Custom Order Blunders & Them Damn Salespeople

oldfrt

Did you ever wait for weeks for an order to come in ,only to find it"s wrong?

I have a good friend who has been waiting all year for me to have the time to put in a new Bow window unit for her,She wanted it in for Thanksgiving.
No problem,I'll order it well in advance and leave a few days to put it in.
Grea,I got the call Monday the window was ready.So,today I meet the delivery truck to help unload.

S###########T,
This is not the unit I ordered!!
So I call the distributor to find out what happened.
It seems the girl that took the order,put it down as an all vinyl replacement unit,which has the name of "Trim Loc".when what I ordered was a "Trimline"which is suppose to be a wood clad unit"

I had even asked her about the unit being stainable wood as apposed to finger-jointed.
No problem,she said.
I told her what page I was on in their catalog,because of the size and unit restrictions,so I believed she was looking at the same thing I was.
Are all salespeople deft as to what we are saying,or do I always get the stupid ones?

I've yet to call the HO,but,if she wants to take this unit,she's going to get a hell of a deal,according to the salesperson.


Let's hear your worse disaster dealing with salesmen/women.

Patrick

Yea thats why I dont use C&S anymore oldfrt!!!! I use mainly Harvey, but they have been messing up a lot of my orders lately

kevjob

Whenever I special order something I have the sales person email me exactly what was ordered to the screw, so I don't end up screwed!

P.s. still waiting for a shower base from Home Creepo from last year!

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Basement Finishing Highlands Ranch Colorado
Littleton Colorado, Basement Remodeling
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oldfrt

Yea thats why I dont use C&S anymore oldfrt!!!! I use mainly Harvey, but they have been messing up a lot of my orders lately


Okay.Patrick,how did you know where I ordered the window?


I got a full siding job delivered last week,they sent 2 different sizes in J-channel.I order by a full box so there isn't a problem.
Call them up to correct the order.
They did it again.

I don't think too many of their wharehouse guys speak good enough English.

Patrick

I'm Just over the line in MA I have a C&S account so If Harvey or ABC doesnt stock a particular color or style sometimes C&S will have it in stock. So yea I pretty much abuse them lol. But usually every other job the C&S van stops by to ask why I don't buy everything from them. I knew you use them cause they are the only ones around with the trimlines. Where in CT are you?

oldfrt

Patric,
I'm 8 miles south of Sandisfield Mass.

I stopped using "ABC" just after they changed their name from "Viking Aluminum Products".Harvey,I just use for windows.
C&S has been very good to me over the years,but recently,a lot of screw ups.Things are slowing down for them,and maybe ,because its near the end of the year,they're sending out their old stock.Open boxes of mixed product,when I always ask fi=or sealed cartons.


Have you used the Trimlines?

Patrick

Naw, I looked at them, I am pretty happy using the Harvey Classics, as everyone already knows the name cause they see the ads on TV. The only problem is there are too many guys selling them for next to nothing. ABC uses the certainteed window, which is equivalent, but they were screwing up way to many windows on us. My issue with Harvey is, they send the wrong stuff, or not on time, or lose stuff. Most of these companies years run march to march, and they do the bulk of their buying in march so you are probably seeing a lot of the returns be recycled back into the inventory. I have no problem with it as long as the stuff is good. Lately though I keep getting returned coils that are oval shaped, I send back everyone, and I swear to god they just put them back on the shelf.

KillerToiletSpider

I had an architect order a $40,000.00 7 foot by 4 foot teak tub in the wrong hand, we had to wait six weeks for the new tub to be made, and the architect now owns a teak tub he has no use for.

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oldfrt

The Harvey Classics are the best for the money,I don't get any callbacks on them.
The Trimlines I started using last year because some people want the wood interiors and are willing to pay it.I did a complete house that had casements throughout.I replaced them with a double hung unit,measured a little bigger than the existing,so the interior trim would hide the paint lines.
They even made the jambs to fit 2x4 construction with a 1" foam board insulation.I actually liked them better than my own Andersons that I installed 5 years ago.The glass is thicker and they have a better way of tilting the upper sash.
If you get a call for wood replacements,they're worth a look.

Susan Betz

That wasn't a saleswoman, that was an order-taker.

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Flacan

My thoughts exactly when I read that.

