Honestly, what's so difficult?

[Cam3512]

Without mentioning the vendor (no one here), once again when I open up the box out comes the WRONG part.  Seems to happen to me all to frequently, and not only motorcycle parts. How difficult is it to take another minute to double check the product against the order?  Or are there monkey's stuffing the boxes? 

Rant over (till the next time).

[Kev m]

It rarely happens to me. I literally can only think of one minor case in the last few years and IIRC it was just shy one of them (and it was a minor little thing).

[RayB]

Agreed. People these days concentrate more on speed than quality. This is a problem as people try to keep up with computers and the instant gratification society.

[roofus]

It recently happened to me too. I ordered a flyscreen for one of my bikes. It came with the screen and two left brackets instead of a pair of left and right brackets. I took it back to the dealer and he gave me another flyscreen kit  to replace it. He said: "Open it while you're in the store in case the wrong brackets are in this box too." The new kit package didn't have any mounting brackets in the box.

The dealer just sighed and said the he had just received another shipment form the same manufacturer and it was a plastic part instead of the carbon fibre part he had ordered.

These people need to read "The Checklist Manifesto" . . . and implement the recommendations!!!!!!

[guzziownr]

When vendors mess up I stop using them.  I am down to MG Cycle and AF1 Racing from a looong list.

[Cam3512]

And I'm only a shade tree weekend warrior.  Can't imagine those who rely on getting parts to make a living.  I've also gotten damaged parts that were clearly like that BEFORE the shipment went out to me.  The whole "return" process is just a time consuming hassle.

[RayB]

Most my experience with wrong parts has been over the counter car parts and some from online auto parts places. I now go to only one brick and mortar place for car parts since its only a 5 minute drive back for the correct part.

I quite going to one place after the counter guy asked me "Is your Taurus an overhead cam engine or is it an overhead valve engine?". I told him that they are all overhead valve and mine was a pushrod engine. The debatelasted too long and the only way to get the part was to let it go and say it was an overhead valve engine...never went back.
Online? Real hassle sending the wrong part back while I pay return shipping costs.

[Hymes Inc.]

I would say my rate is about 20% of what I order being either wrong, damaged in some way, or lost in transit. A lot of the time it's a inexpensive part that would cost more to send back. Not to mention the hassle and wait time of the whole ordeal.

[RayB]

Wow 20 percent error rate...glad these folks are not my doctor, banker, or dentist. What the bridges we drive on were 20 percent designed with errors.

This stuff just gets my pressure up. I better back off this thread for a while.  My bmw parts error rate is very low...except for cables. Don't know why cables are such a problem.

[RinkRat II]

 Ain't life grand!
 Most all my wrong parts  experience have been the manufaturers putting the wrong part in the right box. Warehouse person goes by the barcodes, fills the order and voila all is well on the packing list until I open the box and it's a weebler pin and not a wobbler rod. Then the fun begins splainin what happened and getting the return authorization etc,etc,etc.


  Paul B

[Antietam Classic Cycle]

I quite going to one place after the counter guy asked me "Is your Taurus an overhead cam engine or is it an overhead valve engine?". I told him that they are all overhead valve and mine was a pushrod engine. The debatelasted too long and the only way to get the part was to let it go and say it was an overhead valve engine...never went back.

Actually, the Taurus SHO was (double) overhead cam, maybe that's why he asked?

[RayB]

My options were overhead cam or overhead valve. I know about the SHO but just commented to him that both engines are overhead valve. Question should be"Overhead cam or pushrod engine?  Came to find out later those designations are what Ford listed.

[Dimples]

I imagine it's a very well known supplier, but I won't name names. It's happened to me too. The worst issue is they won't send the correct part until they receive the incorrect one back (even though they have your CC). Then they charge shipping on the replaced correct part. So, you pay shipping 3 times!

[canuguzzi]

Ordered one of the Hornet deer warning things. 4 times the box came, 4 times the only thing inside was a handlebar mount.

How do they stay in business?

[charlie b]

Well, speaking as someone who produces the parts and stuffs boxes for customers (model airplane kits)....we do get it wrong sometimes.  Right now our (my wife and I) record is 1 in 100 wrong.  Believe me, it costs us more than it does the customer.  The margins are slim so just paying a second set of postage means our profit is close to zero and frequently we lose quite a bit of money on the deal.  This is probably the case with many vendors, especially internet operations.

