Watch Out for Garage Equipment Supply

[Cairo94507]

So, back in 2011 I purchased a 4 post BendPak lift from Garage Equipment Supply in Moorpark, CA and their service was perfect. I sold that house, bought another and needed a lift for that garage as well as my brother's garage. This time I wanted a mid-rise, in-ground, scissor lift, flush mount.

On October 27, 2017, I called Garage Equipment Supply and spoke with Sarah in sales. Explained my last purchase went well and that's why I returned to them. She looked up and confirmed my last sale.

Sarah and I talked about the lift and she said, "We only have 4 in stock". I asked her to please go make sure they actually had them in stock as I was planning the lifts to arrive to coordinate with the garage remodel so they would not be sitting around in the way. I also told her we would be breaking out and framing concrete for the lifts and wanted too actually have the lifts on-site before we did that to confirm measurements, etc. Sarah placed me on hold and 5 minutes later said, "Yes, we have 4 of those sitting in our warehouse, I just looked at them." I purchased two of them and gave Sarah my credit card which she immediately charged for the full amount.

I told her I expected to call to schedule delivery during the 2nd week of November. Sarah said, "No problem. The lifts are yours now. Just call and we will have them delivered, allow 5-7 days for delivery."

On November 8, 2017, about 2 weeks after I purchased the lifts, I called Garage Equipment Supply to schedule delivery. I asked for Sarah and was told she was on maternity leave. I spoke with Quinn and told him I would like to have my 2 lifts delivered. Quinn told me they had no lifts at all, carried no inventory at all, all BendPak lifts were drop shipped direct from BendPak and that BendPak had stopped making that particular lift and were going to be releasing a new improved model after the first of the year, with nothing more specific as to expected availability.

I explained my conversation with Sarah to Quinn and asked him to call Sarah and see what the heck was going on. He told me due to her being on leave, they could not call her. I explained that I was upset at this development, but not at him. I said it appeared that Sarah had lied about the whole inventory, in stock, sold, sitting here waiting for your delivery date, etc. Quinn said he could not comment on that as he was not a party to that conversation. Quinn was as helpful as he could be and I have no issues with him.

I asked Quinn to credit my CC for the full amount of the lifts. I was told only their manager could do that and he was presently flying around the country and was due back next week. I asked to have the manager call me but never heard from him.

I called on 11/9 and informed Quinn I had not heard from the manager, Tyler Schneider, and asked them to process the credit that day. He said they would take care of it.

On 11/10, after not receiving the credit or hearing from Tyler Schneider, I again called Garage Equipment Supply and asked them to process the credit that morning. At the end of the day I checked my CC statement and no credit was posted and I had still not heard from Tyler. I called my CC company and filed a dispute to the charge Garage Equipment Supply had placed on my card back on October 27, 2017 for the full amount of the lifts, including delivery.

I subsequently purchased a lift directly from BendPak who confirmed they were doing a model revision, but had 1 lift left in the specs I wanted. My brother will end up getting the revised lift as soon as they are available. As my garage remodel is underway, I was not willing to stop the job and put it on hold for several months to await the new model. A lift is a lift.

I am upset Sarah at Garage Equipment Supply lied to me about their "stock". All she had to do was tell me the truth and I would have had the 2 lifts scheduled for delivery on the 10/27 purchase date, once I knew they were drop shipped and are not actually safely stored awaiting delivery at Garage Equipment Supply.

I will never do business with Garage Equipment Supply again. Aside from lying to me about the lift, they failed to post the credit to my account which should have been done immediately after they were unable to deliver 2 lifts.

Just wanted to alert everyone to their, IMHO, rather shady business practices.

 

[yeldogt]

The common "reseller" marketplace is often a frustrating minefield. Many of the people selling have no direct knowledge of the products and hide the fact that they are really siting at a desk in the suburbs.

 

[PT Doc]

That is terrible service. I wonder if she had some skin in the sale and blew smoke at you just to seal the deal.

 

[Jinks]

Cudo's for posting here! While people in general are polite & reserved about publishing the names of people & companies that lie & cheat, they need to be exposed. More bad publicity of this type will either change company policy or put them out of business. Either is a benefit for honest customers.

 

[LS6 Tommy]

I wonder if she had some skin in the sale and blew smoke at you just to seal the deal.

She's in the SALES Department. Obviously there is a commission involved...

Tommy

 

[PT Doc]

She's in the SALES Department. Obviously there is a commission involved...

Tommy

Not necessarily. She could be an hourly employee.

 

[LS6 Tommy]

Not necessarily. She could be an hourly employee.

In the SALES department.

Salary/Hourly Wage + Commission is pretty much the industry standard...

Tommy

 

[Pathfinders]

Wow, thanks for the heads up. Will not use them for the up coming build.

