On Thu, 22 Jun 2000, Joe Curry wrote:
> Bill,
>
> Again three reasons.
>
> 1. Prices are almost always higher than any other Spitfire supplier I deal
>with.
Say what???
Because this was not my experience, I decided to do a little test.
I picked 5 items pretty much at random (2 I have already bought from
on or the other of the vendors, 1 I still need and the last 2 I anticipate
needing) and priced them according to the current catalogs I have from
each vendor. Here are the results:
Part Moss VB TRF Rimmer
Starter 74.95 89.95 99.95 38.85
Fuel Tank Sending Unit 54.95 49.95 49.95 37.50
O/D Driveshaft 299.95 239.95 199.95 178.81
Brake Rotor 30.95 29.95 29.95 22.87
Rear Leaf Spring 159.95 149.95 159.95 114.80
All prices in US Dollars.
Rimmer beat everyone on every item.
On to item #2.
> 2. They are order takers with no questions answered. You have to know
> exactly what you want before you order.
They are a parts supplier, not a consultant firm. Not that I would take
their advice anyway, but the guys down at Parts America can't answer
questione either. I use them all for what they are and expect nothing more.
> 3. Their shipping policy bites the big one! If they would charge actual
> shipping + handling charge. But the way they do it, you pay
> the same price regardless if they ship 100 bucks worth of foam rubber or
> lead ballast. In my case $17.50 for shipping 8 lifters is a
> bit much!
Well, I can point to much worse here in the US. Like VB who charges more
on any large item that has to go motor freight to deliver to a home rather
than a business. Why would it cost more to deliver to my house than to the
garage 2 doors away?? But Rimmer makes up for this by offering (at least
in the past) at least once a year when they ship for free!!
The only obvious problem with Rimmer is their distance from us. But when I
needed a starter and couldn't even find anybody here who had one in stock,
they got me one in 8 days. And that was during the free shipping offer.
My first line of attack will probably stay Moss as they are in NJ and can
usually get me stuff overnight, but when they don't have a psrt I really
need (and, one point very much to their credit, they tell you up front if
they don't have a part and when they expect to have it in stock) I will
probably fall back to Rimmer. And for parts I don;t need right now, I
will just add them to the list and wait for that annual big order to
Rimmer.
All the best.
bill
--
Bill Gunshannon | de-moc-ra-cy (di mok' ra see) n. Three wolves
bill@cs.scranton.edu | and a sheep voting on what's for dinner.
University of Scranton |
Scranton, Pennsylvania | #include <std.disclaimer.h>
|