outrageous shipping outrage
 

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3 $175.00 $82.00 $0.00 $0.00 $257.00


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Part# Description Extra Shipping Core Charge Unit Price Quantity Extended Price
N129RK 1970-1972 HARD TOP RETURN LINE WITH EMISSION CONTROL SYSTEM 1/4" STEEL (A-BODY) (RE) $34.00 $0.00 $65.00 1 $65.00
R157NK 1968-1972 TURBO 400 TRANSMISSION COOLING LINES, (M-40) OEM, STEEL (RE) A BODY $20.00 $0.00 $45.00 1 $45.00
R180Y 1971-72 FRONT BRAKE LINES - POWER DISC, 4-PIECE STEEL (RE) $6.00 $0.00 $65.00 1 $65.00

$82 shipping $257 order

last week order from Inline Tube

Order summary

1971-72 GM Pontiac GTO A-Body Fuel Line Clip Set 1/4" Return - 5/16" EMS 20pc $32.00

1971-72 GM Pontiac GTO/GP A-Body Brake Line Clip Set 17pc $26.75

1971-72 Pontiac GTO/LeMans/Tempest 3/8", 5/16" Fuel Tank Vapor Lines 3pc, OE Steel $26.00

1968-72 Pontiac Buick Oldsmobile A-Body Grand Prix T-400 Manual Transmission Complete Parking Brake Cable Kit OE $119.00

1971-72 Pontiac GTO/Tempest/LeMans Hardtop (PS Routing) 5/16" Fuel Vapor Lines 2pc, OE Steel $65.00

1970 Pontiac GTO/Tempest/LeMans Hardtop (DS Routing) 3/8" Main Fuel Line 1pc, OEM $69.00

Subtotal $337.75
Shipping $30.00
Total $367.75 USD

Order arrived in a box about 6'x12"x18"
Shipping to NY metro area. Where is this order being shipped from? Not MI I guess.

I don't have a problem paying $30 shipping but... $82 forget it.

Agree. AMES needs to get shipping prices under control. My wife bought a steering wheel for our 67 GTO from Ames for Christmas and they charged $32 for shipping. Ridiculous. ...

crazy shipping price
 

I totally agree, HELLO COMPANIES ,THE FUEL PRICES ARE LOW, ADJUST YOUR SHIPPING COSTS ITS WAAAAAAAAAYYY OVERDUE. CAN YOU HEAR US NOW?

Actual shipping rates are dependent upon the shipper (UPS/FedEx/USPS) and the markup (labor) by the vendor. As such, the vendor has no control of shipping rates. What the vendor can control is their labor costs AND packaging. It makes no sense to ship the various small parts in a box with 10 feet of bubble wrap when a padded envelope will do. Thats what irritates me the most.
You as the consumer can shop around. The majority of the parts we use are sold by multiple vendors. Compare their prices and shipping charges or surcharges. I'm ready to pull the trigger on brake and fuel lines and have found oversize surcharges ranging from $0 to $65. Guess where I'm shopping

The parts suppliers are not just passing shipping costs on.. there is a major mark up of actual shipping charges. its a profit center for them, thus their hesitation to reduce shipping costs when their actual shipping charges go down.

The customer has already decided to make the purchase and then they see the shipping charges.. there's a strong tendency to just proceed, even if the shipping is higher than it should be. The vendors know this and skim as much as they can.

OK
$50 for a phone call
The only reason I was going to order this from Ames is because when I searched inline tubes part numbers some items could not be found.
Will call IT tomorrow and have them add them to last nights order

Redgoated, I understand your frustration. Shipping costs are a tough subject. We strive to provide you with the most competitive prices, along with the best customer service in the industry. When it comes to shipping, and in this case oversize shipping, there is not much we can do about the higher costs that are entailed. All of these lines would also be drop shipped directly from the manufacturer, so they are not coming from our location in NH. In this case, the shipping for all three of these items (N129RK, R157NK, R180Y) would be combined. The total shipping cost would be $56.00, making the order total $231.00. In the future when there are oversize charges, please contact us so we can see about combining shipping. If you did contact us, and the shipping charges did not change, I greatly apologize. Please PM or email me with any other questions or concerns. Thank you! -Kyler

How 'bout this.. make your markup on your parts. We all know you have to box and ship stuff. If you want to triple the shipping charges, just be up front and tell us we're also paying for the box, the tape, the filler and the X minutes of time it took an employee to pull and pack the order plus whatever the Carrier charges you.

