TheSamba.com :: View topic - CIP1

Sun Jul 01, 2007 11:17 am

My Order is at day 11 also and has not moved from Seattle. (Canada Import parts 1).DL

Sun Jul 01, 2007 11:34 am

Hey log on to there site. They have changed the 7-10 free shipping to 10-14 days now. DL

Sun Jul 01, 2007 4:52 pm

DL West wrote: They have changed the 7-10 free shipping to 10-14 days now. I will not use them ever again.

Why get upset over a few days difference?. Stuff like that never bothers me. Hell, i always ignore the free shipping charges anyways if im needing something bad enough from them! :wink:

Mon Jul 02, 2007 2:23 pm

I agree with the above statement. I'm not going to lose sleep if the parts only take a few days longer. The site says they are busy this time of the year, I can relate.
When I need parts ASAP, then I pay the extra $$ for the appropriate shipping method. Simple. 8)

Tue Jul 03, 2007 7:54 am

my order has been stuck in seattle for a week now..they just scanned it again at the same location yesterday :roll:

Tue Jul 03, 2007 8:05 am

It is not just free shipping items that are held up. All ups even 2 day. I had purchased some wiper motors from Canada a while back. They were held up for weeks. when I opened the package all had been taken apart and thrown back together. DL

Tue Jul 03, 2007 9:19 am

I am just about to place a large ($2800cdn) order with them and then started looking at the exchange rate and price difference between the two sites (.com / .ca)

wow.

I'm really second guessing supporting them with that much of a price grab on their behalf.

the dollar (http://bankofcanada.ca/en/index.html) is .94 cdn / $1 usd, but the prices are still at .81 cdn / $1 usd

that represents over $340 difference in the exchange rates.

$2800cdn = $2290usd@.81 = $2632usd@.94

Tue Jul 03, 2007 9:23 am

I have also had an outstanding order with CIP: ordered on the 16th, shipped on the 19th, stuck in Seattle on the 20th. And not much since.

On the 26th I called and spoke to Kris and and he explained the situation and was very apologetic. OK. So Home Land Security sucks. Tell me something I don't know. He said the CIP1 president was driving down to Seattle to get it sorted. OK. Sh** happens.

So I had to cancel the work that was scheduled to be done on the 28th. I called Kris back on the 28th and he again thanked me for my patience (and you could tell it was genuine: it sounded like some customers had been chewing on him like piranha. He also told me that my package was upgraded to 2nd or 3rd day service to make up for the goof. And that items were leaving Seattle now. OK. So I'll reschedule my mechanic for the 5th of July.

I check the website again on Monday and nothing has changed. NOTHING. There are updates to the shipping status: They still show the packages sitting in Seattle.

Called CIP1 again, and this time got someone other than Kris. They "didn't know nothin'" and seemed to think that because the UPS page showed IN TRANSIT that this meant all was well. (It had always shown 'in transit', even when sitting in Seattle for a week) He mostly seemed to want to get me off the phone. He said that the website 'just hadn't updated'. OK. I work in the biz, so I know how that works. I'll be patient, though I'm relying on them to get the stuff through to me so I don't have to cancel with my mechanic....again.

Check the website today...same crap. Shows warehouse scan at 6:30pm. So it is NOT in transit. It is NOT moving. And it WASN'T moving when I was told that it WAS.

So I call today and get Joe. He gives me the same line about "shows in transit" and "the website hasn't updated" and I ask him about the upgrade to 2nd or 3rd day and the soundtrack goes dead. He has no idea what I mean. Then he confesses that he just got back from vacation and has no idea what's going on. Oi.

So I ask to be tranferred to Kris. On hold. "Have you been helped?" Waiting for Kris. "OK, he should be on soon." Repeat this scenario several times. Everyone is unfailingly polite.

I finally get Kris, remind him of the discussion (using a few items unique to our conversation that spurs his memory) and then explain my concern about this "in transit" nonsense and what about the 2nd and 3rd day shipping conversion?

He agrees that they haven't done a great job keeping all of the CS reps on the same page as far as current information goes, confirms the 2nd and 3rd days shipping conversion and then asks me for my phone number so he can "find out exactly what the hell is going on with your package." He rings off and I'm waiting for his call back.

I have gone in to this detail so that everyone knows all the pieces. I think Kris is the kind of person I want running CS for a vendor I deal with. But I've also just had to call my mechanic again and reschedule, and my mechanic is getting a little tired of setting aside 5 hour blocks to work on my car and then having me cancel. So now two of us are grumpy with CIP1, UPS and HLS.

I commend Kris for his efforts. But I will be waiting for his call and will update everyone based on what I find out. "The proof of the pudding is in the eating."

Tue Jul 03, 2007 11:43 am

westcoast-paul wrote: I am just about to place a large ($2800cdn) order with them and then started looking at the exchange rate and price difference between the two sites (.com / .ca)

wow.

