Re: VEXPro Out of Stock
 

Paul,

We received our order yesterday but it didn't have our versahubs. On our VEXPro account, it said that they shipped with the original shipment? Is there any reason that it would have said this when in reality we weren't getting our hubs???

Other than that, everything else in our order was fantastic!

Re: VEXPro Out of Stock
 

You should call VexPro directly to talk to someone about your order status.

Re: VEXPro Out of Stock
 

As long as this doesn't detract from RC getting me the four WCP DS gearboxes I inexplicably ordered from the distributor furthest away from my location, before this weekend, I don't mind him helping out! ;)

I'd also love for the gearbox assembly documentation to appear online before the weekend.

Re: VEXPro Out of Stock
 

In your box would a packing of what was shipped in the shipment & a list of items on back order (if any) Your online Vexpro account doesn't show that. You can also call/email them.

Re: VEXPro Out of Stock
 

We *shouldn't* need a ballshifter for our design, but we might if our current design falls through. Can we expect the ballshifter to return to "in stock" before ship day, or should we assume the worst and plan around other options?

Re: VEXPro Out of Stock
 

I've not to posted in this thread as I don't want to people to look down upon myself or the team I mentor, but we are quite frankly stuck and very frustrated at this point.

We were happy Vexpro customers last season despite a couple minor quality issues. When we saw the new releases this year we decided to go all in. We bought the versa chassis and plates, the three 3 cim ball shifters ....the whole 9 yards on 12/12/13.

While we received a majority of the items ordered, we are missing some very crucial parts. These parts were marked as ships before kickoff when the order was placed. We are waiting for 217-3210 3/8" hex broached 30 tooth gears and 217-3288 short shifter shaft assembly.

There are other parts we knew we had to wait to receive such as the 217-3432 versablocks and the 217-3437 axle shafts but even these parts were originally marked ships 1/15. We figured we could count on Vex to ship on that date and we knew at the time of ordering it wouldn't affect our build season as long as the ship date was kept. Our bad I guess?

We tend to be pretty forgiving and patient about orders. We didn't get upset when none of our order shipped before kickoff. We didn't even inquire about our backordered items until 1/16. When we inquired about our back ordered parts we received an email telling us that "We will have these parts in by Monday at the latest and I have bumped your shipping up to next day air to get them to you asap." So good we have an idea when our parts are going to be here...Monday comes and goes no tracking information. Tuesday we emailed vex again...no response. Today we called vex and were told we will have our parts by end of day Friday. We are now yet another week behind and are running out of things to do before we get our backordered parts. Worse yet there is not even a tracking number to say we will have our parts by end of day Friday.

We are at the point that we need to make the decision to stick with vex or go with other products that we know know we can receive in a timely manor or manufacture with our limited machining resources. Although we are a veteran team, our budget is very tight. We have spent a huge chunk of our budget on Vexpro and are seriously starting to doubt our decision. At this point in the game we could have custom built our own ball shifting transmissions and still kept on track.

While I know predicting a big rush on orders is both a difficult and dangerous task for companies, the biggest complaint I have is not receiving items that were marked as in stock or ships before kickoff when we placed our order 12/12/13. I'm still very concerned because items just keep getting further and further delayed and we have been told several different things about when the orders will ship and so fourth. I recall some other company being dragged through the mud around 2007 about not meeting supply requirements or 2011 about case shorts in their motors and not getting back to customers with accurate shipping information. We expect better out of Vexpro!

This just in:
"We are committed to shipping all back orders, with the exception of P/N 217-3414 & 217-3416 (being held by customs) before the weekend"
We surely hope this is the final statement about our order with the addition of so that your team will have them by this weekend!

Re: VEXPro Out of Stock
 

We ordered a dog gear (i think 40 tooth) and a 50 tooth gear before it was out of stock over a week ago. Will it arrive? If so, when?

Also, we ordered enough parts for one robot. This year, we're going with two. Will the dog gears/bearings ever be back in stock before ship, or are we making our own?

I'm not really looking forward to turning down hex shafts to fit in round bearings and making the dog gear/bearing pockets in gears...

Re: VEXPro Out of Stock
 

Cliff,

I sincerely apologize for the delay. We released the entire remaining order today, which included Versablock, Versachassis Hex, 34T gear, 30T gear, 40T dog gear and the short shifter shaft.

I had a hard time finding your order because I searched on the 12/12 you stated the order was placed. Eugene Howell placed the order 11082935 at 8:42am and paid via CC. This item shipped Next day air and Mr. Howell was sent the shipping confirmation with tracking number.

