Unreliable Car - part of teh cahrm, uneliable Parts Supplier?

[garyfbne]

Arese Spares - a favourite of some here  -   but for whatever reason my experience has been terrible.

The hard facts: 

4 March Inquired about parts
6 March  - paid for parts on Paypal
Nothing arrived within a week.  Vlad advised that shipment sent in 2 separate parcels but that both were returned by Australia Post.  Won't give me tracking number and no card was received.
ASIDE:   Gave up on buying from him one extra item I later discovered I need and paid extra $200 as Vehicle off road   That part arrived in 24 hours from another supplier.
Arese  Parcel resent and arrived after 2 weeks   -   but missing 2 of 4 items ordered

He wrote on Friday 22 March at 9:49 pm he would "send these Monday"     But parts were actually sent Wednesday 27th 3:40 pm.   That is, the parts ordered and paid for on 6th March will now probably arrive 3 April.

The bottom line ?  His final response this afternoon   "please don't email us again as your attitude is unwelcome.

He seemed a nice guy.    Very helpful.   But the bottom line is that reliability in business is more important than anything else.   


Im sure some of you will rise to his defence.    I'm relaying the facts above in the interest of helping others.   My next posts will be  asking for advice  ..

[colcol]

Thank you Gary for your comments on this situation, it is always good to know how the Alfa Romeo Service and Spare parts providers are going, these days you have to provide good service or you go out of business, as there is always someone else willing to take your money, i have always found The Spare Place in Adelaide provides good service, use your feet and wallet to vote on bad service, Colin.

[Pat]

One for the Spares Place in Adelaide. Parts are correctly supplied and delivered by the next day business day as promised.

[Davidm1600]

Hence the reason I buy parts for my Alfas from the UK, they are cheaper, reliable in that not only do they respond properly and immediately to any questions, but are also sent and arrive literally in roughly 3-5 days.  Classic Alfa and Alfaholics for my 105s and EB Spares for my 156. 

Can't be bothered dealing with local suppliers, well except in the past also Milano Spares, who have usually been really helpful.

[colcol]

I have ordered parts from various places over the years, and you need the part ASAP, otherwise its the bus, tram and train, you end up doing the phone around to everywhere to get the part, to get you mobile, then the part you originally ordered turns up 2 weeks later, there was a place in Melbourne who was known for this, the part would take 2 weeks to turnup, but if you paid an extra $15, he would have the couriers deliver the part to him the next day, the internet has made this practise a thing of the past, if you don't provide good service, you go broke, Colin.

[AR753.0ltr]

What car do you have and what parts did you require?
Sometimes, some parts are hard to come by as they aren't available anymore.

Most recently, I've been getting parts for my Alfa 75 from Italian Automotive Spares in Melbourne.
Really nice guys and easy to deal with, plus they have a huge range of parts in stock from early 105 stuff, right through to Giulietta & MiTo. For me it's easy, i can go pick up the parts when i need them, even bring them the old part to compare with the new one. Maybe you could give them a go in the future. Most of the time the local guys in Australia are very helpful and know the cars very well.

I'll admit, i have bought stuff from overseas in the past, but had a couple of bad experiences with stuff not packaged properly and were damaged. I didn't receive a replacement because "it wasn't cost effective to send such a small item on it's own" I was offered a store credit, but i turned it down as i wasn't going to purchase from them again as i feared future items wouldn't be packaged well either. That's why i prefer to support the local parts guys, they do it to support the Alfa community, least we could all do is support them. Last thing you want is to receive something that is for a Left hand drive car, not a Right hand drive one and then you're back at square one trying to find the part all over again.

But like others have said, if the service isn't there, places won't stay in business for long.