PP Quality of Service going down the drain

[renders]

Today I received an order for an Axle Shaft Assembly. The part was obviously used, badly repackaged, grease all over the carton, one of the plastic covers gone from the bearing and most of the grease gone. That part barely moved, the bolts were wrapped in a dirty piece of plastic. The gaskets were missing too.
I am surprised s.th. like this gets shipped. Whoever does QA check on orders - if anyone - should be fired.

[andrew15]

Did you talk to Pelican to give them a chance to make it right or just decide that the best course of action was to vent here? I'm just asking because there is nothing I can do to help you - I think someone at Pelican might though

[crustychief]

I can't help you either. I have always had top notch service. I wonder if it was a returned part that got shipped to you accidentally? I have a feeling our host will make it right.

I think they will make it right too. I have always had great service from them.

[renders]

Maybe I just clarify my post as people don't seem to get my point. I am not venting here. Off course I contacted them already. However I like to gauge if this is becoming a trend. And if that is the case I will take my business somewhere else. That's all. I like to know what the experience is and make my decision. Obviously you can only make decision based on information and I really like to know how often this happens. IMHO this is a pretty big screw up. To send s.th. out like this is bad. And if they don't have Quality control in place for shipping and just anything gets shipped out of the warehouse that looks "about right" or close is pretty bad business.
Maybe I am just too quality oriented but then again that is why I drive Porsche and not ....
And off course I am mad because I can't finish a promised job and if they would have told me that they don't have anything to sell I would have found the part somewhere else. I even would have paid more because it is important for me to keep my time promise!

[aadrew10]

[Por_sha911]

No one expects the company to be perfect but they are blown away when the mistake happens to them.
Every company screws up. The good ones will make it right and go the extra mile to make you happy. My first order had a problem and they did just that.
I suggest you try some of the other vendors. They have an I-don't-give-a-rip attitude when stuff happens.

[Noah930]

I've ordered at least half a dozen times from our host and have yet to receive a re-used part. Everything I've ever ordered has been included in the packages sent, which have always been shipped in a more than timely fashion.

The tone of post #1 doesn't match that of #5.

[equality72521]

[Dantilla]

Originally Posted by renders

However I like to gauge if this is becoming a trend.

I'va always been impressed with Pelican. This is probably a screw-up, not a trend.

[fxeditor]

I don't even want to think about how much I've spent with Pelican over the last couple of months! A part of my order in fact was a new set of axle shafts. The service from them has always been first rate. The one time I did have a problem with a part (a manufacturing error), PP had a new part sent to me via next day delivery. I didn't even have to send the defective part back to them! I have absolutely no worries about purchasing from them.

Good Luck,
Michael

Originally Posted by fxeditor

I don't even want to think about how much I've spent with Pelican over the last couple of months! A part of my order in fact was a new set of axle shafts. The service from them has always been first rate. The one time I did have a problem with a part (a manufacturing error), PP had a new part sent to me via next day delivery. I didn't even have to send the defective part back to them! I have absolutely no worries about purchasing from them.

Good Luck,
Michael

Well, sure, but that was BEFORE the health care bill passed!

[80-911SC]

there you go , one more thing to blame on obama ..........

[James Brown]

Does Pelican even have used parts for sale? Might be from a third party that supplies the axles. Pelican moves a lot of parts maybe they just grabbed the sealed box and shipped it out. If that is the case, than no problem returning it and getting this fixed. (other than you time lost).

[fxeditor]

Originally Posted by madcorgi

Well, sure, but that was BEFORE the health care bill passed!

Well no I'm glad it did pass. Now when the wife sees the credit card bill, the a$$ kicking I'll receive will be covered!

[Scott Douglas]

I've ordered and received two axle assemblies over the course of the last 14 months or so. No problems except when I ordered the wrong one the first time due to my own ignorance as to which one I needed. It wasn't that big a deal except it happened to be on a weekend that I found out so I had to wait until Monday to set it straight.
I wonder if someone ordered an axle and returned it but sub'd a used one for the new one, hoping no one would open it 'cause it was greasy inside.

[Fast Corners]

Originally Posted by renders

Maybe I just clarify my post as people don't seem to get my point. I am not venting here. Off course I contacted them already. However I like to gauge if this is becoming a trend. And if that is the case I will take my business somewhere else. That's all. I like to know what the experience is and make my decision. Obviously you can only make decision based on information and I really like to know how often this happens. IMHO this is a pretty big screw up. To send s.th. out like this is bad. And if they don't have Quality control in place for shipping and just anything gets shipped out of the warehouse that looks "about right" or close is pretty bad business.
Maybe I am just too quality oriented but then again that is why I drive Porsche and not ....
And off course I am mad because I can't finish a promised job and if they would have told me that they don't have anything to sell I would have found the part somewhere else. I even would have paid more because it is important for me to keep my time promise!

