TheSamba.com :: View topic - CIP1

Mon Aug 04, 2008 1:08 am

shano63 wrote: I could not get them because my order did not add up to $25. WW does not do this, neither does any of my Jeep places I order from. I think that's BS. They have lost a customer.
Does WW or your Jeep supplier offer free shipping? They gotta pay for it somehow. Couldn't you figure out how to get it up to $25?

Mon Aug 04, 2008 2:43 pm

shano63 wrote: I have spent a ton of money with them and have not had one screw up over the years I have used them. BUT, I tried ordering something small, just some screws for my pop outs and a couple of other small things. I could not get them because my order did not add up to $25. WW does not do this, neither does any of my Jeep places I order from. I think that's BS. They have lost a customer.
They do have bills to pay. Boxes, the people pulling the parts, packing, and shipping don't pay for themselves on a $5 order. Are you honestly saying you couldn't find anything else to order? I have a list of not-quite-needed parts for this occasion. But, I have used WW or one of the other vendors when I really only needed one part. Or needed it quick... It can be inconvenient, but I don't really find it a reason to stop shopping there.

Were those the popout screws WW is out of?

Mon Aug 04, 2008 3:31 pm

Bruce wrote: shano63 wrote: I could not get them because my order did not add up to $25. WW does not do this, neither does any of my Jeep places I order from. I think that's BS. They have lost a customer.
Does WW or your Jeep supplier offer free shipping? They gotta pay for it somehow. Couldn't you figure out how to get it up to $25?

CB has $20 minimum, they are reputable. I have run into this with a LOT of companies, not just VW and it's not a "bad" thing.

You'll find a lot of companies that don't have a minimum will "probably" have exorbanant shipping/handling charges.

Order a $10 part from somewhere esle and get charged $15 in shipping. It's a wash.

At least with CIP, you order a $10 part, add more "stuff" to get to $25 and you at least have something to show for it.

I've ordered a lot from CIP and have never had any issues, even on returns, I'll keep using them.

Mon Aug 04, 2008 6:58 pm

I do ALOT of mail order being on the wrong coast. None of the other companies I deal with have a minimum. I ordered two seat belt mounts from Quadratec (Jeep stuff), $1.95 a piece with $2.99 shipping. WW, ordered some pop out screws and some other small stuff, came to $5 and change. No problem there. I'm sure all these companies have employee's they have to pay. I would give up the free shipping if I was able to order some small part with no hassels. They had no problem taking my money when I ordered up a set of flat four eneki rims, but when I need something small I have to increase my quantity? Even though I don't need 3 set's of pop out screws. "F" that, I'll take my business elsewhere.

Mon Aug 04, 2008 7:01 pm

2002sportside wrote: shano63 wrote: I have spent a ton of money with them and have not had one screw up over the years I have used them. BUT, I tried ordering something small, just some screws for my pop outs and a couple of other small things. I could not get them because my order did not add up to $25. WW does not do this, neither does any of my Jeep places I order from. I think that's BS. They have lost a customer.
They do have bills to pay. Boxes, the people pulling the parts, packing, and shipping don't pay for themselves on a $5 order. Are you honestly saying you couldn't find anything else to order? I have a list of not-quite-needed parts for this occasion. But, I have used WW or one of the other vendors when I really only needed one part. Or needed it quick... It can be inconvenient, but I don't really find it a reason to stop shopping there.

Were those the popout screws WW is out of?

I ordered the screws that mount the latch to the body. They had 'em when I ordered them.

Mon Aug 04, 2008 7:42 pm

shano63 wrote: 2002sportside wrote: shano63 wrote: I have spent a ton of money with them and have not had one screw up over the years I have used them. BUT, I tried ordering something small, just some screws for my pop outs and a couple of other small things. I could not get them because my order did not add up to $25. WW does not do this, neither does any of my Jeep places I order from. I think that's BS. They have lost a customer.
They do have bills to pay. Boxes, the people pulling the parts, packing, and shipping don't pay for themselves on a $5 order. Are you honestly saying you couldn't find anything else to order? I have a list of not-quite-needed parts for this occasion. But, I have used WW or one of the other vendors when I really only needed one part. Or needed it quick... It can be inconvenient, but I don't really find it a reason to stop shopping there.

Were those the popout screws WW is out of?

I ordered the screws that mount the latch to the body. They had 'em when I ordered them.
I had to order the hinge screws from CIP, WW was out. They were in a WW package :lol: But I also had to order some stuff I don't need just yet.

Can't really lump them in with Quaratec, they are on a level with the likes of Summit Racing...

Curious, what did WW charge to ship the $5 order.

Tue Aug 05, 2008 5:21 pm

Order totaled $5.25, shipping was $8.45. Yes, expensive, but I'll pay that instead of trying to figure out what to order just to get to $25. CIP doesn't have free shipping all the time anyway.

Tue Aug 05, 2008 7:15 pm

So you are never going to do a tune-up ever again in your life? Spark plugs, oil change gaskets, dist cap, rotor, points, condenser????