I'm really second guessing supporting them with that much of a price grab on their behalf.

the dollar (http://bankofcanada.ca/en/index.html) is .94 cdn / $1 usd, but the prices are still at .81 cdn / $1 usd

that represents over $340 difference in the exchange rates.

$2800cdn = $2290usd@.81 = $2632usd@.94

I am sure if you talk to Kris, he will sort this out to your satisfaction. This seems like a no-brainer to me.

Tue Jul 03, 2007 2:04 pm

westcoast-paul wrote:
the dollar (http://bankofcanada.ca/en/index.html) is .94 cdn / $1 usd, but the prices are still at .81 cdn / $1 usd

Paul,

The Bank of Canada might list the dollar at that price but you won't buy it at that figure. The Bank of Canada rate is what the Banks trade the dollar at. Your bank will mark the price up $.03 to $.04 to sell it to you.

Later,
Jeff....

Tue Jul 03, 2007 2:15 pm

I notified Kris at CIP of webwalker's well written account.

Kris has come up with a radical solution to this problem and has invited everyone that is affected to call him at 1 800 313 3811. Tell him you saw this on the Samba.

Tue Jul 03, 2007 3:03 pm

I will say this much and try my best to be fair.
1. I have parts I ordered on the 19-21st I do not have.
2. One of the parts did not qualify for free shipping.
I really needed these parts to make a local VW meet so I wait.
I did call Kris and it does sound like he has had a hard time with shipping problems. Business is business, they do say 7-10 day...read BUSINESS days....
I dont think I will make the meet with the VW but Kris did offer me something for the problems in shipping . All I can say is give" the man " Kris a call, explain the problem , stay calm, dont expect the parts to fall from the sky and he will work with you toward a fix.
Dont get me wrong I'm not doing the happy dance over here but Kris offered several ways of making things right. For that I will consider them again when I order parts for my VWs.
Customer service of that nature is uncommon.
"My name is BrotherBob and I approved this message"

Tue Jul 03, 2007 3:05 pm

eastcoastconversions wrote: westcoast-paul wrote:
the dollar (http://bankofcanada.ca/en/index.html) is .94 cdn / $1 usd, but the prices are still at .81 cdn / $1 usd

Paul,

The Bank of Canada might list the dollar at that price but you won't buy it at that figure. The Bank of Canada rate is what the Banks trade the dollar at. Your bank will mark the price up $.03 to $.04 to sell it to you.

Later,
Jeff....

you are right about a difference between buying and selling exchange rates, however, where i live it is a difference of ~2% or ~2 cents.

Also - since this is a feedback thread - i'll have to say i have had nothing but good expereinces with CIP to date. this is my only issue (and it is an administrative one at that).

I will give Kris a call tomorrow.

Wed Jul 04, 2007 8:14 am

Border shipping sucks, I love the guys at cip1 they are always nice and polite and have always taken good care of all my orders.
Some of you guys have to remember that when your dealing with a company they are some great rules.
#1 Always talk to one contact. When you introduce yourself you are like a client looking for a doctor, make a relashionship with your parts guy.

#2 When you bitch at someone who did not take you order, What do you really expect.......go to pep boys ask some guy you did not talk to about a part you order two weeks ago.....see what responce you get. It will be "Do you remember who you talked too" "Was it a Wendsday" "Did you order a difibulator valve" ect. When good counter intelligence look at a screen they will try to determin who took the order where does the order come from who touched the order and if it is the right location and is it right.
The counter monkey will sit and wait to see if the shit might fall out of the sky into his hand because he asked it too.
When dealing with shipping, you type in a tracking # and it says shipped.......I get stuff shipped all the time and sometimes it says in transit and its still sitting at the border for days.......every shipping company has issue's right now. I deal with them all.

Now im not saying that talking to counter staff can't be annoying but sometimes you have to try to understand why they might not know the status of you order. When you think about it you phone in trying to be nice but as soon as the bastard says hello you blow your top off trying to get the quickest answer to where the hell your parts are!!! We have all been there, I know I have. And as soon as he starts delaying your conversation, you know that he is scrambling looking for info but you don't want to wait five min because you called yesterday and know that he will tell you......ITS IN TRANSIT.............like yesterday.

Its a crappy delay at the border right now, shit needs to change for the company but the poeple are good and that is one reason when shit gets sorted out that I will always deal there. I like the poeple I deal with, so i dont get counter monkeys........because they bite.

Wed Jul 04, 2007 8:53 am

Update: My parts have left Seattle are on the way again according to their tracking

Wed Jul 04, 2007 11:48 am

Cip stands for: California Import Parts.

Yet all their stuff is in Canada?

I ordered June 25, and 27. Free shipping on the 25th one, upgraded shipping on the 27th one, and they are both sitting at the same place.

