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I feel a need to vent a little

AlpineYoda

Well Known Member
Patron
If you are a vendor in this industry, can you please just do us all a favor and be up front and honest with us? I am waiting on two items to complete my build and fly. One is critical, one is nice-to-have. So, I'm really waiting on just one part, but I'm sure many people on this site who have completed their build understand my combination of excitement and frustration of simply waiting on others to deliver on their promised timelines so I can wrap this up.

Names and products withheld to protect people, but if there is popular demand I'm more than happy to let others know who is hard to work with.

Vendor 1 (the critical part)
Nov 2021 - Me: That final part that you said would take 2 weeks (has a replacement schedule, couldn't just order it years ago since it will have less useful life by the time I take flight)? I'm ready to go!
Them: We are backed up. Delivering in Feb / March
March 30, 2022. Them: – one more month – only a handful in front of me.
May 13 – third from top of list
June 14 – top of the list
August 1 – “on the floor, shipping when production is done”

So either this vendor has been lying to me and letting other buyers (like certificated airplane manufacturers) jump in front of me, or their company that employs lots and lots of people to make a single product makes 6-8 of these products a year. I'm guessing I've simply been pushed down the list and lied to.

Vendor 2 - non-critical part.
Back story - I have part X from them and I broke it. My fault. Entirely my fault. I need a replacement.
Contacted them in May 2022: I broke X. Do you happen to have another X that I can buy from you.
Them: Yes! We have one right here. I will ship it out immediately.
Received from them part Y. Not part X.
Early June - they finally responded to repeated emails and calls and said that they still have an X and will ship it out immediately with a return label to send part Y back to them. So sorry for the mistake.
A week, then 2, then 3, then 4, then 5 go by. No part. No response to emails or calls. Week 6, I email everyone I can find on their website and call 5 times.
Them: We don't have any of those right now. We should have some in a couple of weeks.
Three weeks go by. No response to repeated attempts to contact. Still sitting here with a part Y on the workbench. No idea if I should call my credit card company, glue my broken part back together, or keep waiting.

I realize that there are supply chain issues. I realize that vendor 2 is smaller with about 5 employees, as far as I can tell.

But seriously. Stop lying to us. Tell the truth. I can accept the truth. Your part will be available in a year. That's what Lycoming and Stein told me, and I lived with it. These two companies with their "we'll be right there" and never show up mentality are driving me nuts.

Thank you for listening. End of rant.
 
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You need to start asking for tracking numbers, and callback the next day if you haven't received the tracking number. Stay on top of it and don't trust anyone to do what they say...... no tracking number = NOT shipped..... you are soon forgotten.
 
You need to start asking for tracking numbers, and callback the next day if you haven't received the tracking number. Stay on top of it and don't trust anyone to do what they say...... no tracking number = NOT shipped..... you are soon forgotten.

You are totally right. My emails in weeks 1, 2, 3, and 4 to vendor 2 were all for tracking numbers for the part that they said that they shipped out. But they never could bother to reply.
 
Oh, and vendor 1 has gotten $20,000 from me so far for other parts of this critical system.

Vendor 2 has gotten about $5,000 and I've repeatedly ordered things from them.

I thought I was a valuable customer to both.
 
Here's part of the problem as I see it. Companies will keep doing it until it hurts them in their pockets and if nobody mentions them by name others will fall victims of them too.

Yes we can't say names on this forum because it's a business and we don't want advertisers to affect the owner BUT the word has to get out about these vendors. I say find a social media group and let everybody know !

I've had similar experiences with other non-aviation related companies and as soon as you start posting on Twitter or Facebook, they quickly responded. Of course make sure it's not something you did to cause this, but just based on your account of things here, I'd go medieval on them on social media !
 
Yoda, what are the items? Maybe someone has one sitting on a shelf, and if it is a mass distribution item, you wouldn't be ratting on the vendor.
 
Sadly, this is not unique to vendors in the experimental aircraft industry—it’s all kinds of small to medium sized businesses these days. All empty promises and no action. I’ve had to fight more small vendors in the last five years or so than I ever have in the rest of my life.

It’s always the same story as your example: Your order was delayed on our web site but will surely be processed in two weeks. A month later: the factory is reporting a backlog but we will definitely ship next week. Another month later: we are having supply chain problems and the item is on back order. No ETA but we will try to ship this month. Good grief! I just had to cancel a pair of eyeglasses from a small business that jerked me around in this way.

I try to support small businesses but sadly at some point you have to give up and just order from the big MegaCompany who is at least predictable.
 
Being a “vendor”, not in this industry, but another, I will say that unfortunately, there is a global supply chain issue going on. Could vendors be more up front, sure - but here is the reality…

Our vendors are getting promises by their vendors they use to make their products. It is not uncommon to get “de-commits”. basically the vendor promises to deliver raw goods to your vendor by a certain date and then before it ships - and unfortunately i see it happening the day parts are supposed to arrive - they get a call saying “sorry, we dont have parts for you”. The date you were promised was based on your vendor having everything they needed and now all of a sudden they don’t… and there is little they can do about it.

Prices are going up, and many times vendors are taking the hit. I have micro controllers that cost me $35 each last year and are now costing me $500.

So while i feel bad for all of us who are in the same situation as you are, i feel worse for mothers who can’t get baby formula. Poor us who can’t get our airplane parts, meanwhile there are people who are way worse off than we are.
 
