Parts companies selling stock they dont actually have

[Jack91]

Theres not much that gets me REALLY fired up, but this new trend makes me wild with rage.
I first started noticing it half way though covid, where, say, you needed a part, EVERYONE was marked as out of stock or backorder, and someone on ebay had it listed but for 10% or so above rrp.
Theyd reckon, say, a week postage time. Yet after 2 weeks youd email them asking for tracking, to get a response along the lines of "sorry, we cant procure, we've cancelled your order".
Literally selling stuff they dont have.

Well, its STILL happening. Total time wasting, unfair and just downright crap way to run a "business".
I can get stuff from summit USA quicker than a lot of stuff from within aus because of this dumb setup.
How is this even allowed?
Am i the only one that rages about this?
I have had this happen about 20 times now and i think im blocked from every single seller thats done it to me.

[b0son]

My daughter had the same issue with SSV. Ordered some headlights for her FG2, advertised as in stock. Weeks go by, nothing. Asks where they are, she's informed they're on order and havent arrived yet. Yet more weeks go by and she starts asking for a refund, at which point they start arguing with her about it, in the meantime they've gone and changed the site to remove the 'in stock' and replaced with 'to place an order for stock to arrive in X weeks', trying to argue she ordered when these conditions were advertised, though we have screen grabs showing otherwise. Lights eventually came, but without the needed adaptor for fitting to FG2, and they werent even wired correctly. They have stupid clauses saying no returns unless they have an accompanying report from an auto-electrician, for something advertised as plug and play. Clearly aware they're selling a dud product. Managed to get them to work, but would never deal with those clowns again.

[FG50T]

Sparesbox - I’ve never been ****ed over like I have by them with orders I’ve placed only to be told they’re out of stock after having to chase them around. Clearly listed in stock on their site. I gave them the benefit of the doubt during covid but they’re still doing it.

[Franco Cozzo]

Originally Posted by Jack91

Theres not much that gets me REALLY fired up, but this new trend makes me wild with rage.
I first started noticing it half way though covid, where, say, you needed a part, EVERYONE was marked as out of stock or backorder, and someone on ebay had it listed but for 10% or so above rrp.
Theyd reckon, say, a week postage time. Yet after 2 weeks youd email them asking for tracking, to get a response along the lines of "sorry, we cant procure, we've cancelled your order".
Literally selling stuff they dont have.

Well, its STILL happening. Total time wasting, unfair and just downright crap way to run a "business".
I can get stuff from summit USA quicker than a lot of stuff from within aus because of this dumb setup.
How is this even allowed?
Am i the only one that rages about this?
I have had this happen about 20 times now and i think im blocked from every single seller thats done it to me.

Its called 'drop shipping', they just list their suppliers goods and pretend they carry it in stock, then leave you holding the bag for weeks on end while their 3PL eventually pulls their finger out of their *** and ships your goods,

Once they buy it in from THEIR supplier, and their 3PL pulls their finger out their *** and ships your goods.

The industry is a ****ing joke, its deteriorated so much in the last circa decade.

[swamp]

hi
Even worse is when these companies advertise at a very cheap price to begin with and is not actually the case . Just adding insult is they lie about stock levels .
Dead give away is 3-4 weeks to supply within Australia .

Since covid , been looking at suspension bushes , the eye watering prices are sky high ,, even more costly than genuine WOW .....
Exactly why I shop over seas = choice + same if not lower price .

Spare parts is a race to see how much u can be ripped off in Australia ......

Poor service within Ozzy is wide spread
PBR sold its brakes division to Bosch , since then Bosch has exterminated all overhaul kits which only leaves the bad quality suppliers that typically have no stock at very high prices . World wide Bosch is only interested in very fast moving items . Even then low stock is common which often leads to delays .

[Tonz]

dept Fair Trade or whatever its called in your state, could be a starter. If claims gained traction there would be hell to pay

[HIPO]

Give away on Ebay is when "Aussie sellers" give a 2wk postage time, it means we'll be the middle man bringing it in from China etc at extra cost.

[Citroënbender]

I’ve just been inconvenienced by this again, and it wasn’t SparesBox. Even gave the reseller opportunity to (a.) check stock before I placed an order and (b.) later to throw their “supplier” under a bus by name but they chose to go it alone.

[Franco Cozzo]

Originally Posted by Citroënbender

I’ve just been inconvenienced by this again, and it wasn’t SparesBox. Even gave the reseller opportunity to (a.) check stock before I placed an order and (b.) later to throw their “supplier” under a bus by name but they chose to go it alone.

