Well Rob, I don't know what planet you live on (but then again maybe it's
me) but in my experience vendors or service providers of any type who always
keep their promises and who always provide A+ service do not exist. Frank
Zappa wrote a song called "Flakes" about business people on the California
Coast and he really hit the mark if you asked me. maybe it is just a
California thing? That being said, my experiences with Curt
(non-left-coaster) and most of the other Sunbeam Parts dealers and artisans
(including those on the left coast) have been fine and I have no complaints
so if I were to take your advice and re-think my loyalty I'd end up sending
another note out in support of Curt (hey, like this one!). Congratulations
on the outstanding way you run YOUR enterprise and I'm sorry you have had
such bad luck with the Sunbeam Parts vendors, don't worry though because
soon enough things will even out and other vendors and service providers you
deal with will start being flaky too.
Frank
B9471116
-----Original Message-----
From: oaxacarob@aol.com [mailto:oaxacarob@aol.com]
Sent: Wednesday, April 18, 2001 4:55 PM
To: alpines@autox.team.net
Subject: (no subject)
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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