by SlotCarCorner » Tue Jul 02, 2019 5:51 am
A little background...
When the original poster contacted us and left a voicemail, the message indicated he was trying to order additional "controller holders" (NOT the mounting brackets). We scratched our heads and checked our inventory - there were 84 "controller holders" in stock. We returned the call and left a voicemail and also followed up with an email including a link to the controller holders. We also indicated the mounting brackets were out-of-stock and hoped to have them back in stock in about one month. As there was no further communication from the customer, we assumed (incorrectly) the matter was resolved.
Like many of the items Slot Car Corner offers, and other slot car manufacturers as well, they tend to be very specialized. Controller holders and controller holder mounting brackets are just two examples. These are one-off items that are difficult to source in limited quantities - many potential suppliers of these specialized parts are simply not interested in producing them because the quantities involved are too small or the cost would be prohibitive to produce them in the limited quantities we require. When we finally do find someone willing to work with us to make these specialty items, we're often working with a busy machine shop that works the production of our parts into their schedule as time permits. In other words, we're "small potatoes" compared to their larger customers who keep the machine shop open. BOTH the machine shop / supplier and SCC understand this going in. In most cases, we have a pretty good idea what the typical lead times are and reorder accordingly. In the case of controller mounting brackets, we might sell 15 - 20 in an entire year. While we could order 1,000 and never have to worry about running out, we can't afford the cost of carrying 50 years of inventory! When we get down to 10 mounting brackets onhand, we reorder 50 of this particular item. We have been offering the controller holder mounting brackets for about 10 years and this reordering strategy has worked pretty well. Unfortunately for the most recent reorder, this particular item has been on backorder from our supplier for several months - while our supplier can't provide a firm date when more will be manufactured, we hope to receive more within the next month or so.
Had we known our customer was looking for "controller holder mounting brackets" and not "controller holders", we would have gladly communicated the above information. We encourage all of our customers to contact us directly if they have any questions or problems - we take pride in our customer service and are very responsive to phone calls and emails. Should you have any additional questions, please reach out to us directly.
:text-thankyouyellow: