Reality: Vendors & customers Feed back

[Bweavy]

Reality is: If it wasn't for customers there wouldn't be vendors.If it wasn't for love of this car there wouldn't be a business.You don't see Chevette.com I read all the crap today.


Reality is you will never make everyone happy. I've tried & it doesn't work. I have had to say to a few people "there are other vendors".Sometimes personalities just clash. It is different when your name is dragged out there & you feel the need to defend yourself. I've done it, read it, & may not of been happy the next day but that is what I posted & that is how I felt when I posted it.It's done.

Reality I feel is do not charge until you ship unless the order requires extra attention like a crate fee or alot of man hours.If you are drop shipping & the vendor you are drop shipping from ships that day.You have to make sure you will get paid.So you charge that day.

Reality is that prices do increase.They should be updated but we as vendors are doing what we can to do that.If there is a mistake then handle it. If the person doesn't like the way you handle it there are "OTHER VENDORS". Once a person is pissed your not going to change there mind. Write it off as if the person does come back I will make it right on their next purchase.

Treat people the way you want to be treated but understand everyone has a bad day.Be it a vendor or a customer. I have screamed at customers & have heard from Customers "Weaver I will never buy anything from you again." Just to deal with the same customer 6 months later after cooler heads prevailed.Appologies exchanged & we move on.

If you are a vendor & not making $ get out now!!! Your not going to be a millionaire doing this but you know as well as I do. It is better then working for some one else!!! All of us put in long hours & why?, because we enjoy it when a customer posts,e-mails, or calls & says hey THANKS !!!

This is reality or better known as common sense & being human.People will be upset lose tempers etc.. Get over it.Holding grudges against a person or a company only hurts the individual that is holdng the grudge.

I'll read this tomorrow & say what the heck did I post!:biggrin:
Bottom line is I have made alot of friends in the last 7 years & alot fewer enemies.The day I do not enjoy this & do not make $ I'll be gone!!!
Thanks to all who have purchased from us & the friends we have made over the years,Thanks for allowing us to be a vendor.

 

[Vsix]

Very well said Brian

 

[Bweavy]

Very well said Brian

Your one of the other vendors I send people to Jim.

This crap goes on every day. There are always 2 sides to every story. Just making it obvious that there are different ways to handle this then dragging it to the boards everytime something goes wrong.

I'm Sick of reading 3 pages where people go off the deep end.
It doesn't matter if it is a customer who feels he was taken advantage of or a vendor who isn't making it but has been in business 5+ years.
If you have a problem take a step back & a deep breath. Bringing everything to the boards just seems like it should be a last resort not the first,second, or third step.
I have read some people that have been screwed over & have made several attempts to get it right.Then they bring it to feed back where everyone can be warned.That is how it should be.

I brought this post to light by not bashing customers or vendors.I simply stated the facts of both sides. If you feel I'm bashing you send me an e-mail.

 

[SGRIM]

Great Great Post Brian!

I couldn't agree more! This seems a good a time as any to share my feelings on the whole situation!

The customer/vendor deal is a two part equation IMO. It works both ways, no customers = no vendors, but on the flip side no vendors = no parts for the customers cars!

I think the whole other "thread" was simply a result of a big misunderstanding. I do not think it warranted the response that it has gotten to be honest!

Lets face it nobody I know is getting rich off of Turbo Regals. We are all here for the same reason the love of the cars!

It has long been the feeling that this website "protects" vendors or is vendor driven. That is true in a sense but not in essence!

We are going to provide a open forum for everyone, we are not here to censor anything other than the basic board rules. If a vendor or anyone screws somebody and they post it, well that is on the vendors shoulders not ours! On the same token if a post of this sort is made and both sides have spoken it shouldn't turn into a flame fest on either party. We are not going to censor the "truth" no matter how good bad or ugly.

What we will censor and NOT allow is profantiy and a slam fest of anyone!

Members need to understand that Vendors pay the bills, this is true. I made an invest into this board and it is very costly to run a site of this size and maintian it properly. This site has had nearly 2,000,000 hits this month :biggrin:

Point being we need the vendors advertising to pay the bills! I also feel a responsibilty to the members to give them the most accurate and honest information out there! It is a fine line to be honest!

