I vote this thread should be left open/active.

The issue is that a majority of online parts retailers work this way to some extent, it's called drop shipping, and it's VERY confusing. Most reputable places have a good-sized warehouse and many parts in stock, and just drop-ship some items, usually the more obscure ones. Some of them, most of the nightmare stories, work without any actual "in stock" items whatsoever. Correct me if I'm wrong, but RR has no such warehouse, and falls into this category. The bigger problem is that he does not seem to have a good and thorough relationship with his factory suppliers, yet puts it out there that everything is in stock and is never publically puts it out there that something is unavailable. Yet he takes a customers money immediately anyway.

I can only speak from my experiences buying from a handful of retailers. The key is to look for when things go WRONG:
(a) race roots - I did buy one part from him, a mazsport clutch bracket. Came promptly and that worked out well, no surprise it was literally in stock, knowing who the manufacturer is... But all the horror stories (those guys from Italy had a long thread which was very telling) shows he never says "hey I'm sorry my 'in stock' item is actually backordered from the factory"
(b) TH motorsports - large network and very friendly, but after waiting three months for a part, and calling them four times, they SHOULD have had the decency to say "obviously we don't know when it's coming, lets refund you and we'll contact you when we have it. FAIL.
(c) BHR - Just reporting what I know - those guys go way out of their way to make sure their supplier relationships are squared away and if they dont think they can rely on one, they dont resell any of those products. This costs them missed sales but makes me trust ordering from them a lot. WIN

"So Brice, answer this, why would you give a customer a tracking number for a package that is no where close to being ready to ship? " VERY good question.

 

If you think about it it isn't the drop shipping that is the problem. That is the way MOST places are going these days....it is way too expensive to carry inventory...Huge inventories are going the way of the Dodo Bird, as the margins are shrinking on a lot of sales due to the competition on the internet

It is the communication between the different consumer levels that is the problem. Often the wholesalers take the ....if you want the part..get in line ( and pay up front often for the privilege to order it.) This happens a lot with rare or low manufacturer size runs...

Why do you think the manufacturers are out of stock on things....especially for our "orphan" platform ??

That's one of the beefs I have when vendors are vilified for things often out of there control by a bunch of bitchers and whiners

If the manufacturer back orders a part that they say is in stock...and then leaves the retail level seller holding the bag.......there is nothing the retailer can do EXCEPT communicate to the end user that the part is back ordered and that there will be a wait.

That is the big difference that I see often...the willingness to communicate...even when it is BAD news.....

That often is what separates a Good from the best in retail

 

Not exactly true Grunge. I get tracking numbers all the time from places when they schedule the package for pick-up via the carrier..............not when it is picked up. Things can happen and there can be some delay before the package is actually picked up. I've seen that be almost a weeks time, just an FYI. See the two below posts by Elysium19 and Dannobre for a more detailed explaination of this.

 

This thread has nothing to do with RaceRoot's customer service. (which is now what the discussion is about)

If you want to discuss more that just the original issue, then make a new thread.

 

Threads often go in different directions, stop reading it if you don't like where it is going. kthxbi.

 

I understand your point, but again the question is about why would he initiate a shipping label for a product that he does not have on hand. And if it was to be drop shipped (most vendors i dealt with would charge extra for this because UPS/FEDEX charge more for deliveries to a residence rather than a business) then the supplier would be the one issuing a tracking number instead of RR, but here RR issued a tracking to insinuate that the package was coming from him. RR silence and avoidance of this questions echos loudly.

Most business' that are able to print their own labels via software given by UPS/Fedex/DHL are also on their respective delivery/pick up routes. In the case of where I use to work, if a label was not generated by 2pm, a message was sent to the driver via their PDA not to make a pick up unless we called the driver to arrange a pickup.


Bigbacon - everything we are talking about is related to RR customer service, or rather lack there of.

 

This is all just part of a larger whole.

 

How many people out there know that it is a violation of the PCI and FTC policy to bill a customer's credit card prior to the product ordered being manifested as on a carrier's truck?

Under normal authorization scenarios Settlement is not supposed to occur until AFTER the product is verified shipped.

 

Oh really? Interesting.

 

What....the demise of Western Civilization? The entire Human Civilization or lack thereof? How far do we want to take it?

I'm kidding....I'm kidding..........I think.

 

I for one know it, but I also know it occurs with far more frequency than it should.

 

Really? My international wholesale medical supply company charges the customers CC before they place a PO with a manufacturer or vendor because what if u do and it ships then you charge the card and its no good. Am i reading your statement wrong. If thats FTC or PCI policy then thats pretty silly people could just give fraudulent cards merchandise will ship and the only recourse is to intercept a package.

 

Many vendors (car parts related or not) do this. I've ordered electronics, car parts, cameras, furniture, appliances, you name it. They send you a tracking number right away regardless if it's actually shipped. I've got one of these notifications at 2:00am. Do you really think the order has been processed and shipped. No. Simple solution... Read. Check the tracking. If it hasn't updated, wait a day. It usually only says something like "a tracking number has been generated". Why the f*ck would you think that means your package has shipped? If it stays that way too long, call the vendor ask what is up with your order. If it's on back order or if there is an issue with the supplier cancel your order -- if you so please. But you probably wont because that vendor was probably the best price, free shipping, some special deal etc which is why you chose them in the first place.