Again, I apologize for the inconvenience.


All,

Any order that was placed for Versablocks on Jan 8 or earlier has shipped today either Second Day air or better.

Paul

Re: VEXPro Out of Stock
 

Paul,

Thank you so much for looking into this! Also thank you to vex for expediting these orders. We can't wait to make our robot whole.

Re: VEXPro Out of Stock
 

When do you anticipate having the 1/2" hex shaft collars and bearings back in stock?

Re: VEXPro Out of Stock
 

We are receiving inventory hourly and sending it directly to the warehouse to ship backorders. The website is being changed as parts come back into stock, so it remains an excellent resource to check for up-to-the-minute updates.

If you have questions regarding your backorder shipments, just a reminder that you can contact us three ways:

- sales@vexrobotics.com

- (903) 453-0802 (Customer Service)

- PM me, and please include your order number

I am checking frequently to ensure that any messages are addressed ASAP, and we are monitoring the Sales email/phone lines throughout the day.

Re: VEXPro Out of Stock
 

I can vouch for that! All my questions have been answered promptly and specifically. Thanks again, Amanda, and everyone else at Vex.

Re: VEXPro Out of Stock
 

Looks like 2/3 of our shipments were shipped next-day-air to receive by tomorrow, but the one shipment that has all of our gearbox parts was shipped 2-day air... won't get it till monday..

I guess no drivetrain till week four.......

Re: VEXPro Out of Stock
 

PM me your order number and I will investigate. We switched all eligible orders to Next Day Air.

EDIT: NVM, I found your orders.

Re: VEXPro Out of Stock
 

Was there some kind of mix up?

I was hoping maybe the gearbox parts are in the next-day-air packages by some chance - maybe to save on shipping or something.. and then less essential parts put into the 2-day air (aka our orders merged into an assortment of three packages).

Or will it really be coming monday?

Re: VEXPro Out of Stock
 

We are trying to contact UPS to change the shipment to Next Day. Something went horribly wrong during the UPS label printing and scanning process. They should have been Next Day.

We will update you as soon as we get an answer from UPS.

Paul

Re: VEXPro Out of Stock
 

Thanks a lot for the prompt responses and trying to get things sorted out, It means the world to us.

Re: VEXPro Out of Stock
 

Just logged on to our account and noticed our package was shipped (11lbs) next day air. Looks like we will be getting our gearboxes before the weekend!

Thank you Vex! :)

Re: VEXPro Out of Stock
 

Paul and VEX Staff,

Can you provide any more information on the 4" Mecanum wheels? I keep hearing 2 or 3 days every time I call. Can you tell us what the hold up is or where the container is?

Thanks again

Re: VEXPro Out of Stock
 

Allen,

I'm holding some in my hands, they exist and are releasing today!

Cute little buggers.

-Aren

Re: VEXPro Out of Stock
 

Aww, how cute! :o

As far as I've heard, all of 1675's stuff is arriving today and we should be driving around tomorrow. Thanks for all your hard work, everyone!

Re: VEXPro Out of Stock
 

We are waiting for these, too. Are they going to ship today? That'd be very exciting -- they're the only thing holding up our drive.

Re: VEXPro Out of Stock
 

Just released your order - it will ship today as well.

Enjoy!

Best,
Ricky

Re: VEXPro Out of Stock
 

Thanks Aren and Ricky, I called customer support 2 mins before posting that. I guess word travels on CD faster then through your building. Looking forward to having them Monday.

Re: VEXPro Out of Stock
 

Awesome :) Thanks so much, y'all.

Re: VEXPro Out of Stock
 

CD is much better for us because we can process orders, look up inventory, etc. in parallel. When we are on the phone things happen so fast we may miss a conversation two people are having about an in stock part, testing on a new part from production, etc.

While it has been an exciting last few weeks I would just rather be in stock. There is always next season:)

Things will be popping up in stock the next several days, but we are doing a physical count to make sure the system says what we really have.

Paul

Re: VEXPro Out of Stock
 

Hey I got the shaft today!


I know we(me) give you $%^# about getting our stuff but the level of customer service from Vex is amazing.


BTW That was 36" Hex shaft.

Re: VEXPro Out of Stock
 

Is there an estimated time for 54:30 gear kit???

Re: VEXPro Out of Stock
 

Just wanted to give another thanks to the vexpro team. We received our backordered items yesterday and everything looks good. We can't wait to assemble tomorrow morning.

Maybe this is the right place, maybe it's not. We ordered WCP 2 Speed DS gearboxes on January 6th and the order status still says "awaiting fulfillment."

