Aircraft Spruce Rant

Just finished two orders to Aircraft Spruce and the first was almost
delivered while I was still on the phone. Literally the order was placed
one day and I received it the next before noon. Normally only McMaster-Carr
provides that kind of speedy service. I have shopped several times trying
to beat Spruce prices and found their prices to be as good or better than
others.

--
Stuart Fields
Experimental Helo magazine
P. O. Box 1585
Inyokern, CA 93527
(760) 377-4478
(760) 408-9747 general and layout cell
(760) 608-1299 technical and advertising cell

www.vkss.com
www.experimentalhelo.com


"David Melby Cavalier" wrote in message
oups.com...

Doug Palmer wrote:
I have now been working on my project almost ten years and generally
Aircraft Spruce and Specialty has been the benefactor. Their website
now
states that orders placed before 3:00 PM will ship the same day. This
is
bull****. I ordered two gallons of UV smooth prime on Saturday and for
some
reason they have not managed to put two gallons of paint into a box and
get
it out and it is tuesday. I called them to ask when it would ship, and
I
get attitude and an exasperated it should go out today sir.

Dealing with the spruce crowd has been a roller coaster ride. At times
they
shine, then they will simply act like a third rate mail order house.
Most
companies after you have spent 40-60K with them would give you some sort
of
customer service and recognition as a return customer, not these guys,
hell,
they seem to go out of the way to tick you off.

I'll be done soon, and not dealing with Spruce will be nice. I already
went
with Gulf Coast Avionics for my radios as they had good phone support
and
good prices - I highly reccommend. I bought my Wheels and several other
larger cost items through Wicks, again better prices. And I must say, I
enjoy calling the folks at Wicks for stuff. Their people are friendly
and
there is a family feel on the phone. Unfortunately being a northern
California builder I often go with Spruce because once they fill the
order
it only takes two days to get here UPS ground.

I guess the point of ths rant is to encourage builders to go with some
of
the other good guys. The folks that have treated me right include
Wicks,
B&C Specialty, Gulf Coast Avionics, RST, SKyGeek, Vans, Airparts Inc,
Mezimer (MAC), Grove Aircraft, Aero Parts and Supply, Sacramento Sky
Ranch.
I'm sure there are others but I just cannot think of them now.

BTW the project is halfway through being painted, some photos can be
seen at
http://www.whitealbatross.com/Webplane/index.htm

Thanks for listening!

Doug

I find this hard to believe. I have been buying from Spruce for years
and years and have found thier service to be the best. Never a
problem. When I have called them about something, they have been very
helpful. Not the case with Wicks.

I have never had that good of a response from Aircraft Spruce but on
many occasions I have accused McMaster-Carr of reading my mind and
shipping before I ordered. Hell, they once even told me they were out
of stock on an item that would take a week to get and I still received
it in two days instead of the next day. Most orders from McMaster-Carr
have been received within 24 hours and those which were not were within
48 hours. I love dealing with those people.



Stuart & Kathryn Fields wrote:
Just finished two orders to Aircraft Spruce and the first was almost
delivered while I was still on the phone. Literally the order was placed
one day and I received it the next before noon. Normally only McMaster-Carr
provides that kind of speedy service. I have shopped several times trying
to beat Spruce prices and found their prices to be as good or better than
others.

--
Stuart Fields
Experimental Helo magazine
P. O. Box 1585
Inyokern, CA 93527
(760) 377-4478
(760) 408-9747 general and layout cell
(760) 608-1299 technical and advertising cell

www.vkss.com
www.experimentalhelo.com


"David Melby Cavalier" wrote in message
oups.com...

Doug Palmer wrote:
I have now been working on my project almost ten years and generally
Aircraft Spruce and Specialty has been the benefactor. Their website
now
states that orders placed before 3:00 PM will ship the same day. This
is
bull****. I ordered two gallons of UV smooth prime on Saturday and for
some
reason they have not managed to put two gallons of paint into a box and
get
it out and it is tuesday. I called them to ask when it would ship, and
I
get attitude and an exasperated it should go out today sir.

Dealing with the spruce crowd has been a roller coaster ride. At times
they
shine, then they will simply act like a third rate mail order house.
Most
companies after you have spent 40-60K with them would give you some sort
of
customer service and recognition as a return customer, not these guys,
hell,
they seem to go out of the way to tick you off.

