| [ Total Views: 1323 | Total Replies: 32 | Thread Id: 73508 ] |
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 dezynablue
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| posted on December 16th, 2008 at 02:41 PM |
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PRE XMAS CONSUMER RANT!
Is it just me or are companies/sales staff out there just getting more and more lazy, for instance I spend most of my day at a computer and have ready
access to email, hence its normally my preferred method of contact as it doesn't interrupt my work flow.
The last few days I've sent numerous emails to various VW part suppliers to try and purchase a few chassis repair panels and a new front beam etc,
not one of them have returned my email, do they have too much money?, do they not want more sales?, is it too much work to type a few quick words?,
even if it was... "CALL US TO GET PRICING/AVAILABILITY" or "NOT IN STOCK", if you advertise an email address as a contact then you should respond,
simple.
So now ill just have to get them shipped from overseas, give some other country the profit, and store owners are wondering why we don't buy
Australian!, has anyone else found this or is it just me?, please let me know.
Anyway, that's my rant for the day and if there are suppliers out there that respond to their emails then please post here!, I will happily spend my
cash with you.
Cheers
Unhappy Shopper
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 vw54
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| posted on December 16th, 2008 at 03:27 PM |
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theres a simpiler method PICK up the phone and dial the number
You will get a better responce especially this time of the year they will all be trying to get jobs out the door
Pretty simple
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alien8
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| posted on December 16th, 2008 at 04:13 PM |
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Chill dude!
Most old dudes are not savy with the intra net. Especially old VW dudes. However, they will talk your ear off if you want to give them a call. Parts
ordered and a good chat at the same time. Beats the hell out of the most impersonal communication devise ever invented, the email. Except text
messaging. That sucks even harder!
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dezynablue
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| posted on December 16th, 2008 at 04:21 PM |
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You obviously missed the part were i mentioned that emailing is preferred as it doesn't interrupt my work.
And yes, I could spend most of my work day ringing round different stores but seeing as they offer a email address as a contact they should support
the option.
And as for pretty simple.....surely responding to emails at the end of the day, or when they can during quite periods or even first up in the morning
is easier than being interrupted by phone calls all day long?, I'm not requesting instant responses, next day would be fine.
Maybe I'm just expecting too much, who knows?
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trickysimon
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| posted on December 16th, 2008 at 04:38 PM |
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It does anoy me as well, especially when they don't repy to emails and when you try to ring up they are constantly engaged.
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greedy53
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| posted on December 16th, 2008 at 04:54 PM |
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i would say that your work flow has been disrupted so call i know it's a piss all these new fangled talking machenes shit what ever happened to good
old paper and ink
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rose
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| posted on December 16th, 2008 at 06:03 PM |
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As Dave said. These guys are so busy they don't have time to be sitting in front of a computer screen. It's heaps easy to pick up the phone. You
get better customer service if you call. The email is so impersonal.
| Quote: | Originally
posted by vw54
theres a simpiler method PICK up the phone and dial the number
You will get a better responce especially this time of the year they will all be trying to get jobs out the door
Pretty simple
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grumble
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| posted on December 16th, 2008 at 07:51 PM |
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I'm with Dave and Rose on this one ,we in the trade do not have all day to sit in front of a computer screen and make out quotes . Sometimes we
actually have to do some work or invoices for jobs or parts ordered so that we can pay the rent . We do actually have other customers to attend to.I
like many others have a one man business and do our best to give our customer the best service possible,unfortunately we are not robots and we do need
to eat etc. As Dave says "get on the new fangled talking device and speak to the dude. this should make everyone happy.
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izac
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| posted on December 16th, 2008 at 07:55 PM |
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yeah man, i have found it much better just to ring sometimes... as Rose and Dave say theyre really busy this time of year and its a lot easier for
them to ignore/miss a email than a loud annoying ringing sound...
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dezynablue
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| posted on December 16th, 2008 at 09:15 PM |
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Well it seems the lean is towards phone calls, I am quite surprised that emails have been classed as "harder" is it a computer thing? or is it that
VW owners just like to chinwag?
