Ballistic Fab, WHY DO YOU DO THIS TO ME?

[Zattack]

Okay, I'm not super pissed at Ballistic but I did/am getting screwed over a bit and I am just wondering if anyone else has had issues with them?

I ordered a bunch of gussets, stickers, SPIKE tube ends and other doodadds to finish my exo. A week goes by so I called them to just check in on my order, I figured he hadn't been shipped yet but since I was pushing a deadline I wanted to stay on top of it. The guy is very nice and tells me that my order is packaged and will be shipped that day (thursday). I said that was perfect because I just needed to have it done for the following weekend. So the next week on thursday I still hadn't received my package I called them and the SAME GUY answers and says that my package will be shipped that day, then proceeds to deny that he ever told me it was being shipped last week. This goes on until I ask to speak with a manager. Nate gets on the phone with me and helps me out a ton, he has the package shipped out for me and I receive the following Monday, even though it didn't meet the deadline I needed it was okay. I am a realist and I understand that things happen. So when I get the package I am pumped, until I open it. They didn't send half the stuff I ordered and screwed up the other half. Instead of Spike tube ends I get ball tube ends, unfortunately I had to suck it up and use them. Then I get an e-mail two weeks ago saying my order has shipped? I assume that meant my stickers and other stuff I ordered, but who knows seeing as I still haven't gotten it.

This really sucks because I think Ballistic makes some of the best quality stuff there is. I just got a set of 60's and I really want to order all my parts from them but I'm a little bit scared. Not to mention I had ordered some shirts and other things from them months ago and it took about three and half weeks to get that in as well.

Basically I don't know if people just expect this ridiculous shipping times and order way ahead of time or what but I just wanted to vent on it a little and prepare newbies to expect lengthy shipping times from BF.

[orbot]

It has happened to me with some other website i called 2 or 3 times but me being a guy that works with something related to shipping i know shit happens when you try to package and ship things BUUUUTTTT still the customer always is first..

[Zattack]

Originally Posted by orbot

It has happened to me with some other website i called 2 or 3 times but me being a guy that works with something related to shipping i know shit happens when you try to package and ship things BUUUUTTTT still the customer always is first..

Yeah and I totally agree, shit happens and I can live with that. But when its the same thing every time it becomes more than just a coincidence (sp?). I just wish somebody there would give me the time of day so I could get it all straightened out. Like I said I really would like to order my 60 stuff from them but I am scared to now.

[76j20]

I have always had good dealings with ballistic. Sometimes a little slow but i think that is because they are extremely busy. I have talked to several vendors while ordering parts and they all say that they are very busy.
I wouldnt hesitate to order from them again....
Just my .02.......
Good luck...

[offroadmatt]

Have to say I have had very similar problems with ballistic. I have placed at least 4 different orders with them. Every order took at the very least 3 weeks. Called them one time to add some gussets to the order, they said no big deal they would throw them in the box and that is should ship that day. Week later nothing two weeks later I get a shipping notification. Not that I'm dogging them because I really like there stuff. Just added my 2 cents. And yes I would order from them again. Just can't be in a hurry.

[fenderbmxer86]

Shoot. My cateloug took over 3 weeks to get here. Iv always heard they take forever in shipping and that sealed the deal for me. If i ever order anything from them now it wont be somthing i need immediatly.

[PwrWagons4ever]

Originally Posted by fenderbmxer86

Shoot. My cateloug took over 3 weeks to get here. Iv always heard they take forever in shipping and that sealed the deal for me. If i ever order anything from them now it wont be somthing i need immediatly.

At least you got your catalog. It's been over 3 weeks, since I received the confirmation email, and nothing since. I guess the offroad shops work things a little different, but I'm kinda used to Summit and Jegs, so this might take a little getting used to. I still plan to order some stuff, and its good to know what I'm getting into, before hand.

[DrVic723]

If you're mad about your free catalog taking a long time I'm very sorry, but I've been concentrating all of our man power into improving the lead times on paid product. We have doubled our shipping staff since the original complaints started coming in about a 6 weeks ago and are seeing huge benefits already. We're have been able to drop the lead time significantly so far, and at this rate we will be back to 1-2 day lead times within two weeks. There will always be exceptions, however since we manufacture most of what we sell in-house, most will ship reliably within this time frame.

We sincerely apologize to everyone that has had to deal with our lead times over the last few months while we continue to grow, but rest assured that we recognize the problem and are doing everything possible to correct it.

Jeff

[fenderbmxer86]

Originally Posted by DrVic723

If you're mad about your free catalog taking a long time I'm very sorry, but I've been concentrating all of our man power into improving the lead times on paid product. We have doubled our shipping staff since the original complaints started coming in about a 6 weeks ago and are seeing huge benefits already. We're have been able to drop the lead time significantly so far, and at this rate we will be back to 1-2 day lead times within two weeks. There will always be exceptions, however since we manufacture most of what we sell in-house, most will ship reliably within this time frame.

