Uh oh. I've always had very prompt and good service with jacks. Then i started ordering from Parts Tree as their in Austin and i live north of of Houston = gets here quicker.Let's see.
Yesterday no acceptance of phone calls. And they will take three business days to reply to emails.
Doesn't look good from my end. I had place my order with Partstree.
And they used sell some small engine parts as well (fast moving stuff). Not brand name but cheaper items.Northern Tool used to be known as Northern Hydraulics. That was before they decided to change to an outlet for made in China.
Bert is halfway around the world from Austin TX.I DON'T UNDERSTAND YOUR PROBLEMS WITH PARTS TREE, I HAVE USED THEM FOR ABOUT 20 YRS NOW, MAYBE THE PROBLEM IS WITH YOURSELF NOT GIVING THEM THE RIGHT PART NUMBERS OR WRONG VIN #'S! HANG IN THERE PARTS TREE I,M 100% YOUR CUSTORMER FOR LIFE!! GREAT JOB GUY'S!
You know All caps is like Yelling. Noboby likes yelling.. Take it easy Big boy.I DON'T UNDERSTAND YOUR PROBLEMS WITH PARTS TREE, I HAVE USED THEM FOR ABOUT 20 YRS NOW, MAYBE THE PROBLEM IS WITH YOURSELF NOT GIVING THEM THE RIGHT PART NUMBERS OR WRONG VIN #'S! HANG IN THERE PARTS TREE I,M 100% YOUR CUSTORMER FOR LIFE!! GREAT JOB GUY'S!
Jacks has joined the Northern Tool + Equipment Family to grow their parts & service business both online and through NTE retail stores! The Jacks Small Engines team and brand will continue to operate and become even stronger with the support and resources of Northern Tool. |
The problem with shipping anywhere is that not every vendor can get reason rates from the freight companies. I purchase from a lot different companies here in the US and it is a challenge at times to get the overall costs down for parts. It not only companies here that wont out of the US there are places over in Europe that wont ship into the US too.Some internet vendor seem to resent the fact that there is other places on the planet than The Americas .
Parts Tree & E-Replacement parts are 2 such companies that seem to take offence that any one outside The Americas would have the offrontary to order parts from them.
OTOH Jacks were fab, even when I changed an order to reduce paying extra postage.
But most of the time it worked in their favour as I would add to the order as the more you get for the same freight , the less the freight per item becomes.
"sorry sir, we don't have that part, you'll have to go to the parts house down below us"Sorry to say don't expect anything to get better EVER!..I still try to do everything with the local guys...but that sometimes, ok lot's of times, is just not possible...Half the battle for some of these repairs is finding what you need...It would be nice to have everything you want and need at your fingertips, oh yeah and FREE....But that is probably going to be only when and if you get to the "Big parts counter in the sky"....and I can still envision a guy behind the counter, in white, with a halo and his name in script "Seraph" telling me he has to order it! ""couple weeks, maybe"'
Yep... a Decal!! 1/100 of 1ounce!Yeah, nothing like paying $25 shipping on a $3 part.
As bad as mower parts are to get right now certain electronics are much worse. My main wholesaler of equipment told me that the electronic components made in asia are holding up the supply chain and 100% recovery is not projected for another year. Some specialty chips are only run once or twice a year and if demand is not high enough they get back burnered. I have equipment on order that the mfgr has no recovery date projected.
AgreedAs we now see cars & trucks & Electrics and battery development leaping to the forefront, these parts places gouging us for years on shipping will be offering shipping free and a double digit discount for orders over $10. I don't deny anyone their fair shipping costs, but a decal which could be put in an envelope and sent for .60 cents should not cost $25 shipping. So sad, as there are still a bunch of (us) people out there with mechanical skill to fix these things.
Everything I order that goes thru or gets handed off to the Memphis USPS sits in Memphis USPS for at least a week. I’ve tracked some that sit in Memphis for a week, then travel to Jackson, MS, then return to Memphis before heading to me only 90 miles away.The problem with shipping anywhere is that not every vendor can get reason rates from the freight companies. I purchase from a lot different companies here in the US and it is a challenge at times to get the overall costs down for parts. It not only companies here that wont out of the US there are places over in Europe that wont ship into the US too.
I am dealing with an Earthquake tiller that I need some parts for. Ardisam Inc,.the distributor, doesn't even carry all the parts. Altapower.com which carries the parts I need wants over $25 to ship $50 in parts but offers to ship for free if I order over $99 in parts. If I actually could use the extra parts I would order them. I have manage to get most of the order down to where I pay more for the parts but with lower shipping cost I am saving nearly $20 by going through Amazon.
Doesn't make much sense other than they are having the customers with small orders to make up for the larger free ship orders. I have a vendor that has switch to a $200 free ship level but they charge retail UPS rates for anything under that so I need to compile my orders and even order a cheap item just to throw away to meet that level. I imagine they are a little piss that I place orders like $200.02 just to get the free shipping when the same order at $195 without the throwaway item costed me $46 in shipping charges. I currently got an order in with them that they have done multiple shipments of items. The current shipping charges are at $39 and they still got one item to ship. When everything get shipped they will then wrote-off all those shipping charges.