Is there any idea on when these will get out?

Re: VEXPro Out of Stock
 

Who did you order from: West Coast Products, VEX, or The Robot Space?

The order was placed specifically through WCP.

Re: VEXPro Out of Stock
 

Order number?

Sorry. #387

Re: VEXPro Out of Stock
 

For whatever reason, when I read that, this image came to mind...




On a more related note though, I can also attest to the excellent quality of the VEXPro Customer service, I went to call the other day about an order we placed a week or two ago that had arrived with only a few of the parts in the order. After providing the order number and before even asking a question, the person on the phone informed me that the order would be shipped the next day and that it was being upgraded to next day air.

Waiting to get to out build site tonight to see if it arrived today with everything in it, but regardless I must applaud the customer service reps and their near telepathic abilities. :D

Re: VEXPro Out of Stock
 

We ordered a bunch of stuff late Wednesday night (1/24) and I checked the order this morning to see if I could get a tracking number to find out when it would arrive. It said the order was still "processing". With the incredible volume VexPro is moving it didn't surprise me that they might be a little behind.

A few hours later I got a note from another teacher in our workspace that our order had already arrived!

Thanks for getting it here so fast and keeping the site updated so that we knew for sure what was in stock.

Stuff happens, I believe it is how you deal with it that shows your character.

VexPro has been amazingly honest and transparent and has definitely bent over backwards to do what they can to address the low inventory.

We will definitely order again next year!
Thanks!

Re: VEXPro Out of Stock
 

Wow, looks like we are in the same boat as everyone else. When we purchased our WCP single speed transmissions ( order #420) on 1/11 it said it would ship on 1/15. We figured that we would have had them by early this week and could have them tested and implemented by tomorrow. I checked on Monday and was told they would ship this week overnight. I was still hopeful we could have them by tomorrow and get our lower mechanical done and focus on getting the rest done. I emailed RC today and he said they were shipping out from VEX. I still haven't heard anything about them.

When we discussed make vs buy we were willing to free up equipment for other fabrication and spend the extra to buy, assuming we would have had them by now. The cost benefit is quickly becoming less benefit and more cost.

Overall I am pleased with the stuff and support we have had from VEX. This past fall when one of our Mecanum wheel hub broke, you quickly shipped us a new one. Thanks. Furthermore, I understand that you are less profitable if you have a ton of stock left over when build season ends. I just remember the level of unhappiness bane-bots got a couple of years back when they were caught off guard by the number of orders they got in a short period of time. This really doesn't seem much different. It is nice to know that you understand the stress of build season and are very upfront about your issues.

Good luck guys. We all need it for you.

Re: VEXPro Out of Stock
 

When we set up the two distributors this year we did it for a few main reasons:

1. Make it less expensive for teams to ship from a more local place.

2. Decrease the time it takes for teams to receive parts.

These two things will happen assuming you order from the place that makes the most geographical sense for you. I can tell you with certainty that teams are absolutely baffling me with their decisions on where to purchase. We have teams from the Midwest purchasing from VEX and WCP, teams from the West Coast purchasing from VEX and The Robot Space, and teams from Texas (even 10 miles from our facility) are shipping from The Robot Space and West Coast Products. Maybe we needed to do a better job of explaining the best ordering practices and I have that in my notes for next season.

Regarding the orders from WCP, VEX is very late in shipping to our distributors. It was a new philosophy for us, parts were late, etc. As such, we offered to drop ship from our facility direct to their customers. RC gave me over 100 orders to place for WCP today and we shipped them all. WCP gave us specific shipping methods for each customer and we shipped to WCPs directions. We shipped all of the orders tonight with very few items on back order (the same items everyone already has heard about). All I can tell the WCP customers is that VEX shipped the items WCP asked us to ship, to the address we were requested to ship, using the shipping method we were requested to ship by.

I apologize for any confusion this has caused.

Paul

Re: VEXPro Out of Stock
 

Were any of those WCP orders shipped ground from you guys? Because if they were, I know ground from Texas to Portland most likely wouldn't get here until Monday the 3rd.

Or can you check our order to see if it was one of the orders shipped by you guys, and what method it was shipped? Ours is order #431, and it has our drive sprockets in it, so even getting our gearboxes today isn't going to allow us to finish because we don't have the sprockets.


Thanks

Re: VEXPro Out of Stock
 

All orders given to VEX were done via Overnight and 2 Day. If you have any questions, please shoot me an email. Trying to answer questions as fast as possible.

