Partzilla - Rant

[SoCal250]

This place has been my go-to for years for OEM parts. Over the past 6-12 months they've really gone downhill in their customer service, ability to deliver on time, and meet promised dates.

On my most recent order I removed a few items that showed a long lead time because I didn't want to wait for my order. Everything in my cart showed "available in 2-3 days" to ship. The game they've been playing is that after the order is placed that 2-3 days slips continuously or changes to several weeks, or even months. I've been getting an email update from them about every other day stating that the availability date has changed. It's getting somewhat ridiculous. Two of the parts now show mid-January and mid-February! I've got a bike apart that is sitting there waiting for these items!

This isn't the first time this has happened. Nearly every order I have placed in the past year has been delivered later than promised, sometimes by weeks or even a month! One of my recent orders had this scenario occur until they finally said they could not get the part after 3-4 weeks had passed.

If you're going to show stock availability on your site you need to follow through and at least be truthful with your customers. This is no way to run a business. What they're doing is complete BS! I'm ready to take my biz elsewhere. Grrr.

OK, I feel better now. Carry on.

[m in sc]

i use their fische to locate part numbers and search on ebay. I still use them on occasion but they have burned me a few times in the same time frame. Hopefully it gets better.

[rodneya]

Agreed, they used to be great until recently. Previously I could call and they would answer right away. On my last order earlier this year they did the delay thing and when I tried to call I got a message that the lines were closed for the day at 9am due to volume of calls already in line. Thats a huge red flag to me.
I emailed to cancel the order and it miraculously shipped the next day.
We may see them going the same way as Bikebandit in the future.

Last two orders I placed were from CMS in Holland. No issues so far.

[IR8D8R]

Supply chain everywhere is a disaster. Not just behind. ...Wrecked!

I just started a new enterprise manufacturing some lab equipment developed by a friend of mine who is retiring. Online electronic component suppliers have nothing. Click on "in stock" button on their search engine and everything disappears. I can't find relatively ordinary components.

Digikey used to have everything. A couple clicks and you could get 1000's at a few cents each. Now it's 15 pieces in stock and $5ea. I need 500!

Newark, Mouser... Nothing. Maybe they dumped stuff to surplus to get it off their books like the rental car companies? But where did it all go? The landfill? FFS. I mean I understand that you have to pay taxes on inventory, but to stay in business you got to have goods to sell.

If you need something specialized like photodiodes? Lead times are 70 WEEKS! I'm about to shit myself. Orders are piling up and I can't get the simplest parts.

I feel like we all went to sleep for 2 years and when we woke up the world was switched off. They are only switching the stuff back on that's the most in demand. Small market supplies may never come back.

IR8D8R

[Striker1423]

Call me a millennial-turned-boomer here, but I think a huge issue is staff shortages at shit jobs like warehouses. I've worked in warehouses, factories, retail, fast food, etc. IT SUCKS. Now that people are taking a step back and evaluating what they can no longer afford for a dollar, they're quitting shit jobs with low pay, instead opting for slightly less shit jobs with better pay. I mean, FFS, McDonald's no longer has a dollar menu... instead they advertise the VALUE menu, where basically nothing but air is a dollar anymore.

As long as the economy is in the yet-to-be-determined-by-Jerome-Powell-not-actually-a-recession recession, then we get what we get.

[Vintagetz]

They are experiencing the same thing you are.... MFG/Vendor shows stock, the whole chain is late...   We just need electric semi's and cars, it will fix everything.

Working has costs to - from etc. when not working pays anywhere near the same net (income - expenses) and you can have a side hustle for some cash... Why work?

[dgorms]

OOOH! Don't get me going on commercial construction. It's pitiful. One of our biggest (and smartest) customers ordered roof top HVAC units last year for a project due to start mid 2023. They have them in storage. On another job the electricians are waiting on panels, 12 to16 weeks out.

[1976RD400C]

I went through that with Partzilla. Everything was supposed to ship in 2-3 days. Then they didn't have one part so they were holding the order until that came, I think at least 2 weeks. I called and they wanted to ship what they had that day and I said, no, give me full refund. They did a full refund and haven't ordered anything since.

[m in sc]

in what i do, there are lots of supply chain issues that are being sorted out, and the 'better run' manufacturers are coming out ahead and surviving. we saw this back on 08-09 as well. the rest are being acquired or shutting down.

There are some in the industry im in i will miss dealing with, but the 'new' guys we are dealing with can actually get shit done. just a transitionary period is all. 

[IR8D8R]

I just received a small vial of iodoplatinate solution for thin-layer chromatography (10mL). It came in a small box inside a huge box with a hazard placard and MSDS for hydrochloric acid. The attending paperwork still listed iodoplatinate. WTF. Of course there is a surcharge paid for shipping hazmat...

Somebody had to read the vial and do the hazmat shipping protocol. The two items aren't remotely the same. Iodoplatinate is not hazardous. It is expensive. Maybe they were illiterate? This came from Sigma Aldrich which is a big chemical supplier.

I think maybe the "big warehouse" business plan encourages people to not give a sh*t about what they're doing. Garbage in garbage out.

IR8D8R

[SoCal250]

I contacted Partzilla via their online customer service link yesterday regarding my order. I left instructions to ship the items currently in stock and ship the remaining two out-of-stock parts at a later date since they are not due for another 6wks and 10wks.

I also replied to their last order status email and requested they ship the in stock parts now. No response yet to either message.

[SoCal250]

I actually got a response from CS this morning. They said to ship the in-stock items now and the pending items later would result in a "split order fee" of $7.95. Pfft WTH?  There's no way I'm waiting nearly 3 months to get my order when 17 of the 19 items are currently in stock and I've already waited 3 weeks!
The solution was to cancel the two items that are delayed and ship the rest of the order that is now in stock. Time to start investigating other OEM parts sources.


Side story:
I usually try to give local stores/shops my business when possible, especially for bike parts. However the way things have changed in the marketplace in recent years there aren't many brick and mortar motorcycle dealers left here any more. So the other day I needed a few Mikuni main jets (and I don't want pattern parts or counterfeits) so I ventured over to the local Honda store. (The local Yamaha store closed up about 5 years ago.)
I told the parts guy what I needed and after about 5 minutes of digging around in the back room he came back to the counter with two large trays of Mikuni jets. They hardly had any jets in any of the little divided sections. I needed 3 different sizes of 4/042 large hex and they had none of them. How does a motorcycle store not have any jets in stock? I find it hard to believe that everyone has moved on from carburetors especially since there is such a huge dirt bike/MX crowd in the area. Fortunately I have access to Sudco about 15 miles away so I had to make a trip over there and get what I needed.

[pidjones]

Sorry, no sympathy for local parts access for someone in Orange County, CA from me in East Tennessee. We can get lubricants and gasket sealants, but that's about all that they stock near me.

[SoCal250]

They cancelled the two out of stock line items and shipped the rest today. Finally!

Funny thing is that if you look up the parts they cancelled because they can't get them until mid February. It shows this status for both on their parts search: "Ships in 2 to 3 days"