I'll be done soon, and not dealing with Spruce will be nice. I already
went
with Gulf Coast Avionics for my radios as they had good phone support
and
good prices - I highly reccommend. I bought my Wheels and several other
larger cost items through Wicks, again better prices. And I must say, I
enjoy calling the folks at Wicks for stuff. Their people are friendly
and
there is a family feel on the phone. Unfortunately being a northern
California builder I often go with Spruce because once they fill the
order
it only takes two days to get here UPS ground.

I guess the point of ths rant is to encourage builders to go with some
of
the other good guys. The folks that have treated me right include
Wicks,
B&C Specialty, Gulf Coast Avionics, RST, SKyGeek, Vans, Airparts Inc,
Mezimer (MAC), Grove Aircraft, Aero Parts and Supply, Sacramento Sky
Ranch.
I'm sure there are others but I just cannot think of them now.

BTW the project is halfway through being painted, some photos can be
seen at
http://www.whitealbatross.com/Webplane/index.htm

Thanks for listening!

Doug

I find this hard to believe. I have been buying from Spruce for years
and years and have found thier service to be the best. Never a
problem. When I have called them about something, they have been very
helpful. Not the case with Wicks.

I think the magic word is "Saturday"

We arrived at ACS yesterday-- Saturday to pick up our FAXED order and
nothing but blink stares-- deer in the headlight looks.

So we'll pick it up tomorrow-- Monday.

I seem to recall having had problems picking up FAXED WILL CALL orders
on Saturday; in the past four years of building and completing the
RV-7A.

So, get the magic FAX number for Saturdays or expect to NOT have your 28
item order ready.

my minor gripes are long phone waits (long distance, cell) most days
after 1:00pm pst, high prices, published price plus 10% and "the
customer always made the mistake in ordering attitude."

The guys at the counter over the years have really been helpful though.
EXCELLENT-- But Gawd I hate hearing the horn. BEEEEEEP

FWiW

The folks at Aircraft Spruce have remedied my frustrations with the service
I received. They have, in general, gone above and beyond to apologize, they
have picked up the tab on the shipping, and made it a point to develop a
personal relationship with me so I know who to contact directly should I
ever have a problem in the future.
Thanks, Doug

Are you sure you shouldn't be appolgizing to them? After all, you
ordered on a saturday expecting a shipping company to work on sunday.
Frankly I would have told you to stick it. A lot of americans died
getting the right not to work on sundays and you want to blow that away
because you could think ahead of time. Maybe you need to go to work on
sundays just because I want you to.
Lou

Doug Palmer's message

Doug let the group know about his dissatisfaction with the delay in
shipping on his recent order, and I wanted to let everyone know that we
have apologized to Doug for the order shipping Tuesday instead of
Monday (order placed Saturday), and refunded the freight cost due to
the delay. We do ship about 98% of orders the same day they are placed,
but his order got hung up in the warehouse late in the day. Doug sent
me a very nice e-mail and he seems to be back on board with Aircraft
Spruce as a supplier.

I reviewed the responses to Doug's posting, and appreciate the response
with both positive and negative feedback on Aircraft Spruce. If anyone
has any particular issue or problem relating to dealing with our
company, please let us know. We do work hard to provide the best
quality possible, but if there is something we need to resolve, we want
to do so. Thanks again for your comments.

Jim Irwin
Aircraft Spruce


Stuart & Kathryn Fields wrote:
Just finished two orders to Aircraft Spruce and the first was almost
delivered while I was still on the phone. Literally the order was placed
one day and I received it the next before noon. Normally only McMaster-Carr
provides that kind of speedy service. I have shopped several times trying
to beat Spruce prices and found their prices to be as good or better than
others.

--
Stuart Fields
Experimental Helo magazine
P. O. Box 1585
Inyokern, CA 93527
(760) 377-4478
(760) 408-9747 general and layout cell
(760) 608-1299 technical and advertising cell

www.vkss.com
www.experimentalhelo.com


"David Melby Cavalier" wrote in message
oups.com...

Doug Palmer wrote:
I have now been working on my project almost ten years and generally
Aircraft Spruce and Specialty has been the benefactor. Their website
now
states that orders placed before 3:00 PM will ship the same day. This
is
bull****. I ordered two gallons of UV smooth prime on Saturday and for
some
reason they have not managed to put two gallons of paint into a box and
get
it out and it is tuesday. I called them to ask when it would ship, and
I
get attitude and an exasperated it should go out today sir.

Dealing with the spruce crowd has been a roller coaster ride. At times
they
shine, then they will simply act like a third rate mail order house.
Most
companies after you have spent 40-60K with them would give you some sort
of
customer service and recognition as a return customer, not these guys,
hell,
they seem to go out of the way to tick you off.

