Delivery Problems Zapp Automation

I have been having problems with Zapp Automation and I was wondering if anyone else has the same problems.

I ordered motors from them about 2 months ago which according to their website were in stock, but they haven't appeared. I contacted them by email and they said they were out of stock!!! Delivery expected in about 2 weeks. Its now three weeks later and there is still no progress.

What a bunch of amateurs......Avoid them if possible.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/14/2011 05:13AM by martinprice2004.

Sorry to hear you're having problems with them.

I've ordered from them four or five times and each time everything was fine. The only time some motors were out of stock I received a reply to my email the same day telling me it would take two weeks. (I ended up changing that order anyway because I had ordered the wrong torque - the modified order came through a few days later.)

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garyhodgson.com/reprap | reprap.development-tracker.info | thingtracker.net

I've had a similar problem. The motors I ordered weren't in stock. I've sent them an e-mail, added a comment to my order but didn't get any reply. I told my story on the IRC channel and a guy called redwizard got hold of them. It turned out they were on a trade show. They agreed to refund and I got that refund early the next week. I then ordered the motors from ruben-ikmaak (ruben [at] ikmaak [dot] nl) who has them in stock.

I recently wanted to order from them, went online & the two types I looked at were out of stock.
To clarify which was the better & ask about availability I phoned them.
The guy there was helpful & explained the best one to get. He also said that they were waiting on a delivery (to them) to go through customs, but if I ordered online should be ok for that consignment.

So that evening (October 25th) I ordered 5 motors online. I had an email same day to confirm the order. Email on 31st to say processing. Emailed me again on Nov 1st to say despatched.
Steppers arrived November 2nd. 6 working days in all which was fine by me.
I haven't ran them yet so can't speak for the running quality, but they come with flats and long leads.Well packed.
Maybe I was lucky on the timing, but my one experience with Zapp has been positive.

Mike

I've ordered a few times from Zapp over the past year, and service has always been exemplary - knowledgeable, courteous and flexible. I ordered a large number of stepper motors (100 - I'm ordering for 20 people who are building Prusas!) 3 weeks ago on a Friday, and phoned Gary at Zapp before ordering. He made it clear that he was not going to be able to complete the order immediately, said it would be 6 weeks. Apparently, demand for stepper motors, particularly the 1684A motors, is very high, and he is awaiting stock which is being shipped from China. I received half the order at the beginning of the following week, and rang yesterday to check when the rest could be expected, which is still 2-3 weeks, which matches the 6 weeks he said when I originally ordered.

@Martinprice2004 - could be that your order was overlooked, or missed for any number of reasons. Why didn't you contact them sooner? If you are having concerns with an order, why didn't you just give them a call? Especially before slagging them off on a public forum. It sounds like you have sent one email before starting to complain. I have never had trouble contacting them by phone or email (which have generally been answered promptly), and they are very far from being 'a bunch of amateurs'.

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droftarts
I have never had trouble contacting them by phone or email (which have generally been answered promptly), [...]

My experience has been different. They were apparently unavailable for one week without leaving any indication. I also couldn't reach them by phone (neither land line nor mobile.) They did handle my case swiftly once they were back.

Martin,
I am sorry about he delay with your order.
Both the SY42STH47-1684A and B are a very popular motor for us, and over the last few months they have been moving off the shelf very fast.

We got your order on the 10th of October, you chased us for the delivery on the 24th at 17.59 and i replied to you at 12.50PM on the 25th to explain that the delivery will be about 2 weeks.
Unfortunately we are not in total control of shipments when they come by sea and sometimes the boat can be late and on top of this customs can also take their time releasing the shipment.

We allways try to offer the best service we can but sometimes probles do happen that are out of our control and this is exactly what happened in this case.
We have increased the amount of motors we stock now, and have large amounts of motors on the water that will be here soon, but this will take a few weeks to make a difference to our stock.
Regarding your order, we have had confirmation that the stock shipment that the SY42STH47-1684B are on, will be delivered to us on Monday, so as soon as the stock order arrives, we will pack and dispatch your order for delivery the next day.
If all goes smooth, you should see your order on Tuesday.
Again i apologise for the late delivery.

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Gary from Zapp Automation

Martin,
Just an update.
your order left today so you should receive it tomorrow.

I have now recieved your order and all appears to be OK. I did contact you twice via email as you have said in your reply.

Unfortunately the delivery you stated on each occasion was missed, on the first occasion by around a month and on the second by over a week.

In addition to this when I ordered the items from your website, I specifically chose items that were according to your website in stock as I needed them quite quickly. The stock level was plainly incorrect otherwise the order would have been fulfilled promptly...which it was not.

When running a business you have no knowledge of how a late delivery may affect the next person in the chain, so the very least you could do is be honest as to your stock levels and then if something goes wrong, which it does now and again, make the next information you provide to your customer accurate. You failed to do this on the next two occasions.

Thank you for the apology, but unfortunately for you, the damage has been done to your reputation. The world of business is a cruel one sometimes and lessons are hard learnt. Unfortunately your reply states that the reasons for the failure were beyond your control, but if you read the above few paragraphs you will notice that the website stock error and the email response information were Zapp Automation problems not that of your supplier, so it would have perhaps been better to state what actions you have done to correct those two problems rather than simply passing the blame up the delivery chain.

Your supplier by failing to deliver on time has caused you problems, so you feel annoyed, which I understand, I am merely voicing my feelings as you have done the same to me.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/26/2011 05:36PM by martinprice2004.

i for one am glad he made this complaint!

there should not be concerns with an order, if he ordered items that were in stock i would fully expect the company to deliver in a timely fashion and/or inform me otherwise promptly and give me any necessary options. Infact he did contact them and was told a further 2 weeks, which then 3 weeks went by.

there is nothing wrong with his complaint, it is legitimate and helpful to others.

if the company did not want slagging off, they could deliver on their promise or communicate better. thats just how this stuff works! and im glad for it.

droftarts Wrote:
...
> If you are
> having concerns with an order, why didn't you just
> give them a call? Especially before slagging them
> off on a public forum.