Drastic measures: Voluntary grounding?

[NancysToy]

I'm sorry, but I know for a fact that this is simply not true in regards to customs. I have been involved in importing things all the way from China, and the LONGEST my stuff has been held up in customs has been a day or two.... and that was ONLY when customs decided to pull my freight aside for inspection! Otherwise customs doesn't really hold things up too much at all from my personal experience with importing.

I had a supplier in Canada for a little scooter I was selling, and he sent me parts all the time with no delay whatsoever. I received mirrors and other things directly from him in a matter of days.

So, like I said, customs shouldn't be an excuse for delaying parts delivery. No way on earth.

Derwin

Unfortunately, it seems to be a bit dependent on where the items cross the border. Crossings into the east side of Michigan are notorious for delays. Average time is a week to ten days to clear, but it can be considerably longer, and always surprises us if it is shorter. I can get parts faster from British Columbia than from Ontario or Quebec. I certainly agree that a US parts warehouse would help.

On the other hand, I understand the backorders for things like DPS units. If you have a major part that is not a wear part, and you anticipate something like a 0.05% failure rate, then you change the programming, exposing a defect, and realize an actual 2% failure rate, you are going to run out of parts. Depending on the supplier, the time for troubleshooting to make sure the whole batch isn't defective, and your willingness to rob the production line, you could get behind real fast. Not pleasing, but it is the real world of manufacturing these days. They don't even keep stock on the shelves for their own production with "Just-In-Time" supply methods.

 

[BajaRon]

I'm sorry, but I know for a fact that this is simply not true in regards to customs. I have been involved in importing things all the way from China, and the LONGEST my stuff has been held up in customs has been a day or two.... and that was ONLY when customs decided to pull my freight aside for inspection! Otherwise customs doesn't really hold things up too much at all from my personal experience with importing.

I had a supplier in Canada for a little scooter I was selling, and he sent me parts all the time with no delay whatsoever. I received mirrors and other things directly from him in a matter of days.

So, like I said, customs shouldn't be an excuse for delaying parts delivery. No way on earth.

Derwin

Sorry, what you "Know for a fact" may be true in your universe of experience but you are more fortunate than you know.

Customs is a fickle beast. One package goes flying by unmolested. The next, identical package gets held up for who knows how long and you'll never get a straight answer. More often than not they'll tell you they never saw that package even if they are standing there with it in their hand.

So customs delays may not be a good excuse for extended delivery times. But it certainly can be a good reason for it.

To be honest, I would love to trade my "Know for a fact" for yours. It would be great to live in your import/export world. Sounds much better than the one I've been in for the last 12 years.

 

[Rub]

Customs is a fickle beast. One package goes flying by unmolested. The next, identical package gets held up for who knows how long and you'll never get a straight answer.

I did cross border hauling a few years ago. Many times customs delays are caused by mixed shipments - your stuff being in the same container or on the same truck as Brand X. Brand X raises suspicion or has bad paperwork and the whole load is held up. It happens.


Rub

 

[bone crusher]

I'm sorry, but I know for a fact that this is simply not true in regards to customs. I have been involved in importing things all the way from China, and the LONGEST my stuff has been held up in customs has been a day or two.... and that was ONLY when customs decided to pull my freight aside for inspection! Otherwise customs doesn't really hold things up too much at all from my personal experience with importing.

I had a supplier in Canada for a little scooter I was selling, and he sent me parts all the time with no delay whatsoever. I received mirrors and other things directly from him in a matter of days.

So, like I said, customs shouldn't be an excuse for delaying parts delivery. No way on earth.

Derwin

Derwin,

My dealership is quite honest. They have no reason to lie about their experiences. They openly complained to me about their frustration with getting parts that they needed from BRP. They told me that many times BRP will try to find U.S. vendors for similar parts that can be used instead of Canadian parts as apparently things do get hung up with customs issues.

I do not know the specifics of customs but I will say that there is definitely a parts issue with BRP, be it due to customs or simply not enough to go around right now...maybe a combination of both?

 

[Derwin]

Sorry, what you "Know for a fact" may be true in your universe of experience but you are more fortunate than you know.

Not at all, my friend. I have been importing products from China for a decade now, and have never had things held up for extended periods of time. What HAS happened, though, is on occasion customs would "pick" the container that my products were in to INSPECT. As you may already know, customs does NOT inspect all containers, but only a very SMALL percentage of them. On the occasions where they pulled mine for inspection, I had to pay to have it delivered to their inspection site. This would put my products on hold for a few days, and no more. And this was ONLY when I've been unlucky enough to have a container pulled by them for inspection, which is not common at all, even in today's climate.

To be honest, I would love to trade my "Know for a fact" for yours. It would be great to live in your import/export world. Sounds much better than the one I've been in for the last 12 years.

I don't "live" in an export world. I have only IMPORTED products to the US, and never exported. I've imported from two countries only, though. Those being China and Canada. China has always been more paperwork than Canada. And I've NEVER had any delays from Canada.

Have I been "lucky" in regards to this? No. I can give you the names of several people near O'Hare airport that deal with importing products daily, and they'll tell you the same thing.

But this is about BRP getting products to the dealers, right? Well, I don't see why they would be having problems with this. I can have a product from ANYWHERE in the world on my desk within a few days, regardless of customs. That's been my experience.

I don't know, maybe I'm a special person, I don't know! :dontknow:

And, yes, what I "know as a fact" is in regards to MY PERSONAL EXPERIENCE for the past decade of importing. I can only speak from personal experience, and nothing else. Maybe BRP has to deal with things that I never had to deal with simply because they are a huge corporation or something... I have no idea.

