Well chalk that up to one place I'll never order from again

[suke]

Not sure if anyone has ordered from www.babbittsonline.com or yamahaspartshouse, same place. I'll sure as hell never order anything from them ever again. So first off I ordered a whole new bimini set from them, sort of frantically as it's summer and they said they ship fast, A+ rating 100%, satisfaction guaranteed, worlds largets parts dealer, etc. Had I had time to calm down, do some searching I sure as shit wouldn't have ordered from them. I generally order from boats.net. Free shipping, no taxes for me, and quick.

Anywho fast forward, bimini top was $1200 through them shipped. Took over a week before they even shipped the bimini, which after a call to boats.net I see why. Apparently everyone orders OEM yamaha parts from the same yamaha warehouses, makes sense. So they had to have the part shipped to them as it's not something most people stock themselves, then shipped to me. Ok great, understandable. Some communication about that the 3 times I called about my order staying "in progress" status for a week or so would have been nice.

Finally top "ships". Makes it about 1.5 hours from my house then disappears from FedEx. Yeah that's cause babbitts shipped it to the wrong person. I opened a case with FedEx, which I've dealt with in my professional life and had I realized it was FedEx I would have done more research and ordered elsewhere. They've lost about $3 million total worth of gear with shipping through them for work. Anywho, fedex isn't necessarily the fuck up here. They delivered it to the person they thought they were supposed to deliver it to.

Call Babbitts this morning after finding the part number cheaper on boats.net by $185. First I inquire about the part as Fedex isn't giving me much. She puts me on hold and says yeah we sent that to the wrong person and fortunately he called right away and didn't open the box cause it wasn't his. Thank goodness there, some upside. Anywho it's now on their way back to them. I say this is pretty messed up, least you can do is price match boats.net. She argues with me that technically they're cheaper. Like hell you are I paid $150 for shipping and $75 in taxes. I pay neither of those through boats.net. Don't care what your price on your site is, fact is it's cheaper through them total. Eventually she says well they're bigger than us, your site says you're the "world" largest parts dealer. So who's wrong there? Anywho the part is backordered until July, so I don't have much of a leg to stand on if I wanted to take some moral stand and tell em to eff off and refund my money.

So only thing I can do is warn others that the worlds largest parts dealer....isn't that, apparently, and I'll never order anything from them again.

 

[Weeb]

Return it or cancel the order before they re ship.

 

[MidnightRider]

Huh? I’ve always had a good experience ordering stuff from Babbitts - hadn’t heard of boats.net maybe I’ll check them out next time.

 

[2kwik4u]

Is this the same place as www.yamahasportsplaza.com ?!?

 

[suke]

Is this the same place as www.yamahasportsplaza.com ?!?

Nope that place is different.

 

[suke]

Return it or cancel the order before they re ship.

It's backordered all over the country until July 22nd. Trust me, they knew they had me by the balls. Summer is half over by that time. Talking to the super nice gentleman from boats.net there was some black canvas available(if I didn't want to replace the bows and stuff...also didn't want black), there was also ONE black bimini set in the whole US which happened to be in the GA warehouse, but it was $1400. Was stuck between a rock and a hard place. Honestly any company that argues with a customer.......especially after being inconvenienced to this degree.....is not one I want to patronize.

 

[swatski]

Wait... So, you are getting the bimini from Babbitt’s, the only place that has it available, and at the lowest price nevertheless (less S&H)? Did I miss something? address mishap notwithstanding, the only vendor who has that in stock and is shopping it to you is babbitts, correct?

I have used at least ten Yamaha parts suppliers over the years, babbitts has become my go to for the last two years. Usually the best or close to the best prices, solid return policies (not free), and the best availability for hard to find parts. In my experience, if it’s not available at babbitts I stop looking for new.

The biggest issue I ever had with them was when I was purchasing a large panel - center windshield, which came with a lip bent at the corner - three times! - the fourth time was the charm, it took forever but they worked with me and at the end I was fully satisfied. Turned out they were not doing the packaging, as the panel shipped directly from a warehouse. Still they took responsibility and went back-and-forth with me three times before it was all set.

—

 

[suke]

Wait... So, you are getting the bimini from Babbitt’s, the only place that has it available, and at the lowest price nevertheless (less S&H)? Did I miss something? address mishap notwithstanding, the only vendor who has that in stock and is shopping it to you is babbitts, correct?

