Customer Service expectations

[Seamas]

What are your expectations from the various vendors you use when purchasing guitar/ build materials?

In the process of my first build, I would say that most of the companies I l have dealt with--Warmoth, Guitar Reranch, StewMac, AllParts, etc have all been easy. I register, place an order, they e-mail me a receipt (immediately) and let me know more or less when my order will ship and how soon it get to me.

I decided to order my pickups directly from the company (I won't name it--but it is one of the bigger names) as opposed to from another online retailer (mostly because they had all three of the pickups I wanted so I could just go to one source).
I placed an order March 28. No e-mail from them. I check my account, they have the order there, but nothing under the status. So I contact them via their e-mail portal yesterday, 24 hours go by, no response.
I decide to give them a call ( I really just want to know if my order is getting processed or if it is in some limbo). Their automated operator has be on hold about 20 minutes--and then I am put through to voice mail --no customer service available.
I leave a message. Wait a couple hours, no e-mail or anything.

I call again. Same thing as before.

I suppose it is something of a holiday week, but there is zero mention of anything about closing or anything on their website.
It is completely bizarre as this is probably the largest of the companies I have been dealing with and they seem to be the worst at the online retail.
I'm not in a rush to get the product, but I think four+ business days is MORE than enough time to let a buyer get a response.

 

[mayfly]

Not making excuses for <mystery pickup company #528>, but a lot of those big guys did wholesale only up until a few years ago.  For them, a small order might be a lot of 100 units. 

Sometimes they get into the on-line retail game because everyone else is and margins are larger - but they forget that they actually need to earn that larger margin by staffing a position or two.  I'm guessing that's what happened here.

I personally just deal with the small guys - support is usually excellent as they know what side their  bread is buttered on.

 

[Seamas]

The wholesale vs retail angle is something I considered, and is probably the factor.

I just was using them as they had the three pickups I wanted.
I see they have charged my credit card, so they are doing something other than not answer the phone /return e-mails.

:sad1:

 

[Verne Bunsen]

That sort of thing is so frustrating. I’d just about rather be told to eff off than to get the total communication blackout. I’ve had similar dealings with a couple of small shops, it’s baffling to me. Good communication is so easy and goes such a long way toward producing a positive customer experience and building customer loyalty, even if there are issues or delays with an order. I hope you get it sorted out.

 

[Cagey]

Websites can be highly automated. The order-taking and money-grabbing parts can happen with no vendor interaction at all, and without the vendor even being aware that it happened until they review outstanding orders.

 

[Seamas]

Good communication is so easy and goes such a long way toward producing a positive customer experience and building customer loyalty, even if there are issues or delays with an order. I hope you get it sorted out.

Yep. It's much like having good waitstaff at a restaurant. A factor as important as the quality of the food.

Still no response from them.
Kinda weird.

They have a forum, I tried to register (twice), they flagged me as spam both times. Their captcha is one of the harder to see, but I'm pretty sure I got it right.

 

[Seamas]

:sad: :laughing11: :sad1: :icon_scratch:

I am red faced.
I just checked my settings and see that I had entered my e-mail address incorrectly.
(which is weird as I thought I had to enter it twice.

Unfortunately I cannot edit my settings.



Oooops.
Never mind.
(I feel like Emily Litella from the old SNL)
:binkybaby:

 

[DarkPenguin]

Emily Litella: What's all this fuss I've been hearing about the 1976 presidential erection? Now, I know they erected a monument for Mr. Lincoln and President Washington, but that's because they're DEAD! Hopefully, the 1976 President won't be DEAD! So he won't NEED an erection! If Americans are going to spend money to erect anything, why don't we tear down those nasty slums and erect luxury high rises for poor people and senior citizens! Not for presidents who can afford to pay for their OWN erections!

Chevy Chase: Miss Litella --

Emily Litella: I can't believe the way things are turning out in this country -- what?

Chevy Chase: I'm sorry. That's election. The editorial was about the presidential election, not the presidential erection. Election.

Emily Litella: Oh, that's very different.

Chevy Chase: Yes.

Emily Litella: [ smiling ] Never mind.

Chevy Chase: And that's the news. Good night. Good night, and have a pleasant tomorrow.

 

[Seamas]

Got home yesterday to see the package arrived.



< DERP.

 

[Verne Bunsen]

All's well that ends well, eh? And you don't even have to feel bad about maligning anybody as you had the couth to refrain from naming names  :laughing7:

 

[ghotiphry]

I ordered a set of strings from BassStringsOnline.com in November.  Still waiting.  Feels like a very small shop.