Personally i don't have time to spend making calls during the day as im too busy working, which is a shame as its a little more expensive ordering
from overseas.
I guess that's the price you have to pay for convenience, anyway, thanks for all the input guys.
HAVE A GREAT XMAS!!!!!
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MickH
A.k.a.: Michael Hutchinson
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| posted on December 16th, 2008 at 09:51 PM |
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Hmmm...bit harsh....if YOU have the time to write an email then you have time to make a phone call or sometimes it might be too much effort to pick up
the phone????? Most people can answer the phone on the job but might find it difficult to carry a computer on their backs... I would hardly call "working" for living "lazy" as you imply but
sitting behind a pc all day hardly sounds like "hard work" No offence intended but perhaps they are "working" harder than you and not sitting down
all day to earn a buck...
tssnq.com.au
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dezynablue
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| posted on December 16th, 2008 at 10:09 PM |
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I have the TIME to do both, and would like nothing more than to small talk for hours during the work day about VW's and the history of Germanic
engineering, unfortunately in an open plan office with clients and also our director sitting at one of many stations in front of me, me chatting
buggy's to an obviously busy spare parts dealer is not only unfair to the rest of the staff but also disrespectful to the customers.
What they cant see, in a silent, private and unobtrusive email wont hurt them and we can all go about our days in pleasant denial.
Most suppliers run websites anyways (although none with stock levels and pricing or i wouldn't need this post), and id imagine most use computers for
orders and invoicing, its not like im sending an email to a deep sea pipe welder who may not have a laptop/internet at his disposal.......
I guess after quite a few years of back breaking roofing work, I decided I wanted to try and improve my quality of life, embrace current technology
and work smarter instead of harder, but each to their own way of earning a living, different strokes as they say...
All ranting aside, at the end of the day all I need is three things answered by email, do they have it in stock, roughly how much is it and when can i
come by to collect it. Thanks very much please come again.
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Brad
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| posted on December 16th, 2008 at 10:46 PM |
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mm interesting thread.. having sat firmly on both sides of this fence.
I Shops don't want to answer their emails then they shoudl not put them on their websites as a method of contact. I mean if they put a phone number
there and you ring it and get no answer you would be just as pissed.
As for people telling you to ring, yeah if you want an answer then and there that is the best method BUT if as you said you are happy to wait a day or
so then email is fine. As I said if these busy shop owners don't have time to answer then the shouldn't list it on their website. I know of a few
businesses that have websites and no email address.
People have to realise that there are more and more people out there who do not have the time to ring up when the shop is open and may get a spare few
minutes to send an email but not get the time to ring up and talk... or even more common is that they share office space with people who do not
appreciate them talking cars during work time.
The BIG LIABILITY to a small business and email is not answering it. I recently tried to buy a few $$$ worth of Fox shocks and could not get a
response via email from any of the shops that had them. I tried ringing but the idiots couldn't understand that I just wanted compressed, extended
and valve rates along with costs. This is why I was emailing so they could give me the rates in writting and I could order the correct ones for my
application. I had no issues getting a response from the USA and ordered the shocks that day.
Anyway all these shops can do what they want, they are only loosing customers as I said befoe if they aren't going to answer emails simply open the
page, higlight the link and press DELETE .. simple ....
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h
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| posted on December 16th, 2008 at 11:30 PM |
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yeah maybe true but as their is a sucker born every minute they will put up with the shit that shit companies provide them basically because they are
stupid and lazy customers.. hence why they are still in business
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rose
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| posted on December 17th, 2008 at 07:10 AM |
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Don't you get a break for lunch? lol
| Quote: | Originally
posted by dezynablue
I guess after quite a few years of back breaking roofing work, I decided I wanted to try and improve my quality of life, embrace current technology
and work smarter instead of harder, but each to their own way of earning a living, different strokes as they say...
