50% of our AndyMark orders wrong
 

We've been lucky to not have to order many parts online for our robot this year but when we have, 50% of the time we've been shipped the wrong parts. We ordered c channel and received REV extrusion metal. A week later we ordered a 2015 kop chassis, belts and 4 8" grey 2010 grip wheels along with two 8" omnis. The chassis and the belts came in correctly but we received 4 6" white grip wheels and the omnis. Is this usual from Andymark? Has anyone else been experiencing this, during build season?

Re: 50% of our AndyMark orders wrong
 

Haven't had this issue with Andymark this year, but I have run into it with another supplier of FRC parts (which shall go nameless). I think because many of these suppliers are fairly small operations, there's a bit more of a rush to get a lot of items shipped out with very little time and manpower to do it. It seems like as FRC grows, and the use of COTS parts becomes more and more prevalent, the suppliers are having a hard time keeping up with the demand.

At least, that's my opinion based on what I've observed, the only people who can really tell us for sure what causes issues like these are the suppliers themselves. ;)

Re: 50% of our AndyMark orders wrong
 

I do not remember receiving any orders for FRC parts that were even slightly wrong or mispacked (including AM, Vex, various vouchers). You should bring this up with AndyMark.

Re: 50% of our AndyMark orders wrong
 

Talk to AndyMark, they're the only ones who can ship you the stuff you actually ordered (which I'm sure they'll do, once you talk to them).

Re: 50% of our AndyMark orders wrong
 

I got the wrong size wheels in an order too. They fixed it quickly as soon as I contacted them.

Re: 50% of our AndyMark orders wrong
 

I have had great luck with AndyMark throughout the last 4 seasons. Both AndyMark and VEX have incredible customer service.

We did receive a FIRST Choice order that was missing a Xbox 360 controller - I emailed them and it was in our shop within 4 days.

Another "trick" I have learned with AndyMark and VEX is if you call after your order is placed, you can check on the order and they will verify the order - as well as the order of queue.

Case in point - we placed an order on Monday (Feb 1) and I called on Wednesday to check on it and the service rep called up the distribution manager to check the status. She confirmed that the items would be shipped on Wednesday. FEDEX has them arriving at Becker on Friday.

These people know that dependability and reliability in our short season is a must - a simple call can rectify any concerns. I love working with both of them!

Re: 50% of our AndyMark orders wrong
 

My orders from AM and VEX have always come in correctly.

Have you considered that someone from AM is looking at you order and going "Umm, thats not going to work out well, you should be using this instead."? :rolleyes: Seriously, you should have called them.

Since VEX is pretty much same day ship, why call them and ask? I hate bothering people / remotely micromanaging on something that I have a high confidence will be right and that I'll get a shipping notice for pretty soon.

Re: 50% of our AndyMark orders wrong
 

Been ordering from AndyMark since 2006 and haven't had an issue that wasn't cleared up with an email or a phone call. They are all for the most part involved with teams or have been involved so they know what its like to go through a build season.

Never had this issue but I have had issues with Andymark shipping. We have found vex shipping is faster.

Re: 50% of our AndyMark orders wrong
 

I haven't any any issues with our parts this year... And I've placed 8 orders with AndyMark this seaso!. I know, it's crazy, but that's sort of how our design has evolved. At one point, I think I had 3 orders placed before the first one arrived...

Re: 50% of our AndyMark orders wrong
 

Build season must be nuts over at AndyMark!

We've never had issues with them. With as many orders as they ship, humans are going to make mistakes once in a while, but on those rare occasions they are quick to make it right.

Re: 50% of our AndyMark orders wrong
 

We had 1 wrong order so far this year (FIRST Choice had missing parts) out of 4, and 2 orders out of 5 were missing parts or had wrong items last year.
So yes, we have experienced issues in the past, but every time I just call them up, and they are very nice and correct the problem quickly.

Re: 50% of our AndyMark orders wrong
 

In five years we've never had any trouble at all with Andy Mark customer service . Other than a small delay in order processing during the heights of FIRST Choice distribution they've always been quick and accurate with their orders.

Re: 50% of our AndyMark orders wrong
 

Just for kicks, I checked and we have placed a total of 103 orders from AndyMark over the years. (For the past several years we have set up an open PO. So I probably send our an order a couple times a week.) We had one quickly corrected mistake. I appreciate the "Your order was packed" emails alerting me that I can soon check on shipping status. Our school treasurer really appreciates their professionalism.

Re: 50% of our AndyMark orders wrong
 

For two straight years, we've had delays in shipments of AndyMark field elements right after FTC kickoff. An order placed the Monday after Saturday kickoff took about two weeks to ship. You'd think they'd be able to plan for this rush, especially as they have been the single-source of FTC fields for the past two years. Maybe they could take pre-orders and have them ready-to-ship (or even ship the day before kickoff with them still not arriving until after kickoff)?

We also had an order of motors that was shipped to another person, with their order shipped to us. And then, to top it off, the other person wouldn't ship our order back to AndyMark and AndyMark ran out of the motors we ordered, so what should have been a wait of a few days for motors ended up taking weeks because AndyMark mixed up the shipping labels on two orders.

We also have repeatedly received shipments of AndyMark motors with the motors haphazardly thrown loosely into a shipping box, while Pitsco and Servocity always have shipped individually wrapped motors properly padded for protection. Teams have shown examples on twitter where their AndyMark motors have arrived already broken because of inadequate padding in shipment.

AndyMark makes a lot of very innovative products for FIRST programs. But in our experience their shipping is not up to world-class standards at this stage in their growth.

Re: 50% of our AndyMark orders wrong
 

We've been ordering from AndyMark since their inception and have had only one issue. 1 item was omitted from a FIRST Choice order this season. That issue was fixed within a day of contacting AndyMark.

OP are your orders being entered correctly? Have you verified against the packing slips?

Re: 50% of our AndyMark orders wrong
 

I'm with Rick - we got a wrong thing from AM this year, but it was because of our error in shopping rather than AM's error. We've only had a couple of issues over the years and AM has always been very responsive.

The suppliers have been top-notch with our stuff this year. We've received 100's of items from VEX, WCP, AM, McMaster, and a couple of others. Each time we get a package we inventory it against what we ordered and this year has been flawless so far.

Re: 50% of our AndyMark orders wrong
 

No issues ever from AndyMark, VEX, Banebots, McMaster, etc. Always verify against the packing slip that you ordered the correct part and if it's wrong give them a call / e-mail. Stuff happens when shipping the volume that they do in the short amount of time that they have to ship.

Re: 50% of our AndyMark orders wrong
 

I noticed that AndyMark didn't have a deal of the day yesterday.
Specifically with a note about shipping.

I'd contact them: they've been good with my orders.

FEDEX on the other hand trashed one of my AM14U2 chassis boxes and continuously ignored I have a porch leaving anything
AndyMark sent me out in the elements to avoid walking 8 feet.

I have great video of the local UPS/USPS guys stepping over the stuff FEDEX dumped in the walkway and putting their deliveries on the porch which is the more sensible location.

I won't blame AndyMark for FEDEX being silly.

Re: 50% of our AndyMark orders wrong
 

Perhaps that's because yesterday was Wednesday.
On Tuesday (2/2) they did have several deals of the day.

Re: 50% of our AndyMark orders wrong
 

Fair enough, I worked right through a night and lost track of the day today.
There was still a note on their site when I looked.

Re: 50% of our AndyMark orders wrong
 

I've only had one issue in 2013 with AndyMark getting a portion of my order wrong (got hex shafts instead of keyed shafts) but it was easy enough to swing by and they were quick to remedy the error. Overall we haven't had packing issues with any of the parts we get from AM and typically we get parts the same day (local pickup).

Re: 50% of our AndyMark orders wrong
 

If you order enough from anywhere, you're bound to encounter shipping/packing errors. Over the years I've been in charge of ordering, we've received a few orders with the wrong part from AM. It's usually been something like a sprocket with a different size bore, or BOF packages that look the same as something very similar in the inventory. I don't think I've ever experienced a missing item.

Resolution has always been quick, giving them a call (or once, even, in person at an event), and I get sent the new part the same day and a shipping label to send an incorrect part back.

Proximity for our team favors next day delivery from AndyMark from when it ships, while Vex orders are usually 3 days. I have had a wrong part from Vex, but again, the resolution was quick.

Re: 50% of our AndyMark orders wrong
 

We've had more issues with FedEx and UPS shipping to the wrong address (wrong number on the right street, or right number on a different street) than with incorrect product.

Re: 50% of our AndyMark orders wrong
 

I've had one or two issues with AndyMark the last five years.... They have always fixed the issues the day I have called with the concern.... I've had issues with Vex slightly more frequently, but they have been just as good at remedying the situation.... A+ service from both.

Re: 50% of our AndyMark orders wrong
 

I really wish all vendors started using USPS.

Re: 50% of our AndyMark orders wrong
 

sure, if they delivered on weekends & holidays

Re: 50% of our AndyMark orders wrong
 

USPS delivers on weekends.... In my area they even deliver amazon packages on Sundays.

Re: 50% of our AndyMark orders wrong
 

Yes, our orders were entered correctly, because of our budget, we check twice and go through the entire team before purchasing anything.

Re: 50% of our AndyMark orders wrong
 

If only their tracking updated prior to you receiving it too... I had more items lost to USPS issues than I have ever ordered from Vex and Andymark combined. The only reason I like UPS more than Fedex is because it come directly to my classroom rather than me having to cross the school to grab it from the office.

As for Andymark, we've had one order missing a small piece in the last five years. Overall that's 63/64 orders processed and shipped quickly. Where we are located we get shipping the next day if we order by 10 AM or so (outside of build season). I can't think of any other company that has worked quicker and shipped better than the folks in Kokomo.

Re: 50% of our AndyMark orders wrong
 

I have ordered as late as 5pm and gotten it the next day. During build season they run multiple pick ups throughout the day.

Re: 50% of our AndyMark orders wrong
 

I've heard that parts and such have been mixed-up, but tons of teams are ordering, so I don't think it's very surprising that there's been mix-ups. It happens all the time with "normal mail". I'm sorry it happened to you guys, though. Have you gotten your parts yet?::rtm::

Re: 50% of our AndyMark orders wrong
 

As far as I can recall, no issues with AndyMark. What I really find impressive is that unlike most shippers, they actually use the right size box for what you order!

Vex has been even better (though AM hasn't had this opportunity)! This week, I placed an order with Vex, and noticed the next morning that one of the parts was incorrect (I'm assuming my error). One e-mail to sales, and the order received yesterday had the parts we needed rather than the parts we ordered.

We're in a happy location for AM and Vex shipments - Slidell is in the 2-day ground shipping radius for both. It's great to place an order Monday evening, pay $5 for shipping, and get it in time for the Thursday build session.

The next greatest amount of business I've done is with sparkfun, Robotshop, and Jameco (mostly for sensors), and while shipping isn't as quick unless you pay a premium, I can't recall an order which was improperly filled by anyone.

If I want an order filled incorrectly, I usually have to hit the drive-through of a local Burger King.