Mac's lost a customer today

I have boughten parts from Lowell Meier for years. I first met him in the Zepher Hill car show and flea market. When business was booming he had a car show and hog roast for his customers every year . A great man and honest. Marv
 
Rowdy said:
Thanks, I will call and get a new catalog from him as likely later this year I will need afew things. My most recent one is 2003, so likely the prices and selection have changed some. Lets all try to keep a good man in bussiness. Rod
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I talked with him at length this morn and he has NO new catalog,no money he said.I suggest buying stuff from him again,it would be sad if he closed shop. Im going to try i know that. He needs help boys,lets keep him going. ken ct.
 
Hey Uncle Buck,
I hear what you're saying and I know what he was saying. I've been in my own war with these people that won't / don't discuss sending something small in a small container...and with USPS. Hey, if 'they' don't use USPS, but have a contract with shippers that cause them and us higher/outrageous shipping fees, what are we to do? Take our business elsewhere...with same practices. I'm getting out of the bidness of paying much more in shipping fees...than I paid for the freakin part! Let's hear from those that have a favorable (to us) solution...because everything can NOT be shipped in a little box USPS..even if they would use it...which they won't.
You think 'things' are going to get better , shipping costwise ? Not unless you think taxes/fuel/transportation, payroll costs, etc are going down!
BTW..today just heard that USPS is going to cut out delivery on Saturdays.
 
you might also try Don Baxter, Baxter Ford parts in Lawrence Kansas. Don and son Bob provide great service, repro, NOS,NORS parts.
Larry S.
 
Mac's bases their shipping charges on the dollar amount of the order. A one pound order could conceivably cost 29.95 shipping which sucks. With their catalog in hand, it does state what shipping costs for various dollar amount orders.
 
Thanks to CT1932Ford. I just placed my order with Joe's for the exact same parts that I wanted from Mac's. Mac's wanted $29.99 to ship them. Joe's charge will be less than $9.00 And we had a very enjoyable conversation. I'm glad CT1932Ford put up the link to Joe's. And the price for the items was less than Mac was with their 15% discount.

From here in Kansas I would have never known about Joe's without the information from the Ford Barn.

Thanks guys.
 
Well now I should of read this sooner, 2 days ago ordered window channel kit from Mac's, got it mailed to Canada was going to try and save a dollar, usually send to ND then drive down to pickup that little trip is getting expensive. Mail is the cheapest way to get things into Canada. Oh well, we shall see how bad the wallet gets hit! Laurie
 
KansasV8 said:
What source of parts do you guys use? I had always bought my early V-8 parts from Macs but I am not going to use them anymore. I had made an order for two B fuel pump kits, two condensers, two points sets and a couple of fuel line connectors, less than $180 in parts but the shipping was $29.99 it all would fit in a medium flat rate box! They wouldn't ship it anyway but UPS and the flat rate figure. It's time to find someone else to do business with.

So who do you guys recommend for parts like I listed?
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I just found this thread. They have lost me as well. I have spent at least $3k per year for the last 12 years, but no more.

In the last 6 months, I have had orders forgotten, incorrectly filled and recieved a few defective parts. The defects should have been caught. Broken mirrors, bad welds broken battery tray etc.

On Jan 1st of this year, thier shipping jumped almost 30%. If that wasnt bad enough, They now charge NY Tax of 6%. Had a look last night and a order with 85$ in small parts would cost over $25 in shipping and new taxes. Ill spend the extra at C&G or Midwest Ford before I deal with Macs again.
 
Freight costs have "exploded" during the past few years. In some cases, the post office flat rate boxes are now higher in cost than UPS. UPS adds extra costs to the shipper that most of us do not realize - fuel surcharges, residential delivery charges, oversize charges, and other charges to certain high delivery areas that most people are unaware of. If UPS makes an address change (even a minor one) there is an extra charge. Fedex is probably the same. Post Office shipments may sometimes be lower in cost, but handling and claims processing may be more difficult. As the price of fuel goes up, freight costs will continue to increase.

