What's up with Firstplaceparts?

[AZ800]

Have bought plenty of stuff from them in the past, mostly gear/helmets, not parts, but service has always been normal. Even near Xmas time this year, got a couple helmets in good order.
Placed an order last week for a bunch of accessories to fix up the kids' sleds. New grips, handwarmers, bar hooks etc.
Didn't get a email reply for the order for 2 days, never got an order update, tracking info, etc.
Emailed them Monday for an update, no response.
Tried calling yesterday and today and after 3-4 calls and 3-4 hours on hold (literally), got thru this am.
Asked about the order and almost EVERYTHING was on back order, like 9 out of the 10 items I ordered.
Cancelled the order obviously, but Firstplaceparts if you're listening, get your shiiit together. Just lost a customer, for now anyways!

 

[Phizzer]

Damn, you waited on hold for 3-4 hours? You are a patient man. If I'm on hold for more than 5 minutes I start getting irritated!!!

 

[KTMDirtFace]

Don't know about firstplaceparts havn't ordered in awhile.

Places that list stuff for sale and don't put that its out of stock drives me crazy.

So far BlownMotor has been the only one that i have found that lists things as out of stock or whatever.

 

[sledheadd]

I e mailed them yesterday and got a reply before noon today.

 

[AZ800]

Damn, you waited on hold for 3-4 hours? You are a patient man. If I'm on hold for more than 5 minutes I start getting irritated!!!

Lol.
I was working in the office, so just let it go until I had to leave the office or use the phone.
Called this am on my way into work, got another call. 40 min later hung up and I was still on hold with FPP!
I am irritated, they didn't have the stuff I needed and took a week to find out.

 

[AZ800]

I e mailed them yesterday and got a reply before noon today.

Must like Canadian $ more....cant figure that one out!

 

[Durnk]

I tried to call the other day to order some stuff and sat on hold each time for about 30-45 min b4 I hung up. Ended up going elseware.

 

[Bigrock33]

Hell, I thought that I was the only one! Finally got order but one item was wrong. Tried calling 4 different times, each over 30 minutes, before hanging up. emailed and web site says that I would be contacted in 24 hours or less. Nope, didn't happen. Emailed again, quite irate, and finally got an email back from Customer Service Liz, basically not addressing the issue except to say that I received the correct item. Returned email telling her what terrible customer service they had and that I did not receive the correct item. Then received an email from Customer Service Skylar, who informed me that Liz had already taken care of the issue. Another irate email sent back and asked for name and contact info for the president of the company. A bit later received a phone call from Diane, general manager. She said that Liz, who was standing next to her, said that she (Liz) had called me and discussed my issue. A blatant outrageous lie! I told Diane that this Liz NEVER called me. Diane became very apologetic, explained that lots of customers just try to get free stuff, etc., which I find very insulting to myself and all other customers. Diane did offer to send a replacement free of charge, which I declined as I have already ordered from another vendor. I wanted nothing more to do with them. A bit later, I received an email from Diane that they had refunded my money and apologized again for the poor customer service. I thanked her. BTW, this was over a $16.99 item. I hope that they get their act together and realize that without customers, just might not be able to have much of a business :-{

 

[srt20]

They've been like this for at least a few years. And every year people come on here and complain about them. I did a couple years ago.
They apologized and gave some excuses and said they'd get their **** together.

Apparently it hasn't changed. Not that I would know, I don't buy from them any more.



Never had a problem with Blown Motor.

 

[AZ800]

You guys were probably clogging up the phone line while I was trying to get thru! hahaha
Sounds like they need more customer service reps in the winter. Don't think they open the phone lines 'til 9am either cauce I called just before 7 Pacific time and got the after hours message. Called right after 7 and got the "high call volume" message.
Well, glad they didn't bung up the order at Xmas time or that would have sucked, considering the dog chewed up my kids' old helmets a few months ago, so it was kind of a necessity since we were goin riding during the holidays.

 

[Indy_500]

Ordered quite a few things from them over the years, some of the fastest shipping I've ever gotten besides country cat or dennis kirk. No complaints here. Maybe I'm just lucky?

