They are cheap.
The prices start out pretty reasonable already for most things (at least,
in
boating terms!), then with the 10% discount they get a bit cheaper again.
But the postage is the real savings. Admittedly my order was mostly deck
hardware, but it also included a fair bit of rope, waterproof dry sacks, a
3.5kg anchor, and a couple of lifejackets. For $45 thats one of the best
postage rates I've seen.
Any news on that 18 foot hobie? As another aside, do you know anywhere
that
can do mail order epoxy resin? I've seen plenty of places doing poly,
even
on ebay there's a guy selling poly and glass. Nobody seems to sell the
epoxy though....
Thanks,
Shaun
"D Parker" <nospamozskipper@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in message
news:476afec7$0$20611$5a62ac22@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> $45 ... Bargain. As you said. Particularly with an anchor...
>
> I would send a copy to Whitworths though.. Even if it was only a watered
> down version. If it was my business, I would want to know. Similarly, I
> would want to know all that, if I was an employee who worked with David.
> Lets face it, if he destroyed the business, I would be out of work too.
>
> Whitworth's Head Office
> Phone: (61 2) 9907 3344
> Fax: (61 2) 9907 3187
> Address: P.O. Box W52 Warringah Mall
> NSW 2100 Australia
>
> DP
> "Shaun Van Poecke" <shaunvanpoecke@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in message
> news:TTCaj.25958$CN4.6887@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>> Just venting,
>> I wouldnt know who to send it to anyway. Thanks for the links to the
>> other stores, I will be looking into them in future. Definitely not
>> interested in buy from whitworths again after this experience. I dont
>> think they'll ****p before christmas, so maybe I'll get my order mid
>> January or something. I've done pretty good buying fromt hem in
store...
>> they have good prices and do stock a lot of stuff. Plus if you spend
>> over $1000 you get the 10% discount, and ****pping is cheap. $45 sydney
>> to Mount Isa, and my order was a fair size, including an anchor!
>>
>> Mail order seems not quite as good! Will keep you guys posted on the
fun
>> to come ;-)
>>
>> Shaun
>>
>>
>>
>> "D Parker" <nospamozskipper@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in message
>> news:476af5ed$0$20614$5a62ac22@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>>> omg... thats funny.... . Not laughing at your pain. Laughing at the
bad
>>> service. Perhaps david could now move on to Customer Service for a
phone
>>> or Internet Co. He could be in charge of keeping people on hold and
>>> never calling back.
>>>
>>> Have you tried Bias Marine in the past. I have a feeling they actually
>>> own Whitworths now. But if you call any of there stores I think they
can
>>> ****p direct from the store. I know if i was the store manager I would
>>> want the sale to add to my budget.
>>> http://www.biasboating.com.au/
>>>
>>> Also Sturrocks at Rushcutters. I know the service there is impeccable.
>>> If you faxed them and order they would be happy to take your money.
>>> http://www.sturrocks.com.au/
.
>>>
>>> Btw, did you actually send that letter to Whitworths or are you just
>>> using the net to vent?
>>>
>>>
>>> DP
>>>
>>>
>>> "Shaun Van Poecke" <shaunvanpoecke@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in message
>>> news:Vlraj.25835$CN4.10601@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>>>> Dear Whitworths,
>>>> Please give David a holiday. Due to the stresses of work and the
>>>> demands of fussy customers, he has become such a short tempered
>>>> conceited bastard that he is in danger of hurting your business.
>>>>
>>>> Yours sincerely,
>>>> Shaun Van Poecke
>>>>
>>>> I was ordering some parts for my cobra cat about 11 days ago. I had
>>>> the whitworths marine catalogue at home, have bought from them many
>>>> times in past so i thought that would be the way to go. This was my
>>>> first mail order experience though. Reading through their catalogue
>>>> was reassuring; apparently they ****p all over the world so i figured
>>>> they must do ok. After my experiences of the last 2 weeks though, i
>>>> think the mail order department must be limited to David.
>>>>
>>>> I compiled a list of all the items I would need. Not one to do
things
>>>> by half measures, I did it in an excel spreadsheet with part numbers,
>>>> names, quantities, unit and total prices, and colors. There were 47
>>>> items coming to a total of about $1200. Not a huge order i guess,
but
>>>> enough that i felt i ought to get some level of service. It's not as
>>>> though I was ordering 2 x 16 gauge screws.
>>>>
>>>> I compiled my list with all the relevant details, contact
information,
>>>> address, phone number and then faxed it to whitworths. I called up
>>>> about 10 minutes after i sent it to make sure it got through. I got
>>>> David. He was pretty curt, I had a couple of queries (and this is a
>>>> *regular* couple, meaning 2, not 3) about a bracket for a signal
horn,
>>>> and a fairlead for a cleat. I got the impression from talking to him
>>>> that i was more an annoyance than anything. I was ready to send
>>>> payment through that day, but he said he would need to confirm my
>>>> prices and get back to me. No worries. I sent the fax through early
>>>> morning so i figured i would be fine.
