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Date:         Fri, 1 Sep 2006 09:49:34 -0700
Reply-To:     Old Volks Home <oldvolkshome@GMAIL.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Old Volks Home <oldvolkshome@GMAIL.COM>
Subject:      Re: Issues with CIP?
Comments: To: Shawn Wright <vwdiesels@gmail.com>
In-Reply-To:  <44F748A5.9280.5403296F@vwdiesels.gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed

Speaking as a worker bee of one of the suppliers (VWG) of a lot of product to CIP1, I can say they do take a great amount of time and are proactive to be sure of the accuracy of the items they sell. I have dealt with Chris on a number occasions in where each question for information is intelligent and their pursuit of the correct knowledge (and further dispensing it to the masses and acting upon it) is better than most other outfits I've dealt with. To be sure, there have been inaccuracies I've spotted and let Chris know (mostly about VWG supplied product).

In the case of an incorrectly marked part or an incorrectly picked part and making corrective action, my take is that they've been very good at this. But no one is perfect, there will always be a boo-boo here or there. (I know what you're thinking - "but why does it have to happen to me?"). A great deal of my time here at Airhead/VWG is insuring that item(s) are accurately marked and described and that the applications shown in the catalogs are correct.

As far as cancelling or modifying an order shortly after making it, I'm not surprised. As some vendors become more automated it's becoming more difficult to intercept, change and resume the progress of one's order, especially online orders. CIP1's operation is such that the warehouse operation is an entirely separate company contracted to do nothing but pull and ship orders as they come in from internet generated pick tickets and of course pick tickets generated from a salesperson taking an order over the phone. The moment the order is received, it is immediately pulled from it's location(s), checked, packed and gone in a very quick and efficient manner to keep the costs down as much as they can be.

Keep in mind that the order pickers have absolutely NO knowledge or VW background of the item(s) they are picking - they're just reading off the picklist. The order checker is the same way - they're just checking off the picklist and comparing the part number tags/stickers applied to the item(s) (correct or not). It is further checked off again when it is packed. If the people in the front office become aware of the problem, then they let the Warehouse Manager know of the problem and usually the error(s) in tags/stickers are corrected. Again the Warehouse Manager probably knows nothing of the product - he or she is hired on to be sure that orders and receivings are processed in an efficient manner, not to have knowledge of the product (it's a bonus if they do, but in most cases it ain't happening).

To be honest, operations like Airhead/VWG, WCM, Mid America, EMPI and others are still stuck in what some might term "the stone age" of order processing & shipping compared with CIP1's operation, which is very close to how many other online businesses are now being operated - most are internet "storefronts", but CIP1's is not, as they do have a warehouse. It's just run in a "storefront" manner to maximize the profit. -- Jim Thompson 84 Westfalia 2.1 "Ole Putt" 73 K Ghia Coupe "Denise" 72 411 Station Wagon "Pug" oldvolkshome@gmail.com http://www.oldvolkshome.com ********************************** On 8/31/06, Shawn Wright <vwdiesels@gmail.com> wrote: > > Anyone have issues with CIP1.ca/com with regard to returns? I received the > wrong part yesterday (a Jetta radiator, when I ordered a Vanagon one), and > not only were they not apologetic, they were quite certain that they could > not > have screwed up, and that I was mistaken - their computer told them so. > When I gave the part # on the the box (not the one I ordered), and > described > how it is 1/2 the size of a Vanagon rad, the guy (Chris, apparently the > manager) asked me to take a digital picture and send it to him! After 3 > calls, > he finally gave me an RMA#, and told me to send it back prepaid... > > I am still hopeful that they will make good and issue a refund, but at > this > point, it will take one damn good apology to make me consider dealing with > these guys again. I've dealt with them maybe 5-6 times over 10 years, and > this is definitely not what I expected. > > > Shawn Wright > http://members.shaw.ca/vwdiesels > '88 Westy 1.6TD 5 speed > '85 Jetta Diesel 1.6NA


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