Still in the dark ages????

This is an unfortunate moan about the UK and the attitudes of many suppliers over here.

From what I've experienced, it is no wonder that the UK manufacturing industry is going down the fookin pan :x :x :x

For 18 months now I've been doing a bit of "hobbyist" engineering development stuff, some of which you might hopefully see the results of on here in the next few months.

However, during this time I have had to try and source a number of bits and bobs on a small scale.

A couple of examples of my experience:

I recently went through a period of 3-4 months searching the internet, phoning and visiting suppliers asking people if they know anyone, following up leads to find someone who does what I want, based in the UK and will sell it to me. I get absolutely nowhere. Comparison with the US - 2 hours doing a web search, email the company, get a reply next morning, phone them up to confirm the order and receive the shipment 4 days later at my door.

The last 2 months I've needed a specific engineering tool and further supply of materials. I have phoned everyone within reasonable driving distance of where I am. initially I'm told, yes, they can do it yet when I go into detail with the specs their response is - oh, well, you see, I'll have to order those in from my supplier, and they're up north and it's a bit of a pain to do a special order - I say is this due to minimum order, they reply not really, it's just a pain. Then I get companies that take details and just don't phone back etc. Then at last I phone one company who say definitely yes, even after I have given them the specs then they send me prices offering a different product with different specs. Oh and everything has to be by fax because they don't use e-mail and don't have a website, or it's been under construction for 4 years!

Again, I can find a places in the US that does the stuff and are obviously willing to supply immediately.

Again and again and again I've come up against this problem here in the UK. When I lived in Sweden there was a local engineering supply house that could get everything anyone could possibly want - if they didn't have it, they'd find someone who did and get it in. Do you get that here in the UK from most places? - bollox do you. It seems here helping a CUSTOMER out is just too much hassle. Is it that business is too good to bother? What is it about this attitude?

It is absolutely amazing and as you can seeing driving me round the twist - it seems in the future, I'm just going to order from abroad without even bothering locally!

Right, deep breath, count to ten, moan over for now!

Cheers,
Simon

YOu should move the US like maybe some of your ancestors did. The bright side would be that you would not have to learn a new language. We have a lot more riding areas too.

Sweden is closer and it would be nice with an owner who knows about Husaberg in my club . If you want to go back to Sweden, don't hesitate to contact me.

Simon,

I have found, in general, places don't like dealing with anyone unless they are going to get continueing business. That is where they make their money. It is quite unfortunate for us hobby engineers. Keep you hopes up, though. If there is any help you need, and are willing to share thoughts (not worried about someone "stealing" you idea) post it on the forum. I would certainly be willing to help with things. I love to be involved in development, even if it is for someone else.

Good luck.

-Parsko

Thanks for the moral support chaps!

i'm not quite ready to emigrate yet, however tempting the idea might be :wink:

And thanks for the offer of assistance parsko, I may very well take you up on it at some point.

I could definitely understand a company's reticence to deal with me if they only deal with large companies and big orders (of which I have spoken to a few and they've been clear about their minimum order sizes and account requirements), but the "attitude" I have experienced is from small outlets - and they don't even know who I am or what my returning business could be like.

Cheers,
Simon

Don't feel too bad Simon. Chaces are you'll find the same proportion of crap suppliers in the US, but they are harder to find over the net. But since there is so much more of absolutely EVERYTHING in the US it stands there will be more good suppliers.

I've recently enquired about a special PC for work out of a place in the US. Try to get one as a sample & they ain't interested. Tell them you might need a hundred or so of them & they still don't want to get you a sample, they just want to sign you up as a dealer!

still in the dark ages

There is no mistaking the fact that sales(both wholesale and retail)have been going through many changes in the last years .The three choices every consumer has is "product","service" and"price".What most consumers do not fully understand is that it is not possible to have all three,only two.Retailers/wholesalers have long understood that if they do not meet their customers expectations they are doomed to fail. It is obvious to everyone that the mass merchandisers i.e. Walmart,has taken as many product lines as they can rationalize in there product mix and offered those quality products at a price that that a smaller supplier cannot match.What this means is that if you are a consumer looking for a product that cannot be sold at a discount ,ie obscure engineering part,your chances of finding this are becoming increasingly difficult,as the majority of the"popular" product lines that were profitable to the small firms are now not exclusive and thus profitable to them anymore.The result is that the small firms that could offer you the obscure part are now mostly gone or have adapted to mass merchandising techniques.or are very expensive....on my very first day taking economics 101,many years ago,the prof said to the class "all you really have to know is that there is no such thing as a free lunch....as soon as you guys fully understand that statement my job here is done"....just my opinion...nsman.