I know alot of these vendors personally and they live breath and eat these cars. Like I said no one is getting rich on this, haven't seen anyone on the "rich & famous" with a buick shop have you Alot of these guys try hard to give us great products, with lots of time and $$$ invested. If we don't support our vendors no one will bring new products to the table to make our cars better. I don't know about everyone else but I hope new things continue to come out forever. I don't plan on selling my Buicks anytime soon and we all know they are going to break something sooner or later. It's not like we can call Jeg's or Summitt and order a new "????" like these guys provide to us!

I would like to add here that I really wish everyone would remember the vendors that support our boards and community when we do buy parts. Please keep this in mind as we crack down on vendors selling on the boards whom are not paying vendors.

We need members to support our vendors and vendors return a good product.


In closing TurboBuick.Com - The World Wide Web under BOOST! - Buick Grand National, GNX, T-Type and T6P.com staff will do the best we can to provide our members the best info and internet experince we can. We are not going to please everyone all the time, members or vendors, just going to do the best we can!




Thanks,

Shane Grimsley
Owner TurboBuick.com

 

[nero]

Good post, bro! Been doing business with this Weavy guy for years (at least 4 of 'em) and don't hesistate to call him a friend!!! No matter what he finds in my TR's glove compartment! hahaha

:-D

 

[jdpolzin]

I am not a vendor but I have been parting a car out and I can say that it is a BIG PAIN in the rear to keep everyone happy. I come home from work and wrench on the car, pack things up, ship them all night long and really the profit isnt hardly worth it. I sent Brian a counsel and it got trashed during shipping, now I lose out on $100 and the time and the shipping. I have 10 people wanting the same part and have to decifer who wanted it first. I get a million emails from people saying they want a part so I pack it up for shipping and never recieve a payment. I please most of the people and havent got any good feedback but when something isnt perfect or at their door the day after they pay, they get pissed and leave back feeback. It's a real drag sometimes. Oh well. Another thing I'd like to point out, I made this post: http://www.turbobuick.com/forums/general-turbo-buick-tech/201159-best-headers.html

I get called names and people bash me for wanting to buy from our vendors. If we dont have our vendors, we dont have parts. Let's just chill out a little and show a little grattitude. Thanks, just my 2 pennies, now I feel better!!!! ------Jeremy

 

[Randy Greenoe]

I am not a vendor but I have been parting a car out and I can say that it is a BIG PAIN in the rear to keep everyone happy. I come home from work and wrench on the car, pack things up, ship them all night long and really the profit isnt hardly worth it. I sent Brian a counsel and it got trashed during shipping, now I lose out on $100 and the time and the shipping. I have 10 people wanting the same part and have to decifer who wanted it first. I get a million emails from people saying they want a part so I pack it up for shipping and never recieve a payment. I please most of the people and havent got any good feedback but when something isnt perfect or at their door the day after they pay, they get pissed and leave back feeback. It's a real drag sometimes. Oh well. Another thing I'd like to point out, I made this post: http://www.turbobuick.com/forums/general-turbo-buick-tech/201159-best-headers.html

I get called names and people bash me for wanting to buy from our vendors. If we dont have our vendors, we dont have parts. Let's just chill out a little and show a little grattitude. Thanks, just my 2 pennies, now I feel better!!!! ------Jeremy

Jeremy I have been thru all that crap myself!I had 4 guys that for sure wanted a part.I search thru e~mails.Pm's and any other board I may have posted it on the end result is the part goes back on the shelf. I have Gave away parts and ate the shipping ,any positive feedback or a public thank's? Nope. Thee best transaction I ever had selling parts was with Jack Cotton a straight up guy. I shipped him over $2000 worth of parts on his reputation that he would put a check in the mail that day. True to his word he did and the transaction went just as it should have. We have alot of good guys on this board and few that you can't do enough for.

 

[bigal614]

WOW! Very well said Brian!! Thank you for starting this post my friend! because we all need eachother! Not too mention how many good friends/relationships that have been and will be built because of our love of the these cars and our hobbies.

 

[SVORay]

Thanks to all who have purchased from us & the friends we have made over the years,Thanks for allowing us to be a vendor.

