It has always been the Policy at Dreamworks Model Products to ship out backorders (within the USA) upon stock arrival at no additional charge. While we feel this is a great courtesy to our customers, we have grown in substantially in product offerings over the past few years. While backordered items are kept at a minimum through us, we do have to rely on supplier availability. Because of this growth, inevitably, our backorder ratio increases as well. This can become quite costly on our end.
Since we cater to the Jet market, I thought I would ask you, my customers, what you expect from us.... Ideally, I would like to have stock status available through the website but, this is not nearly as simple as it sounds. In due time... Till then.... What do you expect from your vendors? Please make your selection from the poll above to give us an idea what the majority of you would like from us....

We appreciate your feedback!
Todd Witkoff
Dreamworks Model Products

Todd,

As a customer who's shopped from you a few times and have always been very happy with the service, I offer the following:

I think many will agree with me that communication is the biggest key to a customers satisfaction. When an order is placed and part of that order has items which are currently not in stock, communicate with your customer and let him or her know. People will generally understand. Ship the items you have and ask the customer what options they would like, 1st being cancell the back ordered item or 2nd offer to ship it out at a nomimal charge to help offset your costs. I know not everyone will agree with me on this but it's a service that I would be more then happy to deal with.

My 2 cents worth...

Cheers,

I recently ordered and paid for a plane, which I was told would be delivered mid august. Later I found out through other channels that it wouldnt be here til mid-late sept. I cancelled my order. I dont think vendors should sell things they dont have. Great to be on a waiting list, but definitely should not be charged until the product is on the way. I dont have a problem with paying the shipping as long as I know up front that I will be waiting. I think Tim hit the nail on the head with communication...

Mike

Todd,
I love you current way of doing this. It always impresses me when you remember a B/O item and send it. I agree that if it is a big item like a plane or engine that it is at the least not cool of a vendor to take money in advance, at worst it is manipulative.
I order with you and you get my order together faster than an other MO that I have used.

Keep up the good work!

Joe Kelley

Todd,
I agree with above post communication is key. I just got a order from you today and 1 item was on backorder I called you and you were honest in telling me that you didn't know when you would have them you were waiting on vendor. I now will wait for you to ship it when it arrives thats fine. It is nice to know that when you get item in it will be shipped to me. If I would of got the invoice and you had marked item is back ordered you will have to reorder I would of looked elsewhere to purchase product reason being when I ordered product I wasn't informed about the backorder policy. So whatever you decide to do make sure customers are informed of backorder policy during the order process. I think in a perfect world back ordered item should be shipped free to me but world is far from perfect so I think a nominal charge is not out of line. I feel your pain on back orders I work in the parts department at a Subaru/Isuzu car dealership and Isuzu is by far the worst company I know of when it comes to back orders. UPS is getting crazy with shipping charges to residential addresses. When I have to ship something I always ask my customers if they have a business address to ship too because it saves myself/them money.
By the way thanks for the excellent service on my order.

Todd, I would have to agree w/Tim; give the customer the option at the time. It is my style to purchase/order when I need something right NOW, if the item or items are not in stock, I will substitute it or get it somewhere else. I generally do not order to "stock" my flight box, but if it was an item I didn't need right away, I would opt for the b/o to be shipped when available.

The key to customer service is COMMUNICATION, but you already know this and do a very good job at it and it is evidenced by your customers comments and repeat business.

George

Yup - provide an option at checkout time, and if I'm willing to wait for backordered items, keep me updated about the status. Sometimes I'm willing to wait for backordered items, other times I'm not. As long as I get the choice, that's fine by me.

I do want the option though, of cancelling the entire order if any part of it is back-ordered - sometimes I can't wait for a company to re-stock and so I will want to try to locate the parts form another vendor ; if I end up getting one of the 2 items I want from vendor A and paying shipping for that, then ordering the other itemsfrom vendor B and paying separate shipping for that, then it's more expensive than if I just cancel my order with vendor A and re-order everything from vendor B.

Gordon

I believe it would be a huge service for you and the rest of the jet market to get their inventory status on line. I, for one, would really like to know "What can I buy today". In particular, there are lots of pretty pictures of jet kits out there, but a lot of it is just vaporware and promises. I think a lot more stuff would go out the door if customers could easily understand what, in fact, is actually available. Makes shopping easier and less bad blood all the way around. As you might guess, if I can find out in advance that things are going to be backordered, I will usually move on, unless it's the only place to get it.

It depends on what the component is that is on back order. If it is an item I need to get a jet in the air it is different to purchasing a spare in case something happens. The latter I woud be happy to wait for on back order, the former I would prefer to cancel so I can try and get it somewhere else. I certainly wouldn't want to leave the whole order until it is all available.

If on-line stock numbers are not possible then I agree with the posts on communication. I deal with one company in the UK that has really good prices but you never know what is going to be in the package until it arrives. There is nothing more annoying than needing a part and ordering extras such as glue/glow plugs at the same time and then when it arrives the bit that you really need is missing.

I think it woud be really neat if the customer was asked to choose one of the options when he places the order.

i would also add an additional option - Email customer to check before shipping.

Pretty much agree with the rest. Seems like the most efficient would be for you to let the customer choose if there are going to be two or more shipping charges. If you can't keep up with communication on orders that have a problem then there should be something similar to your poll question at the end of the order. Let the customer choose if they want to cancel if not all items in stock, wait for everything before shipment or pay multiple shipping charges if some items are needed in a hurry.
I know I was extremely pissed at one company for sending an order of mine in three parts without ever mentioning backorders. What should have cost about $10 shipping wound up closer to $30[:@]

1st choice communicate with the buyer to give options
2nd choice pre-empt by having the choices sent in with the order ahead of time in case a backorder happens to occur

Mark

The problem with a poll at checkout is that, as I mentioned earlier, it depends on what bit is backordered.

As an extreme example,

I order an engine and some cyano but the cyano is not in stock. I would want the engine straight away but would cancel the cyano order.

I order the same items but the engine is not in stock. Now my choice would be different; I would want to cancel the whole order.

Communication is the key.

It's only a problem if you don't offer the right choices.

So, just have the choice at checkout incldue the option "If anything is back-ordered, contact me before proceeding with the order".

Todd, please redo the poll options to reflect the excellent responses you have had.
I would be glad to respond then.
Bob

Wow, Thanks for the great feedback guys!!

I like the idea of offering the option for the customer to choose how backorders should be handled. Would take some creative coding to implement into my site but certainly doable. Of course, without stock status on the site, you are still not aware of what is currently out of stock. I will have to give this some thought on the best way to notify you of product stock status. Ultimately, the best solution is for stock status to be available on the site. This in itself is a difficult process since my invoicing / stock software and the website database do not intergrate nicely.
Reseaching the best solution for all of us....
You comments are heard and we will work to improve this end of our service!
Thanks for your support...

Todd