928 Specialists To The 928 Community – I Sincerely Apologize.
08-26-2010, 02:26 AM
#48
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As a fellow vendor, I can totally relate to what Jeannie has been going through - both on the "customer expectation" and the "life gets in-between" side. We don't have a call center with trained agents and well sorted out processes, dedicated employees for purchasing, sales, shipping, receiving, warehousing, accounting, and all that - we are ALL THIS in one or two people. Running a mail-order business is very time consuming, and there are many opportunities to miss something or make mistakes. It happens even to the best of us...
Jeannie: Hang-in there! It was great to get to know you and Dave a little better at SITM. What a party that was!!! Thanks again for putting this on every year.
Jeannie: Hang-in there! It was great to get to know you and Dave a little better at SITM. What a party that was!!! Thanks again for putting this on every year.
08-26-2010, 02:24 PM
#49
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As a middle man between suppliers and end users I can relate to that.
Those that have never ran a shop have no idea of just how good our 928 parts folks are.
This happened yesterday, I called MB for a set of hoses, got PRICE and avalibility on them, gave the customer a guess as to what it would be. I seldom if ever say it is going to be X number of dollars to do any thing on a old car, cause you just never know how much you are going to have to fix once you start.
Any way I was told 125 for one hose and 212 for the other, list was about 15% higher, so I was going to end up making less than 50 bucks for them.
When they get here one was 252 and the other was 198, my cost.
I call and they say, sorry they must have went up, still want them?
I have to eat that, or most of it any way, because I told them how much the parts were.
I know for a fact that this happens to all the vendors often, they are told one price and it is different by more than their mark up.
(it just happened again while writing this, from BMW)
I have yet for Jeannie to take the extra money that the parts cost her, because she told me what they were going to be.
The folks that bitch, who are not in this line of work have no clue to how good we have got it to have people like Jeannie, DR and Pam, plus all the others that help us keep these cars on the road.
With the exception of the 928 parts people I am shocked when a order comes into my shop and is right.
We get the wrong stuff at the wrong prices EVERY day, things get lost, never arrive, you name it.
And Jeannie and Pam are freaking great to talk to on the phone.
I told her when I first meet her that I expected her to be fat and ugly because she sounded so good on the phone, man was I off base with that mental image.
Those that have never ran a shop have no idea of just how good our 928 parts folks are.
This happened yesterday, I called MB for a set of hoses, got PRICE and avalibility on them, gave the customer a guess as to what it would be. I seldom if ever say it is going to be X number of dollars to do any thing on a old car, cause you just never know how much you are going to have to fix once you start.
Any way I was told 125 for one hose and 212 for the other, list was about 15% higher, so I was going to end up making less than 50 bucks for them.
When they get here one was 252 and the other was 198, my cost.
I call and they say, sorry they must have went up, still want them?
I have to eat that, or most of it any way, because I told them how much the parts were.
I know for a fact that this happens to all the vendors often, they are told one price and it is different by more than their mark up.
(it just happened again while writing this, from BMW)
I have yet for Jeannie to take the extra money that the parts cost her, because she told me what they were going to be.
The folks that bitch, who are not in this line of work have no clue to how good we have got it to have people like Jeannie, DR and Pam, plus all the others that help us keep these cars on the road.
With the exception of the 928 parts people I am shocked when a order comes into my shop and is right.
We get the wrong stuff at the wrong prices EVERY day, things get lost, never arrive, you name it.
And Jeannie and Pam are freaking great to talk to on the phone.
I told her when I first meet her that I expected her to be fat and ugly because she sounded so good on the phone, man was I off base with that mental image.
As a fellow vendor, I can totally relate to what Jeannie has been going through - both on the "customer expectation" and the "life gets in-between" side. We don't have a call center with trained agents and well sorted out processes, dedicated employees for purchasing, sales, shipping, receiving, warehousing, accounting, and all that - we are ALL THIS in one or two people. Running a mail-order business is very time consuming, and there are many opportunities to miss something or make mistakes. It happens even to the best of us...
Jeannie: Hang-in there! It was great to get to know you and Dave a little better at SITM. What a party that was!!! Thanks again for putting this on every year.
Jeannie: Hang-in there! It was great to get to know you and Dave a little better at SITM. What a party that was!!! Thanks again for putting this on every year.
08-26-2010, 03:01 PM
#50
Rennlist Member
As a middle man between suppliers and end users I can relate to that.
Those that have never ran a shop have no idea of just how good our 928 parts folks are.
