Dear Alpiners,
I've been watching the response to a rant about Curt that I didn't actually
see. Must have been fairly strong. There seems to be a great deal of people
rushing to his defense - and I suppose that is warranted, if he deserves it.
However, and I realize that I'm gonna catch a lot of grief about this, let's
be honest. We are trapped, so to speak. We are indeed a captive cliental.
In our commitment to the marquee we have gotten to the point where we have
come to accept, and even expect, less than desirable service.
Over the years, I've ordered parts which never came - no typos on the
address. I've placed orders that arrived as partial shipments - while I paid
for the entire 'complete' shipment - only to find that it was indeed
incomplete - without even the courtesy of phone call or explanatory note
(it's hard to use wheels when the lugs come two + weeks later). I've
inquired on shipments that were promised to be sent the same day ordered -
only to call back a week later to discover that the order had not been
shipped at all - no apology. Wrong parts, not as described parts, parts that
were not returnable, didn't fit, etc., etc., ... it goes on and on and on -
while my car sits and sits.
I've been in the retail business for about 25 years. I have owned, managed
and developed my business over that period. If I ran my enterprise like most
of the parts dealers, I would be bankrupt in no time. I know. I know, ----
I've herd all the arguments and excuses for almost 9 years now. Frankly, I'm
sick of it.
So ... all of you that are hoping to score brownie points with the 'parts
dealers' by your raves - stop and think about the level of service you are
really getting along with your loyalty. Is rewarding poor performance and
lousy business practices doing us all any good in the long run?
Making lots of friends now!
Rob
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