Derwin

 

[Derwin]

I do not know the specifics of customs but I will say that there is definitely a parts issue with BRP, be it due to customs or simply not enough to go around right now...maybe a combination of both?

What are we talking about here? What kind of time are they saying customs is holding up product for? Is it a couple days? A week? A month? If just a couple days, then it's completely understandable. If a couple weeks to a month, then it's not customs that is the hold up.

Like you, I think it may be a few days hold up in customs for sure, but also a delay on their part in getting the products out to begin with..... A combination of both.

Well, I don't have to worry about any of this crap now, since I don't have my Spyder yet. But It's a darn good thing there's a forum where everybody can talk about it!

Hooorah for Lamont! :2thumbs:

Derwin

 

[Neez]

Well, I live on the west coast of Canada and have been subjected to ridiculously long waits for parts, too. So it's not all the fault of US Customs.

 

[spyryder]

BRP likely has it's own delivery system and waits for enough orders to fill a trailer before sending anything out.:dontknow:

 

[NancysToy]

Well, I live on the west coast of Canada and have been subjected to ridiculously long waits for parts, too. So it's not all the fault of US Customs.

I'll bet you'd get them quicker if BC would consent to speak French. :roflblack:

 

[txknight67]

I'll bet you'd get them quicker if BC would consent to speak French. :roflblack:

:roflblack::roflblack::roflblack::roflblack:

 

[Derwin]

BRP likely has it's own delivery system and waits for enough orders to fill a trailer before sending anything out.:dontknow:

I didn't think of that, but this has happened to me several times. My small order wouldn't fill a container since it was a LTL order, and I would have to WAIT for other orders to fill the container before my products would be shipped. But this had nothing to do with customs.

You think that would be the case with BRP? I don't know, but it could be. Has anybody asked them about this? Heck, if I were waiting on a part, I would contact them directly and give them a FEDEX number for immediate shipment! What the heck. If they have the part, I'd be willing to pay for shipping myself to have it here in a couple days by international FedEx.

Scotty, maybe we ALL should speak French, and then things will start moving! :roflblack:

Derwin

 

[spyryder]

I didn't think of that, but this has happened to me several times. My small order wouldn't fill a container since it was a LTL order, and I would have to WAIT for other orders to fill the container before my products would be shipped. But this had nothing to do with customs.

You think that would be the case with BRP? I don't know, but it could be. Has anybody asked them about this? Heck, if I were waiting on a part, I would contact them directly and give them a FEDEX number for immediate shipment! What the heck. If they have the part, I'd be willing to pay for shipping myself to have it here in a couple days by international FedEx.

Scotty, maybe we ALL should speak French, and then things will start moving! :roflblack:

Derwin

Maybe they have a contract with a trucking company to haul all of their freight for them. Sending individual parts via Fedex etc. would likely violate contract provisions. It may make things more complicated and confusing as well.

 

[SpyderWolf]

It may not all be the fault of customs, but I am sure they play a role in some of it. When we ordered the graphics kit for my Spyder, the tracking status showed it sitting in customs for 1.5 weeks and it was basically a package of paper. :dontknow:

 

[retread]

The BRP Shipping Team.........

:roflblack:

And they have cousins in Customs.:gaah:

john

 

[Derwin]

It may not all be the fault of customs, but I am sure they play a role in some of it. When we ordered the graphics kit for my Spyder, the tracking status showed it sitting in customs for 1.5 weeks and it was basically a package of paper. :dontknow:

Holy Crap! That's insane! What? Did they think you had contraband graphics in the envelope!

 

[NancysToy]

It may not all be the fault of customs, but I am sure they play a role in some of it. When we ordered the graphics kit for my Spyder, the tracking status showed it sitting in customs for 1.5 weeks and it was basically a package of paper. :dontknow:

Holy Crap! That's insane! What? Did they think you had contraband graphics in the envelope!

Happens all the time. I have had the same thing several times...even with Spyder parts. Tracking always shows them stalled in customs.

 

[Roaddog2]

And they have cousins in Customs.:gaah:

john

I thought they all worked at Seagram's Whisky at night :gaah:

 

[SpyderWolf]

:roflblack: Take off to the great white north, eh. It's a beauty way to go.

 

[DynamoBT]

Back to topic. . . I wrote BPR an e-mail expressing my concerns. I asked for a status on where they are with regards to the steering issues.

Carlos called me tonight. He assured me that engineers were working literally 24/7 behind the scenes on this issue. He felt there would be, at the very least, a statement in the not too distant future regarding what the investigation has discovered. There could be more. But at least BRP will make another public statement.

I want you all to understand that I am most definitely NOT anti-BRP or down on the Spyder. No one wants the Spyder to succeed more than I do. I want the engineers to discover the root of any problems to date. I don't want to see continued problems cropping up for people.

I may have jumped overboard in saying I would ground my Spyder come spring. I just want to trust my Spyder's reliability. I ryde a lot alone. I just want to know that I'm not going to be stranded out somewhere afraid to start my Spyder up and drive it home.

Anyway, I'll try not to get carried away on a wave of panic in the future. I want nothing more than to trust the working order of my Spyder come spring so my husband and I can enjoy rydes together.

 

[SpyderWolf]

Thanks for posting the update on what you found out from Carlos. I think that was a pretty good way to go about things. :thumbup: