The Bus Depot

[mark d]

k, so made an order in early december. we traveled to the states to my moms house for xmas and the order was not there. i emailed bd and they said they did not ship because there was one item out of stock and they had emailed me to see what i wanted to do but i had not answered. i went back and looked and yep they were right i had missed it. i told em just ship what you got but please hurry as i would be returning to costa rica soon. got it like the next day (xmas eve) so i guess they shipped it the fastest most expensive way on their dime.
after i received i thought there were some mistakes. i emailed again. again they responded immediately this time by phone. again i was wrong, order was correct

so shout out to those guys for job well done

so florentina will soon have new rubber in all the windows and headlights that will actually light up the road and a few other goodies
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1972ish westfalia

"what good are tractors without violins ?" jose figueres

[Yustrn]

I ordered some shocks recently. They called to confirm a disconnect in the shipping vs shipping price, which was nice of them. Plus, they sold what I needed cheaper than anyone else.
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I own a copy of "The Car of the Century" by Garwood. This means I am authorized to act like a twat in thesamba forums.

[Rag00oll]

I've ordered a number of times from Bus Depot over the last 10+ years and just wanted to say every time I've gotten exactly what was advertised and the quality of the parts has been superb.

I appreciate they are in Pennsylvania like me so my shipping is always fast and everything is always boxed up very well. They are also very quick to respond with concerns over an order.

Thanks for helping us keep our vehicles on the road.

[Busdepot]

Following up ... Our new shipping calculator is in place, not only more accurately estimating shipping, but also reflecting new shipping discounts from our carriers. So shipping rates are now DOWN. Also, as a result of the accuracy of this new system, shipping is no longer taxed in California (or any state).

Also, we are testing some new "Buy More, Save More" discounts. One is not as good as SAMBA members already get. As a SAMBA contributor, you already get 5% off orders over $50 (message me for the code if you don’t have it), and the new offer to the general public requires a $250 minimum. But the second offer is 10% off a $750 order, down from a previous threshold of $1000. See our main page for that code and details.
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- Ron Salmon
The Bus Depot
www.busdepot.com

[creative native]

Ron, I acknowledge that being a small business owner in these times is a brutal affair. I have seen so many small businesses shuttered over the past few years and admittedly, I have been worried for the small VW businesses. This is why I shop at the small businesses first and Bus Depot has been on the top of that list.

I have been a Bus Depot customer from their beginning and while I can't name that exact year, I know it was in the early 2000's because I still had my former '79 Bus. In the span of nearly two decades and countless orders, I have only experienced one order issue, of which when I called Bus Depot, it was immediately handled graciously. That sort of customer care encourages loyalty. After so many orders over so many years, the odds suggest that there will eventually be an issue and to me, it isn't as much the issue as how it is handled and BD earned my continued loyalty afterwards.

I hope the best for Bus Depot and all the other small VW businesses trying to survive in this market.
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"The holy land is everywhere." ~ Black Elk
1979 Westfalia P27, California FI emissions spec. 100% VW fleet: '79 Westfalia, 2019 VW Atlas SEL Premium (Terra Brown/Shetland Beige), 2005 Passat GLX.

[Glenn]

Don't know, don't care. I carefully look over my order before clickling submit. if something is not right.. i call them.
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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

#BlueSquare

עַם יִשְׂרָאֵל חַי

[SGKent]

[Glenn]

[SGKent]

[Busdepot]

That is only part of the requirement. In the words of Taxjar, "California is extremely complicated when it comes to shipping and sales tax." They're not kidding. Based on our reading and the advice of experts it was our determination that we should collect and remit the tax based on our current shipping charges and accounting (although like I said, that will be changing soon). The exact California sales tax we charge has always been clearly stated on every single order and every cent of it remitted, nothing has ever been hidden. Poring over the semantics of the law and how it may or may not be enforced is way beyond my pay grade. I'm not a California tax attorney and this isn't a forum for arguing fine details of California sales tax law, so I'll leave it at that.
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- Ron Salmon
The Bus Depot
www.busdepot.com

[SGKent]

[Busdepot]

SGKent, you may have misunderstood Debi slightly. The refund was for the shipping difference, as I noted above (and the tax on that difference). We have not been "charging tax on shipping in states where it is not required." We are currently required to charge tax on shipping in California, so we do. When we revamp our shipping calculator within the next few weeks, we will no longer have to. Also, to be clear, we pay every cent we collect to the appropriate taxing authorities. That is also done by Taxjar; they not only calculate the tax but they automatically report it it to the states on our behalf and it is debited from our bank account. We don't have any hand in it, it's all automatic.
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- Ron Salmon
The Bus Depot
www.busdepot.com

[SGKent]

Thanks Ron. Your staff called and explained that your system had been charging sales tax on shipping to states where it was not required, and a refund has been issued. Hope it all works out smoothly for you.
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"Most people don't know what they're doing, and a lot of them are really good at it." - George Carlin

[Busdepot]

SGKent, you selected Expedited 3-working day shipping on these orders, hence the higher shipping cost. I compared your order ending 6839 to the same items from two other popular VW parts suppliers (using the 3 day shipping option plus tax if applicable). Your total out-of-pocket cost from us was $39.69. At GW it would have been $40.71, and at CIP $43.89. Why? GW charges more for 3-day shipping within your own state that we charge coast-to-coast. And CIP not only charges more shipping but also charges more for the parts (plus the belt is aftermarket rather than OEM). I'm sure you could find other vendors whose shipping rates were lower. I only checked the two so I'm not claiming we're the cheapest everywhere, but obviously we were well withiin the ballpark.

