The point is many times mfgs have no info on when an item will be ready to ship.

If the item is made with a number of suppliers you are held up by them. Of then they have no dates.

Stream lining would be nice but due to economics you can’t do much in house or even in country anymore.

The economics of the performance industry is tough. If a vendor just loses one major distributor it could mean bankruptcy.

Many suppliers may not make a part till there us enough items ordered. They can’t tool up got just small numbers.

I even work in the industry and know the people at most suppliers and even I wait for my parts some times months.

Yes it suck and now you have to plan ahead. Never tear down a car hill parts are in hand.

A few decades ago you could not even order parts. You want an intake you made it. Can you cut it, headers you welded it. So it could be a lot worse.

 

A few decades ago you could not even order parts. You want an intake you made it. Can you cut it, headers you welded it. So it could be a lot worse.

What are you talking about?

 

If you knew your history back in the early days of hot rodfing you made your own parts. If you were lucky you get a hold of someone like Iskenderun and he personally cut the cam for you. There were few parts outside a flat head so you had to fabricate them.

Ramchargers a group of Chrysler engineers were well known for their odd intakes and crazy home made headers.

These companies want to sell parts as they need the sales. Some sre not well organized, some are economically limited. And we already cover many challenges. Sone fail sone don’t.

If you don’t want to wait cancel and buy something else. If you want it bad enough you will wait.

None of this is a personal threat on you. You hold the key.

Nearly every vendor can relate to tge challenges.

 

Im quite familiar with the history. I misunderstood your reference of a few decades to also include the late ‘40’s and early 50’s. By the late 50’s and early 60’s there were catalogue retailers selling performance parts such as manifolds and headers that far back. Edelbrock was already manufacturing intake manifolds in the 50’s.

BTW, I was an early, and long time customer at Isky as I lived nearby. I used their products from the 60’s in my Corvettes and other cars, all the way through the 2000’s in my blown race engines. From the onset I always felt welcome standing at their counter for advice and custom manufacturing. Great guys there.

 

Isky still is turning cams and he is going to be 101 years old this year.

Even in the 50’s sone of the new engines got home made stuff as no one had parts for a while. I have a local that had an early Hemi that had a home made intake from the 50’s.

Joe Lunati also was a great guy.

We used Reed cams racing circle track. They knew what you needed and would cut it.

 

By the same token hyperv, the fact that some business entities have poor customer service is not a personal threat to you.
Unless you take people's money and then do nothing until xxxx amount of time later when your supplier gets you your stuff.
You should be transparent, allowing people to make informed decisions on whether to do business with you or not.
If you offer a product or service and say 'you'll hear nothing until your product arrives in a few years', that's fine. People can make their own choice.
If you offer a product or service and say 'you'll get daily status updates until your product arrives' and then do nothing for a few years that's not fine. You've lied.

I agree with you that some customers have unrealistic expectations. Transparency can fix most of that. And when it can't you fire that customer.

 

There is the world we wish for and then there is the world we live in. All things are not equal and never will be.

Don't mistake me excusing it I am just explaining it and why it happens. Where I am we have some of the best service possible but there are still info and things we can provide as the MFGs can provide it for us. Also we can not speed up production as it happens when it happens. You may not like it and we may not like it but some of it you have to live with.

Offenhauser makes intakes only if and when they get enough orders for a run. It may take several years. They offer enough odd things people will wait..

If we do have too much issue on back orders we will put a hold on new orders to prevent people sitting on back order. Then they get mad at use for not taking the order.

Things were never great and it only got worse with he latest economics, shipping and labor issues. Since covid it just never recovered. Add to it inflation many are cutting back on staff to keep prices down.

No matter what some running for office like to say times are not all that good in all areas.

Some customers would not be happy if we executed the salesman that sold them the wrong part that in some cases we see they ordered off the web but blame someone they never spoke to. Not many are like that but they are out there.

I just want to try to pull the curtain back and show things are not always as many think they are behind the scenes. I used to think what most others think till I got here and now I see the realities.

Most places don't have enough people to answer the phones and that means the few they have doing the web can be way behind sending info out to customers. If they hire more people then it cost go up and no one is happen then either. Prices may be high but profits are in volume not per unit.