No thank you:biggrin:

It was extremely easy doing buisness with you! The parts arrived in Lightning speed as well.


Thanks again
Ray

 

[HRpartsNstuff]

Well said!!!!

We ALL need to be reminded of things like this once in a while. Gets too easy to get caught up in the "little" stuff & jump on here & start flinging the shhtuff around and pointing fingers. If the customers only knew what all we vendors (and manufacturers) go thru on a daily basis! There's nothing like bustin your hump 16+ hours a day 7 days a week to try & get people stuff asap to get back on the road or make a race, and have 1 little thing not work out right or make 1 little slip up, and then get torn a part (in public most of the time)! Makes you want to drop it all & go get a 9-5 job & a new Mustang!

Boy, if ALL the vendors could post all the hassles (like customers do on us) the WE get, like the cancelled orders, changed orders, refused orders, bad COD's, get it all together just to have the cc declined & have to cancel, phone numbers out of service, e-mail addresses no longer valid, extra shipping charges due to remote areas (AFTER charging customer a lower amount), wrong address info, material/products/advertising/expenses have price increases after retail pricing is set, complaints of charging too much for shipping/handling (when actually LOSING money most of the time on it), saying stuff was missing when you packed it yourself & remember 100% without a doubt it was in there, late UPS pickups, or NO pickups at all when scheduled, suppliers double charging (hopefully by accident), vendors not paying on time (or at all!!!!!!), people copying your hard work & inventions, doing favors & not even getting a "thanks", components/materials out of stock when we got to have them, lack of good reliable help, employees embezzeling (not us but heard some stories!), wife/friends/kids complaining not spending enough time with them, and why Santa can't stop at our house because sales are slow & people owe you money, calls at 3 am Thanksgiving morning because Sweeden doesn't celebrate it or know the time changes, people that assume you are ripping them off (over charging) because you just built a new building (even though you borrowed all the money & went in hock up to your eyeballs to do it!), etc, etc, etc, etc, etc, then there wouldn't be room on this board for tech stuff! It is SO TRUE, if you haven't at least been in business for yourself, you can't even begin to imagine all the hassles we put up to do this.

As Brian said, we all do it for the love of the cars & the people (well the majority anyway ) Even though 1 bad thing like that "other" thread can ruin months of good feedback/experiences, without the good feedback I can honestly say I wouldn't have stayed in it this long. Would have been making water pumps for big block chebbies or something by now. There are plenty of days I wonder why I should spend countless (unpaid) hours developing & testing the next Buick part to make & maybe sell 100 a year, when I could spend the same effort on a new Mustang part & sell 1000 a MONTH! Other business owners call it suicide or stupidity, we call it the Love for the Buicks & the people associated with them!

As long as the majority appreciates us being here & supporting the sport, and we can remain profitable enough to continue, we won't be going anywhere. Every once in a great while something pushes me to the edge & makes me want to look for a '67 Chevelle instead of a '67 GS, but reality kicks in & reminds me of all the great people out there in the Buick world. Not going to let 1 or 2 weenies (or bad experiences) ruin it for the rest of us, or take more importance than all the great feedback we get.
Plus, don't have the time or money to do either car, so it's really pointless

Bottom line, like Brian said, we all need each other to survive & be happy & go fast! People got to post bad experiences (with the intent to HELP other people), so it maybe doesn't happen to others too. Of course like said above, it should only be posted on here as a LAST RESORT! If you didn't call the person or vendor/company you are having issues with to try & resolve it first (and several times), then you really shouldn't be slamming people here. I don't post or look on the boards like I used to (or would like to), so I am human & forgot that rule after the Nat's. I made a post in public before going straight to the horses mouth to get the correct info. Even though I was careful in how I said stuff (without ACCUSING anyone of anything) trying to get more (and correct) info, it got people thinking bad thoughts & wasn't helpful to anyone. Once it's done & posted, it's done. Too hard to back up then. It's hard to do, but got to take emotions out of it, and just post the facts. If you are steaming mad about something, it's usually best to go cool off for however long it takes, and THEN post if you can't get it handled any other way.

