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It is obvious that a certain policy on our parts sales is causing some confusion that apparently some construe as bad customer service.
I am listening to the arguments, some make some sense, and others are just the usual words of those who don't have the desire or capability to see a situation from another point of view. I really think it is blown way out of proportion.
We are easy to contact, extremely knowlegeable, do our best to get you the right part as quick as possible, we undoubtedly have the most to choose from. Collectively our understanding of the car, its parts, interchanges, etc is unsurpassed. We go out of the way to save the customer money. Example: Someone calls and say they need a rear differential.
We always ask why they think they need it, symtoms, etc.
The answer is usually because some other shop, dealer said I did. We often determine that the diff bushings are bad and have to talk the customer out of buying a diff, and instead purchase the bushings for a small fraction of the cost. We could easily make the sale on the $400 item. I could name countless other examples that come up daily, some a little more complicated. We try to help customers get what they need for the best price. We are the best at diagnosing a problem or advising on a performance upgrade because we just see so much of it and have so much hands on experience. We know this type of personal attention and fiscally sound advice keeps people coming back. We are a very specialized operation, we usually have what you are looking for. There are additional costs associated with the way we operate as that compared to a standard salvage yard. We often pay more for our cars, buy them all over and have them shipped in, as there are not enough wrecked 300zx's locally to support our salvage demands. We are much more meticulous in caring for and organizing our parts as we value every part down to the last nut and bolt. We don't do the volume we would if we were doing all kinds of cars. Therefore the smaller odd and ends most junkyards crush we sell for a more premium price, although still a fraction of dealer cost. The point is you can't call up a regular junkyard and expect them to really know what you are looking for, especially on the more specialized items, and they definetely can't give you advice on if that part is really what you need, installation, compatability. Plus you really don't have to search for days, we probably have it. We often have the same part used, new, rebuilt, or maybe a performance replacement. Lots of options. Just because our minimum shipped order is $20 doesn't mean we have some evil motive. Call a standard salvage yard up and tell them you need a defrost button and you need it shipped to you, most will tell you that they will not even deal with such an item. If they do, most have a minimum shipped order. You can physically go there and get the part for almost nothing.
When customers come to Z1 they are often allowed to walk around and pick up spare parts. Most people pick up a lot of odds and ends, trim pieces, etc. They find a defrost button they need, ask me how much I usually say a couple bucks, if you are getting a lot of work done or other parts it may be free. There is not really overhead involved in that. I pay an enormous amount out in salary each week. I am in credit card debt futher that I would have ever imagined. I am not getting rich off of Z1. Sometimes I think it actually costs money to run. The sales volume we have to maintain is almost extaordinary considering our profit margins. Here is the part that many of you don't get. The specialization inherently means that we will sell lots of the little stuff that most junkyards just crush, because everyone is just calling about parts for one car. We try to sell the parts until there is nothing left but a shell. In order for this all to work and even break even we have to get a reasonable price for the parts. The prices are usually between half and a fouth of new, sometimes even a tenth. We have to make a lot of profit on the little stuff we deal with to pay the thousands of dollars it take to keep this place open. I am actually paying salary for the time required to dissasemble, organize, sell, pack, and ship these items. I pay two people full time just to answer phones and e-mails, sell, pack, and ship parts. They are incredibly busy. It is all we can do to keep up. The phone rings constantly, usually 2 or 3 lines going at a time, emails are pouring in, we have to pull the parts whether its 100 or 30 degrees and raining , creatively box them, and get them out the door as soon as possible. Not to mention help customers with problems, deal with suppliers that don't give a damn about getting your supply of parts to you on time or correctly, insure the thousands of parts we have are in inventory and order more when they start getting low, just to name a small fraction of the things we do all day. Much less deal with the service departments parts needs, customers, planning the flow of labor and parts to get jobs done on time, down to making sure the floor is swept and the trash cans are empty. Robert, John, and I are the hardest working people you will find all day long, just trying to keep Z1 running.
A customer calls in on the phone trying to describe a nut or bolt they need, we give them as much personal attention as possible, try to insure we get the right part. We charge them for the part and are charged some fee via CC machine. we put the order in the "to ship" location with the other 50 orders. When we have an opportunity we have to go find the part, maybe even go outside uncover a car, take stuff apart.
We then have to find a box to put the part in, packing material, tape it up securely. Then we have to fill out shipping information. And of course there is the $500 weekly UPS bill. We rarely deal with the post office because they tend to lose and break almost everything and don't have standard tracking info, etc. So if you call or e-mail us and ant to buy any Z part and have it shipped to you. If it is one screw, it is our policy to charge a flat $20 which includes shipping for that part. If it is a $15 part and shipping is $5 then you are still charged $20 shipped. If it is a $50 part and shipping is $5 you will pay $55 shipped.
If you have a problem with that you think we are bad people and can't stand to deal with us because we are out to rip all of you off, then we probably didn't really want to deal with you in the first place if your that illogical.
Russell Floyd Z1 Motorsports
www.z1motorsports.com
1990+ Nissan Z specialists Used Parts, New parts, Service/Repair and Performance 1200 Carrollton Hwy
Temple, Ga 30179 770-562-8668
770-562-8664 (fax) .JPG)
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