Thanks,

Re: VEXPro Out of Stock
 

Cool. Thank you guys for everything you do and how open you are. Its very refreshing knowing if we have problems we can ask in many different places and we will get a quick answer.

Re: VEXPro Out of Stock
 

Np,

If anyone has questions placed with WCP orders, please email me. We are a little behind but we are working with VEX to get all orders out to customers. We understand that teams need their parts ASAP.

Re: VEXPro Out of Stock
 

do you know when the 64t Gear with 1/2" Hex Bore will be back in stock?

Re: VEXPro Out of Stock
 

Chris,

I responded back to your email and we have them in stock.

Re: VEXPro Out of Stock
 

Thanks Paul. The where to buy from/where to ship from is not overly intuitive. I realized after I had placed the order that there probably was a closer location. I just didn't have time when I was placing the order where to go. It wouldn't hurt to put out a quick page for "if you live here, order from here"

No need for apologies, build season is a hectic time and trying to figure out the best place to order from is just one more thing to think about. I apologize for not taking 2 minutes to find the better place to go... I feel like I have said that before.

Re: VEXPro Out of Stock
 

OUR PARTS CAME IN

Re: VEXPro Out of Stock
 

WE GOT SOME OF OURS TOO!



(sorry, i'm not good at finding happy GIF's...)

Re: VEXPro Out of Stock
 

One of the problems you may be running into (at least with teams from Michigan, Texas, and California) is when you take in-state taxes into account, it actually makes it more expensive to order locally than it would be to have it shipped from the other side of the country (in some cases, even when you select faster, more expensive shipping methods).

It's likely not a big deal for smaller orders, but when you start dropping $500+ on gearboxes and wheels it adds up.

Re: VEXPro Out of Stock
 

I actually didn't think about that, but you are right, unless. You are ordering from a non-profit.

Re: VEXPro Out of Stock
 

Just because tax isn't collected doesn't mean it isn't owed.

http://www.window.state.tx.us/taxinfo/use/
http://www.michigan.gov/taxes/0,1607...5512--,00.html
http://www.boe.ca.gov/taxprograms/usetax/

Re: VEXPro Out of Stock
 

While I agree, it is a rule that is almost never followed or enforced.

Re: VEXPro Out of Stock
 

Thanks, Paul and the VexPro team for helping us out with the problem in shipping yesterday.

Wish we got our parts today but overjoyed we'll have them tomorrow and not monday :)

A bit of question of that, by the way - the package you reshipped for saturday delivery (tomorrow) contains our two WCD DS gearboxes.. however today we got a package that contained two 50-tooth DOG shifter gears and two 24T gears w 3/8" hex. Is there any reason these shipped separately?

Re: VEXPro Out of Stock
 

The gears were in stock early in the day but the gearboxes were not ready until late in the afternoon. Our system was set to ship as soon as available. Normally, this wouldn't happen.

Re: VEXPro Out of Stock
 

Hey Paul and RC-

Thanks for using this as a direct way to interact with you guys. The clarity is certainly helping the situation greatly.

Keep fighting the good fight!

-Brando

Re: VEXPro Out of Stock
 

I'm really glad I started this thread.

VexPro has been awesome this season despite some stock problems.

Keep up the good work!

Re: VEXPro Out of Stock
 

I want to say:

1) the versa frame materials, gear boxes, and everything else we've ordered are all here now. Vex has been responsive and helpful throughout, and anytime we needed an update, we got it right away.
2) the stuff is quality. We love it all.
3) the reasons for the back orders are nearly all that they hit the sweet spot with their products. They built what we all desired, and we all bought.
4) thank you Paul and team!

Re: VEXPro Out of Stock
 

Hoping for more Mini CIMs to come in stock. Also, are the WCP shifting dogs in stock? I ordered tonight, and I got an "oh-hold" message although it said ships the week of 1/20.

Also, it was a pleasant surprise to see our dog gears arrive with hex bearings in them. We weren't expecting that at all. I'd prefer them loose, but hey, they're "free" bearings. Now if only I could order about 10 more....

Re: VEXPro Out of Stock
 

We're waiting on MiniCIMs to come back in stock as well. They're not critical to our design but if we have the weight an 8 motor drive seems like a good idea.

Re: VEXPro Out of Stock
 

When will 217-3436 (WCP Side Bearing Block Kit) and 217-3634 (WCP Gearbox Bearing Block) come in? I gave Vex Sales a call earlier today and found out that our big order from week 1 was shipped next day air (yay!), but was not made aware of the missing Bearing Blocks. Thought things would be on track for weekend drivetrain assembly until I got a very thorough email from Amanda regarding our order, which mentioned that both 217-3436 and 217-3634 are backordered.

