I have ordered many items from the Bus Depot and found their service to be
top notch. I have also written dozens of emails to them and gotten 24 hr
turnaround on answers to my ?s.

I think the experience below is that rare occasion. I double as the
procurement officer in our agency and I know how to spot poor vendors. The
Bus Depot does NOT fall into that category.

SeanG
80 Westy
95 EVC

>From: The Bus Depot <ron@netcarrier.com>
>Reply-To: The Bus Depot <ron@netcarrier.com>
>To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
>Subject: Re: First Order from Bus Depot
>Date: Thu, 13 Jul 2000 19:07:50 -0400
>
>My comments ...
>
> > It took me 2 weeks to get my order. I got the impression (though I could
> > be wrong) that many items in the catalog are not in stock. Otherwise,
> > why would it take them 9 working days to get something off a shelf, put
> > it in a box, and mail it.
>
>We say on the website to allow 7-10 working days for delivery. (That is,
>for
>it to reach you, not before it ships.) Often we don't need this long, but
>sometimes we do. We do our best to ship within 1-2 days of receiving an
>order, and right now we're at about that point.  But, for example, two
>weeks
>ago, we were behind by about 5 days. This is the busy season.  I'd rather
>promise you 10 days and deliver in 3 than the other way around. Also, bear
>in mind that of that 7-10 working day period, more than half of it may be
>time-in-transit (standard UPS/Mail delivery time), which is something we
>can't control.
>
>About 3/4 of what's in my catalog, I either stock or can typically get
>next-day from a local supplier.  Of the remainder, most is made-to-order
>stuff such as carpet kits, etc. The rest is stuff that is very rarely
>ordered, and usually available within about a week.  We're talking stuff
>that gets ordered maybe a few of times a year here.  If you had to pay my
>overhead to stock this rarely-ordered stuff, all of my prices would be
>higher.  This is not to say that things don't go on backorder.  That
>happens
>all the time in this business, and when it happens a backorder can last a
>day or a month. This is not computer hardware, these are parts for 20 year
>old vans.  I try to stock up on items that I expect to be difficult to get
>in the future, but there is not always a way to predict this.  Sometimes
>you
>have some warning because the part gets harder to find before it becomes
>impossible to get.  But other times, the most commonplace items go
>inexplicably unavailable for a month for no reason that I can fathom.
>
> > So I would buy from the Bus Depot again, but if I was in a hurry I might
> > investigate other sources for the parts first.
>
>If you are in a hurry, order via express shipping (i.e. next-day,
>second-day, or third-day UPS).  These orders get prioritized in front of
>all
>other orders, and are the first ones I look at every morning.  It will cost
>you a little more in shipping cost, but given that my prices are already a
>whole lot less than most places you'll probably still end up saving money
>and getting better quality parts.
>
> > The Bus Depot often does not respond to emails. The most reliable way to
> > contact them is by phone, which is a long-distance toll call if you are
> > enquiring about an order. And don't call early, they don't open until
> > 11am - a fact which is not prominently shown on their website. So I got
> > a recording on my first call and wasted my money
>
>Jerry tries to respond to email within 2 working days. He's as backed up as
>we are during the busy season but he just hired more help to speed things
>along.  Yes, you can always call if you need a faster response.  You must
>call the customer service number (215-234-VWVW) since the toll-free number
>is staffed by operators who can ONLY take orders by part number and nothing
>else.  Incidentally, our hours are clearly noted on the second page of the
>website, which is a page that every visitor must go through in order to
>browse our website.
>
> > As a listmember I did not get any discount when ordering. Perhaps
> > there was some secret code I should have entered somewhere but if so I
> > did not know of it.
>
>Every time I mention the listmember discount on the list, I also make it a
>point to mention that you must specify when ordering (over the phone or in
>the "comments" section of the order form) that you are a list member.
>Indeed, it has to be "secret," or else everybody would get it and it
>wouldn't be a listmember discount at all.
>
>- Ron Salmon
>   The Bus Depot, Inc.
>   http://www.busdepot.com

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