 

[adairtd1]

I ordered a BCA tracker 3 from them on Christmas, but I could not even check the order status on their page as it was not in their system.

I sent a PM to them here on SnoWest, and they got back to me promptly, and turns out it was backordered, but shipped out about 2 days later.

I did have trouble with the phones though, the messages and promo's on their phone system seem extremely old, I wonder if they are having a problem with their phone system?

 

[05M7]

Just got an order from them for grips, handlebars, and handwarmers . All said they were in Stock on the website, just the handwarmers ended up being in Stock. Got an email 2 days after the order was placed saying the ship date on the bars and grips would be the next day. No big deal that will be fine I have 2 weeks before I need it anyways. 5 days later the bars show up. Still no update on the grips. The day I'm leaving for the trip (2 weeks after the order date) I get a email that the grips are shipping. Wtf, I won't go back to them ever again. Sounds like I need to try blown motor

 

[Mafesto]

Threads like these pop up every year, and it's reasonable to believe that people read them and decide right then & there no to do business with said business.
We need to keep in mind that unhappy customers talk & happy customers don't. That's just the way people are.
Mark's business is an example the American dream. Started from nothing and has grown into one of the largest online vendors in this industry.
This didn't happen through shiitty service.
However, I cannot think of any business that has 100% satisfaction, things happen, people are human and err and many things are beyond control.
My point is to read these threads with perspective and realize that there are likely 99 happy customers behind each of the unhappy ones.
Bottom line, the more customers you have, the more disgruntled customers you will have. Not the benchmark that you shoot for, but it is the reality of numbers.
Pretty safe to assume that Mark reads these threads and uses these examples as opportunities to improve the business as it grows.

 

[newmy1]

I actually had great svc with an order with FPP this year. Hit and miss in the last.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[srt20]

Threads like these pop up every year, and it's reasonable to believe that people read them and decide right then & there no to do business with said business.
We need to keep in mind that unhappy customers talk & happy customers don't. That's just the way people are.
Mark's business is an example the American dream. Started from nothing and has grown into one of the largest online vendors in this industry.
This didn't happen through shiitty service.
However, I cannot think of any business that has 100% satisfaction, things happen, people are human and err and many things are beyond control.
My point is to read these threads with perspective and realize that there are likely 99 happy customers behind each of the unhappy ones.
Bottom line, the more customers you have, the more disgruntled customers you will have. Not the benchmark that you shoot for, but it is the reality of numbers.
Pretty safe to assume that Mark reads these threads and uses these examples as opportunities to improve the business as it grows.

And while I agree with what you said, if my customer satisfaction is unacceptable why would I continue to buy from them?
In fact I communicated with them about if they would have let me know the item I purchased wasn't in stock, I wouldn't have a problem. But to not answer phones, not return voicemails, ( I can't remember if I emailed, I believe I did, but not 100% certain) and leave me hanging is unacceptable.

In my communication with them, they assured me that if an item wasn't in stock, it would be listed as such on the website. And I wouldn't even have a problem if it wasn't as long as they called, or emailed, or sent a messenger pigeon to let me know that my item would be delayed. In fact, I called the manufacturer of the product that I bought and they sent me the item as well as a "I'm sorry they screwed up gift".

I have no ill will towards FPP, and I hope they continue to succeed. If we didn't have competition, imagine what the prices would be. But as you can see, my communication skills aren't lacking, but theirs clearly is.

Communication is the key!

 

[AZ800]

Same here, expressed that I've had good and bad exp with them. Good until this last order.
Mafesto, you appear to know the owner personally, so maybe enlighten him to this issue, as it sounds like it's a current problem for many.

To clarify, it was not the fact the items were back ordered, it's the lack of knowing that until a week later. If I wanted to spend a month getting some parts in the middle of snowmobile season I would have waited 3 more weeks before ordering them!
Sounded like the gal I finally got to talk to was pretty wore down. Like they maybe need more people in customer service. Not bashing just venting a little.

 

[snowmobiler]

how did we ever snowmobile in the old days before internet.LOL