm on this list because I own a bunch of basket case British cars,
and I am learning lots by following the list. If there was an official
voice, it would be much less fun than I am. : )
There are a few customers that I do not have respect for.
Fortunately for all of us, they are very, very few and far between. One of
the things I admire about British car owners, is their sense of humor, and
ability to not take themselves too seriously.
Kelvin.
> Kelvin, not to keep dragging this thread out, just a quick
> question and
> comment, when you find out you have a non fitting/defective
> part, why must
> you keep putting it out to your loyal, unsuspecting customers
> beside the
> obvious reason, some will stay out, some will be returned and
> eventually
> your inventory will come down on these items, I reference T/R
> 3 water pumps
> and radiators in particular, these were known bad items and
> yet 3 years
> later you were still selling them. When you do research and
> then order a
> product, the factory gives you no warranty or guarantee ??
> Most of what you
> say could possibly be fact, but when you state 80% of your
> customers should
> not be around British cars, I'm not sure you have any respect
> for 80% of
> your customers and thats a hell of a way to think about your
> business and
> "ME" one of your customers. "FT"
>
|