Summit Racing..... feeling the impact apparently

[jspbtown]

So as I work my way through some of my little projects I needed to get some paint. I have bought from Summit before and they were pretty quick with shipping.

Last week I ordered two quarts of paint. One was "in stock" while the other was to be in on 5/15. Luckily for me the backordered paint was for a project I haven't started yet so I just ordered it.

So a week goes by and I get an email that the "in stock" color was ready to ship but the other color was now back ordered to June 30th.

So first I try the "chat" feature. It was not available. So I send an email. I get an automated response saying that "high volumes" will cause a 3-4 day delay in responding. So I try texting and I immediately get a response saying to "please hold so a customer service person can respond. Please stand by". Well after two hours I get no response from my test.

So then I try calling. After a 30 minute wait I finally get a customer service rep who really had no idea what he was doing. Nice kid...but no clue. I change my order to a different color, make sure it is in stock, and he says "OK...it will be about 5-6 days before that ships out".

So is it a massive increase in business? Staffing reductions in shipping/warehouse help? Amazon has been the same way. Six weeks for some dryer parts. Three weeks for some minibike parts. EBAY has been lightening fast still

[obus]

heres what seems to be happening here in NJ from what i have seen in my accounts and other stores. Alot of warehouse/stores are short handed because:


a)someone got covid so is now out of work.
b) some people are so germ phobic that they are staying home from fear of catching the virus
c) Some people are more susceptible(sp) than others as they already have medical conditions so they have to stay home.
d) some places cant afford to sustain a large staff if things are slow
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July 1959 Mango Standard Bus aka Obus L346 L347 https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=256592&highlight=
June 1973 Pumpkin Orange Thing aka Othing L30H
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=711775&highlight=
1960 Paprika Red Karmann Ghia Convertible aka Schatze L452 built 5/20/60
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=...highlight=
March 1956 Beetle convertible L41 Black

[skills@eurocarsplus]

I get summit stuff weekly, no problem. only SNAFU is which warehouse it ships from...99% of my stuff comes from Talmage, OH without issue but sometimes ships from multiple warehouses.

can't speak for their paint as I would never use it. I get it from my local jobber
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[modok]

Many in the auto restoration and/or hotroddoing buisness like Summit are reporting an INCREASE in business.
Racing is down, but weekend racers all of a sudden have more free time.

[jspbtown]

[skills@eurocarsplus]

[jspbtown]

Tried Summit again. Ordered a tire. After a week of not hearing anything I sent an email. 4 days later they told me they didn't have a shipping date but expected it within 60-90 days.

If I hadn't proactively reached out I would have had no clue.

Why advertise something you really can't fulfill?

[mark tucker]

shop around. try flebay.jegs,barnett and others.

[Manfred58sc]

Its all moving slow these days with lots of shortages.
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Fat chick owner/operator

[PuddleRainbow]

Two orders from Summit in last two weeks, both delivered in 2-3 days.

[kingkarmann]

My spouse is a regional HR Rep for Fedex.
Fedex, UPS, USPS, Amazon are seeing historic levels of business. The virus is impacting personnel. Replacing folks on a moments notice even with more people unemployed is difficult, mainly die to the CARES Act. No one will take a pay cut to go to work until that benefit is exhausted.
I have never seen my wife so tired and frustrated. I worry for her because it's all hands on deck to try to get stuff shipped at the same time trying to recruit.
Priority goes to the essentials or what can be deemed essential. Our car parts are not a priority.

[jspbtown]

I do feel sorry for the delivery people.

I got a package from Fed-Ex yesterday and they left another package at the same time, different last name, different house number and different street. It was the same town though.

No problem...texted the guy that I got his package, told him I would put it in his mailbox on my lunch break, dropped the top on my car and took an easy drive.

The guy texted back and said "That was very neighborly of you. Thanks!"

Good deed for the day.

[vwracerdave]

[jspbtown]

[raygreenwood]

Summit racing generally has pretty good service.

The issue with back ordered items is NOT a sign of the times though. They have had this issue for years. While they have thousands of items in stock....they do not stock everything. In favt....like Grainger....they have been reducing their inventory of items that do not move every X number of days.

This does not mean that they cannot get the item. They have at least proven to me that they do not advertize items they cannot access like some parts sites out there.

But.....some low order items are not stocked at their manufacturer either. They are made on request and not until they have sufficient volume.

I got my not so common transmission pinion bearings crom Summit last summer. It took 8 weeks before Timken did a run of those. Ray

[jspbtown]

This was the email I received 1 week after ordering the part. I had to reach out to Summit. I had not heard any updates from them until after I reached out:

"I apologize, the manufacturer has not sent us an update or the tracking info yet. The current estimated shipping date is potentially 60 - 90 days out, but this is not guaranteed due to limited staffing at the manufacturer because of the COVID-19 pandemic."

To accept an order, and not let the purchaser know that it might be 2-3 months before the part is shipped is not quality service in my opinion. IF they had that noted on their sire OR if they emailed me after receiving my order it wouldn't be a big deal. If I did not reach out I would have just been waiting and waiting.

[skills@eurocarsplus]

[raygreenwood]

[jspbtown]

My order was marked as "Shipped from manufacturer". It was not listed as "Special Order" no "back ordered".

Recently ordered some primer from Eastwood who said it was back ordered until June 10th. No problem...I didn't need it right away. On June 10th they sent me an email saying it was shipped. Thats fine.

My Summit order was taken, it sat in limbo for a week before I asked about it, and then it took me several days to get a response from Customer Service via email. I did not call because last time after I ordered some paint (which was marked as out of stock but back in stock one week later and I eventually got an email saying it was not going to be available for 3 weeks) I sat on hold for almost an hour waiting.

So my beef is this.......they should communicate something....anything...if they aren't going to be able to fulfill an order for 60-90 days. A consumer should not have to pry that info out of them.

[Abscate]

In summary, IT appears that they used to be better, and that angers some, who have looked deeper into it

One could say, some have peeked and are piqued that they peaked.
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