westfield factory- get it together!

[s2rrr]

Unfortunately this is a sign of the times and if we want Westfield as a company to survive we must be patient. Having been there and waited it is frustrating but if they went bust due to bad decisions we would or could all be in it up to the armpits. The recession has been on for a few years now and all manufacturers have suffered with cash flow so why do we expect our primary supplier to be any different, they can't afford to have millions lying on the shelf. I'm sure the management at Westfield are well aware of the situation and as long as they are doing there best we cannot expect any more. Unless of course you wish to take your business elsewhere which is a choice you have anyway. The situation should resolve itself in time but who knows how long that will be.

 

So in reality nothing much we can do about it other than order early or elsewhere.

 

Not ideal, but that's life I'm afraid.

 

Bob

[Speed Freak]

sorry, yes when I said supporting my club, I ´didn't mean wscc directly, but more westfield itself- after all, If the factory went under through lack of support, in theory it could have detrimental effects to our club as well.

 

With regard to welding in onto my column..... I wanted to do this-hence why I brought my upper column back from Germany with me over winter- only what I didn't realize was that during my mums clearout of the garage, some one decided the "long pole" was scrap, and threw it out with the rest!!! hence needing a new upper column as well

 

I hope someone from westfield comes a long to comment, as tbh Ive had enough of waiting now- if it was winter It wouldn't have bothered me in the slightlest, but as near enough everyone is on the road from april onwards, every day is hurting just that bit more

[Murraymint]

I have also to jump on this one, I'm waiting for a RAC roll bar…money taken and 6/8 weeks to wait...

[Dommo]

I have to jump on this one too.  I ordered some sidescreens which the website said were in stock - only to be emailed 10 days later to ask if I wanted my money back as they would be another week until actually in stock.

 

I told them I would wait, but 2 weeks further on and I still haven't seen any screens??

 

To make matters worse, when I queried the fact that the website stated 'in stock' for the items, the reply back from Wesfield stated that: "With the web site if it doesn’t say in stock the item will not be shown on the site and you wont be able to purchase this."

 

Clearly this doesn't make sense if I managed to find the item, which stated 'In stock', order it, then be told it's not there.  On receipt of the above message, I thought I would test the theory and went back into the parts website - and it still showed the items and said 'In stock'.  Brilliant!!!

 

Odd at first glance, but makes sense really. Westfield aren't big enough to hold stock of everything, and I imagine striking a balance between having lots of money invested in items sat on a shelf, against satisfying customer demand is pretty difficult.

 

The website shop is most likely bought in and not 100% fit for purpose, but considerably better than anything they've ever had before. A 'feature' of the system being that when an item is marked out of stock, the website won't allow you to buy it. Westfield would thus have to be psychic and get whatever the customer wanted in stock before the customer wanted to order it to fix that issue.

 

I think I recall some parts having a lead time mentioned in the description, perhaps that's the way to go?

 

On another point, taking a step back, communication from the factory seems pretty good now! I remember a time when people were complaining of not getting items AND not getting told about it.

[Rab (bombero) Reid]

@s2rrr, this is very true, mate but most (certainly my own) frustration stems from the lack of communication about backorders! If there's a supply problem then I wish WF would tell the customer - please don't leave them in the dark and frustrated! If there's a potential for a delay, don't tell me something will be in stock in next week when in fact it's 2, 3, 4x that!

[Speed Freak]

@bombero. this is exactly the issue-imo

[Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman) - Club Chairman]

I suppose, playing Devils Advocate, the problem comes when their supplier tells them next week then fails to deliver.

 

I've had the same issue with some of my companies suppliers; merrily telling me one thing, no matter what the actual time scale is. I've had instances myself, where I've then passed that delivery date on to a customer, only to have to get back in touch when nothing arrives.

[Nick Algar - Competition Secretary]

I suppose, playing Devils Advocate, the problem comes when their supplier tells them next week then fails to deliver.

 

I've had the same issue with some of my companies suppliers; merrily telling me one thing, no matter what the actual time scale is. I've had instances myself, where I've then passed that delivery date on to a customer, only to have to get back in touch when nothing arrives.

 

Dave don't forget there are two sides to every story and I think you are potentially being very unfair to suppliers in this statement. I say that having supplied Westfield for over 10 year with plastic parts. Suppliers may well have the parts in stock, but not be prepared to supply for other commercial reasons.

 

Getting back to the main point, which I have made personally directly to Julian, They should not be taking payment for a standard item that is not in stock. If it is bespoke made, then fair enough. But otherwise they should take the order and only take payment when the item is about to be delivered. 

[Rab (bombero) Reid]

...having supplied Westfield for over 10 year with plastic parts.

Hey Nick, does that include nylon parts? ;-P

[Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman) - Club Chairman]

Apologies if I inferred every supplier acted the same, that's patently not going to be the case. However having experienced it myself in business, I'd be surprise if it was never the case for Westfield, too!

 

Purely trying to maintain some balance...

 

I've had delays on stuff arriving for my build, of course I have. From several suppliers, not just Westfield. Have I got frustrated, occasionally, but again, I couldn't just single Westfield out. 

[Nick Algar - Competition Secretary]

Hey Nick, does that include nylon parts? ;-P

 

In this instance no. There are other suppliers of Nylon parts around though, just have a look, I do believe some of the Traders & Sponsors do some nylon parts. :D

[SteveD]

sorry, yes when I said supporting my club, I ´didn't mean wscc directly, but more westfield itself- after all, If the factory went under through lack of support, in theory it could have detrimental effects to our club as well.

 

With regard to welding in onto my column..... I wanted to do this-hence why I brought my upper column back from Germany with me over winter- only what I didn't realize was that during my mums clearout of the garage, some one decided the "long pole" was scrap, and threw it out with the rest!!! hence needing a new upper column as well

 

I hope someone from westfield comes a long to comment, as tbh Ive had enough of waiting now- if it was winter It wouldn't have bothered me in the slightlest, but as near enough everyone is on the road from april onwards, every day is hurting just that bit more

is your car safe to drive now then

have you sorted the handling/driving issues out if so what was it

[FILFAN]

Dave I don't think Westfield need defending all the time. They are active on this club and I'm pretty sure they keep tabs on what is said and goes on as it makes for good business to understand your market. The truth is they never post on here unless it's to promote something or to have very unprofessional public attacks at other traders.

This is a public forum where members get share experiences and opinions. To many times in the past when people complain about Westfield they are effectively dismissed by people defending them. Personally I have received good and bad service from the factory and I agree that it's only the bad that gets broadcasted more. But saying that when they get good feedback on a post it isn't followed by people complaining.

So let people have a moan as it's them out of pocket and time. Westfield are quite capable of speaking and defending for themselves which wouldn't hurt and would get my respect and possibly more business

[Deako]

Isn't there something in the distance selling regulations that state payment should not be taken until the item is dispatched.

As a relative n00b to all things Westfield, this theme is repetitive and concerning.

[alexander72]

In my experience everything I have bought from WSCars has been top notch and despatched and delivered. same too for Playskool, AeroDynamix, Toolorders, SteveD @ MAB, Marto at MH Autos, and so on we are a friendly club and we choose to have "off the wall cars" so perhaps we should expect some slightly delayed supply chain issues sometimes.

 

I have a good stock of spares now including , alternator, engine, gearbox, wheels (14 of) and so on so that i dont have supply issues.

 

Perhaps they take payment up front to ensure that cancelled orders dont leave them short… i wouldn't blame them for that…

 

Just my opinion based on my experience. 

 

:-)