I guess there are quite a few of us that didn't get your point.

I thought you were venting since there were no questions in your original post nor did you solicit any information from others in it either. This makes it difficult to believe that gauging the satisfaction level of others on this board was the actual intention of your first post.

You said that you contacted them...what did they say...inquiring minds would like to know? Why don't you post that information in explicit detail as you have done so well in your other posts.

My experience with them has been quite good to date and I'm sure that most others will attest to this also. You should do some searches on Pelican's customer service on this board. You will find that most problems were resolved quickly and what is more impressive...directly by the proprieter.

I don't doubt that you are upset and for all I know...rightly so but as an offer of kindly advice it's best not to let your emotions get the best of you when things don't go exactly as you would hope. I heard something about a golden rule once.

I hope that the good folks at Pelican will help you out and when they do you do the right thing on this board.

[Wayne 962]

Firstly, I would like to apologize to Mr. Enders for the problem that you have had with this particular order this week. Please allow me to clarify the background into how this situation came about.

There have been about 15 emails going back and forth on this issue today. We requested that Mr. Enders send us some photos of the part in question in order to determine the exact condition of the part. We commonly do this so that we can check our current stock and assess as to whether a customer will be satisfied with a replacement that we currently have in stock. Mr. Enders was not able to provide us with a photograph to assist during this process, which made it a bit more difficult to assess the condition of the axle he received.

There have been hundreds of these sold this year with zero returns so far this year, so there is a very low chance that this is a used part that was returned. If it was, it arrived from the manufacturer that way. There was one issue similar to this last year where a customer was sent an axle that got jostled around in the process of shipment, and grease got all over it. The customer insisted that the axle was used, and didn't want to install it. We exchanged it at our cost for a new one and inspected it, and it indeed was new. It's unfortunate, but straight from the manufacturer, these don't always look too "pretty". Particularly if the caps fall off in shipping, it can create quite a mess.

The current set of axles that Mr. Enders ordered are on backorder until June 1st. We have one other in stock, but it has been at the bottom of the pile and doesn't look "too pretty." Based upon discussions that my head of Customer Service (Judy) had with Mr. Enders, we determined that he would not be happy with this remaining unit (even though it was indeed brand new), as it would probably look similar to the one that he received. Typically, non-pretty units like these don't get shipped unless there are no more available, which is the case currently with these axles. Mr. Enders only ordered a single axle, so there was not another one to compare it to.

I'm quite confident that the axle we shipped out was brand new and functionally excellent, if not a concours looking part. When we (or our suppliers) get low on stock and have to make decisions on whether or not to ship not-so-pretty, but functionally perfect parts, we typically look at where the part is installed, and how it will be used. We do not ship seals, trim, or interior parts with any blemishes on them. However, undercarriage parts like these axles often come with less-than-stellar asthetics. In cases like these, a subjective decision may have to be made. These types of situations are exceedingly rare - most of the time there are no issues and when there are, we quickly exchange parts at our cost. Unfortunately, these are now out of stock.

As for the part not being able to be turned by hand - that's a good thing! These axles are tight when new, and it should be difficult to turn with your hand. When the joints wear, they become very floppy and loose - nearly every one I have picked up is nice and tight. In fact, I think someone actually returned one a long time ago because they thought it was "too loose".

With respect to this particular order with Mr. Enders, we offered to take the axle back at our charge, of course. If our customers are unhappy with the quality of our parts, we always take them back with little or no questions asked. I was copied on all 15 or so of the emails back and forth today with this order, so I was immediately aware of the situation when I saw this thread. Seeing that the axle wasn't too pretty, and confirming that it was very unlikely to have been used, we offered Mr. Enders a 20% discount on the part. Normally, we would have just issued a call tag and swapped it out for another one, but again, these are basically out of stock until June right now. We also offered to help cover up to 100 dollars in labor charges in the event that the part ever has a problem in the future. We don't normally make that offer, but we are confident that we have a not-so-pretty part here and not a part with any defect.

I hope this helps to clarify the situation a bit.

-Wayne

[Wayne 962]

Originally Posted by Fast Corners

My experience with them has been quite good to date and I'm sure that most others will attest to this also. You should do some searches on Pelican's customer service on this board. You will find that most problems were resolved quickly and what is more impressive...directly by the proprieter.

Mr. Enders is a very good, long-term customer of Pelican and is very familiar with our company, our reputation and our customer-friendly policies. I believe that he was very frustrated by the part that he received, and was merely inquiring to find out if this particular order was indicative of a trend away from our typically high quality focus (no, it's not a trend - just an isolated incident due to a low stock issue).

-Wayne

[Flieger]

Hi Wayne,

Thanks for the free 550 mug and stickers with the new ball joints and brake fluid reservoir.