Anytime You Hear "Those are on backorder, but will...

Eric Patterson

Eric Patterson

Administrator
Staff member
be in on such and such date." my advice is to say "I don't believe they will be in anywhere near that date, please cancel the order. I will find a place that has them in stock."

Mack's, Cabelas, BassPro, etc., have never once in 32 years delivered an item close to the backorder date. Why don't they just be truthful and say they don't know when the slow boat from China will arrive and you'd be better to look for another item or find someone who has them in stock.

I gave up on backordered items years ago after being strung along but wanted a pair of waders and I was willing to wait on. My own damn fault. The backorder date was just pushed until the middle of duck season. I knew they would do that. Now I've go to find another pair. Thomas outgrew his and I gave him my pair. Argghhhh.
 
I feel your pain. Dealing with the same thing with some flooring for a customer right now. They keep giving me dates then the next week it gets pushed back again. Frustrating.
 
Why don't they just be truthful and say they don't know when the slow boat from China will arrive and you'd be better to look for another item or find someone who has them in stock.
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I would make the argument that they know when the boat will arrive, they just won't tell because they know a sale will be lost if they do. :).

I hardly ever backorder because I've had the same experience as you.
 
i looked to order something from a major vendor last night

picked the color and size and instead of "in stock" the note appeared "will ship in 30 to 31 months"

MONTHS - 2 1/2 years - heck yes take my money lol
 
I hate that as well.

Not to make an excuse for your vendor Eric but sometimes there is another story. On the products I am now responsible for I am back ordered tens of thousands of units. Most is our fault but some is not. We had a customer decide to up their purchase schedule by almost half a year. This was unplanned and since we can only make so many a day, we are way behind. Because this is our biggest purchasing customer, their order goes to the head of the line and others go on back order. Not fair I understand.

The boat is scheduled to arrive in port from China November 19. These dates, set weeks in advance, are usually spot on. We are so confident that the boats arrive on time we set our delivery dates from them 1-2 days to get through customs, 2-3 days ship to our distribution centers and then 2 days to ship to customers

Here is what is happening to these orders. The workers at the Port of Los Angeles don't like something going on and are now creating a work slow down. We don't know how long it is going to last and what the impact is going to be. Last time this happens it delayed product several weeks. We are now seeing if the ships docking port can be changed and what that will add to time.

I've also had a ship sink once rounding Southern Africa. This product was going to our biggest customer. I couldn't control that one but I paid dearly. We made product for First Solar and in our contract we were required to pay for every solar panel not sold due to lack of our product.

I've had planes get grounded, suffered through strikes, mine accidents, bankrupt suppliers, and dealt with lying cheating bastards among the many reasons/excuses for creating back orders. In the days of get it here just in time,sometimes this happens.

Not making excuses, sometimes the supplier can provide a delivery date they are comfortable with and then things beyond their control happen. When that one ship sank I claimed Force Majeure per contract terms but the customer didn't care.

Mark W
 
I hate that as well.

Not to make an excuse for your vendor Eric but sometimes there is another story. On the products I am now responsible for I am back ordered tens of thousands of units. Most is our fault but some is not. We had a customer decide to up their purchase schedule by almost half a year. This was unplanned and since we can only make so many a day, we are way behind. Because this is our biggest purchasing customer, their order goes to the head of the line and others go on back order. Not fair I understand.

The boat is scheduled to arrive in port from China November 19. These dates, set weeks in advance, are usually spot on. We are so confident that the boats arrive on time we set our delivery dates from them 1-2 days to get through customs, 2-3 days ship to our distribution centers and then 2 days to ship to customers

Here is what is happening to these orders. The workers at the Port of Los Angeles don't like something going on and are now creating a work slow down. We don't know how long it is going to last and what the impact is going to be. Last time this happens it delayed product several weeks. We are now seeing if the ships docking port can be changed and what that will add to time.

I've also had a ship sink once rounding Southern Africa. This product was going to our biggest customer. I couldn't control that one but I paid dearly. We made product for First Solar and in our contract we were required to pay for every solar panel not sold due to lack of our product.

I've had planes get grounded, suffered through strikes, mine accidents, bankrupt suppliers, and dealt with lying cheating bastards among the many reasons/excuses for creating back orders. In the days of get it here just in time,sometimes this happens.

Not making excuses, sometimes the supplier can provide a delivery date they are comfortable with and then things beyond their control happen. When that one ship sank I claimed Force Majeure per contract terms but the customer didn't care.

Mark W
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Interesting stuff Mark.
 
Mark

Appreciate the insights on product shipping and importation. You've left no doubt there are complexities in the system. As a consumer I've learned the backorder dates always move to the right. Never seen one that didn't and my usual response is to cancel and go with another vendor or item. This time I went against my own rule and lost. Looking for an alternative right now.
 
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