What worries me more is there is no promise of a delivery date, only that "those will ship out as soon as we have them." What do we do with that? Will we be waiting another 10 days past the originally stated 1/15 shipping date for these blocks?

I think this rollercoaster is just starting to get tiring. I thought things were finally settled until the bearing block backorder news. As "plugged in" as I thought I was to what was happening with our orders, this was news to me, and my tolerance for more curves in the road is wearing thin.

If there is a chance we wont get bearing blocks by 2/1/14, I'd really like to know, and we'll have one of our CNC sponsors make the blocks for us.

Really love the Vex Pro and WCP product lines. This just didn't play out like anyone hoped.

-Mike

Re: VEXPro Out of Stock
 

Mike,

Both 217-3436 and 217-3634 will be shipping next week. The 3634 is used in every WCP WCD version of the SS and DS gearboxes so we kitted most of the initial shipment in those gearboxes. As for the 217-3436, the initial surge of requests for that item was much higher than WCP and VEX forecasted, so we received fewer on our initial shipment. The good news is that the minimum order qty from my supplier is pretty large and the rest of the parts for the 3436 and the 3634 will be delivered to our Greenville, TX warehouse on Monday. We will be shipping those this week.


As for MiniCIMs, both West Coast Products and The Robot Space have stock of MiniCIMs. We shipped a little too many MiniCIMs to our distributors and left us with no inventory. WCP will be shipping MiniCIMs back to us this week, but I suggest just ordering them from WCP or TRS for now.

Paul

Re: VEXPro Out of Stock
 

This is probably a stretch, but is there an ETA for when individual ball shifter components are going to be back in stock?

Re: VEXPro Out of Stock
 

First off thank you to the WCP and VEXpro staff for handling this situation so well.

We received an email saying our parts would be shipped to arrive today, but did not receive a tracking number. The address to where it is to ship to has nobody there to receive the package, so we'd like to be able to check when it arrives. It is a continuation of order #421, made on January 11th to the WCP website. Would it be possible for us to get a tracking number on it?

Thanks a million.

Re: VEXPro Out of Stock
 

Andrew,

Emailed ya information!

Thanks,

Re: VEXPro Out of Stock
 

As promised, all of our parts arrived yesterday in seperate shipments from The Robot Space and direct from Vex. Thanks Paul and Clint for your help and for the communication through all of this. We had some minor issues assembling the gearboxes (switched bearings) and I noticed a few typos in the 3 Cim WCP assembly doc while it was up yesterday (couldnt find it today?) but otherwise we are extremely pleased with our products so far.

Re: VEXPro Out of Stock
 

If we were to order gears from you guys, would it be quicker to order from WCP or VEX. we are looking at the 18 and the 84 tooth half inch hex gears, and if we order them ground from vex, they would take a week. If we ordered them from WCP it would be quicker, but if they dont have them, it might be quicker to order from Vex. So which distributor would get them quicker ground to Oregon.

Also, when will the WCD SS's be back in stock? in case we need to buy a spare.

Re: VEXPro Out of Stock
 

We should have both gears in stock, shoot me an email with a number to call.

Re: VEXPro Out of Stock
 

MOE received both our 3 CIM ball shifters yesterday (upgraded to next day air, THANKS!) We were assembling them today using this guide and noticed that we got screws that were too long for step 7 unless there is a typo in the guide and they are suposed to stick out the other side of the housing. This is not a problem for us as we will be replacing them with even longer ones as part of our mounting system but I just thought I should let people know incase there is a packing problem or the guide should be changed.

Re: VEXPro Out of Stock
 

We noticed the same thing. I also noticed they didn't include the 1/4" shaft for the small plastic encoder gear. Not a problem for using shafted encoders like the Grayhills, but not good for those of us still using the US digital E4P. Luckily we still have them on our shifters from last year's robot.

Re: VEXPro Out of Stock
 

Just wondering when the 4" mecs might be back in stock? Our team really needs these to finish up our drive. While it isn't holding us back, we do want some driver practice on them. We have alternate mecanum set, but I'm really wanting to try these smaller ones, because we are going a lot faster thanks to the wonderful new gearboxes we got from you guys. These products are taking a while to trickle in, but they're all awesome.

And filling such a huge demand in a span of 2-3 weeks is no small feat....

