Vendor customer service - abysmal

[Curly]

When I built my ex-Californian Spider up and converted her to right-hand-drive about 12 years ago, I dealt primarily with Bruce from Bruce's Parts Bin in New Jersey for all the parts I required. He was tremendous and I was happy to recommend him to others who were after parts for their cars. Seeing as his last newsletter was in March 2008, together with several comments on this forum, I'm led to believe that he's no longer operating. I therefore emailed IAP two weeks ago with a request for parts availability and still haven't yet received a reply. Searching further I found what I wanted on the Vicks Auto Sport site in Texas and emailed off an order requesting shipping costs to Australia - despite 3 more emails over more than a week, I've had no reply from them either.
Is the US economy doing so well that you don't need foreign currency any more, or have both these businesses gone to the wall?
Where are people buying their parts these days? Can someone recommend a vendor that values customer service, because these two obviously don't

[weekend warrior]

I emailed IAP three months ago about some pistons, still waiting on a reply!!

[howard]

cust service is very good at http://www.autoricambi.us

[Tobi]

cust service is very good at http://www.autoricambi.us

Their customer service is outstanding!

[Martin124]

Don't take it personally but from my own observations, dealing with overseas customers can be troublesome. The cost of postage is horrendous and even though it's not something the vendor has any control over, I'm sure they must be on the receiving end when it comes to breaking the news to us.

It would be nice if everyone would take the time to reply to our enquiries but I can imagine how many times their efforts have not resulted in a sale anyway.

I have purchased from Mark at Allison's Automotive and have been very happy.

[PininF]

Hi Curly,
First good to see you back on the site as I haven't seen you post for a while...
I have imported several parts from Vicks without any problems but must admit have been dealing directly with Matt to save on export duty.. I advise you to email him and air your frustration , I'm sure he will look after you as he has with me.. matt@vickauto.com

P.S , Was thinking of going to attend Harry's run this Sunday organised by Fiat Car Club Vic

Cheers
John

[Tobi]

I am not in Australia but I had very quick e mail response from Matt ( Vick's ) last week.

[spiderrey]

Allisons ships over seas all the time.

[blusmith]

I'm in NZ and have sympathy for your grief! Bruce is retired - still sells carpet sets and hoods and covers plus a fewe other bits . As said already Autoricambi are superb ; Mark allison is is also very good for specialty items and very knowledgeable

IAP are OK ( ask for Frank in the international section ) the problem is their after market rubber ware stuff is not of the best quality

We have a real enthusiast with heaps of second hand parts here in Cambridge NZ - let me know if I can help
Chris Smith

[opus10583]

Hi,

The only downside to owning a Spider is the larceny it attracts.

My charitable opinion is some of these guys are just well-funded hobbyists, answering the phone and emails randomly and just enough to feed their monkey.

Some are outright criminals; selling faulty parts (rhymes with "dicks") and falling back on caveat emptor, I guess until their last buy is gone, and worse.

Another "PooBah" recently ran a scam on me for a measly $20...

Mark Allison, IAP, Midwest-Bayless have always been generous with their time, and reliable with me; over the last two years without exception.

Ebay can be treacherous, stupidly so, but 98% of the folks I've dealt with peer-to-peer have been exemplary.

...YMMV.

Ciao,
Mark

[georgeramos]

If AutoRicambi and Allison Automotive dont have what you need then maybe Midwest Bayless or Chris Obert (Fiat Plus) can fill in the gaps.

The first 2 have a pretty wide range of stuff covered though.

Best of luck

[seabeelt]

You can email Bruce, he does reply albeit slowly. I have had a couple of international inquiries regarding used parts and the shipping is outright ridiculous- often way more than the cost of the part unless you can stuff it in an envelope. A real stifler for international dealings. Even small regular size packages are $75 - $100.
R/

[seabeelt]

You can email Bruce, he does reply albeit slowly. I have had a couple of international inquiries regarding used parts and the shipping is outright ridiculous- often way more than the cost of the part unless you can stuff it in an envelope. A real stifler for international dealings. Even small regular size packages are $75 - $100 unless you have a commercial volume discount -which Most folks don't have

R/

[4uall]

Auto Ricambi is by far the best in client service and even those who do not purchase from them are given the same mutual respect and knowledge.

This is also true from our Moderator Mark at Allison's Automotive.

I have also had no issues from Mid West Bayless

[fiat218]

Don't take it personally but from my own observations, dealing with overseas customers can be troublesome. The cost of postage is horrendous and even though it's not something the vendor has any control over, I'm sure they must be on the receiving end when it comes to breaking the news to us.

It would be nice if everyone would take the time to reply to our enquiries but I can imagine how many times their efforts have not resulted in a sale anyway.

I have purchased from Mark at Allison's Automotive and have been very happy.

I don't see why it would matter if it cost out rages to send overseas,,if the person wants the part he/ she is going to pay,I don't think the vendors should have any concern on who buying or where it goes,they get paid before it leaves there business