Maybe a little off topic. Got a flathead valve train kit from ex MAC's today and spend an hour to count and sort out pieces. 144 !!! little plastic bags for 128 parts. I mean packing two valve keys in two little bags is for my understanding off the loop. Same horse shoes, one in a tiny sack that is put in a another condom. Double safety for horse shoes that barely fit the guide if you are on the lucky side......... Not to talk about skyrocketin prices and the new shitty non Ford parts number crap. What's up there, I don't get it. Oh and didn't even think about unpacking all that............
Parts like that used to come in 32, 16, 8 or at least 4 piece pacs. And I used to use my paper parts catalog back when it still was macs. Now i need to go net to double check prices. The new catalogs also have Ecklers own number system, that needs to be translated into ford numbers. Waste of time for the customer, sure easy for the supplier. And now I get all these bags and parts that don't fit proper. Just needed to vent and get some other opinions. It' not ment to be the usual the bigger the badder bashing.
looks like everything has a bar code on it, I'd bet each part is scanned as they pack your box. it is a warehouse inventory thing, nothing for a person to get upset about.
Yep, warehoused as individual parts in bags, or pairs or whatever. Then when they need a kit, they pull however many individual bags it takes to make the kit.
3 years of buying old Ford parts... I have bought 1 item from Macs and it was on eBay. I find their online catalog to be pretty bad to navigate.
They do that because the people pulling your order don't know an O ring from a spring clip. It's so you have a much better chance ( and I mean chance ) of getting the stuff you ordered. It's all about saving time on the warehouse end, they don't care how long it takes you to figure it out, they ain't paying you. Progress my friend Progress.
It really emulates another successful business model where the product goes through multiple buyers, each one taking their cut of the profit by cutting it and repackaging. The final dealer/distributor packages into single packs for the end consumer. So to me it looks like you got 128 hits to support your hot rod habit and you shouldn't tweak out too much on how hard it is to get the package open. After the first one or two, you should come down a little and everything will be alright.
Was a happy Mac's customer until the buyout. A year ago, a friend ordered a Merc fuel pump from an old catalog I'd given away, & soon I start getting Corvette catalogs ... called them & requested they take me off their mailing list, & mentioned to the man the company he worked for was rapidly loosing it's reputation. He had nothing to say, but thanked me & said he'd take care of it.
Ecklers has become the puppy-mill of car parts. But anything for my Ford I've found elsewhere easily enough.
Okay, the heater switch I ordered from Eckler for $41+/- seemed to be what the market demanded and had one in stock. But I did have a conversation with the nice lady about the shipping charge of nearly $14 (34%). I asked why with all the computers, they don't send really small items in the USPS padded envelopes or box? She said we just charge based on the cost of the item. I had to be careful when opening the large box filled with bundles of paper packing so as not to throw out the small heater switch. Yes, I am happy to find a switch and get my defroster working. Just feeling a bit frustrated. Do you remember back when we first saw the term "shipping and HANDLING" Fourdy
I got something for them to handle... How idiotic to base your shipping on how much something costs. Good for business... I doubt it. I buy a shipload of parts on eBay, no taxes and quite often NO shipping charges. Ford parts from C&G Ford or Concours, even Carpenter is reasonable and most shipping is $10-12.
Eckler's bought Mac's in 2012. After 5 years, I think we can all agree that shipping costs have risen, service has declined and an actual interest in the individual customer has flown the coop. Your post, while heartfelt, is not quite news.
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