Mike -

No, they don't HAVE to say they ship whatever from they're location, but it
goes a long way to customer satisfaction to know where the item(s) come
from.  Full disclosure is EVERYTHING to me as it keeps customers INFORMED.
It matters to me when I order something online to know where, how, when and
why my item(s) I want is processed.  If I can't have that knowledge, I take
my business elsewhere.  This comes from having done this mail order end of
business for the past 23 of the 30 years I've professionally sold Automotive
Parts.

Everything VWG/Airhead sells is normally stocked in the VWG/Airhead
Warehouse (I think it's 25,000 square feet) with the exception of some
upholstery items such as seat covers, carpet sets, interior panels (so many
combinations you'd need a 750,000 square foot building just to stock almost
all of them) and in most cases it's indicated on the website and when the
customer talks to any of the salespersons.  When telephonically taking the
order, the Airhead Salespersons tell the customer at the time what the lead
time for any drop-shipped item.  When the order is done on the net shopping
cart, the salesperson (usually our webmaster) generally calls the customer
to let them know the same thing.  TMI/Sewfine generally require 10 working
days to process a drop shipment.  That's in addition to the shipment time,
which depending on where someone is could be 1 to 6 working days additional.

There are some items on the Airhead website that aren't quite kosher either
(mostly data glitches), but they're aware of them and promptly notify the
customer to prevent a potential problem and they fix them quickly whenever
possible.

Groundship Orders called in by 3:30pm PDT usually ship the same day, Fedex
Ground.  Fedex Air Shipments have a deadline of 2:30pm PDT to go the
same day if the item is in stock and it's not a real huge order (like say 10
to 30 page picklists).  Don't be surprised - it happens at VWG/Airhead at
least once a week.  VWG/Airhead switched to Fedex two months ago and have
found their Ground Service to be at least a day faster than UPS and at
generally less cost than UPS.  Fedex Air has been very cost effective as
well.  Of course, to save the customer in Canada and outside the USA
brokerage fees, most orders go Air Parcel Post.  But that's what works for
VWG/Airhead and may or may not work for someone else.
--
Jim Thompson
84 GL 1.9 "Gloria"
84 Westfalia 2.1 "Ole Putt"
73 K Ghia Coupe "Denise"
72 411 Station Wagon "Pug"
oldvolkshome@gmail.com
http://www.oldvolkshome.com
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On 6/25/07, Mike S <mikes@flatsurface.com> wrote:
>
> At 07:55 PM 6/25/2007, Old Volks Home wrote...
> >  The "professor" is not the first and will certainly not be the last
> > to engage in e-commerce of this type.
>
> And what does it matter? From the customer's perspective, it's all a
> "black box." As long as they deliver the product described, when
> stated, for the price advertised, what difference does it how they do
> fulfillment? They have met their commitment. Do they say somewhere that
> they ship everything from their own warehouse?
>
> Do you stock everything you sell? I know that some other VW vendors on
> this list use drop shipping for some items.