I have used at least ten Yamaha parts suppliers over the years, babbitts has become my go to for the last two years. Usually the best or close to the best prices, solid return policies (not free), and the best availability for hard to find parts. In my experience, if it’s not available at babbitts I stop looking for new.

The biggest issue I ever had with them was when I was purchasing a large panel - center windshield, which came with a lip bent at the corner - three times! - the fourth time was the charm, it took forever but they worked with me and at the end I was fully satisfied. Turned out they were not doing the packaging, as the panel shipped directly from a warehouse. Still they took responsibility and went back-and-forth with me three times before it was all set.

—

So here's what got me. When searching for my boat year, model, etc most sites said they weren't available anymore for my boat. Apparently there was an updated part number, that just didn't translate across other sellers, so they said nope can't get it. Once I realized that, I had already ordered and was like aight well they got me as I ordered it on my phone ON my boat when I was already super pissed. Like I said I frantically ordered the part out of emotion/anger, so I didn't do my due diligence and research. Had I done my research I would have seen that they list on their site they ship using Fedex. That right there would have eliminated them from a vendor due to my professional experience with Fedex. Secondarily had I taken a step back looked at the updated part number, not on my phone and not on the boat super pissed that my bimini just shred itself, I would have realized the part number and searched that. Then I would have realized there were other options.

Sadly since I panic ordered and waited, by the time I realized this whole fucked up situation was going down they are now back ordered until July nationally. They didn't have the part, I just happened to order it when the parts were still available in the yamaha warehouse.

 

[suke]

Was burning up all day about how rude and how our interaction went this morning. So called boats.net tonight and asked if they could still get the canvas in black and they could, so I ordered that instead of the whole bimini. Then called babbitts about getting a refund issued, which they argued with me about, but finally a manager said they'd issue a refund. Blows my mind the amount of arguing they did today after very reasonable requests.

Second conversation should have gone "terribly sorry this happened wish there was a way we could earn your business, but I totally understand. Let me talk to my supervisor about issuing you a refund." Not argue with me that they have to wait to finally get the part back, bitch I ain't returning anything, you fucked up and held $1200 of my money for 17 days with nothing to show for it give that shit back! I have no idea how they have an A+ rating with 100% customer satisfaction. Least helpful company I think I've ever run into for a problem I didn't create. Holy shit!

 

[Neutron]

I usually use YamahaSportsPlaza for all my Yamaha items till i needed something quick and when i got them on the phone they told me that they couldn't really get the item to me very quick cause the main Yamaha warehouse is in Georgia and they are on the west coast so it was at least a week out to me. So i remembered Boats.net is in Georgia also so i should get the item faster . And i was right, free shipping (i actually paid $1.99 for expedited shipping) got the item in 3 days. Cost me less than me usually go to dealer.
I have never gotten anything quick from Babbits. And their prices were never the cheapest

 

[suke]

I usually use YamahaSportsPlaza for all my Yamaha items till i needed something quick and when i got them on the phone they told me that they couldn't really get the item to me very quick cause the main Yamaha warehouse is in Georgia and they are on the west coast so it was at least a week out to me. So i remembered Boats.net is in Georgia also so i should get the item faster . And i was right, free shipping (i actually paid $1.99 for expedited shipping) got the item in 3 days. Cost me less than me usually go to dealer.
I have never gotten anything quick from Babbits. And their prices were never the cheapest

I've used boats.net for pretty much everything and have for years. Honestly the biggest lesson learned here is to never order something when you're emotionally tied to the problem. I was a week out from a trip with my boat only to have the bimini shred itself on a trip out locally. Knew the trip was coming and figured the faster I ordered the faster I'd get the part, so pulled out my phone while anchored and ordered the part from the first place that showed it "available". Should have just calmed down, enjoyed the day, and waited until I got home to attempt to address the problem. Stuff from boats.net, being in GA, comes to me in 2 days max if they have it in stock. This they warned me would take a day or 2 to get it from the yamaha warehouse, which is also in GA, then another 2 biz days to get to me. So realistically I'll have it by Wed next week.

 

[Neutron]

They always seem to say "in stock" but other than normal maintenance items they never are in stock. Unless they are really saying in stock at the warehouse in Georgia

 

[suke]

They always seem to say "in stock" but other than normal maintenance items they never are in stock. Unless they are really saying in stock at the warehouse in Georgia

Yeah. Boats.net for this stuff shows it says ships in 2-3 days, which is accurate as it'll take them 2-3 days to get it to them. Other than that there were some parts they showed actually in stock. So I think they are fairly accurate.

