Date: Thu, 12 Nov 1998 23:09:57 -0500
Reply-To: The Bus Depot <ron@NETCARRIER.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From: The Bus Depot <ron@NETCARRIER.COM>
Subject: Re: Bad Experience With Bus Depot
In-Reply-To: <01BE0E67.CCEC2140.kkorn@jump.net>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
Unfortunately, this is the first I have heard of this situation. I was out
of the country during the time that this occurred, and I gather that by the
time I got back (November) all of this was already over.
Everything but the special-order item (the crankshaft) made it to Wisconsin
within a couple of days, which is, I think you'd agree, exceptional service
considering that UPS time-in-transit is that long. Where we went wrong is
that you were not informed until a week later that the special-order item
was going to be delayed for two more weeks. It appears that it did indeed
ship about two weeks later, but this didn't do you any good. Of course, you
should have been notified as soon as we learned about the backorder, and
your subsequent e-mail should have been responded to.
As I noted before, while I was on vacation, the guys were swamped with much
more business than I had expected. In fact, if I had known how busy they
were going to be, I probably would have canceled or delayed my vacation
plans (which would have been a shame, since I had the time of my life! :-)
They did a great job considering how frenzied things were, but yes, a few
orders got botched. Your crankshaft obviously fits that category. Of
course I will be more than happy to refund your money on the crankshaft plus
your return shipping expense, plus credit you an additional $10 toward your
next purchase for your inconvenience. Since I wasn't there when the
crankshaft was ordered, I'll ask you to let me know which distributor it
arrived from (the return address on the box) so I can arrange for a return
authorization.
I've spent the last week going over the orders that were processed in my
absence and looking for loose ends that needed tying up - isolated
backordered parts and the like. I have filled lots of minor backorders, and
hope to be almost completely current by the end of the week. (Two
backorders that remain problematical are 2.1L collector pipes and side
mirrors.) As I mentioned before, there were a couple of days during which
e-mailed orders were not reliably forwarded to us by our provider, during
the time that our server was changed over. This was a one-off situation
which will not be repeated. For your protection, we have also changed the
website order form such that you will receive an automatic confirmation of
your order. If you do not receive a confirmation, we didn't get your order.
To my knowledge this has occurred only once since I've been back, and indeed
the customer was clued in by the fact that he did not get a confirmation.
At this point, all orders are shipping within 1-2 business days (or less),
except for stockouts and special-orders, which unfortunately are a
neccessary reality and are usually out of my control. Also, Jerry tells me
that e-mailed inquiries are also being responded to within 1-2 days.
If at any time you do not find our service to be satisfactory, I want to
know about it right away. You can call me directly at (215) 234-VWVW, or
there is a comment form on the website with a "complaints" section that gets
immediate attention. If you ever fail to get prompt and satisfactory
resolution of a complaint submitted on that form, or for that matter a
reasonably prompt response to any inquiry, please call me personally, or
e-mail me at home, ron@netcarrier.com.
I apologize for any orders that did not get handled in my absence in our
usual prompt manner. Now that I am back and things are back to normal, I
don't think that you will experience any unusual delays at all. Even in my
absence, over 95 percent of orders were processed completely and quickly.
Of course, 100% is the number to shoot for, and we usually get pretty close
to it.
- Ron Salmon
The Bus Depot
http://www.busdepot.com
> A remanufactured crankshaft (as well as some other parts) were
> ordered from the Bus Depot during the week of October 5th. We were told
> that the crank was available but needed to be shipped from another
supplier
> which would add a day or two. All except the crank arrived several days
later.
> After waiting over a week, we were able to talk with someone at the Bus
Depot. They
> said that the the supplier wouldn't be able to provide it for another two
weeks.
>
> After searching for another crank, on October 22 we ordered another crank
> from CCR (Custom Crankshaft Repair).
>
> On Wednesday October 28th, after trying to reach them for days to
> cancel the order, I sent another email No answer
>
> On Monday, Nov 7, I talked to the mechanic in Wisconsin. The Bus Depot
> crankshaft arrived, OVER A MONTH LATE!
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