We sincerely apologize to everyone that has had to deal with our lead times over the last few months while we continue to grow, but rest assured that we recognize the problem and are doing everything possible to correct it.

Jeff

So if i order $1200 worth of heims, brackets, and other goodies tonight can i get a accurate shipping date?

[Psychoneurosis]

Had a similar problem with REALLY slow times getting stuff out the door for shipping for a long time. Also had a lot of trouble with stuff not drilled to proper specs.

I have stopped ordering from them and gone elsewhere. I would not order from them unless you have a lot of time before you REALLY need the part

[PwrWagons4ever]

Originally Posted by DrVic723

If you're mad about your free catalog taking a long time I'm very sorry,

Jeff

I'm not mad at all. As I stated, I'm just used to the bigger distributers, and as long as I know there will be a wait, that's fine. Thanks again for the free catalog.

[soylent_green]

Late summer and fall must be crazy busy for Ballistic and other parts suppliers, as everyone wants their shit to start their off season projects.

I ordered some things, week and a half later I hadn't received a shipping conformation Email, so I called them up. They had it packed and shipped that day. I received my parts a few days later.

Shit happens with EVERY business, with larger customer traffic, comes inevitably, more mistakes.

Don't judge guys by a few instances where they screwed up, rather, judge them by the thousands upon thousands of satisfied customers. Like myself.

[ahighfivetolife]

Originally Posted by Psychoneurosis

Had a similar problem with REALLY slow times getting stuff out the door for shipping for a long time. Also had a lot of trouble with stuff not drilled to proper specs.

I have stopped ordering from them and gone elsewhere. I would not order from them unless you have a lot of time before you REALLY need the part

x2

I ordered from them trying to get a product a few weeks before I deployed to Iraq and they didn't make it in time. It was a huge bummer. I received a reply that they were having a hard time shipping and were behind. I appreciated the honesty and speedy reply.

When I was about 2 weeks+ from coming back home, I ordered more to beat me back. They didn't. I'm not the kind of person to get mad about that kind of stuff, but I asked myself why I would order from them when I could get the same thing (or close to) from another vendor and get it on time. If they could get it out as fast as their competitors I would buy again.

I'm wishing them luck in getting their shipping under control.

[Zattack]

Originally Posted by soylent_green

Late summer and fall must be crazy busy for Ballistic and other parts suppliers, as everyone wants their shit to start their off season projects.

I ordered some things, week and a half later I hadn't received a shipping conformation Email, so I called them up. They had it packed and shipped that day. I received my parts a few days later.

Shit happens with EVERY business, with larger customer traffic, comes inevitably, more mistakes.

Don't judge guys by a few instances where they screwed up, rather, judge them by the thousands upon thousands of satisfied customers. Like myself.

I agree, and I am sure that there are thousand of happy customers. I am not pissed, just frustrated. And yeah I called them to find out what the hold up was on my order and they got it out that day. What bothers me is that I had to call in the first place. When two weeks goes by and they still haven't packaged it thats a PROBLEM not a whoops. Especially when it happens (obviously) consistently. I wish them the best too, and I hope they can get all their issues worked out because I like their stuff and I would love to run more of it I am just worried because when I start my next build here soon I am going to be on a rampage and don't want to have to wait three or four weeks to get tabs and mounts and worst of all not even get my full order.

[goochies big rig]

I am not sure why everyone has trouble with Ballistic, but I ordered some joints and some other things from them about a month ago and I got everything I ordered and got it in a timely manner. Just my .02.

[KyleQ]

I've always had good luck with ballistic, my Dad ran into the shipping delay.

Ballistic makes top of the line products and products that I will continue to buy.

[hexal]

I've ordered plenty from them and have stuff on order currently. I think they are a victim of success. Rapid growth on the sales side and not as rapid growth on the production/shipping side.
I will give Jeff credit that he has recognized the problem and has staffed up to accomodate unlike another retailer here I had stuff on order for 4 months!!!, but a bubble has been built they need to work through. Hopefully things get better fast.

That being said if you call in and they say it's shipping on a certain day I expect it to ship that day! Honesty on a phone call goes a long way with this crowd, most people will wait if they know how long it will be.

my .02...

[sureshot40sw]

I've ordered several time and even made a custom order and only had two mistakes..

the first one was that a bung was too short, it looked like the last one off the tube.. no problem... talked to Jeff and another was here within 2 days...

the second was my red skull sticker.. somehow I got the free one but not the one I paid for.. .or vice versa... no problem.. called couple days later envelope with red skull sticker...

on my custom order pieces, I ordered up 2 then a couple days later decided on 4 so they held shipping and sent them all in one box.. when they got here, there were 5 in the box... one has some lines or grooves if ya will in it so I guess they just cut me a new one and tossed it in there for the hell of it... THANKS A TON .. now my boy has a new necklace ...