 

[Mainah]

The Atlanta warehouse and how it all goes through direct to consumer distributors is good info.

Turning back to fedex. Back when my neighborhood was not in any mapping software/apps they we the only ones that could find me on weekdays but on Saturdays my whole street worth of packages were delivered to one house across town with a somewhat similar street name by the Saturday driver every Saturday for months. We all called fedex and it made no difference. At least he was a good guy and let us come grab the packages at his house.

Now years laters USPS is the worst for me. They will mark amazon packages as delivered when they were not to make sure they hit their two day prime contract rates with amazon.

 

[suke]

The Atlanta warehouse and how it all goes through direct to consumer distributors is good info.

Turning back to fedex. Back when my neighborhood was not in any mapping software/apps they we the only ones that could find me on weekdays but on Saturdays my whole street worth of packages were delivered to one house across town with a somewhat similar street name by the Saturday driver every Saturday for months. We all called fedex and it made no difference. At least he was a good guy and let us come grab the packages at his house.

Now years laters USPS is the worst for me. They will mark amazon packages as delivered when they were not to make sure they hit their two day prime contract rates with amazon.

I've heard of USPS doing that, a lot actually. I see that posted on our neighborhood FB group almost daily. Fortunately for me that hasn't happened as far as amazon goes, I've had my share of hiccups with USPS as well. UPS and DHL are ones I've never personally or professionally had issues with. My last job Fedex was blowing my company so we had to use them.....UP until they lost 2 sets of shipments worth a total of $3 mill. After that I could ship using DHL for freight without a problem. Fedex was still "preferred", but at least I had another option after that. Of course $3mill from $40bill revenue annually isn't something they really care about. LOL! It was just frustrating for me and my team to execute on our timelines.

 

[JDFester]

I concur with the innacuracy of the "in-stock" badge; I also just bought new bimini top (canvas only) from them as every other site showed a 3 week lead time and they said in stock. Well, today is three weeks later, and I got a shipping notice today; how convenient! Oh well, wouldn't have had it faster anyway, but could have had it cheaper...

 

[suke]

I concur with the innacuracy of the "in-stock" badge; I also just bought new bimini top (canvas only) from them as every other site showed a 3 week lead time and they said in stock. Well, today is three weeks later, and I got a shipping notice today; how convenient! Oh well, wouldn't have had it faster anyway, but could have had it cheaper...

For me the lack of communication is what's annoying, and every time I called to check why my order was still in progress they said not to worry it'll be on its way to me soon. What would have been better is hey sorry it's summer and low stock of these items, also we have to get this shipped in from Yamaha that's coming from GA to MI, and that takes a bit of time. Oddly enough this morning I got an updated email from boats.net saying thanks for my order and it should ship on Monday. Simple, automated, and time based expectations.

I work in the company that provides an ecommerce marketing platform for small to midsize businesses. It's amazing what you see as being a true differentiator to a company that's going to be wildly successful, to one that may or may not be around in 3-5 years. That margin of error is pretty slim.


There's an interesting dynamic I was chatting with a good buddy of mine about last night. Many years back he bought a seat for a GPR from boats.net rode it for a week then realized there was a crack. Called them up and asked for a return/new one. They said hmmmm let me check and called him back saying to return it and they'll send him out a new one. Since then he's spent thousands at boats.net. Meanwhile I likely would have stuck this one out had they not been total rude assbags, and two price matched the boats.net price. Instead they refunded me my money and lost that sale completely and every future sale going forward, all over $185.

 

[suke]

Got an automated email from boats.net saying my order is behind a day. So simple yet keeps me updated exactly to the status of my order. Looks to be taking a little longer than predicted to get it from Yamaha. Oh well, it happens. Communication is key here.

 

[zipper]

I too have only used Yamaha Parts & Suzuki Parts, Motorcycles, ATVs & Accessories for OEM boat parts. Have had nothing but good service from them. I use Babbitts for parts on our 2010 Polaris Ranger 800XP and have no bad experiences with them either. It's too bad you had to go thru all this B.S.

 

[JDFester]

I concur with the innacuracy of the "in-stock" badge; I also just bought new bimini top (canvas only) from them as every other site showed a 3 week lead time and they said in stock. Well, today is three weeks later, and I got a shipping notice today; how convenient! Oh well, wouldn't have had it faster anyway, but could have had it cheaper...

As a follow up, I can definitely PROVE they didn't have it in stock, as I placed the order on May 27, and according to the manufacturing tag, it was actually made on May 31. Hey, at least I know it's fresh...