Tue Aug 05, 2008 7:32 pm

I'm not sure but I believe other places besides CIP have that stuff. :wink:

Thu Aug 07, 2008 9:44 pm

I've placed many orders with CIP since I discovered their website, and I've spent several thousand dollars there in total. The are convenient in my experience for quite a few reasons, and this convenience is a large part of the reason why I have chosen to continue doing business with them.

CIP's website displays the stock status of items in their inventory, so I can be reasonably assured that the merchandise I am ordering will ship at the same time, even if the entire order is packed into two or more boxes. The websites of many competitors will not display the stock status of a given item, and if they are out of it, this part or parts will go to "back ordered" status, often without any sort of notification. True, a few good retailers who don't post inventory status on their respective websites will give stock status over the phone, but this only works during business hours. Its frustrating to place an order only to be told days later that the desired item or items are back ordered and may not even ship for a few weeks. Its a matter of convenience, and CIP gives the customer easier access to information that may directly affect whether or not they choose to place an order at that time.

Its also nice that CIP sends a notification email with a tracking number if the appropriate shipping method is selected. This courtesy allows me to plan for the arrival of the shipment, since UPS will not leave packages at my residence if there is no answer. Its a good thing too, since several packages "delivered" by UPS, FedEx, and DHL respectively, have disappeared from in front of my home when I was not there to receive them personally.

For what its worth, most of the orders I've placed through CIP have been completed with minimal hassles, but there has been one notable exception. I placed a recent order that included a request for a 12-point, 3/8" drive tool for removing IRS CV joint bolts. I received a 6-point 6mm hex key socket, so I called CIP customer service to inform them of the problem. The manner in which events unfolded is funny in retrospect, but was frustrating at the time.

The representative to whom I spoke sounded incredulous at best, and condescending at worst upon hearing what I had received instead of what I had ordered. The rep informed me that he could not do anything without pictures of the part I had received, so I sent them promptly. Upon receipt of the pictures, he informed me that I would have to send it back to receive a refund.

Quite frankly, I have better things to do than waste the time it would take to ship the tool they sent me incorrectly, at my expense, so I let it go. I did ask if the rep would offer anything more acceptable, but he claimed that the best he could do would be to give me a credit for half the cost of the tool. Its not the $7 that I lost when they shipped the wrong tool that is the issue, its the manner in which their representative addressed the situation. I placed an order for a specific tool, they sent the wrong one, and then they refused to offer an acceptable solution to a problem they created, much less an apology. The rep claimed that they don't even sell 6mm hex key sockets, and made it abundantly clear that he believed I was not being truthful about the situation. This is rude if nothing else.

Due to this experience, I cannot help but feel leery about what might happen if they were to make a more expensive mistake, especially after reading about the hoops that other posters have had to jump through in the event of problems. For what its worth, I still have not received the credit that was offered, but its such a pitiful amount of money that its not worth wasting the time to call about it. Still, I am disappointed to say the least. I tacked the 12-point tool onto a parts order for the sake of convenience, so I could save a trip to the my local FLAPS, but I received quite the opposite of convenience. Given the number of times I've ordered from CIP, this incident is definitely not the norm for them.

An important thing to keep in mind when ordering from CIP is that some orders are shipped on the next business day, but many go out on the second, third, or fourth business day after the order was placed. This is covered in their shipping policies, but its frustrating to watch an order for which one has paid extra for "fast" shipping languish in limbo for days while they get around to shipping it.

This apart and aside from any delays experienced in transit across the US/Canada border, or at any point between their warehouse and my residence. If I'm going to order from CIP, I simply add this additional transit time to their estimate for delivery for a more accurate picture of when I might reasonably expect what I've ordered to arrive. Its not a big deal, though, and they are still one of the best retailers out there.

Thanks for reading. -S

Fri Aug 08, 2008 6:29 pm

I know I have been bashing CIP but to their credit when I ordered my rims they were $179 a piece, right after I ordered them they dropped the price to $149 a piece. I called them and asked if they could do anything and they issued me a $100 gift certificate. It took them a few weeks to e-mail it to me but I did get it.

Thu Aug 21, 2008 7:06 am

you can not beat these guys on international shipping. I ordered tuesday and it was alot of stuff, it was here in the UK on thursday for pickup. I havent seen a UK company that can beat those times.!

i had a great experience of customer service as well, pleasant, well mannered and knowledgeable. 10/10 from me, ill be ordering again.

Sun Sep 07, 2008 6:26 pm

Just got my second order from CIP1. Ordered last Thursday morning and recieved it this morning (Monday). Awesome delivery to Australia and excellently packaged. Thanks CIP1.

Sun Oct 05, 2008 11:10 am

Hi guys,

Got my first order ever from CIP1.com, 66 items and over 1K$. everything arrived in great shape (all the way from Canada to Israel), nothing back-ordered (they show the stock status online).

It took them 5 days to ship the order because they ask their international customers an anti-fraud form (with your driving license and credit card photos). But UPS did a great job with 2 days delivery to Israel.

All the way till it arrived, Joe, Amanda, Jill and Alysia were very helpful answering all my questions.

VERY HEPPY WITH CIP1!