First off Ames is not shipping this. These were to be drop shipped which I didn't know until check out. other vendors sites say drop ship on the parts page.
Most likely you're getting a kick back for making the sale. And why would these lines be in a bigger box the the 2 lines I bought from Inline Tube last week.
Called IT yesterday morning and had them add the item to my order since their part #s didn't show results in their search.I was told by the salesman the since these are being shipped in the same box the shipping charges will stay the same. The only extra charges were for the additional items.
Last weeks order came in a 6' long box and did not cost $56 to ship.

Maybe on drop ship items, have a line that says "admin fee" instead.

UBET...... The parts below would have been over $65 more from Ames, mostly due to shipping....

Item Price Quantity Total
C-14630-104BP
Panel Set Cowl Trim / Kick Inner Black $159.95 1 $159.95
C-3451-417A
Bezel / Trim Plate Accelerator Pedal Polished Stainless $13.95 1 $13.95
C-4630-214A
Trim Set Brake And Clutch Pedal Pad Correct $17.95 1 $17.95
C-10275-102A
Courtesy Lamp Glove Box/Console Compartment Switch/Light Kit One-Piece $18.95 1 $18.95
C-9262-208A
Deflector Dash Air Ventilation Outer Rh Or Lh $26.95 1 $26.95
Subtotal $237.75
Shipping $23.78
Sales Tax (0.00%) $0.00
Total $261.53

Have you received an estimate from us? I would be glad to help if you can PM me with your vehicle info and requested items.

That’s an old order.

I attempted to order those parts from Ames first, but the shipping charges were we close to triple what I paid there. The shipping for the kick panels alone were more than the shipping for that entire order.

Thank you

Here's how we do it
We ship a TON OF STUFF with FedEX every day. And we get a great discount from them. We don't pass that discount on to our customers, we charge the regular price. Therefore we are making money on the shipping.
Now, things are different in the consumer/hobby world vs the business-to-business world. Consumers won't accept outrageous shipping charges.

Collecting stamps, coins, or comic books would be a much cheaper hobby with much lower shipping costs guys.

Is that what you do? Enjoy.

I realize that many of the special resto parts are not available at most online parts sources.

BUT, for LOTS of parts I've found that Amazon has the cheapest shipped prices that can be found. And from my experiences with them, their shipping & customer service is 2nd to none.

I've had only 2 problems. The problem was solved quickly. In one situation, Amazon gave me a quick full refund, after the Amazon seller refused to, until I shipped the part back to them. In the other case, they sent out replacement parts immediately, AND let me keep the parts that I'd originally ordered, when they arrived a week later, in a torn & beat-up looking padded envelope.

As for prices, I've recently found that with their online discount codes, Advance Auto Parts has the lowest prices I can find for lots of stuff. I used one of their 25% off codes to buy a couple of batteries. Also used their refer-a-friend deal so my wife could get $30 off her 1st purchase, of another battery. I'll get a $10 gift card for my referral. So, I saved over $60 by using their codes. We made the purchases online, and picked up the batts at a local AAP store.

Then, sometimes the best prices are from Ebay sellers. I haven't had any problems with any of these sellers.

On rare occasions, Rock Auto will have the best price, even after adding in the shipping cost.

Since I'm currently operating on a very low budget, I try to find the best prices possible.

I was recently shopping on e-bay for an item. there were litteraly more than a thousand items listed. the shipping on these items varied from $12 to $56. Crazy.

I certainly understand the short sited and inadvertently 'survival of the fittest' logic. If every car enthusiast bought every item they could from amazon, there would be no more hobby. The catalog business's would fold up and you'd have Amazon to your hearts content until they ran out of parts and then you'd have nothing.

