Suppliers Postage & VAT Rates

[Justin]

I don't think we want to turn this thread into a 'lets review all suppliers and their items' do we? I think the original point of the post is perhaps being lost now, this is about postage prices isn't it?

[pisquee]

In my opinion we have some very good suppliers in this country for what is quite a niche market, with some being supplied best described as hobbyists or newbies who need a lot of hand-holding from the suppliers whilst buying very little, and others being big businesses with years of experience buying shed loads, needing no help at all.
Some suppliers are better set up for these different sections of the market than others, and because of this, the suppliers aren't just competing on price (as seemed to be the thinking behind this thread) but on service and support. Some are also better set up to not cater to people only wanting to buy in small quantities, but work out best if you're ordering in pallet quantities.

[ArtyGamer]

I don't think we want to turn this thread into a 'lets review all suppliers and their items' do we? I think the original point of the post is perhaps being lost now, this is about postage prices isn't it?

I'd say the reason behind that is that the OP was being challenged for being respectful enough to not 'name and shame', to the point where they ultimately did. The fact that they then rated them beyond the postage was odd, to be fair, but I don't think the intent was necessarily to start a mud slinging party and more that they just got a bit carried away with their 'name and shame'. Personally speaking, when I first came along to the site the first thing I did was to look for a thread where people discussed suppliers on a per-thread basis so that people would know in advance what sort of service to expect from them. Not prices, just service. I was surprised not to find any, but I didn't go back further than a dozen or so pages so perhaps I missed it.

The problem is that, with any industry, how you're treated depends entirely on what you have to offer them in return. The more business you give someone, the more likely they are to pull out all the stops and give you a superior level of customer service, so even those opinions may differ from the next person. Either way, even although this thread has been massively derailed from the original purpose (and it was obvious that it was going to happen from very early on, and it's why I kept out of it entirely until it got personal), I'd still like to read the opinions of others with regard to suppliers. I know it may make Justin uncomfortable, given that the forum itself has a number of these suppliers' sponsored ads, but perhaps in the members-only area and with suppliers still able to see them so they can use it to improve their services.

Just a thought.

[pisquee]

Maybe a review section with 1 thread per supplier, but then people would only tend to post there if they wanted to moan, so it wouldn't give a very balanced view to be useful to someone considering using a supplier.

E2A - except there is already a thread devoted to people praising Paul, so maybe there is hope!

[Justin]

We have discussed a review section before but generally come to the same conclusion, most folk will only ever post when something goes wrong.

[ArtyGamer]

That's the problem with people on the whole. They rarely say anything positive, regardless of how happy they are with someone's service. Give them a reason to moan, however, and they'll shout it from the rooftops. I have lots of good things to say about a few places, but I just don't have anywhere to say it. That said... I do also have negativities towards other suppliers but, as mentioned before, I guarantee that others will have glowing reports for them because they've elevated to the point where they get preferential treatment. And rightly so. I do the same myself.

[purpledragon]

I disagree ive seen plenty of posts saying thanks to a particular supplier, the problem is if you offer a service then the very least a customer should expect is for that service to be delivered in a timly and reasonable fashion so why would you praise for this? If that service provider goes out their way to assist or above and beyond whats expected then they deserve recognition similaly if the service falls short and it is failed to be corrected (that bits important) then again this deserves to be highlighted.
Mistakes can and do happen i bet ee,ve all spelt a name wrong bms have got my order wrong in the past it happens its how its dealt with thats important. Some people are far to quick to complain ebay buyers are a prime example.
But what you will find in a forum like this is if a supplier gets slated unfairly people are very quick to jump to their defence andquite right too essentally what you have is a self governing feedback system

[ArtyGamer]

I disagree

I wasn't talking about this forum, I was talking about 'people on the whole'. How many websites exist specifically to praise companies for doing their job well as opposed to the number of sites specifically meant to draw attention to how badly a company performs. eBay and PayPal are prime examples - thousands of websites dedicated to how awful they are as companies and how they mistreat their users but I can't remember ever coming across a single website that had been set up to praise them. This forum may be different, but I wasn't talking about this forum.

[purpledragon]

I wasn't talking about this forum, I was talking about 'people on the whole'. How many websites exist specifically to praise companies for doing their job well as opposed to the number of sites specifically meant to draw attention to how badly a company performs. eBay and PayPal are prime examples - thousands of websites dedicated to how awful they are as companies and how they mistreat their users but I can't remember ever coming across a single website that had been set up to praise them. This forum may be different, but I wasn't talking about this forum.

All fair points unfortunatly you are assuming it was your comments i was disagreeing with so sorry but you wasted a bit of typing time there. My point was more aimed towards if we need a review section perhaps i shouldve been clearer and perhaps you shouldnt assume

[Justin]

All fair points unfortunatly you are assuming it was your comments i was disagreeing with so sorry but you wasted a bit of typing time there. My point was more aimed towards if we need a review section perhaps i shouldve been clearer and perhaps you shouldnt assume

Or maybe you should use the reply with quote? If not they we can only assume that the comments are directed at the most recent post but, I'm pretty sure you knew that Let's not be winding each other for the sake of it and keep this all civil please. Some valid points being raised and it's a shame when this gets lost.