 

[musicispeace]

You did well and things resolved, which is good to hear. I waited three months on one project for pickups.....but I love them in the guitar. For small, one man, operations an average can be about a month. Customer service wise I have to say that Warmoth is good, Callaham is good, Bare Knuckle pickups have excellent customer service. Greasy Groove is good on pickguards. Stew Mac likes your money but is very organized and timely.

I have to stop there, just off the top of my head. When I started playing again in 2010 it was mainly techs that would drive me nuts, I mean if you taught guitar tech skills to a middle school class I would have experienced better and more consistent communication and on time service. (and don't get me started on people not following directions)

Cagey is right. Given that the web functions are automated and someone may only look at new orders once a week its a big world out there.

 

[BigSteve22]

Cagey is right. Given that the web functions are automated and someone may only look at new orders once a week its a big world out there.

Which is a common error a lot of small operations make. Although they may believe they are doing the right thing for their business, and therefore their customers, First-In/First-Out is not always the best policy, especially in a Made-to-Order environment. Lead time is dynamic, and effected by the Scheduler's understanding of the the product, the shop's work flow, and ordering history. Proper shop loading is the key.

Say the shop is set up to fab product "A" on Monday morning, and production is done by-end-of day. Tuesday morning they tear it down and set up for the next order, product "B". But suppose overnight  another order comes in for "A". If the Scheduler doesn't stay on top of things, they won't know about this second order until after tearing down the setup, so time is wasted by having to repeat it. If the new orders are for different items, there may be some parts for those items that can be fabbed on the existing setup, and that would save time. Even if there are no new orders, an extra hour using the existing set up to fab a few sets of commonly used parts to keep on-hand, could save many hours down the line.

I know that there are those who will say that doing so is wasting time that could be better spent elsewhere, but consider this: Back in the early 90's, "Just-in-Time" became the buzzword among the "geniuses" running certain operations. Theory is that by making or ordering parts ahead of time, they were wasting money by having to store them, (even if the storage space already existed and would go unused!), and because things were planned so tightly, pad time could be cut to the bone. So, jobs were scheduled, and parts orders placed, based on them coming in only when actually needed. Unfortunately, they lost sight of the fact that "Sh!t Happens". One late delivery, or one shop breakdown, one unforeseen circumstance, could cost them dearly. And it often did, playing havoc with their lead times. In one case I was involved with, out-of-spec materials came in the day before they were needed. Build delayed, test cycle and burn-in delayed, delivery to customer delayed, contractual fines paid. We went back to proven manufacturing practices.

My experience was with a very large company, and I understand that in a small operation, it's easy to loose sight of the big picture as they struggle to get product out the door so they can pay the bills. But using a linear, chronological, build cycle, is still like begging for sh!t to happen. And it usually does....

 

[mayfly]

Yep.  My favorite (or least favorite) 'shit happens' thing is variable lead times.  Like:

"What do you mean that FPGA now has a 14 week lead time?!??  Don't we have stock anyway?"
"well, we wanted to reduce inventory numbers, so we cut our held stock in half.  Just used it on that last order."
"?!???!?"
"but digikey always has stock if you need it."
"Sure.  But at TWICE THE PRICE!!  There go our margins just to save incremental inventory costs!!"
"But that's what finance told us to do to save money."
"(*$(#**&%$*&%(*!!!"

Tends to wreak havoc on the whole JIT thing doesn't it?

 

[Cagey]

Yeah, JIT only works if you have control over everything, and who has that? And even in the unlikely event you did, since when are power outages, severe weather events, sickness, and other catastrophes planned/predicted?

I'd wager the closest to working that idea probably comes to working is when there isn't any manufacturing involved. Companies who deal in retail can centralize their warehousing, and supply the retail outlets on demand. Make the warehouse a cost center in and of itself, and pay for itself through the savings achieved by massive purchasing agreements that an individual store could never get. Witness Walmart, Home Depot, just about all fast food joints, etc. They run JIT inventory at the stores. You never hear anybody say "lemme check in the back" any more. If they got it, it's on the floor.

 

[ByteFrenzy]

Funny how cost cutting doesn't. Ever.

 

[Cagey]

It should probably be called "cost shifting". Somebody's gotta pay for everything; the only question is: who? Which is sorta rhetorical - it's always the consumer.