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2slow
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| posted on December 17th, 2008 at 07:18 AM |
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It's simple, if you don't respond to my enquiry no matter how I make it then you don't get my business! Email is a much less intrusive means of
communication for business, it can be dealt with when you are not packing the shelves, serving a customer or on another phone call.
break for lunch, we don't all work for the govt!
Bobby
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dezynablue
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| posted on December 17th, 2008 at 07:23 AM |
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| Quote: | Originally
posted by rose
Don't you get a break for lunch? lol
| Quote: | Originally
posted by dezynablue
I guess after quite a few years of back breaking roofing work, I decided I wanted to try and improve my quality of life, embrace current technology
and work smarter instead of harder, but each to their own way of earning a living, different strokes as they say...
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I actually work through lunch so i can leave earlier to spend more time with my son, my choice i know, but it works for me.
DB
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vw54
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| posted on December 17th, 2008 at 07:27 AM |
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Ask SANTA for a phone for Xmas
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dezynablue
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| posted on December 17th, 2008 at 08:32 AM |
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I would do but he doesn't answer his email, the lazy bugger, he must have too many customers!
DB
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jedidan
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| posted on December 17th, 2008 at 09:42 AM |
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| Quote: |
I Shops don't want to answer their emails then they shoudl not put them on their websites as a method of contact. I mean if they put a phone number
there and you ring it and get no answer you would be just as pissed.
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time and time again, i hear everyone say "if you want a good price, you must shop around"
times change, and so does the way we shop.
the internet(and emails) is the next evolution and in theory, if applied and used correctly, is very efficient. Yes, it is very impersonnel and a lot
of people don't like that, but thats the trade-off for speed and efficiency. However , on saying that, the language you use in your emails can be
made to be friendly and personal too.
In most, if not all cases, people just require a quick, simple answer - and this doesn't take long to do.
For a lot of business owners, it will be a personal choice if they wish to use the phone, email or both - and that is their god-given right to do so,
BUT if you advertise it, honor it !
I know of two common and (apparently) reputable tyre sellers who actually have specialised websites. You can fill in a quote form with your details
(make of car, year, wheel size etc) and it automatically sends an email to them. Theoritically it saves time , the customer does all the homework, and
you should get a verified quote within 24 hours.
I was in no rush at the time, but its been 6 months and still no reply from one tyre place and the other company, the form didn't even get sent as
the website replied with 'server error' as soon as i hit 'send'.
ultimately i had to physically visit a tyre place to get what i needed. So much for keeping it simple.
Question is, why bother with all the fancy website stuff if you're not going to follow through ?
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DirkHedde
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| posted on December 17th, 2008 at 01:42 PM |
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hi dezynablue i think its pretty clear that you have an email problem and that your emails are not getting through from your workplace. i figure that
if you cannot make a private phonecall while at work your boss probably wont let you send private emails either and if noone has responded i suggest
this is the case. i always get replies to my email requests from aussy suppliers so i figure your the problem. your rant is just silly
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PurpleT3
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| posted on December 17th, 2008 at 03:13 PM |
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I can email or phone, it's not a matter of what I can be bothered to do, it's a matter of what is most time efficient. Phoning is fine if you want
one or two items, but if I want prices on 20 items, I don't have time to ring each supplier and go through my list and recite a whole stack of parts
numbers and descriptions. It's much easier and more time efficient to just send the same list to several potential suppliers. I make it easy, excel
list attached, supplier just has to enter prices and hit reply.
All that aside, if you have a website and give an email address as a contact option then the least you can do is answer it. Dezynablue I agree with
you on this one.
Ain't nothin' like the wind in your hair.
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dezynablue
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| posted on December 17th, 2008 at 03:31 PM |
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| Quote: | Originally
posted by DirkHedde
hi dezynablue i think its pretty clear that you have an email problem and that your emails are not getting through from your workplace. i figure that
if you cannot make a private phonecall while at work your boss probably wont let you send private emails either and if noone has responded i suggest
this is the case. i always get replies to my email requests from aussy suppliers so i figure your the problem. your rant is just silly
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My whole business is heavily reliant on emails, I know they get through, furthermore I never said I cant make private phone calls, just that it was
awkward in my work environment and possibly disrespectful to our clients and I choose not to make them.