When you check the ERP and it shows one or two units left in the warehouse, stock check is always required

If you actually do your job properly its all about getting customer sorted in a single contact, you don't want to have unanswered questions or needing to go back and forth all the time.

Seems like a lost art these days, everywhere.

Work with plenty of smart people and yet none of them can figure out how to get everything across in one contact.

Its not hard, assuming you've done the leg work and provided information for a customer to make the decision to buy - all any automotive customer wants to know is:

A) How much is it?
B) Do you have it?
C) When can I have it?

If you do the online thing properly you can answer all three without needing to talk to anyone on the phone or send an email - RS Components is an online supplier of electronics who would get your parts on the other side of the moon yesterday.

My local Ford dealership, I've had an account with them for near on a decade now and I've never met anyone and I don't talk to them on the phone, I just send an email and my parts turn up on my doorstep, either same day or next day.

I've never met the parts guys, I've never met their driver, and its how I like it - I don't want to talk to them, I just want my shit.

I call it 'transaction land' - sales are just a transaction, I should process it and move on, its not the 'value adding' part of anyone's role in these businesses, its bread and butter and should operate smoothly without issue.

I'll show you a pulling teeth experience from a national sales manager I had recently:



So I follow up, then I get this:



I've already told them the VIN, all the details in my initial contact

So basically it took an online form and 5 further emails to actually get what I asked for, even though I provided enough information in my very first contact, this shit is like pulling teeth.

If you thought I didn't provide enough information, why wouldn't you ask me everything you needed to know in the first contact with me?

Also - contacting a customer with a three word email without hello, or why they're contacting me, and 'cheers' in some ridiculous font in their email signature.

**** me,

Why even have this person in a role at this business? They basically just asked me a bunch of screening questions for an autoinfo form which spat out a part number for them to tell me - I can do all of this myself and then I could just ask them if they have part number X and:

A) How much is it?
B) Do you have it?
C) When can I have it?

[swamp]

hi
Funny part about reseller
Gave ALL the details VIN plus more
Response was we wont have the part for several mths .
Acquired genuine numbers for seal/piston kit
Sent email to ebay vendor ,,response oh yea you [me] are correct we have the part
ie match caliper pistons and seal kit numbers to genuine caliper part no
Unfortunately not only do I have to do the repairs I have to do the parts look up !!!!

DOH

[EBSXR6]

I have had a gutful of bait advertising.
The ACCC and consumer affairs are useless.

[Citroënbender]

I’d like to see some of these operators’ books. You get the feeling that they might be one or more transactions behind.

[ozrunner]

Guys there's even more to it than many seem to understand.

Many of these eBay and similar companies that advertise with appropriate pictures, tick order boxes etc etc actually carry NO STOCK whatsoever. It's a common practice and I would suspect many here have unknowingly used them for parts etc.

These "companies" approach the various major parts suppliers and setup webpages showing their items but under their parts supply name.

Your eBay or "order" goes directly to the various major suppliers who will have a setup so your order is filled from THEIR stock and sent to you. The eBay company who generated this order then gets a commission.

Thus although the originating eBay company may indicate they have stock, they don't have any and in some cases nor does the suppling company and records have not been updated to the Ebay mob but also they don't care as they aren't responsible for actually supplying your item.

I could list a host of names but our legal system sucks. There's several that are well known and probably are rolling in dollars with zero effort as their suppliers are top notch but all the buyers think its them !!!!

Whilst there are some that are handy to deal with as above, the message is wherever possible only deal with RECOGNISED companies that actually make the item or are accredited distributors of that companies goods.

Otherwise you may have to wait for the supply of items that are not actually in stock and have to come from overseas first etc.

[Citroënbender]

Fly-fishing again on Fleabay. I asked a vendor if the gasket I needed, was actually in stock with their supplier. A one word reply came back: “Yes”.

Will it arrive before the delivery window closes next Monday?

[Citroënbender]

Originally Posted by Citroënbender

…Will it arrive before the delivery window closes next Monday?

It did; a pleasant surprise.

Getting jagged again right now on English car parts. Obviously “in stock” means “Our supplier is indicating stock”. Paid for 4 day DHL freight and then they tell me the order will take 3-5 business days to process.

[ozrunner]

WOW I would never have thought this mob didn't stock items they advertised as having in stock.

Yep, I've just got stung for previously ordering an item that they showed they had numerous stock of. But after nothing in 25 days and many subsequent tracking follow ups advising the delivery date was amended to the extent the last one I received advised;

"We're very sorry that your delivery is so late. Although it may still arrive, you can request a refund now."