Re: VEXPro Out of Stock
 

Paul or Other Vex Rep:
I will admit that I didn't understand that there were other options for ordering besides the Vex website until you brought up the subject here recently. Now that I know there are other outlets in other areas of the country, I am turning to those websites and finding that their stock listings vary from VexPro's, in terms of availability on some items (such as the hex shaft). Are they carrying more stock, or are their websites not as up-to-date as yours? I'd like to know, because frankly if there is a place where the items can ship soon, even if from across the country, I'll be placing an order. Thanks again.

Re: VEXPro Out of Stock
 

I believe Paul mentioned this a few pages back, the stock levels do differ between the suppliers, also in some cases VEXPro shipped a lot of stock to their suppliers but ran out themselves.

To answer your question (and correct me if I'm wrong VEXPro guys), you should be able to order from either of VEXPro's partners and the stock status on their websites should be accurate as they have separate inventories of VEXPro components.

Re: VEXPro Out of Stock
 

Last week Copioli said that Vex anticipated getting lots of 1" by 2" VersaFrame in by the end of the week, any word on that?

Re: VEXPro Out of Stock
 

As orders have started to be filled for the 3 Cim Ball Shifters, I was wondering if they would eventually be back in stock anytime soon? Our team used TB minis for our practice robot and I got all the CAD done for adding the shifters into our competition bot but was just wondering if I should change it to an AM gearbox, 2 Cim Ballshifter or just wait it out. Thank you so much for everything in this time of unbelievable pressure and craziness!!!

-Ryan

Re: VEXPro Out of Stock
 

Have any teams part of the transfer of WCP orders to VP received their parts yet? The last part of our order, which should have shipped through VP, hasn't arrived yet, and I was wondering if anyone else's had.

Re: VEXPro Out of Stock
 

Vex Employees, when are the 3' sections of 1/2" hex shaft, 3 CIM ball shifters, CIM motors, mini-CIM motors, and 1/2" hex collars expected to be back in stock? It's week 4 and we still don't even have a rolling chassis because of missing parts and are starting to get a little concerned. Thanks for your help.

Re: VEXPro Out of Stock
 

Yes, yesterday we received part of our WCP order shipped directly from VEX.

-Brando

Re: VEXPro Out of Stock
 

We didn't get so lucky. Ours will be arriving tomorrow, so we're adding a Monday meeting to try to make up for lost time.

But my 148 shirt just arrived in the mail, at least we got something from Greenville this weekend ;) (Thanks George!)

-Mike

Re: VEXPro Out of Stock
 

Quick update: we got our gearboxes Friday and finished assembling them on Saturday. They are now installed in the robot which is almost ready to run. I appreciate the hard work from the Vex Pro team getting everything shipped out!

Re: VEXPro Out of Stock
 

Oh, sweet! Hopefully we get ours today too.

Re: VEXPro Out of Stock
 

We are in need of an output shaft from the third stage of the 3 stage ball shifter (we lost one from last years' transmission). This is NOT the long output shaft listed on the Vexpro page. It is a long 1/2" hex shaft with one end turned round to fit into a bearing that is used to direct drive a wheel. I can't find a way to order one. Can we get that part?

Re: VEXPro Out of Stock
 

Martin,
We currently do not sell just that shaft by itself, shoot me an email at prosupport "@" vex.com and we'll figure something out.

-Aren

Re: VEXPro Out of Stock
 

We got our first set of 4in Mecanum wheels today and getting them put on our practice robot as I type. Can someone at VEX tell me if our other order has shipped I never got a notification. It's part of Order# 11086790.

Thanks again for the support.

Re: VEXPro Out of Stock
 

We show both shipped Friday and delivered today.

Let us know if you don't track it down.

Best,
Ricky

Re: VEXPro Out of Stock
 

Alright thanks Ricky, someone in the school might have picked them up. Also just so you know one of our wheels didn't come with screws, not a big deal (we have spares) but thought you would like to know.

Re: VEXPro Out of Stock
 

Hello
When can we expect to see the 217-3414 CIM 14T pinion gears that we ordered? At one point it was stated that they were in customs...

We can't make our robots move without them.
We did receive our transmissions today...(showed pinion gears for them on backorder)
tks


now in 4th week of build like everyone else..........

Re: VEXPro Out of Stock
 

Unfortunately we have no control over customs, and we've received no notification of when we'll receive these.

Our current estimate, based on other shipments we've had held in the past, is that these won't be available until at least next week. We contacted all customers on January 22nd that are affected by this held shipment and offered to remove the parts from orders if teams did not want to wait.

