Russ in CT
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- November 11, 2002
- Messages
- 176
- Reaction score
- 0
- City, State
- Milford, CT
- Year, Model & Trim Level
- '99 XLT
I needed to buy the parts to do TSB 03-22-10, the 'no engine braking in 1st' and 'sloppy 2-3 shift', etc problem. Based on the recommendation of someone here, I went to www.discountfordparts.com. I found their site a bit awkward, but since it was recommended here, I persisted. The parts were ordered via their online form back on 2/21/05. I received a confirmation email the same day that my parts had been ordered. The contents of that email are below:
________________________________________
From: info@discountfordparts.com [mailto:info@discountfordparts.com]
Sent: Monday, February 21, 2005 5:46 PM
To: russell_oppenheimer@hotmail.com
Subject: Confirmation of Order 12135699
Items Ordered:
Item: VLV ASY-TRANS THROT
Price: 14.6500
Qty: 1
Total: 14.6500
Item: PLT ASY - TRANS CONT
Price: 16.2900
Qty: 1
Total: 16.2900
-----------------------------
Order Total: 30.94 (excluding Tax S&H)
We recommend that you print a copy of this email for your records.
To view the status of your order, go to:
http://www.discountfordparts.com , and click on Order Status.
________________________________________
Since the parts never arrived, I tried to contact them to inquire of the status (yesterday, 3/16/05). The confirmation email states I can track my order by clicking on the Order Status link on their main page, but no such link exists. I found the ‘Contact Us’ link on discountfordparts.com and filled out the form asking about my order. Looking at the email again to see if maybe I missed something, I noticed that the email appeared to come from an address that could be replied to (info@discountfordparts.com), so I replied to that asking about how to check the status. I got a bounce notice that my email to dermine@vtaig.com failed. Since vtaig doesn’t sound remotely like something that would represent discountfordparts, I started wondering if I’d been duped. I saw there was an 800 # on the site, so I called that. I was put on hold, and after a while they took my # and was told someone would call me back shortly. A few hours later they did call, but they were unable to find my order. I asked if they could look the order up by order #, and they said they had to check a different system for that and would have to call me back again. After a couple more hours I called them, and they said they were still working on it. At 4:30 I received an email from them (in reply to my request to the Contact Us link) saying they were unable to verify my shipping address, so they couldn’t complete the transaction. I replied with my address, and asked what else they needed. I later received a reply that they could not verify my address in their database, so I would have to send them a check?
At this point I lost all confidence in their ability to conduct business, and felt that I’d just be asking for more problems if I tried to continue the transaction. I originally ordered these parts back on 2/21/05, and here it is 3/17/05 and they still can’t figure out the credit card transaction? I’ve had this card (American Express) for many years, made countless online transactions and never had any problems with it. When you conduct business online from a company that is too far away to personally visit, you have to have a minimum level of confidence that they can complete your transaction successfully. I’ve had too many bad experiences with companies that fail to deliver in one way or another, and trying to make it right becomes a major hurdle. The warning bells are going off, and there is no way I’m continuing to try and do business with these guys.
Just wanted to let others know of this experience. I’m sure others will chime in saying they bought stuff from them and had no problems, and that is great. I’m also not trying to say you shouldn’t buy from them, just putting this info out there so everyone is an informed consumer.
:thumbdwn: www.discountfordparts.com/
________________________________________
From: info@discountfordparts.com [mailto:info@discountfordparts.com]
Sent: Monday, February 21, 2005 5:46 PM
To: russell_oppenheimer@hotmail.com
Subject: Confirmation of Order 12135699
Items Ordered:
Item: VLV ASY-TRANS THROT
Price: 14.6500
Qty: 1
Total: 14.6500
Item: PLT ASY - TRANS CONT
Price: 16.2900
Qty: 1
Total: 16.2900
-----------------------------
Order Total: 30.94 (excluding Tax S&H)
We recommend that you print a copy of this email for your records.
To view the status of your order, go to:
http://www.discountfordparts.com , and click on Order Status.
________________________________________
Since the parts never arrived, I tried to contact them to inquire of the status (yesterday, 3/16/05). The confirmation email states I can track my order by clicking on the Order Status link on their main page, but no such link exists. I found the ‘Contact Us’ link on discountfordparts.com and filled out the form asking about my order. Looking at the email again to see if maybe I missed something, I noticed that the email appeared to come from an address that could be replied to (info@discountfordparts.com), so I replied to that asking about how to check the status. I got a bounce notice that my email to dermine@vtaig.com failed. Since vtaig doesn’t sound remotely like something that would represent discountfordparts, I started wondering if I’d been duped. I saw there was an 800 # on the site, so I called that. I was put on hold, and after a while they took my # and was told someone would call me back shortly. A few hours later they did call, but they were unable to find my order. I asked if they could look the order up by order #, and they said they had to check a different system for that and would have to call me back again. After a couple more hours I called them, and they said they were still working on it. At 4:30 I received an email from them (in reply to my request to the Contact Us link) saying they were unable to verify my shipping address, so they couldn’t complete the transaction. I replied with my address, and asked what else they needed. I later received a reply that they could not verify my address in their database, so I would have to send them a check?
At this point I lost all confidence in their ability to conduct business, and felt that I’d just be asking for more problems if I tried to continue the transaction. I originally ordered these parts back on 2/21/05, and here it is 3/17/05 and they still can’t figure out the credit card transaction? I’ve had this card (American Express) for many years, made countless online transactions and never had any problems with it. When you conduct business online from a company that is too far away to personally visit, you have to have a minimum level of confidence that they can complete your transaction successfully. I’ve had too many bad experiences with companies that fail to deliver in one way or another, and trying to make it right becomes a major hurdle. The warning bells are going off, and there is no way I’m continuing to try and do business with these guys.
Just wanted to let others know of this experience. I’m sure others will chime in saying they bought stuff from them and had no problems, and that is great. I’m also not trying to say you shouldn’t buy from them, just putting this info out there so everyone is an informed consumer.
:thumbdwn: www.discountfordparts.com/