 

[yeldogt]

Wow, thanks for the heads up. Will not use them for the up coming build.

The funny thing is many of these places have multi names -- across different industries. Same with the web sites.

I went through this with my recent generator purchase -- some actually have warehouses w/product -- others only drop ship. Knowledge is all over the place.

When they say "in stock" they are using data imported from the manufacturer.

It's especially complex with auto parts.

 

[Cairo94507]

Thanks guys. I was careful to factually post what happened w/o personal opinion, except where appropriate.

 

[6768rogues]

Sarah was probably sitting in the cubicle next to Quinn when you called.

 

[ezover]

The funny thing is many of these places have multi names -- across different industries. Same with the web sites.

I went through this with my recent generator purchase -- some actually have warehouses w/product -- others only drop ship. Knowledge is all over the place.

When they say "in stock" they are using data imported from the manufacturer.

It's especially complex with auto parts.

with some ebay/amazon sellers and a lot of other online sellers, drop ship is their business model. they never see the product, they just process the sale and take a cut.

not a bad gig, list a lot of items for sale with a small mark up, when a order is placed send the shipping info and pay with money you already received.

 

[yeldogt]

with some ebay/amazon sellers and a lot of other online sellers, drop ship is their business model. they never see the product, they just process the sale and take a cut.

not a bad gig, list a lot of items for sale with a small mark up, when a order is placed send the shipping info and pay with money you already received.

Basically sales agents -- it's not an issue for most items. It only a problem when you need specialized information and the seller can't provide it because they really are not schooled on what they are selling.

When I had many foreign cars in the company fleet -- I used one of the big specialized importers of german parts. They did not deal in other parts ... gradually they did. They still imported, stocked and sold german parts -- but everything else was sold by a third party.

 

[Cairo94507]

I just do not know why they aren't up front about that. Just tell me they stock nothing and everything is drop shipped direct from manufacturer. Core honesty.

 

[The Tool Tyrant]

Huh, I thought this kind of thing only happens to ME! It would have been interesting to hear her reply if you would have told her that you'd be right down to load them up!

 

[Richard Cranium]

I have to people lie to me.

 

[marinusdees]

I bought a "shower mirror" on e-bay (I shave in the shower). The payment went to some guy in Bulgaria, the mirror was shipped by Amazon.

 

[ard]

I would have done a chargeback with my credit card company the microsecond he said he couldn't process a refund right away. There is simply NO reason he could not get that credit done, none.

Quinn may be your buddy, but the fact that he could not get his company to issue a refund in an hour means THE COMPANY is a loser.

 

[PassnThru]

Not necessarily. She could be an hourly employee.

In the SALES department.

Salary/Hourly Wage + Commission is pretty much the industry standard...

Tommy

Yep - hourly just to answer the phone. At best - salary non-exempt.

 

[Todd.Brock]

In the SALES department.

Salary/Hourly Wage + Commission is pretty much the industry standard...

Tommy

Hopefully clawbacks are just as common.

 

[Todd.Brock]

GES is sometimes sniffing around GJ. I will be curious to see if/how they address thus

 

[850xpeps]

People wonder why no one wants to pay a middle man. They want money to offer no service to you. The ages are changing and the middle man won’t exist soon.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro

 

[Cairo94507]

I just hope the GES learns something from this experience. They only lost two small sales, but hopefully their actions being brought out into the light will cause a change in how they deal with consumers.

I could have done the charge-back immediately, but I wanted to give them a chance to do the right thing. After three days, they lost that opportunity too.

 

[MikeF2316]

Unfortunately, this is more the norm than the exception these days. First they make promises that they can't keep to make the sale. After the first fail, they lie and tell you what they think you want to hear. And after that fail, they don't answer the phone, and won't respond to your messages, emails and texts. So now you've lost all trust in them and they haven't even started your job or shipped your product.

 

[BDT/NWMN]

Sounds like My experience with ordering a boiler panel for floor heat.
An eBay seller listed their location as Minnesota, and they had 4 panels available.
I paid for one, then called them, as I planned to drive down and pick it up.
I ended up talking to a fast talker in Illinois who tried to sell Me a different boiler and panel; as the boiler for the panel I has purchased was on back order from the factory in Germany.

Three months would be the earliest I would have seen one of those "4 panels available".
I didn't waste any time requesting a paypal refund.

 

[phor53]

Good to know

 

[6PTsocket]

I followed every detail of your dealings but did not see where you finally got your money credited back; only that you filed a claim with your credit card company. Maybe I missed it. I think we have all had similar experiences but I never had that kind of big bucks out there. I hope it ended well.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

 

[coljar]

I've never understood this tactic especially since I've been in business. It's harder being dishonest than it is honest because you don't know what lie you told this person and what lie you told that person. The truth is so much easier to keep track of and your customers appreciate you being straight with them.