What you consider 'service 2nd to none' is really 'delivery 2nd to none'. Yes they are fast and they are cheap.

Ask them a technical question about fitment.
Ask them if you can inspect the part and then return it at a show.
Ask them if the part is acceptable for a concours judged show.
Ask them if the part is as good as NOS.
ask them if you can bring a part to the show to make sure the quality is as expected.
Ask for the hardware kit that allows you to install the part they offer.
I could go on for a while.

The prices aren't all that much different when you take into consideration an entire restoration and the value a quality restoration supply expert brings. It's all about whether you want to be selfish or whether you want to foster the hobby and keep the money within the hobby.

Keep the money in the hobby and it extends the hobby that much longer. Go for the best price or the best shipping costs and...…...

From Ames-Tech

"All of these lines would also be drop shipped directly from the manufacturer, so they are not coming from our location in NH. In this case, the shipping for all three of these items (N129RK, R157NK, R180Y) would be combined. The total shipping cost would be $56.00, making the order total $231.00."

I knew they were drop shipped.as the boxes were orange.
I know you're in NH, 3 1/2 hours from me. That why I try to order from you. And I've bought more from Ames than any other vender.It was just this order I have a problem with.
Inline Tube is in MI where I figured these come from. That's why I posted their shipping cost on similar items.

Anyway, I called IT monday morning and added those to my online order from saturday which was for a bunch of clips.

Subtotal $64.50
Shipping $15.00
Total $79.50

The 3 Pipe sets totaled $180.00
Original order + $79.50
New total =$269.50

OK, pipes cost 5.00 more but saved a sht load on shipping

Keep this thread about shipping prices

Amazon is the scourge of retail!I have seen what it has done to both mom and pop and big retailers.I ALWAYs try to buy from our pontiac vendors like Ames if close at all.Same with my local stores.When I do need things I cant find I use Ebay instead of Amazon.Just have to pay attention to shipping charges.Was looking at Baldwin filters.Cheap prices but shipping was the deal breaker.Just me.Tom

I can just feel your frustration in the above post and understand. A company like yours does all the work, and essentially a re-packager, logistics expert like Amazon siphons off the easy stuff with no effort. I try to support the hobby, especially Pontiac specific companies. Many others on here do too. However, everyone has their own personal tipping point where they just can't justify the extra cost that in their mind is a "donation" to a vendor. I am sure Ames is looking hard at the shipping costs because they are a separate line item and easily visible to the customer. As more and more on-line vendors provide "free" shipping, Ames may have to absorb some of the shipping costs and distribute them through the cost of the products. That's what Tire Rack has done. Their shipping costs were killing them and all the similar on-line tire sellers were stealing their market. Now, shipping is "free" but the tire costs are up a little. There must be dozens of price levels from each of the shippers. When I send a race clutch to CA for work or re-cert., even with my company Shipping account, it cost me $150.00. When it comes back from the vendor insured the same way, same shipper, it cost $47.00. Really? 2/3 difference in price? Even though Ames is no Amazon, seems like they might be able to twist some arms and possibly offer some incentives to a shipper that really steps up with a better price. I think we all want to see Ames prosper and grow.

What if the vendor gives you poor service? and its not the first time?

A part the doesn't fit, when the catalog says "Excellent quality"
The tech guy asks if you can just "Make it fit" by installing it off center
Then they want you to eat the shipping - both ways / to send it back?
And after multiple emails and phone calls and wasted time your made whole, and find one on ebay?

So, Amazon looks pretty good at that point....

Would you mind sending me a PM? The service you seemed to have receive is unacceptable.

Will do.

Even though fuel prices have gone down, surcharges have not. Please see the attached chart. As you can see, this is nothing we can control.

As mentioned, why not raise the prices on the items rather than ship inefficiently or markup shipping?

It is false value to have lower prices and charge higher shipping. There are only a handful of ways to ship. There are 1000's of people selling parts using those same shippers.
If buyers think your tech support is worth the item price you charge, they will buy from you.

