VEXPro Out of Stock

[camtunkpa]

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!

[magnets]

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...

[Paul Copioli]

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

[camtunkpa]

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.

[IndySam]

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

[Amanda Morrison]

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.

[mrnoble]

Originally Posted by Amanda Morrison

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

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

[ksafin]

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.......

[Paul Copioli]

Originally Posted by ksafin

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.......

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

EDIT: NVM, I found your orders.

[ksafin]

Originally Posted by Paul Copioli

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

EDIT: NVM, I found your orders.

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?

[Paul Copioli]

Originally Posted by ksafin

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?

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

[ksafin]

Originally Posted by Paul Copioli

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

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

[BrendanB]

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!

[AllenGregoryIV]

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

[Aren_Hill]

Originally Posted by AllenGregoryIV

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

Allen,

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

Cute little buggers.

-Aren