Mini Spares

[croc7]

Is anyone else having trouble receiving parts or getting a response from an inquiry? Is it the holiday season the UK?

[Daz1968]

Yes it’s bank holiday today

[croc7]

OK, thanks

[Dearg1275]

They have also had a pile of IT collapses recently and are still trying to recover. Just bare with them, they are a good crowd.

D

[Twincam]

I've also been caught up by MiniSpares difficulty processing an order. Been 2 weeks at this point and not yet shipped for order in which all parts were listed as In Stock for most of that 2 weeks. Total of 9 parts (was 10 but did get an email at the week-and-a-half mark that said one of the parts was no longer in stock). That initiated a "what would you like to do now" email train (hold shipment, cancel order, put short part on backorder, etc, etc, etc) which provided another delay in the shipping and for which after 2 days of waiting, I still haven't received a reply to my "just ship what you have" response.

It appears their internet order taking system in particular has been hit hard with problems after some server upgrades/replacements. I just got off the phone and worked with a salesman named Lawton. He said my order hadn't yet been processed for payment (by the other salesman who had my order and is apparently most deeply effected by all the computer problems). I said please go ahead and process my payment and while holding on the phone and 2 declined attempts with my AMEX card they had on file, we switched to a different card which went through. I've used the AMEX card several times over the last several months with MinISpares, without issue. I suspect the AMEX declines were related to all the computer/server upgrades. I'll check with AMEX on that and update if that is an incorrect assumption.

I have no idea whether my order will actually ship, but I'm feeling that if you want to get things moving from MiniSpares, you need to call and make sure it gets through the payment stage. I think the person who works the Internet orders is fighting a tremendous IT backlog and it's best to get on the phone and have someone else "take over" your order and get it processed.

When you call, use telephone prompt #2 for International orders. For some reason that's the phone that gets picked up and not sent to voice mail.

EDIT: I just got off the phone with AMEX and they say there were no declines on record for my account, so I'm guessing the declines at MiniSpares were not true declines but rather some break in their system which could not complete the transactions.

[UHR850]

Yes the same for me I've also been caught up by MiniSpares difficulty processing an order.
Been almost 2 weeks now and not yet shipped my order of one part that was listed in Stock.

Kees.

[IslandBlue]

Same here, ordered something first thing on a Tuesday a couple of weeks ago for next day delivery as I needed it for the weekend. Was a bit worried that it did not show as shipped the next morning so I gave them a call.

The guy explained that they'd had a bit of a system melt down and took my order manually and I received it for the weekend.

I'm sure I asked him to cancel the first order but sure enough last Friday another package arrived from MiniSpares which can only be a duplicate of the first.... (Not had time to open it to find out).

Sounds a bit of a mess...

[Daz1968]

I ordered a couple of bits late last week, but they were delivered promptly on Saturday morning, so i was happy

[Twincam]

I ordered a couple of bits late last week, but they were delivered promptly on Saturday morning, so i was happy

Was that an internet order or a phone order?

[Polarsilver]

Pleased we have such a supplier as Minispares they are progressive & do try.
Try Minispares North they seem to give a better service

[Daz1968]

Mine was an internet order,I usually use minispares midlands branch but needed something they don’t stock and didn’t want to order in, so I purchased on website.

[Fanfaniracing]

I had also to whait a little, but my delivery arroved last friday. Everything in order. Things like that can happen. I am Happy for the Service.
This is the first time in many years, so no problem for me.

[mk1]

The impact of the IT meltdown as MS can not be under estimated. It has caused them huge problems, but rest assured they are working very hard to get things up & running again. I am sure Rich won't thank me for it, but if you need something fast, give MS North a ring & order over the phone. 01423 881 800

[UHR850]

Via the mail Gavin King was very helpful and did reply very fast on my questions
Did get an mail this morning (08-05-19) my item is beeing sent within a vew days.

So everything is going oké now.

Kees.

[dklawson]

As stated by several above, the MS IT problem has hit them hard. It took me two weeks to receive the internet order I placed for gearbox related parts. Fortunately I was not in a hurry. They did their best to keep me advised of the situation as I waited. Hopefully it will all be resolved soon.

[Twincam]

Just received order 3 weeks after placement. This is a small order that normally would have taken less than a week. I had to place 2 calls to get past critical steps in the process to ship. Both times, my order advanced immediately upon speaking with someone, which makes me wonder what would have happened if I hadn't called and why I waited as long as I did.

I think I've been very patient, but I have more parts to get for my restoration and I'm uncertain if I should order anything until MiniSpares advises they have fixed their problem. Maybe they could put a little blurb on their homepage or send out an email saying something like "We're sorry for the shipping delays caused by our recent computer failures, but we'd like to let everyone know we're now up and running and shipping queue's are back to normal" or "We're sorry for the shipping delays caused by our recent computer failures, but we'd like to let everyone know we have a manual system in place that ensures your order will not be delayed". I'm very hesitant to put in an Internet order otherwise; one that may sit unless I chase it.

To their credit, they have a great website, great selection, great pricing, great packaging skills, great expertise and great people manning the phones, just please keep customers apprised of the situation so we're not totally in the dark.

[croc7]

Approaching 4 weeks on my order with only one response to five email inquiries. A simple nod in my direction and a ‘we’re working on it’ is all I need. Perhaps someone from Mini Spares will read this post and respond ‘cause they sure ain’t reading the emails that I’ve sent!

[Andrew1967]

Having spoke to Rich yesterday afternoon, as Mark said earlier, you cannot underestimate the problems that MiniSpares have been having and the hours spent sorting the issues. His comment is ‘it’s hell on earth’.

Fingers crossed it is getting there and they are working as hard as possible to resolve the problems.

Frustrating for all, both employees and customers.

I personally would still prefer to deal with MiniSpares than either of the other two big Mini Spares specialists.

[mk1]

Many of the staff are working 12 hour PLUS days, 6 days a week to try & keep up. Last thing I heard was that attempts to solve issues had not helped.

I am not a spokesperson for Minispares, but personally I would currently not rely on email or orders placed over the internet. If you are waiting for stuff RING them, you are far more likely to get a solution than relying on the other two methods of contact.

I do also agree that it would be helpful if they tried to make their customers aware that they are suffering ongoing IT problems. Trying to pretend that there is nothing wrong will only loose them customers at this tricky time.

For what it is worth, I have used Minispares for 30 years & have always been very happy with the service they offer, I reckon the least I can do is stick with them through what must be ab absolutely terrible time for everyone who works there.

The only other thing I would say is that it IS NOT the fault of the person who answers the phone! Calling them a C*NT or questioning their parentage does not help anyone.

[MiniGuy]

I ordered parts over the phone and got them delivered to the guy who is working on my mini but I put the wrong house number on it, 51 instead of 51a. The people at 51 didn't recognise my name so it was sent back.

I contacted Rich and he said the parcel would be sent back to them and he'd send it out again. My fault, not minispares but probably all they need with all this going on!!

Hopefully they get sorted soon, I've found the service from them to be excellent. Working in IT, I know all too well the problems that companies can face when stuff like this happens.