Date: Thu, 2 May 2002 11:33:53 -0400
Reply-To: The Bus Depot <vanagon@BUSDEPOT.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: The Bus Depot <vanagon@BUSDEPOT.COM>
Subject: Re: Am I being unreasonable(Bus Depot)?
In-Reply-To: <B8F6A92B.660D%ben@kbmc.net>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
> Ron, you must have changed your policy. When I received a broken
> part from the BD, you personally made me pay for the replacement in
advance
> until you received the broken one back in the shop. Are you doing things
> differently now?
Yes. We upgraded to new software, which allows us to track things a bit
better and make our procedures a bit more customer-friendly. (Our prior
software afforded us no way to track and bill exchanges, so they had to be
treated like new orders.) So our current policy is this:
If you receive an incorrect part (due to OUR fault), or a part with an
immediately identified defect, we send a replacement right away, at no
charge for the part or for freight. You then have 30 days to return the
original part back to us via insured mail or UPS. As long as we receive it
within 30 days, you will never be charged for the replacement. Furthermore,
we will also issue you a credit to offset your return shipping expense,
based on the published rate for the cheapest insurable method (typically
insured parcel post for lightweight items or UPS for heavy ones). One note:
we must have a valid credit card number on file in order to ship the
replacement up-front at no charge; this card will be billed for the price of
the replacement if, and only if, you do not return the original part within
a month.
If you receive a damaged part, the same scenario applies, except that a UPS
or mail insurance claim must also be filed. In the case of UPS, we file the
claim; you must keep the box and packing for 30 days in case UPS wants to
inspect it. In the case of US Mail, the recipient must file the claim;
that's you. You would then mail or fax us a copy of the claim form after
filling it out at the post office and we'd take it from there.
If you receive the wrong part and it is NOT our fault (i.e. we sent you what
you ordered, but it is not what you needed), then you must return the
original part first for exchange, or else pay up front for the replacement
(and then get a refund for the first part when we get it back). In that
case we do not pay for shipping in either direction. This is what
apparantly happened in Randy's case. I looked up his original order first
thing this morning. He ordered an 041A sensor by part number, via the
toll-free order line, and that's what he got. Turns out, he actually needed
a plain 041. So while we are certainly happy to exchange it, this was not
our fault, hence no offer to send a replacement at no charge (or to upgrade
him to air shipping at our expense).
So that's the gist of how we handle exchanges. I should also note that all
claims must be reported to us right away, so always check your shipment
shortly after it arrives. And never send anything back without first
obtaining an RA number. An outline of all of our policies can be found in
our print catalog or at http://www.busdepot.com/ASP/OrderInfo.asp .
- Ron Salmon
The Bus Depot, Inc.
(215) 234-VWVW
www.busdepot.com
_____________________________________________
Toll-Free for Orders by Part # 1-866-BUS-DEPOT
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