My most memorable was when I swapped labels on boxes.  Why so memorable?  One box went to Switzerland and the other to Australia.  Lost $90 just on the postage.  The rest of the loss is because of our policies, ie, if we screw it up we fix it at the least inconvenience to the customer.  That case meant we produced two more products and shipped the right ones and let the customers keep the ones they did not order, so, not only did we pay that additional postage but we also lost the money on the two kits we originally sent.

So, yes, we try to get it right.  But, sometimes things happen and we have to deal with it.

As a customer I have usually been treated fairly when I got the wrong part, or, even if I got the part correctly but it was the wrong fitment for my use.  Most cases the vendor ships the proper part before I send the wrong part back, and they eat the postage.

FYI, if you open the package at the post office in front of the clerk and find it is the wrong item, you can tape it back up and refuse the package.  It is then returned to the sender at no cost to you (I open the bottom so the label is not disturbed).  Same thing if the package is obviously damaged.  Just refuse to take delivery.  If it was delivered to your house then you can take it to your post office or give it to the delivery person.

PS if a vendor charges me return shipping for my mistake I won't take a replacement I just take a refund.  In most cases it pays to read their return policies before ordering too. 

[sib]

I've had better luck with mail order (online) than with in-store purchases.  In fact, I've made out a few times by receiving more than I ordered and paid for.  So, I'm not complaining.  I did get scammed once by a used rug merchant (literally!).  In the past 3 years that I've been a motorcyclist I've always received exactly what I purchased from online parts and accessory sources.

[canuguzzi]

Once you open the package refusing it is at the discretion of the post office. When you take the box, it has been delivered, the post office in most places isn't in the business of being part of the inspection process, they can make you pay for return shipping.

Refusal of delivery takes place before you take the package, not after you open it. The post office did what they are supposed to do, take the package and give it to you.

You might get away with that if you know the people working there bu try that at some busy post office and more than likely they'll just tell you to step aside and then charge you to ship it back, as well they should.

[NC Steve]

When vendors mess up I stop using them.  I am down to MG Cycle and AF1 Racing from a looong list.

  Plus RevZilla if you need them, they also have free shipping both ways and no questions asked returns.

[sib]

Plus RevZilla if you need them, they also have free shipping both ways and no questions asked returns.

In my experience, Revzilla does indeed have free shipping to you (if you spend more than $39.99), but you do have to pay to ship it back if it's your "fault" (i.e., wrong size, you changed your mind, etc.).  However, the return shipping charge is really low, probably about the same as it would cost in gas, wear and tear to bring it back to a local merchant by car.  And you also get to watch the irrepressible Anthony Bucci.

[normzone]

Funny all this, at least to me.

I work in Quality Anthropology. I get tasked with figuring out how these things happen, and making the systems more reliable.

This is a common problem.

Root causes include:

Unrealistic shipping schedules
Poor labeling practices
Similar part numbers next to each other on the shelf
Paperwork with small font

I'd appreciate any other inputs you guys have regarding root causes - thanks.

[RayB]

Most root causes lie in poor management systems. If quality is not a priority the contributing causes you losted never get resolved. This why some firms have low error rates and others do not. Quality is something you have to work at to improve instead of apologize for.

[normzone]

Well, I'm required to prove that the company has an effective corrective action system, at least twice a year.

So while I can occasionally admit failure, overall I have to do it and be able to prove it on a regular basis - ISO 9001:2008.

What else could contribute to shipping errors ? I've seen countermen who open the box and check the contents, others who hand it to you without.

[HDGoose]

Monkeys, robot or minimum wage folks obtain piece from bin -21345 which is supposed to contain part number gn456789. In theory, shelf tag and part are verified. but many systems only scan shelf location because it saves time, in theory.

[RayB]

Norm
Want to know where root causes come from? Track noncompliances from receiving to shipping and all handoffs in between. People will probably shun checking at each step for low margin products but that is small thinking. They need to think about the cost of a lost customer. That's probably the most expensive cost of poor quality. Can't take corrective actions until you nail down theprocess step that produces errors and then the root causes. If a supplier sends a retailer a correctly labelled box with the wrong stuff inside the retailer needs to investigate upstream for where boogers are generated. Are verifications of compliance traceable thru all process steps? Most of all firms need to give a sh#t.

[Cam3512]

Well, I'm required to prove that the company has an effective corrective action system, at least twice a year.

So while I can occasionally admit failure, overall I have to do it and be able to prove it on a regular basis - ISO 9001:2008.

What else could contribute to shipping errors ? I've seen countermen who open the box and check the contents, others who hand it to you without.

Attention to detail.  Take a minute to physically check to make sure the contents being shipped are whole and match the order.   These are not companies that ship millions, or even thousands of products.  Human beings are lazy until proven otherwise.