On top of that dealing with the USPS lately is a real pain. I currently got an inbound Priority Mail package. It should take no more three mail days from anywhere. But are taking a nearly a week to get it here from Memphis, TN to Elora,TN. Vendor takes it to local Memphis, It sat in the PO for nearly two days before being accepted. Then shoots across the state to Chattanooga where it sits another day. and it won't get here until Tuesday; maybe. Next time they won't the package as I have it sent via UPS which takes only two days to get it here. Normally before DeJoy got in it took only two days for same USPS delivery. He just making things worst as I couldn't even get a roll of stamps from my local PO even after Postmaster said I have them for you two days later just come in and pick them up.
I like the looks of that little K&T Saw Shop ! Thanks for the tip, Two-Stroke !;-)Sorry to hear about this merger but that seems to be the way things are going (consolidation).
My favorite source for small engine parts is mymowerparts.com (AKA K&T Saw shop). Sorry Bert, they don't ship beyond the lower 48 states.
I also look for hard to find parts on eBay.
I like the looks of that little K&T Saw Shop ! Thanks for the tip, Two-Stroke !;-)
. . *stepping up on soapbox * . .
My last order from Jack's - was last summer 2020 - when I ordered a JD air filter base + some other misc parts. As had previously always been the case, the prices were very reasonable, as were the shipping charges. Their phone & email customer service were both fantastic. The items were dispatched promptly and arrived right away in just a few days.
But ten months on, after JSE sold-out to NorthernTools in April, when I tried to place an order earlier this summer, the so-called NorthernTools/JacksSmallEngines customer service was non-existent;
1) They never answer their so-called customer service phonelines anymore.
2) They plaster prompts all over their website to 'contact' them via their website 'message' form - if you have a parts related question &c; which I did, twice, with a very simple little question (e.g. did they have/stock a fuel shutoff solenoid for our Kohler w/Walbro carb #xxxxxx ?). But zero response both times !! =( Not a word; zip, zippo, zilch, nada, nix, nil, nothing! That was 3 months ago.
3) Rang them again; it rang forever; still no answer !
4) Another e.g. - They raised the price on their JD/Kohler replacement carb kit - over $50 more than it was last year ! Same exact carb kit; manuf in USA; probably old stock. As if, Hey, every manufacturer, transporter/shipper, and supplier in north america is price-gouging the general public in the neighborhood of 25~35%+ (900% for OSB !:-{ )... so we, NorthernTools/JacksSmallEngines might as well too ! We're an american company, right! So like all american companies, lets jump on the price-gouging, fleecing of the general public bandwagon !! ?
. . * steps down off soapbox * . .
Yeah I forgot about that. Same here. Was getting that 'checking your browser' message every time I refreshed or woke-up my notebook. And I was wondering the same thing, Checking my browser for what ?! :~\ If my browser needed checking...my Windows Security / Virus & Firewall threat protection would let me know; or our Bing/Windows Edge or Chrome or Startpage Search Engine &c would let us know !:~\ And yeah it'd stay busy a ridiculous long time. I shut it down. Shut it down to Chinatown !Yep
Jacks have lost my custom as well
For a start every time I attempt to connect I get a message they are "checking my browser " and that can take better than 5 minutes .
So obviously they are snooping on my computer to attempt to mine data from my browser.
Just to check it was not an old technology thing, I connected using a fresh copy of Brave Browser with nothing in its history or cashe and that never made a connection.
I've been educated a bit and by this post and appreciate the insight into shipping and warehousing costs. While I have been in business for myself,it did not involve shipping and receiving and warehousing. But yes,when I had some item that had a birthday,as we called a shopworn,been there a year or longer item,it was marked way down,sometimes below our cost to free up that money and space for something that would sell and bring in a bit of profit. I needed that 'DiNozza' slap! :-DI always like these types of threads.
You can easily see the people who have been in business for themselves and also those who have never been in transport / warehousing or distribution .
The warehouse I go to most regularly has 2 sales staff, 3 order pickers , 3 order packers & a dock supervisor .
so around 1/3 of the staff do nothing but wrap & pack orders and their wages have to be accounted for, let alone the time spent manifesting the goods, and the packing materials used .
Mower parts are not like books that can be slipped into a book bag , have the computer printed docket stuck on the front then tossed into a bin waiting for collection.
And as Pete often jokes, he can pack 4 pallets of parts in a day and no two will be the same, from decals through to complete transmissions .
Each one has to be packed according to the delivery companies regulations which also varies and because he is good every one despatched via the best value transport operator.
As for stored part inflation
A warehouse space has a price on it per hour / per day / per week / per month / per year and stuff that has been sitting there for 20 years will have accrued 2000 x its actual value in space costs.
Some bigger warehouses have computer programes that add this to parts that have been sitting unsold for X years.
And then there is funny tax laws in some places in the USA where tax is levied on the inventory in stock on a particular day, which is why we get millions of remaindered books sent down here from the USA for less than the actual printing costs.
On top of that there is oppertunity costs because the $3 they paid for the $ 7 retail part 20 years ago has prevented them buying $ 50,000 worth of fast moving parts over that time .
Then there is the space costs, that pallet of slow moving parts sitting there gathering dust can be taking up the space that fast moving parts could be using gathering profits .
And finally the wages & bonus system used to renumerate management often uses the P:E ratio as a measurement so keeping the minimum amount of stock on hand reduces the Equity so boosts the Profit to Equity ratio . Accountants all think ( or rather don't think ) the same .