You can sell on Amazon if you chose to. You could provide the same support and sell to the same group of buyers in the hobby. But your prices may not be competitive. Amazon sellers don't kill the hobby.


I don't think lowering shipping costs will kill the willingness to develop parts. If a part is in demand and priced reasonably people will buy them. Heck I paid $500.00 for an air cleaner. Now my wife thinks that is crazy but I did it!

The vendor has purchase power with the shipping company. It's up to the vendor to pass along discounts, or dont.

I agree 100% on supporting our vendors vs Amazon.

Shipping charges have been an issue for Ames as long as I can remember (20+ years). I look at it two ways- either they have a standard freight calculator that doesn’t factor in their discount and they add a little margin on the fright, or the freight just cost more because they are in a very far corner of the US (although this doesn’t explain the order that was shipping e 1/2 hours away).

I do think they need to look at what requires oversize charges. I forget what I ordered last week but there was an oversize charge that I felt wasn’t necessary.

I might have been able to negotiate it- but I really don’t want to argue every time a place an order.

I ordered some items the other day for delivery to Norwalk to avoid shipping charges. The sales rep told me I'd have to pay an oversized shipping fee of $20 from THEIR supplier to the Ames warehouse. I deleted the item (trans cooler lines) and ordered from Inline Tube via EBay. They were $13.00 cheaper and FREE shipping to my home. Got them in 2 days. I can understand oversize shipping fees from Ames to my home, but I have to pay for shipping TO Ames? I'll pass. The idea of delivery to Norwalk was to avoid excessive shipping.

quzkid32, I apologize for the inconvenience! Some of the hard lines are drop shipped directly from the manufacturer, meaning we do not stock them in house. Sometimes we can have these brought to the show still free of any shipping charge, as long as the manufacturer is in attendance. In this case, we should've been able to. Please PM me if possible with your customer number and part number of the lines you were looking at. Thanks!

I have no dog in any of these fights, and am a happy Ames customer, BUT it seems like this one may be too little too late. Just the kind of thing that should have been thought about before losing a customer, not after.

Yes it's too late; you are correct in saying that this should've been thought of when he originally place the order. In this case, the sales representative obviously thought the manufacturer was not in attendance. This is the reason we have these threads, so we can work to effectively solve problems and improve our service for the future. Thanks!

crazy prices on shipping/oversize packages
 

it not just Aims try OPGI EXACT ISSUES. Remember when fuel prices went way up a few years ago.Well the shipping prices went up too.HELLO companies FUEL prices are down so its been time to drop the shipping prices

Ames didn't lose a customer. I just ordered from a different vendor who had a better rate for shipping and price. I still ordered different parts for Norwalk delivery which saved the shipping charges. I'm still good with Ames.

That's good for them. I have and will (im starting another resto) continue to buy from AMES. I dont worry about shipping charges, I just figure its the price of the hobby. I have always had good luck with their products, and usually get my orders within about 3 days. I have tried other vendors but kept going back. I did make one order from Classic with a coupon. But by the time THEY added back shipping the price wasn't all that good, and it took over a week to get me.

LOL!
It's funny how some folks (no one in particular) have tens of thousands invested in multiple classic cars and will complain about shipping costs that are ten thousandths of what they've spent in the hobby.
I don't have much of a budget but shipping costs are just part of the game. If you want to play you've gotta pay.
You are lucky to have a Pontiac supplier like Ames; and when they are gone you will know it. Nothing lasts forever. No one is perfect either.
You get a little more when you buy from Pontiac experts like our host. you get customer support, a forum to learn from, or voice your opinion, or launch your complaints; and some expertise that you might not find on ebay or amazon.
If I had the money that apparently most folks in this hobby seem to have, I wouldn't be complaining about the few extra bucks that the best Pontiac parts source is charging to box and ship.
Flame Away...

shipping
 

all I am saying is make sure the box is the appropriate size for the items being shipped,And everyone will be happy.

I wish they would put the money into some decent engine mounts for A-Body (2 hole) . they could charge $100.00 a set and no one would bat an eye as long as they were strong enough to handle the torque of Pontiac engines.