Pick Or Deliver?

MKamis

Hi all,

I'm wondering how many of you out there use store delivery for their materials. I have had so many bad experiences getting the wrong materials from my suppliers (used to buy a lot from Home Depot I'm having better luck at Menards).

I have considered faxing in my orders and having them delivered, but we all know how much time can be wasted sorting out these types of problems. Any suggestions to make this a smoother process? BTW, I do general remodeling, so I need a wide variety of material types.

Marty Kamis
Kamis Renovation Co.
St. Charles, IL

mdshunk

I had the problem a lot. What I started doing was to write a letter (well, had one written) for each and every little nitpicky occurrance. Often, followed or preceeded with a phonecall. My objective was to be a royal pain in the rear end for the supply house. It worked. Very rarely do I have trouble now with incorrect items, missing items, and broken/incomplete items. They've even started cutting open cartons to inspect the items. I fully expect that, as time goes by, they will become lax again. I intend to start the letter and phonecall campaign again if I need to.

RobertCDF

I almost always have stuff delivered. Saves me a ton of time and I dont have a truck that could take the entire order in one trip anyway. I dont have a problem with quality at all... But my guys know what to give me and what not to give me. If they give me crap they know I will come in and complain... They also respect my time and if I call to see if a special order is in they will not base it upon the computer. They will walk out to the yard and look it over for any damage before they tell me to come and get it. You wont believe that I get this service from HD... But I do.

__________________
Robert Shaw
Colorado Springs Custom Decks
Colorado Custom Decks
Custom Composite Decks

Bone Saw

I always put in bold, caps and underlined print on my faxes to my supplier "ABSOLUTELY NO SPLIT, CHECKED, WARPED, TWISTED, BOWED, SEVERLY WANED, BADLEY STAINED, OR STRUCTUALLY UNSOUND MATERIALS WILL BE ACCEPTED. UNSATISFACTORY MATERIALS WILL BE REJECTED BEFORE SIGNING." I also always get my stuff delivered on a moffett truck, minimizes damage to delivery, yard and you can get it right where you want it. Whenever I do get crap on my delivery that I can't spot, I call asap and demand an exchange. They get tired of sending a truck out for a few pieces real quick. And when all else fails, I do like shunk does with a twist, I send in several large cutlists from previous jobs with fictitous names and bogus locations, And waste the sales staff's time, then they get the point and get on the yard staff's @$$

Tscarborough

Bonesaw that is one of the stupidist things I have seen on this site. How does giving them fraudlent orders increase your service level?

theworx

Wholly... Bonesaw, your post made sense until the screw up the sales people by wasting their time comment. I agree, that's not right. I know the sales people at my suppliers well (they know my name and I know theirs). We are friendly and joke around together. Because of the fact we are friendly and I give them respect I get very good service. Have had very few deliveries that were inadequate materials (or the wrong materials). If this site is a waste of your time why have you made 632 posts???

In response to the original post, sounds like you're using retail outlets for your materials Mkamis. Home Depot and Menards are geared for selling to home owners for the most part. I've gone to the so called "Pro Desk" at Home Depot and half the time they haven't a clue as to what I'm wanting. 90% of my materials are supplied by commercial wholesalers (who cater to professional contractors, both commercial and residential). Whether I have materials delivered or pick them up myself (for smaller jobs) I usually get what I want with few hassles. Search out wholesalers in your area. Not to mention you get a discount for being a regular customer with an account (as a contractor)...

Stone Mountain

the only time I buy wood from H.D. is when we are on a site too far from the oofice, and need 2 or 3 boards. Otherwise their stuff is just plain crap.
We have an H.D. right around the corner from our shop and it is convenient for tools, hardware and the like, but we just go in and buy it.

__________________
Residential Deck Specialist: Vist our Website
www.fenceanddeck.ca