Aircooled.net - [email protected]

[aircoolednetoffice]

Hi Folks!
Stephanie here in Customer Care at Aircooled.Net. I decided to take a few minutes to pipe in here with an update in light of the delays and problems we have had in the past year with backorders and being woefully short-staffed for the volume of email correspondence that the surge in backorders has created.

Regarding Spam: We use GMAIL for Business. So our Spam system is Google's spam system: presumably one of the best on the planet. But it still relies on us having the time to sift through the thousands of emails per week that are "captured" as Spam in order to find the few false positives. And if we happen to miss a couple, then that leads to more false positives. We are doing our best to attend to spam cleanup once per week (it use to be daily when we had a person available for doing it that often). But our staff's time is more effectively spent trying to chase down hard to restock product (there are at least 5x as many backorders further up the supply chain as there were 2 years ago), and in the processing of shipments for the items we have been able to get.

Regarding Mr. Downs' complaint about fulfillment delay and correspondence about his order: Of course I am happy to restate my apology for not being able to be as responsive as ideal. I formerly apologized to him directly via email when I did get some updated ETA info to respond to him with (sadly it wasn't the good news he was hoping for). I responded to him 5 business days after his initial "What's going on with my order" inquiry, to let him know we were experiencing a further fulfillment delay beyond the originally estimated 3 week timeframe for his requested exhaust, and I again apologized when he cancelled. 

We at Aircooled.Net HATE how much about our industry has changed and prevented us from maintaining our former fulfillment and response timeframes -- Those points of service used to be a source of pride for our company and staff. I can promise you that it is NO FUN to be in an ongoing state of inability to have answers for the deluge of inquiries for "ETA updates" on delayed items. But these days the ETAs we get from suppliers are either vague/broad or entirely unreliable (i.e they tell us "3 weeks" and then three weeks later tell us "3 more weeks" and so on and so on). So we have had to accept that we won't know when things are available until they finally show up at our warehouse. And when deliveries do show up at our warehouse, the shipments don't contain everything that we requested. So as a result, we don't feel comfortable passing along unreliable "guesstimated" ETAs, and more often than not, do not have the definitive ETA information that you all want or need.

It has always been a basic tenet of our business model that we never make a promise or commitment we don't have within our power to stand behind and make happen. Of course, we are also human and sometimes we mess up, but when it is our mistake, we try to make it right! So what we DO promise is that we will keep pestering our sources until such time as we are successful at getting the items you have requested, and when we do, we will promptly let you know and give you the option to proceed or not at that point in time. And of course, if you find an alternate source in the meantime, we will be nothing but happy to hear that you found what you needed and are that much closer to being back on the road.

I know that all of the above isn't what you all want to be the case. We get it -- you want parts to be readily available and quickly deliver. It's what we want too!!! But our reality is what it is, and we are doing our best to keep serving in the midst of substantial change and challenges.

We appreciate all of you regardless of whether your opinions or perspectives differ from ours! We know you have choices when it come to who you buy your parts from and we completely understand if what another supplier has to offer is a better match for your needs. We never want anyone to feel obligated to wait for backorder fulfillment if they don't want to or have other options. Items that ship from our warehouse are not charged to you until the day they are packaged and released to the carrier for shipment. So unless your delayed item is special order, made-to-order, or direct-shipped from an alternate warehouse or supplier, you can always cancel items on backorder with a simple email, and there is no need for refund since we haven't been holding your funds hostage while working to source items on your behalf!

We hope that all of you can continue to enjoy the hobby despite the growing challenges that we all have to face and share as it pertains to getting the parts needed to keep our beautiful VWs on the road :0)

[TimTucker]

Huge Thank You to Stephanie at Aircooled.Net for VERY quick email responses related to my steering box order. It will be remembered.

Again, Thank You very much Stephanie!

[Dave]

John, Channa, and Stephanie deserve an award. I simply cannot imagine what they have gone through in the last few years... A weaker man or woman would have just thrown in the towel, as so many have already done.
Support the ones who support US, gang, otherwise, they will go away as well...And that wouldn't be good for any of us.
Keep on Keepin' on, aircooled.net...
_________________
2003 Samba Chummie Winner- Best Story

"Those that matter, don't mind,
and those that mind, don't matter"

[67rustavenger]

I tend to spread my ACVW parts purchases between 4 different vendors.
Aircooled.net, CB Performance, AA Pistons and Wolfsburg West.

Never spent a penny at J-Bugs or CIP1.

ACN, is my go to place, for first choice parts purchases.
This is due to their excellent customer service. If there is a delay in delivering parts. I get an email to that affect.
The other three vendors that I support. Don't let me know if there an issue with my order.

Supply chain issues are affecting us all! So be a bit patient when your order is delayed. Things take time to get fulfilled is these uncertain times.

Remember, Support your ACVW supply warehouses.
We need them. And they need us!

Thank you to the ACN team!
_________________
I have learned over the years.
Cheap parts are gonna disappoint you.
Buy Once, Cry Once!

There's never enough time to do it right the first time. But there's always enough time to do it thrice.
GFY's Xevin and VW_Jimbo!

