I'd say to the OP that the use of words like "suck" and "jerk" in your communications can work against you when you are trying to resolve something like this. Speak to people in the same way that you'd like to be spoken to.
This too.
It's tough, but I always have to try REALLY HARD to err on the side of professionalism in emails even if it comes across cold and impersonal. I don't say "you" in complaints, I use the company's name so the reader doesn't take it as personally. And I always try to offer/recommend solutions to give the issue a potentially easy solution.
From what I am reading so far in this thread, I agree with the other poster that both parties could have handled this differently. I don't know how far part the initial emails were from the OP to the vendor but it normally shouldn't take multiple emails to try to get an answer. Anyone who has been down the road of having to send multiple emails to get a response would probably agree.
Yeah, but no. The 4x4 world is mostly a bunch of smaller privately owned businesses making parts because they love it. And for the last 18 months their world has not only been turned upside-down, but demand is higher than ever. So a business owner/fabricator/etc can choose to spend 4hr a day answering emails, or he can get to a few and continue to weld parts. And with material delays/shortages, backorders, skilled workforce shortages, and more, it's not like these small businesses are making more money and can hire additional staff. The industry is in a ROUGH place right now and people are trying to survive.
And as an example... I have a close to $3k transfer case order in the works that's close to a month late. Am I mad? Nope. It's from a smaller shop who does killer work and I'm checking in every couple weeks through various methods until I hear from them each time for an update. Call, and if they don't pick up wait a bit and call again. Leave a voicemail. Maybe they call back, maybe not. Try again the next day.
We're in this as a hobby. It's not like we need to build our little trucks in order to take our kids to school or commute across the outback to work. We do it because it's fun and a delay on a part is not the end of the world.
Amazon, Walmart, and other mega-retailers have ruined our sense of purchasing patience. Remember ordering something from the back of a magazine, where you would send a check in the mail and hope the item shows up 2-3 months later? I'm not even 40 and I remember that.
Edit: and just to continue my example, I called the shop back today (at a different time of day) and caught the owner who told me the he's been waiting on one backordered bearing, it's been shipped to him, and he has tracking for it to arrive this week. I thanked him for working hard to get all the parts to finish my build and let him know that I understand the current wonky supply situation. If every call/email he gets is someone yelling or complaining or threatening his business, one day he's going to say "EFF THIS" and another good business will close. Keep that in mind.