>>>>
>>>> Next day at close of business I gave him another call to see if he
had
>>>> forgotten me or not. After all, this was a pretty straightforward
>>>> thing; everything laid out in black and white and here i am ready to
>>>> pay. This time i really got a serving. Did I know that this was one
>>>> of the busiest times of year? Did i know how many orders he had to
get
>>>> through? No I didnt. Sorry
>>>>
>>>> The same day, I placed an order with Binks marine. This was my first
>>>> time dealing with them, and the first time I've ever even heard of
>>>> them. It was a straightforward order for a gooseneck. Whitworths
didnt
>>>> stock it, and were unwilling to order it in for me. 3 days later, it
>>>> arrived by express courier. Not a bad effort since i live in Mount
>>>> Isa. Packages take 3-4 days to get here from Townsville sometimes!
>>>>
>>>> the same day this order arrived i called whitworths again. What a
>>>> pleasant surprise; I got David. No he hasnt had a chance to check my
>>>> prices. No i shouldnt give him another call in a couple of days, he
>>>> will call me when he has it sorted.
>>>>
>>>> A couple of days later, I realise I forgot to put the boom fitting
for
>>>> my gooseneck into the order from binks. Slap myself in the forehead,
>>>> get on the net and order it same day. The part was worth about $20.
I
>>>> figure ordering it so late in the year i probably wont get it before
>>>> christmas.
>>>>
>>>> 2 days later I get a call from binks marine. They are terribly
sorry,
>>>> but my order got delayed slightly. They were unable to ****p it the
day
>>>> after I ordered, because they were unable to find the part, but have
>>>> found it that day and ****pped same day. Once again they are sorry,
and
>>>> it should be arriving within 2-3 days. How much markup do they make
on
>>>> a $20 part that they can afford to call customers like this?
>>>>
>>>> 3 days later the part arrives. I'm impressed (again) and wish that
>>>> binks stocked as many items as whitworths do.
>>>>
>>>> The next day, about 10 days later now, I get a call from David. He
has
>>>> priced my parts and sent a fax through to me with the quote. I go to
>>>> check the fax. It is signed, by hand 'looking forward to receiving
>>>> your payment'. How touching. I make payment same day by EFT.
>>>>
>>>> Today I go through the quote, and discover that they have left 2
items
>>>> off the quote and supplied me with 1 of something where i ordered 4.
I
>>>> call up whitworths again. David answers the phone.
>>>>
>>>> 'Hi David, It's Shaun Calling from mount isa here'
>>>>
>>>> 'yes'
>>>>
>>>> 'do you remember me?'
>>>>
>>>> 'I get hundreds of orders here, I cant remember them all'
>>>>
>>>> 'You sent me the fax yesterday, 47 items.... mostly for sailboats'
>>>>
>>>> 'yes'
>>>>
>>>> 'I put the payment through yesterday, but today Ive been going
through
>>>> your quote and having a look and i think you might have missed a
couple
>>>> of items'
>>>>
>>>> 'I dont think so'
>>>>
>>>> 'do you have the quote in front of you?'
>>>>
>>>> 'yes'
>>>>
>>>> 'do you have my original order that i sent through with it?'
>>>>
>>>> 'yes'
>>>>
>>>> 'item 11 on my order, part number 5101 a small block is missing from
>>>> the quote'
>>>>
>>>> 'that part number no longer exists.'
>>>>
>>>> 'I see.... Do you have something you might substitute? It's just a
>>>> small block, 5mm rope. The type with 2 holes so you can screw or
rivet
>>>> it to a deck'
>>>>
>>>> 'I dont have time for this sort of stuff, you'll have to have another
>>>> look through the catalogue'
>>>>
>>>> 'ok. Item number 20, part number 180392, 5mm red spectra cord is
also
>>>> missing'
>>>>
>>>> 'thats a duplicate line. Item 19 also has the same part number'
>>>>
>>>> 'item 19 was 5 meters, item 20 was 3 meters of same. Im trying to
>>>> re-rig my catamaran here'
>>>>
>>>> 'but they were duplicate items. It looked like you made a mistake'
>>>>
>>>> 'There were several other items also duplicated in the same way, and
>>>> they were all included in the order.'
>>>>
>>>> 'yeah, anything else?'
>>>>
>>>> 'item 42, 4 x 100mm nylon cleats was on the order, but you only put
1'
>>>>
>>>> 'Yes, i see that. Whoever keyed the order must have made a mistake'
>>>>
>>>> 'ok, so what can i do to get the extra stuff?'
>>>>
>>>> 'well, it's too late now. I'll call head office to see whether
you've
>>>> deposited the money or not. For the other items, you'll have to just
>>>> do it by credit card or something as an extra order.'
>>>>
>>>> 'ok, so can i check up on the catalogue for those blocks and give you
a
>>>> call back in about 5 minutes?'
>>>>
>>>> 'no, I'm too busy for that. I'll give you a call'
>>>>
>>>> 'will that be today?'
>>>>
>>>> 'no, not today. Maybe tomorrow'
>>>>
>>>> end of call
>>>>
>>>> Dear Whitworths,
>>>> Please give David a holiday. A long holiday. He sounds old and
tired.
>>>> About mid 50's, with no particular achievements in his life, which
>>>> makes him very irritable. Give him the next 20-30 years off so he
can
>>>> get out and go sailing or something. He needs a break, and so do we.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Dear Binks Marine,
>>>> Please stock as many items as whitworths do so i can buy them off
you.
>>>> And if you get too busy from all your increased business, please hire
>>>> pleasant, competent people so you can continue getting my business.
>>>> Dont hire David.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Yours Sincerely,
>>>> Shaun Van Poecke
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> The day my binks
>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>
>
|