This happened yesterday, I called MB for a set of hoses, got PRICE and avalibility on them, gave the customer a guess as to what it would be. I seldom if ever say it is going to be X number of dollars to do any thing on a old car, cause you just never know how much you are going to have to fix once you start.
Any way I was told 125 for one hose and 212 for the other, list was about 15% higher, so I was going to end up making less than 50 bucks for them.
When they get here one was 252 and the other was 198, my cost.
I call and they say, sorry they must have went up, still want them?
I have to eat that, or most of it any way, because I told them how much the parts were.
I know for a fact that this happens to all the vendors often, they are told one price and it is different by more than their mark up.
(it just happened again while writing this, from BMW)
I have yet for Jeannie to take the extra money that the parts cost her, because she told me what they were going to be.
The folks that bitch, who are not in this line of work have no clue to how good we have got it to have people like Jeannie, DR and Pam, plus all the others that help us keep these cars on the road.
With the exception of the 928 parts people I am shocked when a order comes into my shop and is right.
We get the wrong stuff at the wrong prices EVERY day, things get lost, never arrive, you name it.
And Jeannie and Pam are freaking great to talk to on the phone.
I told her when I first meet her that I expected her to be fat and ugly because she sounded so good on the phone, man was I off base with that mental image.
Those that have never ran a shop have no idea of just how good our 928 parts folks are.
This happened yesterday, I called MB for a set of hoses, got PRICE and avalibility on them, gave the customer a guess as to what it would be. I seldom if ever say it is going to be X number of dollars to do any thing on a old car, cause you just never know how much you are going to have to fix once you start.
Any way I was told 125 for one hose and 212 for the other, list was about 15% higher, so I was going to end up making less than 50 bucks for them.
When they get here one was 252 and the other was 198, my cost.
I call and they say, sorry they must have went up, still want them?
I have to eat that, or most of it any way, because I told them how much the parts were.
I know for a fact that this happens to all the vendors often, they are told one price and it is different by more than their mark up.
(it just happened again while writing this, from BMW)
I have yet for Jeannie to take the extra money that the parts cost her, because she told me what they were going to be.
The folks that bitch, who are not in this line of work have no clue to how good we have got it to have people like Jeannie, DR and Pam, plus all the others that help us keep these cars on the road.
With the exception of the 928 parts people I am shocked when a order comes into my shop and is right.
We get the wrong stuff at the wrong prices EVERY day, things get lost, never arrive, you name it.
And Jeannie and Pam are freaking great to talk to on the phone.
I told her when I first meet her that I expected her to be fat and ugly because she sounded so good on the phone, man was I off base with that mental image.
08-26-2010, 03:58 PM
#51
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I can remember 'back in the day' when there weren't POS terminals, bar codes, infinite look-up capabilities for car parts. Your parts salesperson was a real pro, and made sure that you got what you wannted, and often helped you out with the extra parts that you really needed.
Fast-forward to current, and most parts sellers are clerks at best. They plug a description into a termminal, a part number pops up, and they push 'sell' and take your CC info. I went in to the local discount parts place to buy spark plugs a while back, with the Bosch number in hand. Clerk's first question: "What is it for?" Doesn't matter, it's what I want. But he can't find WR7DC plugs by number, since there are no paper catalogs, cross-references, etc. Very frustrating at best. So count your blessings when you find our dedicated 928 parts vendors. We generally have knowldegeable, helpful, considerate folks available to help with our needs and wants. We have a real person with a name to talk to if/when things aren't perfect. And we get great service whether the not-perfect was our "fault" or theirs. If you want a simple example, dash on over to your local discound place and buy the tail light bulbs their computer says are correct. Get cheap ones, since they can't be returned even if they did you wrong when they sold them.
Fast-forward to current, and most parts sellers are clerks at best. They plug a description into a termminal, a part number pops up, and they push 'sell' and take your CC info. I went in to the local discount parts place to buy spark plugs a while back, with the Bosch number in hand. Clerk's first question: "What is it for?" Doesn't matter, it's what I want. But he can't find WR7DC plugs by number, since there are no paper catalogs, cross-references, etc. Very frustrating at best. So count your blessings when you find our dedicated 928 parts vendors. We generally have knowldegeable, helpful, considerate folks available to help with our needs and wants. We have a real person with a name to talk to if/when things aren't perfect. And we get great service whether the not-perfect was our "fault" or theirs. If you want a simple example, dash on over to your local discound place and buy the tail light bulbs their computer says are correct. Get cheap ones, since they can't be returned even if they did you wrong when they sold them.
