I've been ordering a few accessories online for my new F-150. I wanted the OEM bed mat and under seat cargo organizer so I ordered them from DirectFordParts.com, partially because they sponser this site. The total price, including shipping, was less than what local dealers would charge. A couple days went by with no confirmation email. Then I get an email from Gaudin Ford in Las Vegas saying that the VIN I provided with my order didn't work in their computer and they needed the make, model, year, etc. Another day goes by and another email tells me that I did indeed order the correct parts in the first place and now they would order my parts. Two more days go by and no email but I happen to check their order status page and the guy left me a message there telling me that my parts were in (Las Vegas) but now the shipping would be almost three times more due to the size and weight of the bed mat. This puts the total price of my order higher than if I paid full MSRP plus sales tax locally. I cancelled the order. They advertise as having "huge discounts on parts and accessories" yet they appear to be just another dealer and do not stock what they sell.

 

Figures! All show but no go! Sometimes it just makes sense to buy it from your first thought, the dealer. Then you get it with less hassles, and if something is wrong or doesn't fit you have a person to person discussion! Sorry for your issues, and you would think a sponsor of the site would be better than that!

 

The dealer I bought the truck from is over an hour away so I thought mail order would be more convenient. I was wrong about that, at least in this case. There is a dealer close to home but I vowed to never let them make another penny of profit from me. Nothing against the good people that work there, but the owner is not a nice person. In the future, I'll get OEM accessories from the selling dealer and drive the extra distance. They're in Traverse City, MI and my wife likes to shop in that town anyway. I should mention that Auto Anything has been very good to do business with on the aftermarket accessories I got from them.

 

MBW919,
I apologize for the inconvenience and the terrible service. We try to verify every part we ship for accuracy so we aren't shipping wrong parts all over the country. We get orders and e-mails with incorrect VIN's on a daily basis. We are handling approximately 150 e-mails a day and most require time to either quote the correct parts and price or to go back and forth trying to get the info we need to create a quote.

On Mondays we are buried with e-mails from the weekend and it usually takes until Tuesday evening just to catch up. Obvoiusly we need more help but because we are selling parts over the internet at such a low mark-up we cannot afford to add help at this time. We are working on a solution but it may take a couple of months.

As far as the shipping is concerned there are some parts that we cannot sell because the size and weight cause the shipping cost to be higher than the amount the customer is saving on the part. In these cases we recommend that the customer purchase from their local dealer. We do have a notice in bright red letters on our homepage explaining our shipping policy on oversized and heavy parts. "Oversized or heavy parts may cost more to ship. Prices on check out page are only an estimate but in most cases we can ship for the price shown."

I wish we could ship for the amount shown on the order everytime but it doesn't make sense to sell a part and lose money.

Again I am sorry for the bad experience and hope that you will give us another chance. We are doing our best to provide the best prices and service for Genuine Ford Parts.
Sincerely,
Kelly Bonsignori-Parts Manager
www.directfordparts.com

 

I paid about $80 for my OEM bed mat at my local dealer.It probably cost almost that much to ship a bed mat.

 

Nassty,
Thanks for the support.

May I add that Genuine Ford Accesories have a very low mark-up from dealer Cost to Suggested List so there is not much room for discounting. For example an accessory bedmat for a 2007 F150 p/n 4L3Z 99112A15AA has a suggested list price of $68.67 and a dealer cost of $48.07. Our price is $56.63 which is only a savings $12.04 which does not even come close to covering the shipping cost.
Kelly

 

Uhh, yeah, they are "just another dealer". Show me a site selling a full line of Ford OE parts that isn't a Ford dealer. Every site of that sort which I've checked out has been a dealer.

While you're finding that, also find a dealer that stocks the full line too. I'm going to bet the closest you'll get is Ford distribution. It makes no business sense to stock things that don't sell regularly when you can get them from Ford distribution in a day or two.

The folks at DirectFordParts were extremely helpful and patient with me on researching parts that I ordered where another group of people, who shall remain nameless, grew impatient and fed up with more than one question. I won't hesitate to order with them in the future.

 

VFR_Man,
Thanks for the support. We are not the largest dealer in the country. Our inventory is $1.6 million. There are plenty of dealers with more inventory but we were #11 in the country out of over 5,000 dealers in wholesale parts sales in 2006 and we are up 8% this year. We don't carry everything but we do try to stock every part that has sold 3-times in the last 12-months. There are some exceptions such as frames, roof panels, and things that take up a lot of space that we try not to stock.

We will do our best to answer your e-mails and ship orders as quickly as we can but we aren't perfect and occaisionally something falls thru the crack. I will apologize in advance for that but be assured we are giving it our best shot. I worked until after 7pm everyday this week handling e-mails and internet orders and it's Saturday and I'm here now. I will even come in for a few hours on Sunday to answer e-mails so we won't have 200 on Monday morning.

Our problem is too much business but it is a problem I am glad to have. My job is to find a solution so that we can give the service our customers deserve and continue to grow this business.
Kelly