ABR Imagery

**Loki Glass** · 02-11-2014, 02:14 PM

haha That's gotta be a shitty letter to have to write someone.

**blueburnsorange** · 02-11-2014, 02:25 PM

Thanks Bulletproof - since I'm just a small time/hobby newb it's nice to hear a similar opinion from a longtime pro.

To rub salt on the wounds of this current experience with the four line items being out-of-stock, I suggested four replacements yesterday at 1pm and I did not hear back until mid-day today!!! When I did, one of the replacement items was also out of stock and just like I said, I've lost yet another day - this order should have shipped yesterday and I'm at my day job right now - I don't have time to call and talk for 15 minutes about what I want.

For a company so geared towards "just give us a call to make your order" they sure don't return the courtesy and call us when there is a problem. The one time Mountain ever was out of stock on me (and I've placed probably 10x as many orders with them as ABR), they called me twice in an hour AND sent an email - just to ensure they could straighten out the problem and meet the 2:30pm same-day shipping deadline. THAT is top-notch customer service, not what ABR is providing in my situation.

And just like Bulletproof said, this will probably be my last order from ABR at least for glass anyway. Mountain doesn't always have every tube size and color that I need but I'd rather drive two hours to go to Whale or US-Tube than deal with this headache again.

and just a little background to show I'm not a total dickhead.... this is sort of what I do for a living as my "day job".... I manage the IT dept for a industrial equipment distributor (sort of like Grainger) and I'm in charge of the entire sales system (purchasing, inventory, shipping, invoicing, E-Commerce with B2B and B2C) for a $100 million company so I know what is and what is not possible. We sell close to a million different items and stock close to 50,000 of them across nine warehouses in six states, we serve everyone from shops as small as some of your glass studios to the Pentagon, NSA and state governments and could NEVER survive or keep face with the type of short-stock problems like this. There is no technical-limitation that is an excuse for this problem, it's a business-level issue.

**Dan Kooper** · 02-11-2014, 02:25 PM

It was a girl too! It basically says "sorry, I'm the one who wrote poop on your stuff. We were joking around in the warehouse and it wasn't suppose to be used. Here's the smallest milli we have (a fish I think?) and some stickers."

**arthurcameron** · 02-11-2014, 03:04 PM

I agree that ABR is my #1 glass supplier.

**MUPH** · 02-11-2014, 03:46 PM

Originally Posted by blueburnsorange

Thanks Bulletproof - since I'm just a small time/hobby newb it's nice to hear a similar opinion from a longtime pro.

To rub salt on the wounds of this current experience with the four line items being out-of-stock, I suggested four replacements yesterday at 1pm and I did not hear back until mid-day today!!! When I did, one of the replacement items was also out of stock and just like I said, I've lost yet another day - this order should have shipped yesterday and I'm at my day job right now - I don't have time to call and talk for 15 minutes about what I want.

For a company so geared towards "just give us a call to make your order" they sure don't return the courtesy and call us when there is a problem. The one time Mountain ever was out of stock on me (and I've placed probably 10x as many orders with them as ABR), they called me twice in an hour AND sent an email - just to ensure they could straighten out the problem and meet the 2:30pm same-day shipping deadline. THAT is top-notch customer service, not what ABR is providing in my situation.

And just like Bulletproof said, this will probably be my last order from ABR at least for glass anyway. Mountain doesn't always have every tube size and color that I need but I'd rather drive two hours to go to Whale or US-Tube than deal with this headache again.

and just a little background to show I'm not a total dickhead.... this is sort of what I do for a living as my "day job".... I manage the IT dept for a industrial equipment distributor (sort of like Grainger) and I'm in charge of the entire sales system (purchasing, inventory, shipping, invoicing, E-Commerce with B2B and B2C) for a $100 million company so I know what is and what is not possible. We sell close to a million different items and stock close to 50,000 of them across nine warehouses in six states, we serve everyone from shops as small as some of your glass studios to the Pentagon, NSA and state governments and could NEVER survive or keep face with the type of short-stock problems like this. There is no technical-limitation that is an excuse for this problem, it's a business-level issue.

You'll always attract more bees with honey. Venting about a problem you have with a company on a public forum will not solve your problem, nor will telling everyone what you do for a living. Maybe ABR just doesn't compare to your other dealings with the NSA, pentagon, or any other government acronym, but in the time it took you to write that post, you could have made the phone call and got your issue resolved.

I have only heard of a handful of people who have had problems with ABR that didn't get resolved, and they have all posted in this thread.

**blueburnsorange** · 02-12-2014, 07:12 AM

My issue is resolved in that I think that after three rounds of "we don't have it", we're good but your echo of "you should just call" does re-enforce in my point...

This is a review thread, right? Is there a more appropriate place to talk about good or bad experiences? Have I made any low blows or cheap shots? Have I damned ABR as a company or said I was never going to use them for anything? No, just not for glass-orders because that seems to be the weak spot.

I'm just giving my experience and based on some of the other comments it looks like this is a sore spot for a few people not just me and has cost them business in the past, so why not talk about it? It's not a witch hunt or a boycott and if they can get that resolved, I'd happily place more orders.

Sorry you don't like what I do for a living but it is relevant to the topic at hand. It might not be a cheap or quick fix but this problem can be resolved.

**daveabr** · 02-12-2014, 07:40 AM

I don't mind the criticism. When we make mistakes, we learn from them. Only way to get better. We do make them, but we always make our mistakes right. I will say that our guys are trained to call and email every time something is out of stock. I will remind everyone of this since you say they didn't do both this time. If you want to PM me your phone number, I can make sure we have the correct contact info on file for you. That happens sometimes too. Sometimes someone may have mis-keyed the number or we have an old one.

