[s-cars] Crank Pulley GB

[Franco Barber]

On Fri, Jun 23, 2006 at 11:14:58AM -0400, Mark Pollan wrote:
> I just placed an order at http://www.magauto.com/ .  Price was $62.90 and at
> checkout there was no shipping charge.
> 

www.magauto.com is one of the web presences of West Broad VW/Audi in
Richmond VA.   I've ordered from them a lot, even as recently as
this month.

The web pages and parts database/price lists are provided
by an outfit called www.trademotion.com.  It's a front end system that
is used by dealers for several car brands.

There is definitely a shipping charge, but it is not known at the
time that the system takes the order.
It is determined by the parts guys at West Broad VW/Audi when they
actually ship the order.
The fine print on one of the order pages mentions this somewhere.

Also, what's worse, the price of the parts as quoted by the system
is also subject to change.  This is not as obvious as the shipping
charge, but it is stated in the terms and conditions if you read
carefully when you order.  I think this happens when the price is
rising and the www.trademotion.com database does not update in time.
West Broad VW/Audi will end up charging the current prices on their system,
not the prices quoted by the web front end.

I've had occasions when I order something, the price looks pretty
good, and the stuff arrives and the price has gone up.
If you're the kind of person who gets upset and starts complaining
when this happens, I wouldn't order from them.
Me, well, it's still less than what my local stealer would have
wanted, and I have better things to do than spend my time complaining
to a faceless order system from a faraway place.

Apart from this, they've given pretty good service.
Only other complaint is when I've ordered interior trim pieces that
need a color code.  The order system doesn't give you a place to enter
it.  I've entered the color code (the name Ecru and the number code) into
the order comments, and it was ignored by the parts people filling the
order (they sent black.)  Once contacted (via the web interface) they
took back the wrong one and shipped the right one, but it is a pain.

Franco


-- 
Franco Barber                   feb at febsun.cmhnet.org
95 A6Q w/Gamma CD mit RDS!      Columbus, Ohio  USA
95 A6Q 5spd w/HCB-30 bluetooth car kit!