We apologize, but this delay is out of our hands. We will be shipping these immediately to all customers the same day we receive them in our warehouse.

For further questions, you can contact our Sales team at 903-453-0802 or sales@vexrobotics.com.

Thanks,
Amanda

Re: VEXPro Out of Stock
 

We are waiting for them too, but we were able to use old 14 tooth pinions that used to come in the KOP, so we had enough for a set of 6. Still waiting on 6 new ones for the comp bot.

Re: VEXPro Out of Stock
 

Do you remember which KOP year those were from? We need 4 for the practice bot and I guess we will have to wait until the last minute for the ones from VEX

Amanda
I hope you and VEX are aware of how this is affecting teams... I guess you are...but being delayed 1-2 weeks is one thing......

Not being able to use the transmissions we ordered before kickoff until probably the sixth week of build season is beyond my comprehension.

Did you have no pinion gears in stock ever? Is this the only shipment you were ever going to get?

By the way we ordered 4 transmissions and only received 2 pancake cylinders..there was no indication of a backorder on those... The packages included the transmissions according to our records. When can we expect to see those?

As an aside, the mentor that ordered these for our team indicated to me that he got no email regarding the pinion issue.

Re: VEXPro Out of Stock
 

Every KOP that included the toughboxes has 4 of them. so 2008-2010, then 2013-2014. So they are the same CIM gears that the toughboxes use.

Re: VEXPro Out of Stock
 

Got our versatubing, gussets, and most of our VEX orders in today! Thanks to everyone on the WCP and VEX teams for helping get everyone the parts they need despite this unfortunate setback. I can't wait for next year when we can use these amazing products and get them early on in the season.

Re: VEXPro Out of Stock
 

Thanks
I will take a look. We didn't use toughboxes for anything in those years and last year we didn't get the kitbot. I might have some old toughboxes lying around but I think we gave most of those transmissions away to other teams.
I looked on AndyMark and they have a 14 T CIM pinion in stock we checked pitch and they should work fine. I ordered 8. I ordered from AndyMark last Tuesday in the evening and got the order today with regular shipping. Pretty good for snowy and cold Indiana to Seattle shipping. At least I know that I will have these before the sixth week.

thanks for the help!!

We hope to see you guys in Portland this year!!
Maybe we can team up!

Re: VEXPro Out of Stock
 

Apparently our order hasn't left the shipping facility yet, unlike the other WCP orders that got transfered to VP. Sigh... maybe tomorrow's the day...

I too am really growing tired of this delaying and lack of adequate communications. When teams order things that are supposed to be in stock, and order before the time the distributor specifies by the latest time to ship, distributors should have the parts in the mail by the next day. If there are delays, teams deserve to be notified immediately, especially because they've already paid their money. Teams also deserve reasonable, non-nebulous dates for when they really can expect their parts. I can remember several times when we were told parts were getting received by the distributor and shipped to us by a certain date... but when that date arrived, the parts didn't.

I'm also quite dissatisfied at VEX's decision to prioritize teams that ordered directly from them over their distributors. We were told before the season started that ordering from our closest distributor would result in parts getting to us faster and cost less in shipping. Instead, we had to wait while incomplete shipments of parts were sent to our distributor, then packaged, then sent to us. If the distributors (and the teams that ordered from them) take a back seat to the teams that order directly from VEX, please tell us so. We'll gladly pay a bit extra in shipping in order to get the parts directly from Vex Pro.

I can understand that shipping from China is slow, and parts go out of stock when a lot of teams want them. That isn't what I see as the failure here. I'm annoyed that when VEX encountered delays, teams weren't properly informed. If the information we were getting had been correct, we'd have been driving our practice bot for weeks.

Up until around the 2012 season, BaneBots was known as the company which always ran out of stock and never shipped as fast as you wanted them to. I hope Vex Pro will not be the next company to take on this reputation.

Re: VEXPro Out of Stock
 

Bob, DampRobot

Please PM me your VEX or WCP order number and we can look into these issues better.

Thanks,
Ricky

Re: VEXPro Out of Stock
 

Bob,

A couple of things:

1. Did we have pinions gears in stock? Absolutely. We have never sold this item and I estimated a low usage in this first year and brought in a lower qty early. Why? Because I see no reason to use a pinion gear with an OD larger than the pilot diameter of the CIM motor. With the 12T and 11T pinion so abundant and the fact that they fit within the CIM motor pilot diameter I figured we would not sell that many 14T and 13T pinions. We sold out of these gears very quickly, which baffles me. To add to the pain, we have run into extensive shipping delays on the additional gears. BTW, these shipping delays are 100% due to US delays, not import delays. Lastly, everyone who ordered before Kickoff received their 14T pinions so I don't know where the confusion is, but if you can get us your order number then we can clear it up.

