~do not buy last refuge!!!~

He will forward you the tracking number when it's ready.

Just making light of the situation.
Glad he got the bed, and that you guy's are so busy. That seem's to be a rarity lately.

 

Wow, some things are better left unsaid.

 

If this was directed to me, Norb...I already have...four of them to be exact...however, not one of them has anything to do with business, or the running thereof...

R-

 

My dealings with Norb, have been great. He went out of his way to meet me, for some stock T parts I wanted.

Good guy, so understand the hassle of being a small business owner.

Eric

 

I have no stake in this, so maybe I should not say anything (but I will). In my experiences, if a part or item is out of stock, or being built at the time of order, or whatever, I can certainly be patient and wait, or at shop around and see if I can find it elsewhere if I'm in a big-ass hurry. But when I specifically ask if it's in stock, and when it will be shipped, only to find out the seller/producer/whatever never had the thing, or hasn't even built it yet, contradicting their original story, I do not forgive easily. I recently wrote off a supposed "freind" of 30+ years who lied to my face about the part I ordered "sitting on his shop floor, waiting to be shipped", only to find out 6 weeks later he never had it. Lie to women, not to customers...

 

Push come to shove, I would rather have a great product than "customer service" anyway.

Also I have noticed that I am ALWAYS in a hurry to get my parts, but when it comes down to brass tacks, I am usually too busy to work on my newly received parts when they get there. Overnight delivery is OVER rated...

Good planning and buying stuff before you really, really, need it makes waiting more bearable.

IMO, parts (or services) delivered on time is more like a BONUS instead of reality, so I try to plan for this reality. I quit getting pissed (for the most part) about this a while back....

 

I have got one of his model a beds on my pickup... nice product took 5 weeks to get it.... no complaints.........

 

boycott the guy and the problem will be solved. at least he's honest about being a douche bag!

 

I don't have a dog in this fight but, that's some funny stuff

 

What would some of you guys do if you were buying one off custom parts that were not available anywhere else? I think like everything it comes down to 2 out of 3, cheap, fast, good. The first time I remember seeing one of the cheap, fast ,good signs i had just got my first car and was at a brand new muffler shop. I still use the shop to this day. The work is cheap, and good. Fast costs extra. You get what you pay for, or you pay for what you get. The choice is yours.

 

I bought from him off of Eslay back about 5 years ago. When he was first getting his business off the gound. It did take awhile to get the bed and a followup call. But overall it was not a bad experience. The quiality was excellent and I would probably buy from him again. But, maybe pay half at shipping and the other COD. Maybe -maybe not.

Pics of bed from Norbert

 

These shouldn't be mutually exclusive. Good customer service is completely lost on many American businesses. Maybe one of the "bonuses" of the crappy economy is that it will weed out non-performers and those that survive will appreciate those that make their livelihoods possible...THE CUSTOMER!

It's easy to say you're not in a rush when you're a weekend grease monkey building a car over 5 years. When you have a shop with customers waiting, or you are trying to meet some deadline for a big show where you are expected to attend, etc. it's simply not acceptable to know the truth. I think that's all anyone needs-truth. If the truth is known, then the customer can make an informed decision. My list of companies I will never do business again with grows annually-regardless of how good their product is. It's all part of the deal.

 

hey good looking cabrio . If I order now and pay upfront will you put me on the list for 2012 delivery , you can send the tracking number now if you want ,since you,re already at the computer . oh ok . so lets look at a few of the posts . do shipping companies give out tracking nunbers weeks/months before the part is built ?? .I think thats a lie . A poster said you should order ahead of time , some people have been waiting months/years for parts/orders , I guess they should have allowed some lead in time . If it looks and sounds too good to be true it usualy is .as for the GOOD,FAST,CHEAP how about we amend that in this situation to FAIR PRODUCT , CRAPPY SERVICE , OUTRIGHT LIES , PICK ANY 2 ,but you could pick all 3 if you felt the need

 

There is a lot of truth in that ^^ also.

Just goes to show that life is more complex than I care to put into a few words of a posting on a hokey ass message board....

 

It's your lucky day, your blessed again, from this reply count me in as one you won't get.

 

I don't see why it's so hard to tell the truth. If a customer, or potential customer asks you a question, you tell them the truth...not matter what the answer is. Part in stock? Yes or no are the only answers. If you tell the truth, you won't have multiple threads on the HAMB warning the car community about your business.

If I ordered an "in stock" part in July and I still hadn't received it by October, I'd be upset and the quality of the part that eventually showed up wouldn't make anything any better.

Like an old boss used to say, "It's a good thing I didn't need oxygen.".