I'm a long time Ballistic customer and will continue to be from here on out ..

[Flatty]

I ordered the catalogue as well, and it did take a while... With that being said. The fucking this was FREE!!!!! I am glad it took a while beacuse that mens they were focusing on getting products out to the people that ordered them. I WILL buy from Ballistic just because they have a GREAT rep. For every one bad order, there are a TON of god ones you don't hear about.

To Ballistic, keep up the great work.

DIma

[scottapher]

I have had two instances with very slow "payment to delivery" times with ballistic, so i feel your guys pain. This being said im still waiting on a bunch of joints and heims to finish my front 3-link, but still im sure i will be more than satisfied when brown santa shows up at my door.

If you're mad about your free catalog taking a long time I'm very sorry, but I've been concentrating all of our man power into improving the lead times on paid product. We have doubled our shipping staff since the original complaints started coming in about a 6 weeks ago and are seeing huge benefits already. We're have been able to drop the lead time significantly so far, and at this rate we will be back to 1-2 day lead times within two weeks. There will always be exceptions, however since we manufacture most of what we sell in-house, most will ship reliably within this time frame.

We sincerely apologize to everyone that has had to deal with our lead times over the last few months while we continue to grow, but rest assured that we recognize the problem and are doing everything possible to correct it.

Jeff

Yet, it is great that the situation is being handled and supposedly corrected, and that in itself is great customer service; admitting fault and doing your best to correct it. Thanks for making great products, cheers

[MTMudpuppy]

Figures..I ordered a bunch of heims and brackets to finish my project 3 weeks ago. I called last week (after they told 5-7 days to ship?) and my stuff hadn't shipped by then. They told me it would ship out that day. Well that was Wednesday so we will see. It is kinda a bummer when your told one thing and they do another. I wish I would have read this before I ordered.

[76j20]

Originally Posted by mtmudpuppy

figures..i ordered a bunch of heims and brackets to finish my project 3 weeks ago. I called last week (after they told 5-7 days to ship?) and my stuff hadn't shipped by then. They told me it would ship out that day. Well that was wednesday so we will see. It is kinda a bummer when your told one thing and they do another. I wish i would have read this before i ordered.

if their quality wasnt so good it wouldnt be worth it, but i have always been extremely satisfied with everything i have gotten from them and i think you will too........ Will continue to do business with ballistic......

On the other hand i do spread out my business when ordering parts. I dont just order from 1 place, i use several different ones...

[flatblack51]

Ballistic Fab awesome Fab skills YES! fitment not so much I ordered the TJ spring/ schock buckets had to do some modding before they would come close to working and the gaps I had to fill were crazy. ordered a d44 cover DIY even after sanding to get it to fit flush cause I don't have a mill available holes didn't line up and the hardware sent didn't even fit the housing? tried again months later ordered a 14B cover holes didn't line up at all? didn't get caught up in the shipping issues but much worse cause I wasted allot of cash on some heavy ass paper weights! If the clean up there act on the attention to detail they'd be outstanding until then i'm not ordering anything from them! I can deal with shipping but not fabing errors

[DrVic723]

We have put alot of time and effort into catching up on what we can. Granted some Ballistic joints, Ballistic Bushings and a few other miscellaneous items are back ordered for a few more days... however all new orders are shipping same day if ordered before 3:00 MST if parts are quoted as 'in-stock' by a salesperson over the phone. You can also request a partial if you run into a back ordered item, and we'll get everything else out at no additional cost (in most cases) as soon as it becomes available.

We would like to invite people to post their feedback on orders placed from here out, we believe that we're ready to take on the most demanding orders without issue. We understand people's frustrations with previous ship times and want to prove to our customers that we mean business. Check out the Ballistic Zone in the vendors section to post your feedback.

Jeff

[1TON73K5]

Originally Posted by DrVic723

We have put alot of time and effort into catching up on what we can. Granted some Ballistic joints, Ballistic Bushings and a few other miscellaneous items are back ordered for a few more days... however all new orders are shipping same day if ordered before 3:00 MST if parts are quoted as 'in-stock' by a salesperson over the phone. You can also request a partial if you run into a back ordered item, and we'll get everything else out at no additional cost (in most cases) as soon as it becomes available.

We would like to invite people to post their feedback on orders placed from here out, we believe that we're ready to take on the most demanding orders without issue. We understand people's frustrations with previous ship times and want to prove to our customers that we mean business. Check out the Ballistic Zone in the vendors section to post your feedback.

Jeff

GREAT to hear your listening to your customers without being defensive. I for one appreciate that greatly. No bashing going on here which is great too, hence the reason for not needing being defensive. I for one have had no problems with BF on the one or two orders I've made with them. Great comunication guys, it works if its done with respect. Props to all.