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.
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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