MY supplier rant!!

[bobodu]

Ordered a flex disc from Mowtownusa.com this weekend. And was hoping it would be here soon. Got an email from them saying my order was cancelled and to call them if I had questions. Well hell yes....like where is my disc ??? Had to call GA. and wait on hold.....turns out they had priced it wrong and just cancelled my order !!! THEN didn't even explain why!!! I will never do business with them again!

[bgsengine]

I've seen them with some pretty awful feedback on their ebay account too.. and no wonder, based on that experience..
We'd never do that - if we had a mistake in pricing and someone buys at that price, we ship at that price, period. My policy is , customer should not pay for OUR mistakes.. Then there's the places that will take your order, take your money, and then not ship for 3 weeks because the part (that they never had in stock in the first place) was backordered... quite a few of those too on ebay and amazon, from what I've seen..

[bobodu]

On top of that...it's STILL listed at the wrong price!!!
But I bought this for $300 and it'll take $200 in drive parts. I can probably get $4-500 out of my old Dixon...

[KE4AVB]

First Bob if you would drop me a PM of the PN you're looking for that way I can see if I one of my distributors has it in stock and their prices as I might be able to help. Won't know until I try.

Vendors doing like this is a pain I agree. There have been a cases like this here where I have already quoted a job and then get a surprise email of NLA, huge price increase, or extreme back order time frame. On the price increase I end up a lot times having to just absorb the extra cost if I can break even so I can honor my agreement with the customer.

Gardner right now keeps splitting orders my under $200 orders and charge additional shipping. The last order was for 4 seals and I ended eating the shipping as the seals were already billed and paid for. The seals retailed for $3 a piece and I had to bill the customer the $11.49 in shipping. I would had been better off to just order the seals from AVX seals even though my cost was double for each seal but it only cost first class postage for the shipping.

Many vendors I am finding are listing parts as NLA just because they longer have access to the items. I am dealing with that from Gardner right now. They are no longer carrying the Briggs line and just displaying "No Longer Available". Luckily I have access to two other distributors that still have access to the parts.

Many of the aftermarket parts I have brought in the past has barred by OEMs at distributors still they want to sell the OEM parts. I know Briggs is doing this and I think Kohler is hopping on the wagon too.

I work on Husqvarna chainsaws and I am not able parts but from a handful of vendors and there are times an item may be back ordered for over two months from JSE. Most other vendors will even try to get the parts.

But right now my biggest supply problem is my Zama carburetor kits that Stihl decided to be sold only by Stihl dealers but yet will not supply the Stihl PNs for the RB kits so the dealer can even order the kits. The Stihl support insisted that I order the kits from Zama when Zama says Stihl want let them sell the kits. The price increases on these kit is ridiculous too. The prices have gone from $6-$7 to over $25 plus the dealer wants $20 just for the shipping. I just got in the aftermarket versions of the RB161 and RB165 that I use a lot of for less than $3 a kit out of the Far East. What irritates me is this barring of Zama by Stihl especially when the Zama USA is just the road in Franklin, TN.

[bobodu]

I just picked another vendor from the many on Amazon and the disc is halfway here already.
For a guy who " doesn't do this stuff anymore"...I sure have been busy lately.

[KE4AVB]

Hmmm I not too busy here.

I had to move my truck and 16 ft trailer so I can have place to the completed equipment as my normal space is full of awaiting repairs ones. I down to 10 riders/ztrs, 3 trimmers, 2 chainsaws, 1 blower, and a pressure washer. I got about many ready for pickup.

Boy it is time consuming to pull those hydros for repairs. Even to check the oil on most they have to come out. I just back in the Hydro Gear ZT-2200 on a Hustler Raptor where the owner had a sock wrap around the input shaft destroying the seal. Unit was full of water. That wasn't his complaint as he had lost of forward motion. The root cause before screwed the hydro was a bent control arm pivot. Anyway he kinda luck that I pull the hydro as found the bad seal and a rusted bearing. Five hours later I got it up and running.I got him fixed for half what the Hustler dealer wanted just for a new hydro.

Awaiting part is what taking so long even with a couple days delivery as I am constantly getting new repairs and got to juggle which I am repairing at any one time. Keeping things straight is my shop software as I enter the notes as to what I have done so I don't get too confused.

[38racing]

When I buy from repairclinic in Michigan the whole shipping is 12 USD no matter how many actual splits there are in shipping non in stock parts.

[38racing]

I thought I might need a pto clutch. I found what appears to be a Canadian vendor with it on amazon.ca, ebay.ca, and their website. Three different prices.

[bgsengine]

I thought I might need a pto clutch. I found what appears to be a Canadian vendor with it on amazon.ca, ebay.ca, and their website. Three different prices.

yeah with 3 different costs of sales (fees from ebay or amazon,or advertising costs..) Plus if they use a re-pricer tool probably goes up and down on amazon/ebay as the market changes.. while the one on their own website probably rarely changes.

[KE4AVB]

Plus a lot of the time free shipping isn't so free either. With buying Xtreme pto clutches. My 10+ yrs distributor is the highest, Xtreme direct is in the middle, and Stens is the lowest currently. But I always check prices before ordering anyway just to be sure I am getting the best price including shipping.

While I thinking about have anyone try the OX brand of electric pto clutches? Supposedly they are built as well as the Xtreme brand.