08-26-2010, 04:49 PM
#53
I went in to the local discount parts place to buy spark plugs a while back, with the Bosch number in hand. Clerk's first question: "What is it for?" Doesn't matter, it's what I want. But he can't find WR7DC plugs by number, since there are no paper catalogs, cross-references, etc. Very frustrating at best.
08-26-2010, 11:16 PM
#55
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+928 Billion to all the good stuff that's been written already. I can't add to it.
Pam's on the job for about an hour and is already back to her old self: sounding and laughing exactly like Jeannie.... and I get myself into some trouble 'cause I thought it was Jeannie answering the phone. Oops...
Pam's on the job for about an hour and is already back to her old self: sounding and laughing exactly like Jeannie.... and I get myself into some trouble 'cause I thought it was Jeannie answering the phone. Oops...
08-27-2010, 08:09 AM
#57
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[QUOTE=worf928;7849018]+928 Billion to all the good stuff that's been written already. I can't add to it.
Pam's on the job for about an hour and is already back to her old self: sounding and laughing exactly like Jeannie.... and I get myself into some trouble 'cause I thought it was Jeannie answering the phone. Oops...[/QUOTE]
Too funny! That has happened to me on many occassions in the past.
Glad to hear Pam's back, hopefully for a long time.
Cheers,
Pam's on the job for about an hour and is already back to her old self: sounding and laughing exactly like Jeannie.... and I get myself into some trouble 'cause I thought it was Jeannie answering the phone. Oops...[/QUOTE]
Too funny! That has happened to me on many occassions in the past.
Glad to hear Pam's back, hopefully for a long time.
Cheers,
08-28-2010, 01:36 PM
#59
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Dave and Jeannie Very Tolerant
If not for Dave and Jeannie, I would not have been able to own and operate a 928. Repairs were cost-prohibitive without DIY mechanical work (found this out the hard way-- price of admission low, price of ownership and maintenance high -- nothing unknown to those on this list) and before I owned a 928, I had little to no experience working on cars.
Dave and Jeannie were, despite their work load, very patient during my first TB/WP job as well as a slave cylinder replacement and countless other jobs like rebuilding calipers, replacing rotors, and even a control arm. Walking me thru the process every step of the way. Dave and Jeannie are also among the few people in the car business my wife (then girlfriend) found respectful to women when placing xmas/b-day present orders-- a fact she remembers every time we discuss the 928 to this day.
All the best to 928 Specialists for being there when it counted. I know the 928 community can do the same in return.
Sincerely,
David Cmelik
Dave and Jeannie were, despite their work load, very patient during my first TB/WP job as well as a slave cylinder replacement and countless other jobs like rebuilding calipers, replacing rotors, and even a control arm. Walking me thru the process every step of the way. Dave and Jeannie are also among the few people in the car business my wife (then girlfriend) found respectful to women when placing xmas/b-day present orders-- a fact she remembers every time we discuss the 928 to this day.
All the best to 928 Specialists for being there when it counted. I know the 928 community can do the same in return.
Sincerely,
David Cmelik
Last edited by dcmelik; 08-28-2010 at 01:38 PM. Reason: typo
08-28-2010, 01:55 PM
#60
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If not for Dave and Jeannie, I would not have been able to own and operate a 928. Repairs were cost-prohibitive without DIY mechanical work (found this out the hard way-- price of admission low, price of ownership and maintenance high -- nothing unknown to those on this list) and before I owned a 928, I had little to no experience working on cars.
Dave and Jeannie were, despite their work load, very patient during my first TB/WP job as well as a slave cylinder replacement and countless other jobs like rebuilding calipers, replacing rotors, and even a control arm. Walking me thru the process every step of the way. Dave and Jeannie are also among the few people in the car business my wife (then girlfriend) found respectful to women when placing xmas/b-day present orders-- a fact she remembers every time we discuss the 928 to this day.
All the best to 928 Specialists for being there when it counted. I know the 928 community can do the same in return.
Sincerely,
David Cmelik
Dave and Jeannie were, despite their work load, very patient during my first TB/WP job as well as a slave cylinder replacement and countless other jobs like rebuilding calipers, replacing rotors, and even a control arm. Walking me thru the process every step of the way. Dave and Jeannie are also among the few people in the car business my wife (then girlfriend) found respectful to women when placing xmas/b-day present orders-- a fact she remembers every time we discuss the 928 to this day.
All the best to 928 Specialists for being there when it counted. I know the 928 community can do the same in return.
Sincerely,
David Cmelik