We really do a lot of volume here, and our guys are very busy during the day. They can't always get back to people right away. But, they do get back to you as quickly as they can. Sometimes a guy or gal will get tied up with a walk in customer for 2-3 hours. So, things happen. We can only hope for understanding in that respect. But, we also understand if you are frustrated. I'm not sure what glass was out of stock, but sometimes that is out of our hands. I just went over a Purchase Order we have with GA from 9 months ago that they haven't filled. I just had to cancel an order on a guy today because all he ordered was Grape Tubing, which we have been waiting on for a year. Several tubing sizes are the same way. We certainly have had it on order if we are out of it. So, this stuff happens for a multitude of reasons. We have no reason not to do all we can to keep stuff in stock, or fill anyone's order as quickly as possible. We have a great auto reorder system that doesn't let us not have things on order we are low or out of. I'd be willing to bet we have the most extensive on hand inventory in the lampwork biz. So, we really do our best to service everyone best we can. We do that everyday. When stuff gets screwy, we always strive to make it right also. So, thanks for the good, the bad, and the ugly. It all either makes us smile, or makes us work harder to do better.

Thanks

Dave

**daveabr** · 02-12-2014, 07:51 AM

I'm also always willing to deal with issues here or anywhere, whereas other companies flat out will not deal with it here in the public forum. So, if anyone ever has an issue, you know where to find me. I monitor our activity here pretty much daily.

**cheesebox** · 02-12-2014, 08:48 AM

Dave's "best price" on most glass is great, i am co localand cant get glasscraft to match any of your prices, they try but they only ever get "close" and wont actually meet them.and whenever youbuy bulk dave hooksit up with a nice discount that beats out everyone else i've used.. generally even after shipping/freight

**H1JACK3R** · 02-12-2014, 09:07 AM

This is a relatively small community, people build relationships with suppliers. If you can't take fifteen minutes out of the day to call, t's only going to hurt your bottom line. It's not like ABR is some under staffed big box store.

Can't beat the prices or service.

**blueburnsorange** · 02-12-2014, 09:47 AM

Dave, thanks for looking into it.

I do have my phone number listed on my account but my order shipped late yesterday and it was never my intention to try to deal with my specific order publicly via this thread. I was only using it to provide review of the experience, please don't think I'm looking for discounts or freebies by saying what I'm saying. I haven't asked for any here nor in my emails to the CSR.

I agree 100% that you have the most extensive selection of glass out of all the online retailers - that's why I would like to go to ABR first, that's not the issue.

My issue is that you say "we have a great auto reorder system that doesn't let us not have things on order we are low or out of"... but you ran out of things listed on the website three times on me since Friday and several other times since November (my first ABR order).

I do know what it's like to be at the mercy of vendor shipping delays and how they can affect lead times regardless of your ordering method (EOQ,min/max, human, etc...) but like I said originally, running out of stock happens, it's not my beef. My problem is that website consistently shows stuff as available and allows us to pay for stuff when it really isn't there.

**daveabr** · 02-12-2014, 10:17 AM

Wow, thanks for bringing that to our attention. The website is supposed to deliver a red text message at the bottom of our screen notifying you that is low or out of stock. I've emailed our web people to get that fixed.

**blueburnsorange** · 02-12-2014, 10:20 AM

I'm glad it can be resolved easily!

**olddog** · 02-18-2014, 07:04 PM

Originally Posted by daveabr

We've really tackled the shipping times over the last year. We've doubled our picking staff this year to combat the insanely high volume these days. Things happen, but for the most part delays are unusual. We call and email if out of stock. We wait no more than 24 hours before we just ship it.

WOW you're shipping must've stunk back then. I ordered something on Thursday and asked if it can be shipped as soon as possible, it just shipped today Tuesday

**standard28** · 02-19-2014, 06:25 AM

I've had no problems with ABR but I did just need to order color and went with MT Glass. I absolutely hate paying to join a color club and that was the only way to get a discount with ABR. MT Glass gives discounts with quantity lb orders. I order over 5lbs and got 20% off and they shipped it that day. Have to say same day shipping and no color club was a win for MT Glass...

**istandalone24/7** · 02-19-2014, 06:36 AM

rule of thumb for me....if i NEED an item within a certain time frame, i'll use mtn glass they ship same day (if ordered before 1pm) but if i have time i'll shop around for the best price....which may or may not be abr.

**daveabr** · 02-19-2014, 09:08 AM

standard28......We offer discounts for bulk orders everyday. Color club is for the folks who order 2-3 lbs at at a time or less, and still usually way than more pays itself back in a year. Always ask when ordering in bulk, we are happy to work with you.

olddog......not sure what the issue was, but if you 'd like to PM me or call with your name/order# I'd be happy to look into it. we are running same or next day right now, have been for weeks, since after the holidays. sometimes we get hammered and are a day or so behind. but there's usually something else involved if it takes a few days.

**daveabr** · 02-19-2014, 09:10 AM

Also, we do orders in the order they come in. We always ship "soon as possible" If you pay for overnite, 2 days, or 3 day express shipping, you go straight to the front. Other than that, we have to be fair, we can't ship soon as possible over other orders just because someone asks. Fair is fair.

**daveabr** · 02-19-2014, 09:35 AM

Also, the red lettered low inventory warnings are back and functional on the site. Somehow the setting had gotten turned off.

**blueburnsorange** · 02-19-2014, 09:37 AM

Dave,

Rush/priority orders aside, committing to an "orders before (certain time) will ship same-day" policy like Mountain has would go a long way to reassure people vs "asap". Is something like that possible for ABR?