What is REALLY up at Sailnet?

[email_test]

Jack,

One more follow-up to your posting. We don''t charge someone''s credit card until we ship the product. The only exceptions are for custom products where a deposit is required. Not to say that we haven''t ever made an error but billing before you ship is an illegal practice. The notion that you could be at risk for a charge and no product is a non-issue -- unnecessarily scaring people for no reason.

-- Sam

[WHOOSH]

Sam:

Re: not charging for product until shipped, fair point.

On the strength of having at least one of my two orders filled, I just placed a third. The test is a) whether the products are in stock as indicated on the web site, and b) how soon they''re shipped. Those seem like very fair measures IMO and I''ll look forward to experiencing the improvements you''ve promised us.

My impression is that your comments here (and at the shows) are generally appreciated and well-received. Communication helps a great deal and has been one of the key disappointments for some of us on a day-to-day basis when trying to reach CSR''s and subsequently get useful info from them. Hopefully, the changes you mentioned above will be reflected in that area, as well.

Jack

[FTHOMSON]

Sam...

I appreciate Sailnet, believe me you have no idea how much. A little background: I''m a civilian contractor working for a peacekeeping mission in the middle east. My address is an armed forces post office. My boat is currently moored in Ashkelon, Israel. I purchased it in Cyprus and sailed it over (Ashkelon is the nearest port). I manage to get into Israel every couple of weeks. If anyone gives you grief about delays, they gotta try buying parts outside the US. :-)
In the past eighteen months, I have ordered everything I have needed to repair/upgrade my sailboat. Autopilots (yes, TWO), refrigeration, GPS/Chart Plotter, harnesses, tethers, Freedom 15 inverter, books, etc... all thru Sailnet with zero problems. The only things I didn''t get were new batteries and bottom paint and then only because of the restrictions on what you can and cannot mail.
I allotted two years to get the sailboat ready to go but thanks to the great service from Sailnet, I''m finished eleven months early. Next year I start that Westward beat.

-Frederick Thomson

[halcyon13]

Sam, thanks for the information. I was finally able to get a reply to my concern and the majority of my order shipped. I have no problem with the delay in shipping backordered parts, if that information is made clear up front and isn''t for a part that hour website shows as "In stock." My frustration arose out of getting no reply to an e-mail message to correct a quantity mistake I made, and being concerned about getting the correction in advance of shipping to avoid the added inconvenience of a return. I try to order things that I do not need yesterday and hopefully as your bugs are worked out, I will be able to order those types of immediately-needed parts as well. I do appreciate your low prices and your apparent desire to improve customer service responsiveness.

[namaste04]

Just wanted to weigh in here: in spite of the fact that I, too, had to wait a month or so last spring for a backordered item from Sailnet, I will continue to patronize them. For one thing, they have some of the lowest retail prices to be had. For another thing: look at all of the fabulous free services they offer!!!! Here we all are, chatting on their message boards. That is really valuable. And we''ve learned much from, and been much entertained by, their articles. This is a great site and Sailnet is a great store. Personally, I will stay a loyal customer, even if I need to order things well in advance of when I actually need them.

Go, sailnet.

[MaryBeth]

Not everyone understands the idea of "backordered". This means that the company that you have ordered it from has none in stock, and that the manufacturer is taking it''s sweet time (okay, maybe there are some reasonable delays) in fulfilling the actual orders from the companies. While I myself have ordered just a few piddly things from Sailnet, I have sent quite a few customers to their website to order much larger, more expensive items. My people always come in to tell me that they were quite satisfied, and I am glad to see that there are others who are happy.

Just input,
MaryBeth

[SolsticeT37]

I also appreciate the reasonable prices and all the FREE services that they offer...like this and the owner chat rooms. I have belonged to several listserves for the past two years and have made many acquaintances. Many of us met at the Annapolis boat show for the first time. One skipper had a boat full of listserve lurkers on board for a race! Sam has made the efforts to attend boat shows, owners parties, etc. These types of intagibles are why I will continue to patronize them. I think the key here is understanding they have gone through a geographic move and Sam has been upfront with stating that you cannot provide Ritz Carlton service at Hampton Inn prices. I think they have done a lot for the sailing community, and we should continue to show our support as indicated.