I'll be done soon, and not dealing with Spruce will be nice. I already
went
with Gulf Coast Avionics for my radios as they had good phone support
and
good prices - I highly reccommend. I bought my Wheels and several other
larger cost items through Wicks, again better prices. And I must say, I
enjoy calling the folks at Wicks for stuff. Their people are friendly
and
there is a family feel on the phone. Unfortunately being a northern
California builder I often go with Spruce because once they fill the
order
it only takes two days to get here UPS ground.

I guess the point of ths rant is to encourage builders to go with some
of
the other good guys. The folks that have treated me right include
Wicks,
B&C Specialty, Gulf Coast Avionics, RST, SKyGeek, Vans, Airparts Inc,
Mezimer (MAC), Grove Aircraft, Aero Parts and Supply, Sacramento Sky
Ranch.
I'm sure there are others but I just cannot think of them now.

BTW the project is halfway through being painted, some photos can be
seen at
http://www.whitealbatross.com/Webplane/index.htm

Thanks for listening!

Doug

I find this hard to believe. I have been buying from Spruce for years
and years and have found thier service to be the best. Never a
problem. When I have called them about something, they have been very
helpful. Not the case with Wicks.

BobR wrote:
I have never had that good of a response from Aircraft Spruce but on
many occasions I have accused McMaster-Carr of reading my mind and
shipping before I ordered. Hell, they once even told me they were out
of stock on an item that would take a week to get and I still received
it in two days instead of the next day. Most orders from McMaster-Carr
have been received within 24 hours and those which were not were within
48 hours. I love dealing with those people.


I was beginning to think it was just me. I routinely get the e-mail
from McMaster telling me they had shipped the day after I have already
received the shipment. I frequently order around 1 am and the shipment
arrives the next day.

As for ASS I have no complaints about their customer support. They
have always been pleasant and informative with me.

Dan, U.S. Air Force, retired

Doug we are having your aircar fitted with the new engine we are currentley over from Australia and staying in Carmel for the week we are keen to touch base if your available
Regards
Adam

On Monday, July 16, 2018 at 7:20:20 AM UTC-7, wrote:
Doug we are having your aircar fitted with the new engine we are currentley over from Australia and staying in Carmel for the week we are keen to touch base if your available
Regards
Adam

Please call me (4San Francisco 1area 5code) + 336-8081

On Tuesday, November 7, 2006 at 7:15:42 AM UTC-8, Doug Palmer wrote:
I have now been working on my project almost ten years and generally
Aircraft Spruce and Specialty has been the benefactor. Their website now
states that orders placed before 3:00 PM will ship the same day. This is
bull****. I ordered two gallons of UV smooth prime on Saturday and for some
reason they have not managed to put two gallons of paint into a box and get
it out and it is tuesday. I called them to ask when it would ship, and I
get attitude and an exasperated it should go out today sir.

Dealing with the spruce crowd has been a roller coaster ride. At times they
shine, then they will simply act like a third rate mail order house. Most
companies after you have spent 40-60K with them would give you some sort of
customer service and recognition as a return customer, not these guys, hell,
they seem to go out of the way to tick you off.

I'll be done soon, and not dealing with Spruce will be nice. I already went
with Gulf Coast Avionics for my radios as they had good phone support and
good prices - I highly reccommend. I bought my Wheels and several other
larger cost items through Wicks, again better prices. And I must say, I
enjoy calling the folks at Wicks for stuff. Their people are friendly and
there is a family feel on the phone. Unfortunately being a northern
California builder I often go with Spruce because once they fill the order
it only takes two days to get here UPS ground.

I guess the point of ths rant is to encourage builders to go with some of
the other good guys. The folks that have treated me right include Wicks,
B&C Specialty, Gulf Coast Avionics, RST, SKyGeek, Vans, Airparts Inc,
Mezimer (MAC), Grove Aircraft, Aero Parts and Supply, Sacramento Sky Ranch.
I'm sure there are others but I just cannot think of them now.

BTW the project is halfway through being painted, some photos can be seen at
http://www.whitealbatross.com/Webplane/index.htm

Thanks for listening!

Doug

I waited nine months for a refund for a Rotax warranty issue from Spruce. I can't put the entire blame on Spruce since Rotax is absolutely the worst at supporting their customers. I spoke to Jim at Airventure 2018 and he was very professional and promised to resolve the issue. When I finally became so frustrated 3 months later I emailed Jim and had the refund that week. Jim Irwin runs a family business and he cares about his customers. Their website is second to none and I still continue to buy from them.