Being a “vendor”, not in this industry, but another, I will say that unfortunately, there is a global supply chain issue going on. Could vendors be more up front, sure - but here is the reality…

Our vendors are getting promises by their vendors they use to make their products. It is not uncommon to get “de-commits”. basically the vendor promises to deliver raw goods to your vendor by a certain date and then before it ships - and unfortunately i see it happening the day parts are supposed to arrive - they get a call saying “sorry, we dont have parts for you”. The date you were promised was based on your vendor having everything they needed and now all of a sudden they don’t… and there is little they can do about it.

Prices are going up, and many times vendors are taking the hit. I have micro controllers that cost me $35 each last year and are now costing me $500.

So while i feel bad for all of us who are in the same situation as you are, i feel worse for mothers who can’t get baby formula. Poor us who can’t get our airplane parts, meanwhile there are people who are way worse off than we are.

But in his case they said they actually had it and lied so it doesn't have anything to do with the supply chain issues.
 
I'll add to this:

Ordered 3x of an important part from a very major vendor from a very major manufacturer. Was told "Expected Shipping: [3 weeks from order]".

Checked dutifully at order + 3 weeks: now expected 2 weeks from that date

Checked dutifully 2 weeks later: expected August 3.

Checked August 2 (13 weeks past order date): I'm now #6 in line, expected ship date August 30.

I can't tell if the major vendor is just getting really small deliveries from the manufacturer and filling orders slowly (which is what they told me), or if the vendor is prioritizing orders by customer type and jumping some in line ahead of others, or if the manufacturer is failing to deliver the promised quantities to the vendor on time, or what.
 
Devil’s Advocate

A big part of this is us. A 240 percent increase in kit orders in one year? Ordering engines before we have kits? Hoarding N numbers?
 
I wish people deal with the supply chain issue like late last year I had with Aircraft Spruce. It informed me the part is back ordered for at least 2mo. Called back after two month and AS told me they supplier is still behind with no definitive date. That is a great example of telling the truth. I kept the back order because I still need the part but at least I can deal with the truth to replan for the delay. No lying and no over promise
 
Don’t know about that. I was lucky enough to finish mine last year. Pre pandemic I found customer service from all the vendors delightful.

Right now I can’t find an oil filter. ACS says they might arrive Aug 4. Another VAF member talked to a Champion rep at OSH and they said September.

I think everyone is just guessing.
 
I wish people deal with the supply chain issue like late last year I had with Aircraft Spruce. It informed me the part is back ordered for at least 2mo. Called back after two month and AS told me they supplier is still behind with no definitive date. That is a great example of telling the truth. I kept the back order because I still need the part but at least I can deal with the truth to replan for the delay. No lying and no over promise

Not all of us have had the same experience with ACS. Generally they're good, but their website tends to over-promise on delivery...
 
A big part of this is us. A 240 percent increase in kit orders in one year? Ordering engines before we have kits? Hoarding N numbers?

I see these as very separate issues. None of these come from the same vendors. Engines have always been a long lead time item, and it makes sense to order them ahead of time, or to buy from a non OEM seller when they become available used, which affects the new market as well.

Kits are kits and those supply chain issues depend on a number of inputs. Very few people are ordering kit parts separately from Van's. I wouldn't even know where to go to order a Van's outsourced kit part (for instance, gear weldments), and if I tried to order it direct from the shop, I doubt they'd sell it to me -- Van's is their customer and they are likely beholden to sell only to them.

I don't see many EAB builders out there "hoarding" N-numbers either--that's a completely different issue, that has nothing to do with "supply chain" in the context we're discussing here.
 
Right now I can’t find an oil filter. ACS says they might arrive Aug 4. Another VAF member talked to a Champion rep at OSH and they said September.

I think everyone is just guessing.

You probably need a 110, right?

-Marc
 
We Try Very Hard!

.... I would like to say a thing or two about this issue with customer service and
supply. We try our very best to always fill and ship the same or next day when
you order from us. With rare exceptions, if it is on our website, it is in stock to
ship to you. When we do machine work on a part for your aircraft, a turbine shaft
or blade repair, hot section repair or welding it is usually a one-day delay at most.
Should you find or experience anything to the contrary, please let me know personally,
and the problem will be addressed immediately to your satisfaction. Thanks, Allan--
 
.... I would like to say a thing or two about this issue with customer service and
supply. We try our very best to always fill and ship the same or next day when
you order from us. With rare exceptions, if it is on our website, it is in stock to
ship to you. When we do machine work on a part for your aircraft, a turbine shaft
or blade repair, hot section repair or welding it is usually a one-day delay at most.
Should you find or experience anything to the contrary, please let me know personally,
and the problem will be addressed immediately to your satisfaction. Thanks, Allan--

...and he isn't kidding! He turned my RV-10 bearing mod wheels in a day.

Shipping, on the other hand, took 8 days...(4 out, 4 back).
 
.... I would like to say a thing or two about this issue with customer service and
supply. We try our very best to always fill and ship the same or next day when
you order from us. With rare exceptions, if it is on our website, it is in stock to
ship to you. When we do machine work on a part for your aircraft, a turbine shaft
or blade repair, hot section repair or welding it is usually a one-day delay at most.
Should you find or experience anything to the contrary, please let me know personally,
and the problem will be addressed immediately to your satisfaction. Thanks, Allan--

And this is what I mean about the honest vendors not having a problem with a forum group about vendors so we can all see what's going on and not be an additional victim of the ones who aren't being honest.
 
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