Gerald -
Processing a thousand orders a month is no mean feat. It takes a lot of
work and a willing crew. Getting it right takes commitment. A thousand
orders adds up to a whole lot of revenue and - let's face it - attendant
profit too, even at low margin.
But more importantly, I think it also means that perhaps the time has
come for you to consider how you might make the process better for your
customers, rather than bleating the miseries of being in the amateur
radio business - especially in this forum.
And the hard honest fact is, your telephone people NEVER say, "Okay,
fine. I understand that you will be assembling five people this Saturday
to erect the tower. The computer shows the hardware in stock, but I
CAN'T confirm that because it might be on backorder and I have no way of
knowing that. Do you want to order it today anyway?"
If your computers can't tell if an item has been backordered "for a few
days," get rid of it, man! That's ridiculous! Teach your staff how to
perform this function, or get new computers. You're handling a thousand
orders a month!!!!
You're not doing anyone a favor by confirming that an item is in stock,
when in truth it is NOT. Other dealers, storefronts and mailorder houses
are able to confirm their inventory at the point of purchase; you should
be able to accomplish this as well. If you're not willing to accomodate
your customers by delivering accurate information, then suffer you
shall, and eventually your doors, too, will close (and I swear I DON'T
want to see that happen, really!).
Don't try to pass blame for attitude on the people who trust YOU to tell
the truth when, in fact, YOU have inconvenienced scores of us tower
owners who - without much surprise - will bash the heck out of you if
you won't do it right, and in the process have enough regard for others
to save some of them from the certain disappointment your short
deliveries will bring.
>From a VERY dissatisfied FORMER Texas Tower mailorder customer.
73 de Jeff K2KV
k2kv@netusa.net
--------------------------------
TexasRF@aol.com wrote:
>
> Jim, we were sincere when we said "sorry for the delay". When you placed your
> order our computer said that your 3/8" thimbles were in stock. For whatever
> reason unknown to me or any other employee, the thimbles were not there.
> There is no way in our system to know that there would be a problem if
> thimbles are back ordered for a few days. The guy that took your order
> handles about 125 telephone calls a day and would never remember that you had
> a time deadline. Aside from that, a completely different person packs and
> ships orders. He would not know that this is a problem for you either.
>
> When you asked for faster shipping, why on earth would you expect us to pay
> for overnight shipping at a cost that exceeds the value of what you are
> buying let alone the possible profit on some thimbles? You need to understand
> that profit in amateur radio sales is very low. Even to the point of many
> companies shutting their doors in recent times. There simply is not enough
> profit to offer the level of customer service you are asking for. Human
> errors will occurr from time to time but that is no excuse to expect a seller
> to loose his shirt in punishment for an error.
>
> I might ask you, why would you choose a public forum like this reflector to
> air your discontent? Are you so angry that you wish to damage my company and
> cause it to lose sales? Would you like to see Texas Towers actually close its
> doors because we back order a few thimbles for a few days? Surely not! But
> that is the very appearance that you have given me!
>
> Again, my aplogy for the problem. Too bad there can't be an offsetting
> positive message from the more than 1000 other customers whose orders were
> delivered without a hitch last month!
>
> 73 de Gerald Williamson, K5GW, Owner/General Manager, Texas Towers
>
>
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