Aircraft Spruce Rant

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 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.