Example, i bought a GoPro HD for $213 almost 2 months ago (listed in stock). Seriously, try to find one that cheap, i dare you. I've been told twice now that i would be in the next batch. But GoPro keeps sending them less than they ordered because they can't make them as fast as they're selling them. Could i cancel my order and go somewhere else, yes, but i'd rather save myself $75 so i take a chill pill and wait.

Another example. There was a slight delay with my exhaust from Brice. I can't even remember the circumstances but i paid $650 when retail was almost $1100. Brice was the only vendor selling these besides eBay and they were a brand new product. So when Brice says sorry guys, it's going to be a little longer because of XYZ... My response... "ok, cool. Thanks for the good deal and thanks for being the only vendor to stick your neck out on the line and build relationships with boutique brands and suppliers that we would never have the ability to purchase their product for a reasonable price otherwise..."

You people need to chill out and stop making this thread into a flame fest for when you got butt hurt over something that didn't go 100% to plan. **** happens and when it does you cancel your order, buy it somewhere else and STFU. That sends more of a message to the vendor than bitching and complaining in a forum somewhere.

Brice, nor any of the vendors in the community are effing Amazon.com. I think some people need to remember this.

This thread is about Brice dealing with Scott and him trying to right what he has done wrong. That's it. This thread has no purpose anymore.

 

^ RR fan boy

 

I don't care who the vendor is, Amazon, RR, whoever. If I buy and pay for something that is listed as in stock by the vendor, then I expect it to get shipped in the next business day or two, or three at the latest. When it is shipped, I expect a tracking number and open communication. I don't wanna hear bull **** excuses.

We all have our opinions but honestly I don't give a ****, the situation is what it is. I guess my idea of satisfactory service is a bit different than others.

 

Correction. RR customer with 7+ flawless transactions. Besides the example was i talking specifically about RR at all? No.

MUST HAVE NOW!!

 

I have bought things that have taken a while to get before but I knew went I clicking to send my money that there was going to be a delay and possibly and even longer delay. If the delay wasn't except able then I could have not paid and either waited or gone somewhere else.

For example, I just bought T Shirts from a vendor (group buy, whatever) and I paid through the site, selected the shirts I wanted (in stock), shipping , etc. Figured everything was cool and then I get an email a day or two later stating they got my payment but didn't show an order. WTF? Whatever, I tell them again what my order was, etc. Meanwhile, it's 8 days later and I have no shirts.

I wanted them before the statewide meet and now I am pissed (it's today).

Okay their ordering system messed up, blah, blah, blah. I don't give a ****, I want my god damn shirts. How long does it take to take two shirts and ship them? Good thing I didn't order 200 shirts.

 

This thread has turned into the same people bickering over customer service and tracking numbers. Who cares. Close this thread.

 

And even after two people (including myself) told you not to order from that vendor because we never got our shirts and had to file paypal disputes....you still placed an order? Why?

 

I really don't get the point of the thread either.....

Brice is getting grief for not telling us about who and where he was buying useful and unique parts for our cars.........

I'm not sure Scott/ MAzsport is/was any worse than a number of other corporations that failed during the shitty economic times in 08/09....

Hell......Look at Goldman Sachs....they have allegedly done something much worse....and yet they will likely just get there fingers slapped

There are a few people on here that have PERSONAL reasons to have problems with Scott...and for that matter...some of the same ones tend to have problems with Brice....This keeps coming up over and over

Maybe this issue needs to die a final death.....for gods sake...let it go...other than the bad feelings that keep getting brought up...the issue is in the hands of a bankruptcy trustee.....Let them deal with it

 

Well ... if I was given a tracking number I would expect movement of said package within a day, not an excuse stating that someone else beat them to the product that was sitting at the supply house.


But I see that Brice is letting his followers and "fan bois" answer for him instead of coming forward and answering the simple question. The longer he stays quiet about it, the more it looks like he did what he did just to deceive the buyer into thinking the product shipped.

 

RR == Enron

he's price gouging power!!!

 

this is why I keep bringing up the issue, he opened the can of worms himself. But it seems he would rather stay quiet and hope that is just goes away.

 

Charging a credit card requires two transactions...

The first is called authorization where (in the USA) a PCI member guarantees availabilty of funds for a given account and issues a unique code to track the transaction. This typically happens when a customer commits to prchadint something, ie: checkout either online or at a brick and mortar store.

The second is commonly referred to as settlement, or billing, and happens at the cmpketion of a sale, when a store closes it's books for the day, or in the Sade for "catalog retail" when the pur based product leaves the sellers premise, typicallyjbsured in some manner via a reputable carrier, ie: UPS, DHL, Deutche Post, EMS, etc.

All big business is governed by these rules and the expectation is the small guy follows them too... Not always the case though, clearly.

 

1. Brice was asked by a Mod to keep this thread open for a reason. So he can close it at his own peril.
2. No one has every said Brice isnt a great reseller
3. People who have had flawless transactions are the majority, please see number 2
4. This thread should be kept alive so any new person to the board thinking of buying from RR can look at this and then make their own decision. Anytime it's bumped it goes back up to the top, it get's locked and it will disappear to down the list before it's on a whole other page and becomes invisible to the people who can learn something from it.