We e-mailed each and every customer that was affected by the 14T and 13T pinions individually. If your mentor that ordered did not receive the e-mail then having your order number will help track that disconnect as well.

We have offered to replace the 14 and 13T pinions with 12 or 11 tooth pinions and some customers have taken us up on this offer. There is no reason a lack of this pinion should keep you from driving.

2. Regarding the cylinders, we need your order number and we can figure out went went wrong. Without the order number, or at least the person's name who actually ordered the items, there is not much more we can do.

I get it, your frustrated. So am I. I am extremely sensitive to the needs of FRC teams. That is why we directly communicated to teams who ordered the 14T pinion. That is why we are actively responding on this thread. That is why we told our customers to go to AndyMark to get the 14T pinion.

Re: VEXPro Out of Stock
 

At least for our team, the reason we chose the 14 tooth pinions is because it gives the perfect ratio with the 50-24 gearset and 4 inch wheels with 6 cims. Ive seen alot around here that 10.5-11 fps after adjustments is what alot of teams run when they use 6 cims, and that requires the 14 tooths, because 12's are too slow when used with 50-24, and 12s with 30-44 is too fast. If you guys had something like a 47-27, with 12's that would be a perfect ratio and we would be happy with the adjustable there.

I do agree that 14 tooth pinions are not great because they dont fit thru the hole. Also, I've always disliked the andymark ones because the bore is really tight, so getting the gear off after putting it on is almost impossible. To solve this this year, we actually bored out the gears so they slip fit on, like the vex gears do.

Re: VEXPro Out of Stock
 

Your order from WCP, shipped by us, is set for delivery by 10:30am tomorrow.


We did? That is news to me. We had no idea how many people would order from where so we took our best guess. We also decided to drop ship for each other when needed. We have drop shipped almost 100 orders for our distributors because we couldn't get stock to them in time. We also have had them drop ship about 20 orders for us for items that we shipped too much to them. I figured I should share with you the facts. Any time there are three potential places to get a part, someone will run out first. This is just how it is. I guarantee we will do better with the balance next season and will do whatever it takes to make sure teams get the parts they need this season.

Re: VEXPro Out of Stock
 

Paul
I messaged you with the specific information regarding numbers and such

I do have a question though...

If the delays on the pinions were US delays why did Amanda indicate that this was a customs issue that you have no control over?

I did not make the call on why we wanted to use the 14T pinion over a smaller one....that was the drive team design call... so I can't help you figure out why we did it.

Re: VEXPro Out of Stock
 

Wow. we another shipment of our order, but STILL it is missing the most important parts. Its missing:
1 18T 1/2 hex bore gear
16 18T 1/2 hex bore sprockets
6 14 Tooth pinions (I know that these are stuck in customs)
2 30T 3/8 Hex Bore gears
4 1/2 hex versaplanetary output shafts

The pinions and the 30T gears, its ok, but the other parts really SCREW our build schedule over. We ordered these at the beginning of build season, and none of those were ever told they were delayed. WHEN are they going to be back in, and will they be shipped overnight, because they are delaying us hard now.

Sorry to rant, but after never hearing about them being backordered, to see them backordered seriously irks me.

I also emailed WCP early today asking about this order and an order we placed saturday. Any way I can get a response on that?

Re: VEXPro Out of Stock
 

Well... At this point, we're giving up and making our dog gears ourselves. We've been told they would be shipped within the week for the past three weeks. My frustration with vex isn't that they're out of stock, I get it, without knowing the game, it's tricky to predict demand. What does get me is that the gears were ordered while they were in stock, and still haven't arrived, weeks later. Like the previous poster, our pinions aren't here yet, which isn't critical for us, but it's disappointing to order stuff a few days after kickoff, while it's in stock, and have it not arrive.

At this point, we're redesigning our transmissions, frame, bearing blocks, shooter pivot, shooter cam, pickup pivot, and pickup drive stuff to work with parts that we have. We've dumped hundreds of dollars into vex parts that were guaranteed to get here a week ago, only to have them delay us.

Re: VEXPro Out of Stock
 

All,

We need to know two critical pieces of information:

1. Who you ordered from.

2. Your order number or who actually placed the order

Without those, we can't help you. For those of you who think redesigning everything before you actually give us this information will be faster, believe me, it won't.

Please give us this information and we can help you.