[SGKent]

This came up on the website tonight

[Adriel Rowley]

[DurocShark]

Anybody else getting a "sold the business" vibe?


_________________
No boom today. Boom tomorrow. There's always a boom tomorrow.

[Adriel Rowley]

[UtahBanana]

Hello Everyone,
Channa Connolly here, John's wife. I have been the Operational Vice President of Aircooled.Net for the past 15 years, while John has focused mainly on providing VW technical support and advice.

First I want to thank each and every one of you for your support and patronage over our 23 years in business. It has been our honor to serve the aircooled VW hobby community!

Second, I am here to clarify that our recent announcement to restructure and downsize is NOT due to any form of bankruptcy. Rest assured -- as anyone who knows us well knows -- that we are 100% true and fiercely committed to our obligations and our word. There is no need for any concern regarding any in-progress or pending completion transaction either at the consumer or vendor/supplier level.

Our decision to make a change to our business model and breadth of service is due to a combination of two factors:

a) the changes in the aircooled VW parts manufacture and supply chain that had already been gradually happening (ever since Mexico and Brazil both stopped making "new" old model Beetles and Buses), and that became escalated during "Covid times".

and

b) the fact that we have been in full-time operation for 23 years, and decided at the end of this summer that it is the right time for us, as a family, to take -- at the very least -- a vacation! Basically, we are hitting the "pause button"while we consider a better way for us to continue participating in the aircooled VW community as we approach retirement age.

We have not yet decided if we will re-open in a modified capacity come spring. That may yet be in the cards. We will be sure to let you all know whether ACN will be returning once that decision has been made.

Sincerely

From the Connolly family and the die-hard-with-us-to-the-end amazing remaining staff at Aircooled.Net

[Adriel Rowley]

[Dave]

Thank You, Channa, that answers questions a lot of people have been wanting to get the answers to.
Whatever you and John decide to do, you will have my affection and support, along with many many other \X/ fanatics.
_________________
2003 Samba Chummie Winner- Best Story

"Those that matter, don't mind,
and those that mind, don't matter"

[aircoolednetoffice]

Hello Adriel,
This is Stephanie in Customer Care at Aircooled.Net. I've been emailing you to assist you with manual creation of the order for the cam and lifters you wanted to purchase, but I'm not getting any replies back from you. I only have today and tomorrow remaining that I can process and ship something for you, so I'm reaching out to you via this Samba channel to let you know I'm trying to make this happen. Please maybe check your email spam folder to find my messages?

Stephanie
Aircooled.Net Customer Care

[Adriel Rowley]

[John Connolly]

LOL, now you guys see some of the bullchit we have been dealing with.

20, 15, even 10 yrs ago we used to regularly have visitors come to our building, buy parts, shoot the breeze and tell stories, laugh and hang out. Every 3-4 weeks we'd get a shipment of "something". BBQ sauce from Texas, case of hot sauce from Hawaii, case of microbrew, gift certificates to Dominos, etc etc etc.

We haven't gotten anything pleasant like that in over 10yrs. The hobby has changed, not for the better. Now pretty much any correspondence is "where are my parts I paid for?"

or the most common "I know you helped me out with 2hrs of advice and all that, but I'm going to buy my stuff elsewhere for 5% cheaper because money is tight right now".

It's an unfortunate display of what the hobby has turned into.

Maybe I'll dole out advice $/hr for people who actually have some character left. It's pathetic.
_________________
it's advice. If you don't like it, ignore it. Don't argue.

If you want no-BS technical advice privately, feel free to DM me. Donations appreciated (food gift certificates, etc).

[Adriel Rowley]

[Dave]

[DurocShark]

John, you've done these rants a couple of times in this thread. It's offputting.

Who wants to order from a place where, if you have a problem, there's a chance you could be the subject of a rant on a popular forum?

I don't disagree with your point, but I also don't think that is the best way to inspire change.
_________________
No boom today. Boom tomorrow. There's always a boom tomorrow.

[Dave]

If you had had to deal with some of the crap John, Channa, Stephanie have, you would understand a little better. I have personally seen the folks at aircooled.net bend over backwards, and more, to help the customers with issues, and I flat DARE you to find better customer service, consistently. Personally, I would have gone on permanent vacation WAY sooner than this, if I had had to endure the crap people have thrown at them over the last 23 years. People get so p[issy when they don't get their way, suck it up, buttercup, the world does NOT owe you a damn thing.
_________________
2003 Samba Chummie Winner- Best Story

"Those that matter, don't mind,
and those that mind, don't matter"

[DurocShark]

[Glenn]

How about we all back off and let John and staff have some time to figure out what works for them.

After dealing with AC.net for years I know they'll do what they can to complete any existing transactions and those they can't will be made whole.

Let's not chase away another vendor that gives a damn. If we do we'll only be left with those that don't. We'll have a choice of EMPI of those don't don't even have a name.
_________________
Glenn
74 Beetle Specs | 74 Beetle Restoration | 2180cc Engine
"You may not get what you pay for, but you always pay for what you get"

Member #1009

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