This isn't to say you didn't still pay too much for shipping. I also looked up what you paid on your last 3 orders against what we ended up paying (which can vary depending on what method we use to ship). In all 3 cases you paid what the shopping cart quoted you on checkout. In one of them our actual cost was almost dead-on, within about 80 cents. In the other two cases the shopping cart quoted about $5 too high (even though still cheaper than GW or CIP for a comparable ship method). Generally we try to catch cases where the shipping calculator overestimates significantly and adjust them (which is possible because unlike some vendors we don't actually charge you until we ship). I see that in these two cases it wasn't done. I will issue you a $10 refund as a result. I will also ask my guys/girls to be more diligent about it going forward.

The good news is that we are revamping our shipping calculator within the next couple of weeks. It will not only be more accurate, but it will also reflect new shipping discounts that we negotiated. Also our flat-rate on small items will be expanded a bit. Meanwhile (or even afterwards), if you ever see a shipping rate that doesn't look right to you, don't hesitate to email or call and we'll review it in case there was a shopping cart error.

As for the sales tax, unlike most states California taxes shipping unless the retailer is passing on their actual cost. (Google it.) Because our last shopping cart wasn't accurate enough to ensure that (nor are many others btw), we opted to stay on the safe side of the law so shipping was taxed. Now that we will be switching to a more accurate shipping calculator, shipping will no longer be taxed in California. We do not calculate sales tax ourselves. Virtually every web retailer whose products are taxed across state lines uses sales tax compliance software these days, as there are over 10,000 different sales tax jurisdictions; sometimes two addresses in the same town have different rates. The two largest compliance services are Alavara and Stripe's Taxjar division. We use Stripe, whose clients include Amazon, Target, and Ford. It's a simple process: when you order an API call goes out to Alavara or Taxjar with the street address and purchase amount, they return the compliant tax amount, and that's what populates. The only way for it to be wrong would be if Alavara or Taxjar were wrong, which would be highly unlikely as it's literally their only job, and if wrong tens of thousands of websites would be affected. It looks like you paid a state tax, a county tax, and a district tax. I checked one of your orders at random and the Taxjar calculation was dead-on.

Any questions, feel free to reach out. We'd have gladly answered your questions directly without your having to jump right to a public forum.
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- Ron Salmon
The Bus Depot
www.busdepot.com

[SGKent]

[PatJr]

maybe they taxed the shipping charges too?

I know they get some shade on here but CIP1 doesn't charge sales tax or shipping on orders over $99 for me that's a considerable bit of dough

yea, some of the crap, ah, parts are a little shy on quality but there seems to be a lot of that going around these days
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1970 Transporter a orange one
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[SGKent]

I just looked over my most recent invoice. California charges outrageous sales taxes - 7.75% here. Shipping was bad enough at $18.93 for a fan belt and fuel filter but BusDepot also took out 16% sales tax. Not interested in doing business with you any more Ron. 16% is over double what California charges. Maybe PA makes you take that much out, I don't know but I am done. PA usually charges 6% sales tax so maybe the State AG might want to know about the overcharging.

$ 7.95 Fan Belt
$ 9.95 Fuel filter
_____________
$17.90 sub total

$ 2.86 sales tax
$18.93 shipping
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$39.69 total
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"Most people don't know what they're doing, and a lot of them are really good at it." - George Carlin

[Busdepot]

Mateo83, we replied to you almost immediately after receiving your email. You sent it on June 30 at 7:11 pm (after business hours). We replied the next day at 2:22 pm. On July 7 at 2:23 pm you emailed again saying you hadn't received a reply. We replied to that one at 5:19 pm, less than 3 hours later, including a copy of the reply we'd sent you a week earlier. If you did not get either, then it's almost certain that either they went to your spam box, or your ISP filtered them out as spam.

The second email said...

Hi (name redacted),

Below is the reply I sent you last week, maybe it ended up in your spam box? The coils are brand new and were received as bulk overstock (unboxed) and have some wear. We’d be happy to take it back if you like. Please let me know how to proceed.

Valerie Long
Customer Service
The Bus Depot Inc.

These are NOS coils and we are nearing the bottom of the box so some of them have had some shelf wear, but they are not used. I alerted the warehouse manager to keep an eye out for any that look worse than usual and I've noted the listing to say that minor shelf wear may be possible on what we have left. When we reorder they will likely be pristine and boxed, but also much more expensive (and possibly lower quality), as the closeout deal we got is long gone. CIP1 is already selling the same coil for $100, twice what you paid, and that's on Sale.
_________________
- Ron Salmon
The Bus Depot
www.busdepot.com

[Mateo83]

Bus Depot 0 for 2 on order. They shipped this coil in bubble wrap and it appears to be used. They don't respond to emails.

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83 Air-cooled 2.0 Tin Top

[creative native]

I've been a Bus Depot customer for years. I have always had great service from them and I've never had an issue with an order. I lucked out by choosing The Bus Depot the first time I had a pop top canvas replaced. The fit and appearance was beautiful and so I have ordered my subsequent pop top canvases (for different campers) exclusively from them.

Now that I have a new '79 camper, I have resumed ordering from Bus Depot. My orders have arrived very quickly (one even arrived on a Sunday). My new camper did not have the camper box (that is placed between the front seats) and I found that The Bus Depot sells them. The price is quite fair, especially considering that they import them from Europe and it is a small price to pay to have a matching, perfect, new camper box.

These days I never take high quality and great customer service for granted. When businesses offer great products and are honest and easy to work with, that should be acknowledged.
_________________
"The holy land is everywhere." ~ Black Elk
1979 Westfalia P27, California FI emissions spec. 100% VW fleet: '79 Westfalia, 2019 VW Atlas SEL Premium (Terra Brown/Shetland Beige), 2005 Passat GLX.