 

Please bang the nearest wall on my head

 

It will probably get me flamed but....... how many of us know a guy who is an outstanding fabricator or painter but couldn't meet a deadline (even with a gun to his head)? A whiz at making parts and building things but no clue as to how to run a business? I can think of three or four locally off the top of my head. And a couple of them have dived into the custom/ restoration business because of their mad building skills, only to realize that their strengths in the shop don't mean that they have a CLUE as to how to make a business run successfully. These are the guys that get a bad rap (and it is somewhat justified) but the fault is only half theirs. The customer is responsible for choosing who they are going to deal with; if you don't check up on the people you are sending your money to then quit your bitchin'!
If the quality is high and the price is low but the customer service is lackluster, you are probably dealing with one of these overworked, stressed out, harried and harassed fellows. Not everyone is a shining star in all areas of business. Those that are good business men AND skilled builders/painters set the bar REALLY high for the other poor bastards. I think that quality and price are much more important than instant gratification so whining that your parts didn't arrive on time falls on deaf ears. He could have thrown the bed together and shipped on time and you would still be on here whining about the quality.
This is my OFFICIAL two cents.
Ed

 

I just try to do better every day, I appreciate all the comments good and bad. I dont want to be "that" guy forever. Kick me when I am down if that helps.
Norb

 

Hey I have a fedex account and can generate a order complete with tracking numbers and ship it down the line It is possible to do. dont knock what you dont know. It's a small business and they cant have in stock everything they sell. products are subject to a product run, not made on a as needed basis. ask me how I know been a small metal working business and that is how it works. you cant set up to make parts any other way and make a profit. back off n accept the fact it will take a while iimf ya use norby. and I got my pickup bed in 3 weeks from h

 

Hey man, if you lived nearby I'd give you a hand free of charge. Might not hurt to pay the money to get a consultant in for a day to see if you could maybe streamline a few things. Nice to see someone taking criticism, constructive or not.

 

51ChevCoupe;

I agree wholeheartedly. I just re-appeared at HAMB after being away since 7/2008 after getting flamed for something that went bad at my shop by someone here who was NOT even a customer of mine. What I do find ironic in these type of situations is very, very few people that post these inflamatory type of comments giving all of this advice on how it should be done have never truly walked in shop owner shoes to prove how they would/could do it better. The brutal reality is very likely they would fail even more miserably because not only do they not have any business skills experience, but very likely they also suck at making a better product. Sure they have great intentions when they give that advice however do you honestly feel like L/R, or myself, --or any other shop owner opens their door intending for these type situations to occur? I know I didn't.

What seems funny to me though, is these people that write "Well he lost me as a customer." Wouldn't the more accurate statement by those individuals be "I honestly was never was going to be a customer anyway ...!". The other piece of irony is that all of the blasting I received about how I was a piece of shit shop that will be out of business soon, --well, even during this economic, we have stayed busy and have turned away some jobs simply because our plate is full and the potential customer just didn't seem like someone I wanted to do business with. Therefore I can totally understand where Norb is coming from regarding the customers he doesn't get. For those who feel Customer Service is out of control, ...well they should be on the other side of the fence and hear some customer demands and their treatment of us. Contrary to what many of you may think, the suppliers aren't the only ones doing the lying!!

 

this is one of the funniest threads I have ever read.

 

Very good point, Brent in 10 uh c,
I gave up running my shop, and a good part of the reason, was a-hole customers.
But I do see both sides of the coin on this one!

 

Quote ..(What seems funny to me though, is these people that write "Well he lost me as a customer." Wouldn't the more accurate statement by those individuals be "I honestly was never was going to be a customer anyway ...!". ) I was a customer with this last refuge I pre paid and waited 32 weeks ,the next time I order a bed from some else ,the bed was here in 2 days so his long delay sent me looking for some else to do business with.. never again will I be put that again..

 

Simple rule of business..............under promise, over deliver. If you think something will take six weeks, tell the customer it will take eight but have it there in seven. The customer will be happy the product arrived "early" and will most likely tell people in the market for the same parts/service how great you are to deal with.

 

FWIW, I got my bed pretty quick from Norb. He even trucked it to Pomona for a show he was setup at. It's a good product at a good price. If it was quick he wouldn't be able to sell them at such a low price.

That said, a little warning up front when you are busy would go a long way to keeping people. I mean this is nothing new, you guys have always been slow, so you should have a good idea of the time frame the customer will have to wait. A phone call and a positive attitude goes a looong way. I've found that is running my own business. Hell throw in a free tee shirt or something if your late...

Also, you might want to specify on your site that these are more often than not built to order and can take up to X amount of time to deliver. I don't see anything on the site that says that.

Hell, my products are already in a warehouse and I still tell my customers to order 2 weeks in advance, just to be safe!

here's another idea, how about taking a deposit only and then contacting the customer when their bed IS actually ready to ship and collecting the balance, and shipping it then. If they are short, they lose their deposit and the bed goes to the next customer in line. Custom orders would be different, of course, but this is a little less painfull for the customer, I think.

Overall a good product at a great price.

 

Nail on the head.

Nobody seems to be disputing the quality or great price, just broken promises - and they can negate the positive.

 

Too many people say what they think the customer WANTS to hear instead of what they NEED to hear. The difference between is the root of 99% of all complaints.

 

Hasn't this gotten to the proverbial 'dead horse' stage? I think this one should be closed.