SootySport Posted July 3, 2012 Share Posted July 3, 2012 After sending an email to the complaints address, I've had an answer from JT himself, saying he would be sorting out my wheel order but no mention of the lack of resources or the phone answering problem. If anyone else is waiting for parts or having trouble getting an answer on the phone please send an email to Complaint@westfield-sportscars.co.uk to re-inforce the need for more resources at Westfield Parts Dept. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Colonial Posted July 3, 2012 Share Posted July 3, 2012 This is a very complex issue. Yes, they need more resources when times are busy, absolutely agree. Poor G & R are in the immediate firing line when phones and emails aren't answered quickly due to workload, and sometimes they can't provide an answer because they're waiting for a supplier, who also are under resourced and equally hectic. Also, don't forget you just can't take someone off the street and plonk them into the job. G & R have many years experience and just think of all the variations in chassis, body parts, running gear, and heaven alone knows that they can pull from memory, whereas a new employee will take a very long time to come up to speed and of course, a lot of G & R's time to train. Not making excuses, just saying it's not as easy as plugging a gap. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman) - Club Chairman Posted July 3, 2012 Share Posted July 3, 2012 It's also a balancing act; would the cost of the extra employee(s) be covered by the extra orders processed? Or would we all be moaning about how expensive Westfield's parts have become, oh wait, we already do that... Again, not making excuses, just aware that there's more to the argument than sometimes is evident. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GreigM Posted July 3, 2012 Share Posted July 3, 2012 This is a very complex issue. Yes, they need more resources when times are busy, absolutely agree. Poor G & R are in the immediate firing line when phones and emails aren't answered quickly due to workload, and sometimes they can't provide an answer because they're waiting for a supplier, who also are under resourced and equally hectic. Also, don't forget you just can't take someone off the street and plonk them into the job. G & R have many years experience and just think of all the variations in chassis, body parts, running gear, and heaven alone knows that they can pull from memory, whereas a new employee will take a very long time to come up to speed and of course, a lot of G & R's time to train. Not making excuses, just saying it's not as easy as plugging a gap. To be honest, I couldn't disagree more. This isn't a new issue, it has been the case for years - the sooner the resource is added then the sooner they will come up to speed, if the resource is never added the situation will get worse to the point that the issue with parts supply could put Westfield out of business. Even immediately some basic admin of answering the phone, tracking whether customers who have been phoning/emailing etc for days/weeks are EVER getting a response would do a huge amount to improve the perception of the company. New resource could simply be used as an interface to the knowledge that the existing guys have - running to shelves, doing inventories, chasing suppliers for basic information etc etc I'd venture that only about 20% of G & Rs time is used up with their "specialist" knowledge - the rest of it is the day to day business of running the parts department, this could be solved immediately with a huge impact on customer service. This is basic business management stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman) - Club Chairman Posted July 3, 2012 Share Posted July 3, 2012 This is basic business management stuff. Time & Motion, or that's what analysing that sort of stuff used to be called a few decades ago when my Dad used to do it. Finding out where you can gain and where you're loosing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stephenh Posted July 3, 2012 Share Posted July 3, 2012 Well, on Saturday last at Shelsley I snapped my rear anti-rollbar. On Sunday I emailed Russell to enquire about price and availability of a replacement. On Monday I had confirmation in stock and price. and on Tuesday, ie today, I'm going over to the factory to pay and collect. That seems to me to be first class service. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cleggy the Spyder Man Posted July 3, 2012 Share Posted July 3, 2012 the website is now much improved - although it could have much better descriptions of the products and gallery pictures would be good to see more attention paid to the website to hopefully encourage people to order online - this would save the guys in the stores a stack load of time trouble is when you have the policy of not stocking "more expensive" items on the shelf (for reasons unknown ) the guys jobs become even more difficult with increased customer calls chasing deliveries For me the solution in difficult times is to invest in stock so you can service your customers properly............... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SootySport Posted July 3, 2012 Share Posted July 3, 2012 This is a very complex issue. Yes, they need more resources when times are busy, absolutely agree. Poor G & R are in the immediate firing line when phones and emails aren't answered quickly due to workload, and sometimes they can't provide an answer because they're waiting for a supplier, who also are under resourced and equally hectic. Also, don't forget you just can't take someone off the street and plonk them into the job. G & R have many years experience and just think of all the variations in chassis, body parts, running gear, and heaven alone knows that they can pull from memory, whereas a new employee will take a very long time to come up to speed and of course, a lot of G & R's time to train. Not making excuses, just saying it's not as easy as plugging a gap. I did say in Post 14 about that. The way I see it they are just "Fire Fighting" for the last few months, by now the boys are are spending more time dealing with complaints and customers chasing their orders rather than taking orders over the phone and despatching them pronto. As Cleggy says, the website needs more info so orders can be processed without us lot constantly ringing up and asking what colours are available or in my case there was no mention of different wheel offsets available for TD wheels, otherwise I would have ordered on line without human intervention and then anyone at Westfield could have dealt with my order. Anyway bless Gavin & Russ, they must be rushed of their feet, I hate think they what will happen when one or both go on holiday. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Norman Verona Posted July 3, 2012 Share Posted July 3, 2012 As above, you don't need another person with the knowledge the current chaps have. You need a part time person to answer emails and phone messages with the info given by Gavin & Ross. It would appear to me that the biggest complaint is the lack of response rather than the lack of stock. In a few weeks a part time, "sensible" retired person could be chasing suppliers and answering 98% of inquiries. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cleggy the Spyder Man Posted July 3, 2012 Share Posted July 3, 2012 and again as posted in other topics I have always found the guys extremely helpful and polite (which is a skill when snowed under I know) once I have managed to contact them - it really is just the getting hold of them that is the issue for me last time I must have rang 7-8 times with no answer over two consecutive days - once I got through Russ was a star !! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Norman Verona Posted July 3, 2012 Share Posted July 3, 2012 Cleggy, I think everyone agrees with you on that. They just need another pair of a hands and a mouth to do the time consuming communication bit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cleggy the Spyder Man Posted July 3, 2012 Share Posted July 3, 2012 Cleggy, I think everyone agrees with you on that. They just need another pair of a hands and a mouth to do the time consuming communication bit. yup Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman) - Club Chairman Posted July 3, 2012 Share Posted July 3, 2012 Have to agree on the web site, though it is steadily getting better; for quite a while, a lot of items from the old site is ply weren't transferred across. More parts lines seem to appear all the time. But as Cleggy says, with a bit more work on descriptions, especially photographs, maybe even a "suitable for" type detail, where appropriate, a lot of load could be taken off the parts counter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SootySport Posted July 3, 2012 Share Posted July 3, 2012 Good news, JT has sent me 2 emails today about my wheels (trackday this Saturday) saying they will be with me Tomorrow . No feedback from him about his staffing levels though but I guess he's getting the idea that something is wrong. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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