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?
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
|