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Those who don't remember the past, are condemned to repeat it.

oldfrt

Your right,my apologies,semantics.That's what the salesman said when I asked for the Replacement window dept.
According to him,when you ask for this dept.,you are connected to the Vinyl window section.
These order-takers only handle vinyl-replacement windows.How was I to know?After all ,weather its a wood-clad or vinyl,isn't it still a replacement window?It is a custom sized unit made to replace an older unit.

Salesperson or order-taker,the result was the same.I've had as many problems with the salesmen.If the order-taker isn't well trained,and cannot pick up the difference in the names of a company's products,it's still a blunder in ordering custom sized units.
Which was suppose to be the point of this thread.Sorry for my blunder.

Update
Just got off the phone with the salesman,offering a $500 discount on the unit.Not bad for a $1800 window.Should I hold out for a better deal?
I'm sure I can entice the HO with this savings.

Stone Mountain

In augaut, we had a customer who wanted tempered glass panels for the entire railing on his deck, including the stairs.
Having done this before, we made cardboard templates of those 2 panels, and took them in to the supplier. There was a purchase order for both stair panels and 8 railing panels, and it was taped to the cardboard. Two weeks later, the panels were ready. The stair panels were missing. They apparently lost the templates; somehow, though, they had the P.O. for the rest of the order.
We then made a detailed drawing of the panels, with measurements and angles for the corners. They made 2 more panels, but read the angles backwards. Whoever cut the panels might have used their brain while doing so, because they sure looked wierd.

We made another set of templates, because obviously they couldn't read a drawing. This set got soaked somehow and couldn't be used.

One last try, and they got it right. Took from August 15 to October 25 to get the panels done.

Problem with switching from this company is that their prices are so good.

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kylemfk

as a salesman i am very careful with special orders. Lots of detail never rush, and your signature on the bottom! If I mess up after that it's on me. Also, knowing Trimline, they might send you a trim-loc window, and it could take 17 weeks!!

ponch37300

I did a bathroom remodel for a lady that had to buy a kohler corner tub from home depot. Kohler ships this tub direct to home owner. It was a 2500.00 dollar tub that had a 6-8 week delivery time. When the tub came it was unloaded into their garage and i went to do the job the next week. took the tub from the crate and when kohler crated the tub they used staples in the wood and two of them rubbed against the tub finish during shipping and scratched it. HO called HD and they said cause it wasn't shipped to them first only bought threw them they had nothing to do with it. Called kohler and they said they would ship one out in 6-8 weeks. Meanwhile the HO bathroom sits torn apart! New tub gets here and it is scratched also, even after explaining about the staples rubbing kohler did the same thing. Then it became a blame game and nobody wanted to take responsibility. HD ended up giving her the tub for half price with the scratches. So 4 months and she got a scratched tub.

oldfrt

This may be a little off topic,but I lov jabbing the big box stores.
About twenty years ago,before I knew better,and HD was the big rage,I bought a brand new Kohler toilet,for my second floor apartment.
It was a 60 mile round trip to HD then .
So preparing to install ,the fresh out of the crate ,toilet.I turned it over to install the bowl ring.The thing was jam packed with Shi# .
No kidding,someone in the factory must have been getting their jollies the day they" packed "that one.
Anyways I made a call to HD,they said to return it.Several prodding words later,they sent a truck out to do the exchange.
I'll bet 10 to 1 odds,they put that unit back in stock!

Putty Truck

Not to stray even further off-topic, but remember back when HD was new and the HOs would say, "Why you charge so much? I can get it for less at Home Depot!"

You don't hear that anymore

Tscarborough

All I can say is that if you place a special order, it should be written, and it is your responsability to confirm that the order sheet matches your order. It is also your responsability to check the status of your order prior to shipping, and confirm that the delivered product is the correct one, before you schedule a crew for installation.

You can say that you shouldn't have to do those things, and I would counter with, why wouldn't you?

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Tscarborough

BTW, the things I special order for customers range from $10 parts to half a million dollar custom CMU projects, and I do not order ANYTHING for ANYONE without a signed contract/invoice detailing the item(s) and the anticipated delivery date, and I still have customers that order the wrong thing and/or call to complain because they have a crew onsite standing around waiting on material that is not scheduled for delivery per contract.

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