 

[bushmechanic]

People wonder why no one wants to pay a middle man. They want money to offer no service to you. The ages are changing and the middle man won’t exist soon.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro

Middle men make the world go round.

You pay them whether you like it or not, regardless of the industry you occupy.

They aren't just drop shippers, but even those are important.

 

[langss]

I 2016 I discovered that the ducting for a Portable Air Conditioner had deteriorated. I found replacement ducting at a reasonable price at https://partstore.encompass.com/which is actually(Best Buy). The ducts arrived as promised, but I never used them because I managed to trim the old one and move the air conditioner enough to make it work, but now I had spares. Fast forward to this year. I break out the new duct and I find out that its considerably "Shorter" than the original, but what are you going to do. I also notice that the screen in the discharge vent had deteriorated so I go back online and the Parts Store still has them in stock. Its a Kit that also comes with a replacement length of duct(win win)so I also order another duct(just in case)all are in stock. So about two weeks later the Kit arrives and no additional duct as expected. I check and the web site says "In Process". A week later I get an email that the duct is back ordered,and would be shipped within two weeks. Two weeks later I get an email that my order has been canceled. I call to find out whats going on, and I'm told that if an item is on back order to long they automatically cancel it, However its back in stock so I can reorder it. I check and of course it is, for over $10 more than before plus now I would also have to pay for shipping. Beware of doing business with the Parts Store.com.

 

[atthebeach]

When I bought my lift a couple of years ago, I dealt with Quinn. Everything happened as promised and I walked away from the experience pretty happy. Guess I was lucky that I didn't have any contact with a Sarah or a Tyler Schneider.

 

[brownbagg]

all these different vendors are properly in the same building, same floor, just different cubical, outside the bendpak factory gates in china

 

[tonyciambrone]

In the SALES department.

Salary/Hourly Wage + Commission is pretty much the industry standard...

Tommy

Pretty sure we all understand the word "sales"...

Could be salaried, too. Not everyone is paid commission, especially in inside "sales"

 

[mikeceli]

I don't even believe shes on Maternity Leave. Write your CC and request a charge back, there gonna jerk you around a while .

 

[Cairo94507]

I have no doubt that Chase will resolve this in my favor. I never got, because GES didn't have, any lifts. I received nothing so they will receive nothing in the end. Chase is very good when dealing with these situations. I am a 100% satisfied customer with Chase's customer service.

 

[finn]

In my opinion, it would be highly unusual for the vendor in question to actually stock an item like a vehicle lift in their own warehouse. The market for these relatively big ticket, speciized items is quite competitive, and it would make no sense for a retailer to incur the warehousing and inventory holding cost, let alone the redundant handling costs, none of which the retail customer is willing to absorb.

Electronic inventory links let the retailer identify exactly how many and in what location the supplier has in stock.

Thinking that the retailer actually keeps a thousand pound chunk of iron in the back room is sort of oblivious to changes brought about by computers and the Internet in the past couple of decades.

In my case, I ordered my Bendpack from Summit racing. The sales person put me on hold so he could check stock. It was obvious to me that he was checking the Bendpack site, and put an e order hold on a unit while we were talking.

This same process has occurred wn smaller purchases from other vendors, on multiple occasions.

In fact, that’s how the local suppliers work on almost anything.

I’m looking for a gas tank for a truck. Three different, local vendors went to their computers and each checked inventory. They all went to the same two or three manufacturers web site to determine inventory, with the same results.

As for the maternity leave, those of you suggesting she wasn’t even pregnant.... get a life. You have absolutely no basis for that speculation. It’s fake news conspiracy theory exemplified.

 

[Garett]

I think it's best bendpak drop ships. Less chance for damage, they include shipping in their cost, you wind up with the latest model.

It's also much easier for the retailer.

 

[tdott]

Thanks for the heads up.

Definitely can't deal with those straight up lies and then not taking responsibility to make it right when they are alerted about your disappointment and inconvenience, they clearly don't value you as a customer.

 

[finn]

There’s lies and there’s misinterpretation and hearing what you want to hear.

There’s also jumping on the bandwagon based by an unsubstantiated internet rant.

I take these one off rants with a grain of salt until I hear both sides, or the complaint has substantial evidence of validity or corroboration.

Until that, I remain neutral.

It takes two to communicate.

 

[ard]

There’s lies and there’s misinterpretation and hearing what you want to hear.

There’s also jumping on the bandwagon based by an unsubstantiated internet rant.

I take these one off rants with a grain of salt until I hear both sides, or the complaint has substantial evidence of validity or corroboration.

Until that, I remain neutral.

It takes two to communicate.

Nevermind