So I searched a million of their AI webpages to find the secret box to tick to obtain a refund to no avail and could only obtain pages advising to contact the SELLER who advised the address they used was correct so contact the SELLER. By now I was fuming as who the f... was the actual SELLER.

Using Google I eventually found a way I could actually make personal contact but as usual I got to speak to a non comprehensible english speaking human that I had no idea what she was saying. Eventually in frustration I politely had to hang up and accept I had probably done my dough.

So who was this SELLER that although advertising they had numerous stock they actually didn't have any and advised me I had to speak directly to their SELLER as to where my order was.

Amazon Australia, so be warned.

[Dr Terry]

Amazon are a bit of a joke in Australia. How did they get so big in the US ?

Dr Terry

[Tonz]

I am buying 2 or 3 items a month from Aus Amazon Prine over past 18 months and never had a problem, I prefer them to fleabuy

[Trendseeker]

Best to pay with PayPal and if they don’t deliver you can lodge a dispute and get your money back.

[naddis01]

I ordered something off Amazon on Sunday night and it arrived in Broken Hill today. I was pretty happy with that.

[b0son]

Originally Posted by Trendseeker

Best to pay with PayPal and if they don’t deliver you can lodge a dispute and get your money back.

Or credit card and chargeback.

[None-ya]

Been con'd on the same thing, 5 in stock blah blah etc.

[Jack91]

I ordered a brake prop valve reset tool off ebay. I really needed it by this weekend. There was heaps of cheaper options from China, but I paid the extra to get one that said "AU STOCK", just so ut definitely made it in time (ordered 2 weeks ago).
It was supposed to come on Wednesday. I looked at the tracking and as soon as I seen Aramex was involved I knew where to direct my anger, as I've been continually annoyed by them with every single parcel that they (formerly fastway) have ever delivered to me.
So I sent them a pretty nasty email.
To then get a response saying the previous tracking isn't relative as it was an INTERNATIONAL SHIPMENT.
I apologised to Aramex and went straight to ebay.
Ebay seller comes back to me with 0 comprehension of the problem and broken english.
I am ropeable

[Toiler]

Originally Posted by ozrunner

Guys there's even more to it than many seem to understand.

Many of these eBay and similar companies that advertise with appropriate pictures, tick order boxes etc etc actually carry NO STOCK whatsoever. It's a common practice and I would suspect many here have unknowingly used them for parts etc.

These "companies" approach the various major parts suppliers and setup webpages showing their items but under their parts supply name.

Your eBay or "order" goes directly to the various major suppliers who will have a setup so your order is filled from THEIR stock and sent to you. The eBay company who generated this order then gets a commission.

Thus although the originating eBay company may indicate they have stock, they don't have any and in some cases nor does the suppling company and records have not been updated to the Ebay mob but also they don't care as they aren't responsible for actually supplying your item.

I could list a host of names but our legal system sucks. There's several that are well known and probably are rolling in dollars with zero effort as their suppliers are top notch but all the buyers think its them !!!!

Whilst there are some that are handy to deal with as above, the message is wherever possible only deal with RECOGNISED companies that actually make the item or are accredited distributors of that companies goods.

Otherwise you may have to wait for the supply of items that are not actually in stock and have to come from overseas first etc.

The commission model has it's pitfalls for the eBay sellers as well.

Dealing with such a commission model right now. Part was a serpentine belt pulley. It arrived (was at least in Aus) and I fitted it. Horrible noise - something badly wrong with the bearing. At this stage I assumed I had been sold a knockoff product. Put back old one just to verify I had not done something bad to something else - no noise just feeling dry/rough - this was the replacement decision when I replaced the belt.

Raised an eBay case to return same to the eBay seller. Seller response was I had to raise a warranty claim on the source company with a certified mechanics report etc etc. Good handoff for responsibility but another story. One good thing here - not a knockoff just a bad part from a local company (no names here).

My response was you are the seller. I am only dealing with you. Back and forth we went. Finally seller agreed to take the return and told eBay that I have BEEN provided a postage label ie pre-paid.

Well they did not - only provided a return address. So I got onto eBay and eBay generated a label for me and will bill the seller.

So such a commission model is ok if the part is local but if it goes pear shaped then the fun begins.

For the seller - the commission model has swings and roundabouts - in this case the seller loses.

I offered the videos to show the new and old part noises - such being proof to the manufacturer - offer not taken up - as it stands now the seller will not get the videos as there is no way to provided them to them. So the seller will most likely be out of pocket for the part and the return postage - the part cost as they will not be able to prove to the manufacturer that the part is faulty.