Redfox
Member Since: 07 Jan 2024
Location: Copenhagen
Posts: 145
 
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I agree. There seems to be a plethora of business on the side, exactly because of lack of stock.
The following is the experience seen from the perspective of a Land Rover owner (me) not residing in the UK. It's not a complaint, not by any means, but an honest description:
So, if I need a part for my Land Rover, I can either order online from a UK dealership (or independent), as I've tried and was cheated as explained earlier. And they will claim it's in stock. Well, it's not in stock at their warehouse, because it's diminished for years, but in stock at someone else's warehouse.
And if they send me the wrong parts, it's a hassle, to say the least.
Actually, I've now shipped parts to other Land Rover owners abroad, paying the postage myself, just so that the parts would be in good use, rather than being thrown away, because return postage is so expensive, so the dealership abroad says I can keep it. Or they ignore my message to them about sending wrong parts, only answering other questions. Hmm, it's not easy to be a young girl drinking coffee, no delete that, so drinking latte, doing her nails, while being a keyboard jockey all at the same time, making sure customers get the right stuff. That keyboard is so much in the way of her nails, and those sticky labels for the packages. I understand that. Honestly.
And the response time. 3-7 days if lucky. Which in most cases often leads to another series of questions from them to confirm, which is another week or more. The message: "sorry, Ms. xxxxxx is out of office at the mo, but she will be happy to be getting back to you as soon as possible, so please leave a message; thank you for calling" in a voice tone that is clearly telling you off, displaying she thinks she is vastly superior to the customer, is the answer I get most times. Her being happy, is hardly the word.
Or I can order online from an independent only. Same story. Small family run businesses, that is very fragile if a pound or two get's wrong. At least that's what they tell me, when I ask what's happening. Then parts are not in stock, and I have to wait anyway. And the answer is still the young lady, note: lady, who is out of office, but her brother in law is very talkative: "sorry mate, you'd have to talk to Ms. xxxxxx or John (there's always sone one called John in any company in the UK), but he's busy, Cheers mate!", all while you can clearly hear some one is working on a Land Rover in the background, using a sledgehammer as a delicate tool for removing a small door card plastic clip.
And I've found that many times, they don't write if a part is original Land Rover, or an aftermarket part from another company, not making original Land Rover parts. I have already met a few accounts of non-original parts being so badly made, that they were not fit for purpose. I returned them or threw them out, then went to a local official dealership, and got the right stuff. Official dealership includes both Land Rover and Volvo, in the case of our Freelander 2, SE i6. Prices were about the same, or in one instance - the filter for the Haldex - even a bit cheaper. And in stock or same say delivery.
Add to that, the difference in quality, which is obvious sometimes and sometimes not.
Or, do I want to support a regime in east asia when ordering and paying parts? And which is a hit or miss?
Or do I want to support unfair trading business, as an east asian country's government is supporting a practice where goods can be sent free of postage, because said east asian country still upholds a status as a third world country, despite being called a tiger economy for a consecutive 25 years, therefore clearly in dire need of special arrangements which can help said country develop it's economics? (supported by the international postage organisations).
And do I want this to happen, all while American and European workers are being sacked and cut down?
Or I can order the parts from a local official Land Rover dealership close to me, and enjoy knowledge about parts, free delivery if not in stock, and a very good discount every single time. They really go out of their way to help, despite having the well known rearrangement of all parts in the UK warehouse still going on for the third year in a row.
If I order from the official dealership locally, if they don't have it in stock, which is most often the case, I get an sms to pick it up, and I can just bicycle 5 kilometers each way, and get the parts. The only problem is, that they are now so friendly, that we are on first names, and know when each of us have a holiday.
And if I order from an official dealership abroad, or an independent, also abroad, then there's a lot of hassle with long waiting times, expediting the goods more, and parts going wrong. And every time, I have to take hours free from my job, to call here and there and everywhere, to try to sort it out. Then comes the taxmen and says: "well, we want our share of the cake, even if it was a wrong delivered part". More fees, more handling, more waiting time.
Willy nilly, this is the modern way of doing business, and in times of a crisis, this network breaks down and nothing is being delivered.
And in good times, the abundance of diesel powered trucks driving around the clock around the world is huge, as well as packages being taxed heavily from outside the ec, and handling fees and what not, so I end up paying relatively much for something that seemed cheap from abroad, and my money ends up not in the hands of a worker for Land Rover, but a huge number of middlemen ceo's filling their pockets, not the truck driver on the highway.
In the end, parts may often, surely not always, be about the same price as if I had ordered original parts from a local official dealership. In fact the local official dealership spare parts service people, are often telling me, if this or that can be had differently, alternatively or otherwise handled.
I'd say it's a balancing act.
Just sayin'.
Kind regards
Redfox
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15th Oct 2024 8:47 am