The only PROBLEM I can see is a lack of email response to my enquiries from Australian suppliers and to be honest its not just VW parts suppliers
either, its from companies country wide.
As for my Rant being silly, that's the whole point of a rant, a rant is technically a monologue that doesn't present a well-researched and calm
argument, it is normally an attack on something that annoys you for instance, that's why I stated RANT in the title, to show that its just a
frustrated consumer letting off steam in a forum marked for such things.
Some people agree with me (shows its not just me), some people don't and so far the experiment shows that only one person has thought to pm me and
asked what I actually wanted!
Any supplier could have converted a sale from this if they wanted too. I know it would only be a few hundred dollars at this time, but a sale is a
sale and it would have probably started a repeat business relationship.
As my final thought for suppliers being busy, i popped into my closest VW spares place, the guy there was supping a drink and reading a newspaper, I
was there up to 10-15 minutes before anyone came in and then it was a "regular" popping by for a chat!, this was at 2pm on a weekday. Maybe it was
an off day.....
Thanks to all respondents, it makes posting here interesting 
DB
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 Yogie
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| posted on December 17th, 2008 at 07:56 PM |
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I pretty much gave up buying locally as it is too hard unless you actually go in to the shop and then hope they have what you want. I simply go in to
the website of the companies I want to check prices with and click add to basket with my final choice of supplier and then it is here within a week.
Others might want to make the purchasing in to a social event and chat for hours, that is them. For me, I just want to order the parts and enjoy
fitting them.
I would much prefer to buy locally and keep the business here but there are no shops willing to put their products on the website with pricing and
stock availability. Some have gone part way but you still can't just add it to the basket and give you credit card details and have it shipped.
I do all my ordering after hours from home when I have the time and it works for me. I live in hope that maybe someday an Australian supplier will
move in to the computer age but I don't hold my breath.
Yogie
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jenz58
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| posted on December 17th, 2008 at 08:12 PM |
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A phone will be picked up more quickly than an email for sure...emails are glanced at if you are taking calls while at a computer, and only replied to
if important..if just a query they are left until you have time to respond..at end of the day or before they start a new day, unless they have someone
especially assigned to email orders or queries
Phone is the best way to get someone attention and immediate response to a need
I think most companies are pretty good at replying to emails within a 24 hr time frame?
It's that silly season when everyone wants everything done yesterday as time is running out before the holidays? 
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dezynablue
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| posted on December 17th, 2008 at 08:14 PM |
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Im hoping the site http://www.ozbuggies.com.au is going to do well, its added to
my favourites, evidently launches Jan 1, a fresh new site could be interesting.
DB
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Pete
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| posted on December 17th, 2008 at 08:48 PM |
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I agree with jenz58, everyone wants everything yesterday now that it is coming into xmas time, its difficult enough to get all work out and packages
together let alone answer the phone and give prices on the hundreds of VW parts different shops sell,sometimes there is just not enough time in the
day!!!!!. Not that the last comment was an excuse but it is a very difficult time and small buisnesses are run off their feet at the moment
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vw54
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| posted on December 22nd, 2008 at 10:34 AM |
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So "" dezynablue "" have you recieved your Email answer as yet ????
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Mick058
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| posted on December 22nd, 2008 at 10:52 AM |
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Another vote for better Australian VW supplier websites. Would help heaps.
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h
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| posted on December 22nd, 2008 at 01:03 PM |
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| Quote: | Originally
posted by dezynablue
Im hoping the site http://www.ozbuggies.com.au is going to do well, its added to
my favourites, evidently launches Jan 1, a fresh new site could be interesting.
DB
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hmmm
anyone on here know whos site it is..
could sound like a 'dorothy dixer'
sus sales pitch maybe on the minds of conspiracy theorists
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