The 25th one is scheduled to be here: July 10th.
The 27th one is scheduled to be here: July 9th.

Despite BOTH being shipped as "Standard" delivery.. and BOTH leaving Seattle today at the same time.

I'm going to rethink buying from CIP in the future. You should expect to get your parts 4-5 days after ordering from any company. The fact that they are in Canada doubles that amount.. added that they took two days to actually ship the items, and that they got shifted around in Seattle warehouse for 3-4 days doesn't help.

I would have upped to sooner delivery but it would have ended up costing $100+ to get it.. and it still would have taken 3-4 days.

Thu Jul 05, 2007 7:59 am

Update from webwalker:

Kris called me back the same day, within a few hours and gave me the lowdown: They are overnighting the parts to me.

Unfortunately, since this is 3 July, its not going to arrive until the 5th. Again, sh*t happens.

So this morning, FedEx drives up, and drops off two overnighted packages. All the parts.

Here are two additional details, plus an opinion that may interest others:

The UPS tracking info appears to be entered by drunken monkeys. It shows the packages at my local hub on the 3rd, and then at the same timeshows them scanned at the Seattle hub. Riddle the hell out of that one, batman. Something funny is going on there, and I know that CIP1 doesn't control THAT part of it.

Also, there were three tracking ##s from CIP1 for UPS. But my FedEx stuff shows up in two boxes. Conclusion: they shipped more parts to me direct from BC and are counting on (praying?) that UPS will eventually get the original shipment back to them. Which is asking a lot from Brown...

-OPINION-
Kris has done an exceptional job in crummy circumstances. For everyone who wants to bang their shoe on the table about the shipping time published on their website has clearly never been in business shipping over the boarder. If you want your parts NOW, go to your local VW shop, who are unlikely to stock such a wide variety of parts. If you don't have a local VW shop, then you are SOL either way, huh?

I buy from CIP1 when the items are standard, stock units where the quality or the parts source is known. Their prices are reasonable, and their shipping is (usually) a good deal. If I call CIP1 and ask what the source is for one of their parts, they tell me. Try that with BFY or SoCal. They'll laugh at you hang up. So far, CIP1 and WolfsburgWest are the only two vendors that I can say that I trust absolutely...not to get it right the first time (mistakes happen when you move that much volume) but to MAKE IT RIGHT when the inevitable mistakes occur.

In the last eight years working on my restoration (hey, I've got a life) I've dealt with a wide variety of vendors. My rip-off rate is about 40% that have either given me the customer service finger, sold something fraudulently, or packed an item so badly that it was unusable when it arrived. (or the box and the contents arrived seperately: don't laugh! It happened with a fender from a CA wrecking yard!) So I think I've earned the right to comment on shipping, rip offs, and customer service.

The only ways that I could recommend that CIP1 do a better job are these:

1. Keep all of your CS reps on the same page. Getting a different answer each time you call causes the consumer BS meter to flicker, even if there is not malice intended.

2, Bigger, better pictures on the website. Nothing is more of a bummer than to find that what looked good in a tiny pic is actually crap quality when it arrives. Many of the parts I ordered from Wolfwest could have come from CIP1....if I'd been able to SEE them in detail. This is the #1 hangup I have buying over the web: I can't touch it. Failing that, I'd at least like to see good pictures of it to give me the warm fuzzy that this is a quality fit and finish product. Do this one thing and it will put you miles ahead of the competition.

3. Charge me more for shipping. Yes I said it. The reason I want you to charge me more is to use FedEx as your standard carrier, rather than UPS. I'll pay, really! If I can avoid this kind of cock-up again.

Thanks again to all of those who have taken the time to read this tome.

webwalker

Thu Jul 05, 2007 1:16 pm

Despite of what I said previously, I will probably put in an order next week.. but opt for the 2-3 day delivery. It would actually be the same price maybe cheaper to order the parts from them because they are so big.. vs ordering them from somewhere else and have to pay the same shipping rate.. because they have them for cheaper (heater channels).

Fri Jul 06, 2007 3:30 pm

I've ordered alot from them, and always remember that there are probably better quality parts available, but the price and convenience get the better of me.

For example..I ordered some of these...
http://www2.cip1.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=VWC%2D113%2D898%2D740

This is what I got...

Maybe this is the standard stuff every one has (Brazilian junk), but its not what's in the picture, and nowhere near what came from the factory. It is only about 1/16" in. thick, compared to the stock stuff which was at least 1/4". The labelling stuff does not peel off or anything, thats just how it goes in. I called them, and they said thats all thats available, and its not supposed to seen anyway. Like I'm gonna put some brazilian linoleum on the floor of my car. :roll:

Fri Jul 06, 2007 5:18 pm

Update they overnighted me my parts. That is a stand up buiness. No problem here.