Discussions

I have been to all the big aftermarket parts suppliers to find an electrical component. Nobody could find one for me so I went to my standby. Called a small town in B.C. to have them send one to me. It will be here next week. Come on Brandon. A population of about 50,000 people and I have to go to a town of about 3,000 people to get parts.

Guess you talked to the wrong people. Better luck next time. What where you looking for

I'd be interested in knowing what you were looking for too. It does depend on who you talk to sometimes, but I can't imagine no one could get it for you here if you were able to order it elsewhere.

My question is did the local guys you asked find a part number? If not it is not part availability it is the quality of your parts source staff. One or all.  
 
If they did not for one reason or another just get your old stand by to give you the number. Dollars to donuts someone in town would have or get even if they have to cross up the number to another supplier. The two major Jobbers in town can get coast to coast to coast.

The problem is there are to many parts guys paid for 40 hours a week whether they do a whole lot or not. yeah if it''s a filter or something thats on the shelf they will go get it. anything that might require a bit of effort no chance with the younger generation.  
 
What I found was you need the older parts guys 50 and up that are now all retiring if you needed something "slightly unusual But it does exist" with the jobber parts industry.  
 
Or a good parts place in a small town outside Brandon that appreciates your business if you don''t spend $50.000 or more a year in there !!!!!!.  
 
There is a big place down Richmond getting like that more every year. I used to fix a lot of customer stuff and know where I get service or just jerked around.  
 
I will even do the research for part numbers with 4 different companys that make the part and get told it don''t exist, well you just lost business buddy telling me it don''t exist!. I went and got it online and waited a couple days extra and got a better deal without supporting local.  
 
The last time it happened the parts came out of the states for $750 Canadian. That was 4 parts total, In Brandon they couldn''t tell me when they would have them within in 3 months and one of the 4 parts was going to be $1500!.  
 
The stuff was ordered from the states on ebay and had been in shipping a day before Brandon even called back! as i kinda figured what was going to happen.  
 
The excuse was they couldn''t match the numbers I gave them, they had updated. Ebay didn''t have a problem finding parts with my numbers or spec measurements I gave the store!.  
 
There is a reason I quit lots of these jobs, some companys like dealerships are the only place to get certain parts, and I got fed up waiting for stuff or paying huge shipping costs for next day instead of a week for parts to come in on stock order !.  
 
It''s not just a Brandon thing I got a buddy finds exactly the same to the east of us in a larger city!  
 
Edited by Farmboy74, 2018-01-25 10:15:33

Parts, for anything, are getting harder and harder to find.  
 
Up here in Dauphin? Forget it. They either stare at you with "Whut?" or quote 2-3 weeks. So, I order online or drive to Winnipeg.

What are you looking for that nobody in Brandon can find. I really don't believe there is no one in the city can find this stuff you are looking for. Give examples please.

I had a hard time believing it couldn't be found. One of the guys has always found what I was looking for, but not this time. It was a 5 wire isolator. Maybe I was just getting the wrong place at the wrong time. Oh well, The place in B.C. will have it to me next week.

One problem with getting part numbers in our local area is the bosses. I found  
a) paper catalogues are looked down on.  
b) The guys are forced to use in house parts programs that if they are connected to the net are only to specific web sites  
C) Internet/web not available. I found the best way to do cross references that are oddball you did need a google or Ebay. Plus going to on line catalogues of vendors/other parts suppliers etc. This avenue is closed to many parts guys unless they push for access.  
 
 
I know there is a reason for restricted access but it holds no water in my opinion. Lots of ways to patrol abuse. I think one way they think is if it is not in our supply chain we do not care so use our system.  
 
 
The problem with that is it could be on your shelf under a different description/supplier or number.

if i can't find it here i go to Rockauto.com, they have a lot.