Eventually you will see that the freight costs might approach (or exceed) the product costs on certain bulky items. Merchants are in a tough spot. If they are set up with UPS or Fedex, everything flows through fairly automatically, as packages are scanned as they are exit their conveyors. Taking a few packages to the post office is possible, but is time consuming (driving to the post office, waiting in line, etc.). Regardless of who you deal with, freight costs will be somehow included with your merchandise. I would rather pay a slightly higher cost and have the goods shipped the same or next day than to lose a few days in "processing time".

Talking to a knowledgeable person on the phone is another important feature for all of us. Some companies today force every order to the Internet, and if you call the company you have to listen to recordings push buttons and sometimes leave a message and wait for a call back. What ever happened to customer service?

FRITZ
 
I have been using Joe's over the past couple of months and am extremely pleased with them. Very knowledgeable people, friendly, and are willing to ship the cheapest way possible. Even will take a flatrate box to the local post office. Never again will I use Mac's. Joe's web site is: www.joesantiqueauto.com telephone 1-800-508-3980
Thanks Ford Barn, if it weren't for this site I would have never known about Joe's!
 
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I haven't tried it yet BUT USPS says if it fits it ships(flat rate box) & to call them & they will pick it up. That was on the tube in their commercial.
 
As a vender, we find that shipping choices are often made on a case-by-case basis. We use both UPS and USPS. We try to ask the customer what he'd prefer. Sometimes there are local delivery issues so we want the customer to receive his package ok.

The USPS flat rate cartons are convenient but do not always handle some items.....example a set of head gaskets. We also won't use them for a starter as there isn't adequate room for the needed padding to protect the part. Also, you can ask the postal driver to pick up your packages, but you don't get a receipt from him proving that the post office has the shipment. For that reason we still make a run to the P.O. To hand over the pkgs. Someone has to make that drive and take that time.

Prices vary a lot with UPS....as stated above. Rural deliveries, fuel surcharges, etc. Also, we have to add adequate insurance to cover the value of the order. We do compare overall costs when evaluating each order.

As a rule, we don't recycle cardboard cartons. Generally they have become worn or torn by the time they've made it to us. We invest in sturdy double corrugated cartons for the heavier shipments. We add a small amount to cover the extra costs for these.

We place a high priority on the proper packaging of our customer's orders. More than most people know. Adequate padding, poly bagging, heavier cardboard, strong sealing tape, and most importantly...thought given to the actual packing with its trip to you in mind. Sometimes, this also means choosing UPS over USPS because of what is in your order.

So, at least as far as we are concerned, there are many factors that go into the shipment of your order. The shipping costs HAVE crept up, but we still care about your actual order and your transportation cost....whether local or around the world.

Mac VanPelt
VANPELT SALES LLC
P.O. Box 327
Batavia, Ohio. 45103
(800) 299-7496
www.vanpeltsales.com
 
We ship both UPS and USPS. We like to use US Mail when we can. Our main issue with the post office is when a package is lost or damaged. Even though they issue a tracking number, if the package is lost the claim pocess is terrible. It can take over a month to settle a claim on an insured package. All the while we have an unhappy customer because of the time involved. UPS settles claims quickly and the replacement order can be sent out sooner. It doesn't happen very often but it does happen. On packages of any value, it costs more to ship UPS but delivery time is guaranteed and claims are handled quickly if anything happens.

We often "catch it" either way. Customers are unhappy about slow US Mail delivery or unhappy about high UPS cost. We try to ask the customer on orders that can go either way. We battle the shipping cost issue on incoming orders as well.

Most companies have policies due to past experience. Good or bad. We do shipping cost on an order by order basis. The downside of that is we can't give a customer an accurate shipping price at the time of the order. We have to box it up, put it on the scale, and put in the address. If we had to do a generic "shipping formula" we would have to do it in a way that covers us on cost on all orders. That would mean that some customers would greatly overpay. We are small enough to take the time to figure freight on each order based on size, value, and weight. Some of the larger manufacturers can afford to lose money on shipping because they are making many times over their money on the part. The rest of us are working with a much smaller profit margin.

Thanks, Paul
Midwest Early Ford
 
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