ScooterWorks being flaky?

z20k · Post by **z20k** » Tue Nov 27, 2012 10:46 pm

Has anyone else had issues ordering by phone with ScooterWorks lately? I called yesterday and was told they need to "sku up my order" and would call me back.. flash forward 24 hours and I give them a call back to ask what was taking so long. Guy tells me there's only two of them and that he'd have the other guy I spoke with yesterday give me a call.. that was about 5 hours ago.

ScooterWorks is pretty much -the- only source for these parts and if this is what I have to go through every time I need something.. might as well cash out on my buddy and go with another brand.

viney266 · Post by **viney266** » Wed Nov 28, 2012 12:00 am

There is another source...Your local Genuine dealer?

z20k · Post by **z20k** » Wed Nov 28, 2012 12:04 am

All they do is order from ScooterWorks Direct which is the same people with a different pricing set.

The entire reason I've resorted to ordering directly from ScooterWorks is because my local shop doesn't keep a lot in stock and I know for a fact that they'd need to order this stuff themselves.

Really annoying..

viney266 · Post by **viney266** » Wed Nov 28, 2012 12:10 am

Well, I do know scooterworks is a small company, so you may have guys on vacation for the holidays... I have problems getting through on the phone sometimes ,too.

If you get it at the local dealer you save shipping at least, AND you get to support a local biz.

skully93 · Post by **skully93** » Wed Nov 28, 2012 12:38 am

I have found this with a lot of places. I really prefer to support my local shop, but sometimes I don't want to wait 2 weeks. For my Kymco, I bought:

From local shop:
tires
sliders

Online:
Headlight
variator
belt
air filter
clutch
brake pads
contra spring

Only 3 of those were available on Amazon, 2 from different sources. The rest were all from different places. I did save @$200 on the parts, but some of them potentially won't arrive for a week or two. My local dealer takes 4-6 days at times to get a tire on (got a nail in the last one).

I think this is indicative of having a small market. Brick and mortar stores can only carry a little bit, because sitting inventory is like lost $$. Online is OK, but it's sometimes seemingly sketchy and a lot of them are overseas, or wait until there are larger orders to be shipped from the manufacturer. Hopefully as sales rise a bit, this will become less of an issue.

laxer · Post by **laxer** » Wed Nov 28, 2012 12:40 am

Have you tried scooterlouneonline?

Dooglas · Post by **Dooglas** » Wed Nov 28, 2012 12:44 am

Of course, you may own and ride whatever scooter you wish. I have to ask though - what is this other scooter importer that you would choose to patronize because they operate an on-line and telephone retail parts outlet which is easier to use? Just asking.

velobuff · Post by **velobuff** » Wed Nov 28, 2012 5:43 am

When are we putting it all in?

skully93 wrote:I have found this with a lot of places. I really prefer to support my local shop, but sometimes I don't want to wait 2 weeks. For my Kymco, I bought:

From local shop:
tires
sliders

Online:
Headlight
variator
belt
air filter
clutch
brake pads
contra spring

Only 3 of those were available on Amazon, 2 from different sources. The rest were all from different places. I did save @$200 on the parts, but some of them potentially won't arrive for a week or two. My local dealer takes 4-6 days at times to get a tire on (got a nail in the last one).

I think this is indicative of having a small market. Brick and mortar stores can only carry a little bit, because sitting inventory is like lost $$. Online is OK, but it's sometimes seemingly sketchy and a lot of them are overseas, or wait until there are larger orders to be shipped from the manufacturer. Hopefully as sales rise a bit, this will become less of an issue.

z20k · Post by **z20k** » Wed Nov 28, 2012 2:36 pm

Dooglas wrote:Of course, you may own and ride whatever scooter you wish. I have to ask though - what is this other scooter importer that you would choose to patronize because they operate an on-line and telephone retail parts outlet which is easier to use? Just asking.

I'd probably go with a vintage vespa since years and years of parts have built up all over for them.

I don't mind there being ONE source of parts, but I'm now sitting on day three of just trying to COMPLETE an order, let alone receive it.

skully93 · Post by **skully93** » Wed Nov 28, 2012 2:49 pm

velobuff wrote:When are we putting it all in?

skully93 wrote:I have found this with a lot of places. I really prefer to support my local shop, but sometimes I don't want to wait 2 weeks. For my Kymco, I bought:

From local shop:
tires
sliders

Online:
Headlight
variator
belt
air filter
clutch
brake pads
contra spring

Only 3 of those were available on Amazon, 2 from different sources. The rest were all from different places. I did save @$200 on the parts, but some of them potentially won't arrive for a week or two. My local dealer takes 4-6 days at times to get a tire on (got a nail in the last one).

I think this is indicative of having a small market. Brick and mortar stores can only carry a little bit, because sitting inventory is like lost $$. Online is OK, but it's sometimes seemingly sketchy and a lot of them are overseas, or wait until there are larger orders to be shipped from the manufacturer. Hopefully as sales rise a bit, this will become less of an issue.

Chris is going to have a Maintenance Day, and Kym will be the example. When we did the sliders, it became apparent to me a lot of stuff needed replacing, so I figured I would do it during the cooler season.

Still hoping for one more weekend we could come up to your neck of the woods on a non-school day!

Dooglas · Post by **Dooglas** » Wed Nov 28, 2012 5:17 pm

z20k wrote:I'd probably go with a vintage vespa since years and years of parts have built up all over for them. I don't mind there being ONE source of parts, but I'm now sitting on day three of just trying to COMPLETE an order, let alone receive it.

Okay, fair enough. You don't think that any scooter importer does the parts supply job as you'd like it done. (and as an aside, I get Buddy parts online/telephone from Motorsport (ScooterWest). They run a good operation and are quite responsive in my experience.)

z20k · Post by **z20k** » Wed Nov 28, 2012 5:54 pm

I will say this, they just called and completed the order and apologized for the delay.

I'll chalk this up the parts being atypical and the holiday rush.

easy · Post by **easy** » Thu Nov 29, 2012 12:53 pm

I think there good people well except there 100% responsable for my lemon head candy addiction. Sure wished they had there site set up like scooter on line. I might be wrong but most of the buddy parts they order from scooter works

z20k · Post by **z20k** » Thu Nov 29, 2012 3:39 pm

easy wrote:I think there good people well except there 100% responsable for my lemon head candy addiction. Sure wished they had there site set up like scooter on line. I might be wrong but most of the buddy parts they order from scooter works

That's exactly how they operate. They utilize their Scooterworks Direct account as a means of doing drop shipping or similar. I don't want to take bread out of their mouths but it's easier sometimes to just call scooterworks yourself.

buddyguy · Post by **buddyguy** » Fri Nov 30, 2012 1:16 am

z20k wrote:
easy wrote:I think there good people well except there 100% responsable for my lemon head candy addiction. Sure wished they had there site set up like scooter on line. I might be wrong but most of the buddy parts they order from scooter works
That's exactly how they operate. They utilize their Scooterworks Direct account as a means of doing drop shipping or similar. I don't want to take bread out of their mouths but it's easier sometimes to just call scooterworks yourself.

It's definitely easier to order from scooterworks online. However, supporting your local dealer has a higher value than just the couple of days you save on ordering it yourself. The more orders the dealer can put in to SW the better chances he has of getting better deals, which in turn he can run sales that will benefit the customer directly. Most of all it will help your LD stay in business longer. I don't know if you've noticed but lots of the small mom and pop scooter dealers, and repair shops are going out of business. I often wonder if the scooter community contributes their share by buying online.