For instance, we have several vendors that owe us money. What good (other than might get our money faster) would it do to publically humiliate them by posting it here? If they are a good vendor overall & a benefit to the community, we give them some slack during hard times. BUT, if they continue to dodge phone calls, faxes, emails, and give false promisies and/or bad checks, and make no attempt to correct the situation, and are doing stuff to others too, well, at that point I feel we have a responsibility to warn others that this can happen to them, or worse. As with all the posts like that, once done it can't be taken back, and should be a last resort. But if you did all you can & gave all the opportunities you could and can't resolve it, well people need to know. And that can be as simple as saying "so-n-so" is no longer an approved vendor for us, so please contact one of our other REPUTABLE vendors for our products. Let the readers read between the lines

Many times, it's just as easy to say
"Not satisfied after many attempts with so-n-so, and choosing to spend my money elsewhere", as it is to say
"That F-N you know what did this & that & will never see another red cent of mine if it's the last thing I do, that F-N you know what!!!!"

Basically same message, only difference was the emotion involved IMO.
Works talking (arguing) with the wife too :biggrin:

PS- Oh yeah, and then we have to worry that someone doesn't take part of what you post too personal or offensive too! Need a disclaimer in the signature:

This post was intended for the sole use of Turbobuick.com members, and can not be copied or distributed without the prior consent of it's author. This message was intended for reference information only, and should NOT be construed as any implication, inuendo, name calling, or advise. I will be exempt of all charges filed against me in reference to above post, verbally or in writing, with no limit to time elapsed after the post. Should any problems arise from the interpretation of this information posted, please take a pill & sleep on it, and take more time to get over it if needed. Do NOT, don't take life so seriously, and look at the person posting it as a whiole, and see that they are a good person & just trying to do good for the majority of readers. If all else fails, go shoot some pool & drink some beer, or some other extracurricular activity that maybe involves whipped cream or massage oil

PS- The above disclaimer was for information purposes only, and should not be construed as advice, orders, or suggestions, and was produced for the sole purpose of entertainment for Turbobuick readers, and in NO way should be... blah blah

Life's too much fun to go thru it with negativity!
Can't we all just get along!

 

[TR Custom Parts]

Well said Paul. Someone make that a sticky!:biggrin:

 

[gyrhead]

Checking Out

In the spirit of this thread - this is a good time to say goodbye. We'll be closing up shortly and we'd like to thank the many customers from this board that have shopped our GN catalog the last couple of years. We've met some fine folks indeed, but regrettably friendship alone doesn't pay the bills.

As a longtime small business owner, my admiration to the vendors who continue to stick it out. To start off each month $10K or more in the hole - and knowing that you've got to cover that nut EVERY month just to break even takes a rare person - and more courage than most people will ever know.

My advice still stands - GM and Delco are busy killing off many GN specific parts. Unless you like paying 10X eBay prices - get them while you can. Recent happenings with 87 Grilles, headlight bezels, fuel senders, boost solenoids should have taught everyone a lesson by now.

Best Wishes all.

 

[WE4]

Great post!!!.... Wait great posts...

EXCELLENTLY SAID!!! Both to Paul to Brian.
I agree 100% with both of your posts. Excellently written and excellent content.
It is not always puppy dogs and roses being in our business'.
In fact, it is downright difficult to make it at all.

Well said and true.

Bruce
WE4
Performance Transmission Services

 

[JCotton]

AMEN....... I could pretty much repeat what Brian and Paul have said here. I don't have much else to say except, "thank you" for telling the other side of the story.... I've been doing this for over 10 years as well and can honestly say, we are not getting rich. Over the years I have worked countless hours, doing everything I can with the customers interest in mind, spend most of everyday on the phone talking with customers about tech, the right parts, combinations, their personal joys as well as problems and occasionally sell them parts. I scrap and scratch for every nickle I make, if it wasn't for my love of these cars, I could easily work in several professions and earn more in six months than I earn in 2 years doing this......... working 1\2 the hours, not to mention benefits most receive from a day job. Oh well, it's my choice and for today.... this is what I do. Gryhead struck a chord when he mentioned the "NUT" we have to crack every month, I don't even want to think about it.. if people only knew, we don't work out of our back yards..
Happy Holidays to all, off to work here..