Everybody that's every asked the question "where should I buy my aircraft stuff" has heard me go on and on about how great Wicks is, and how completely disappointed I've been with almost every order I've ever placed with Aircraft Spruce. I only order from AS&S when it's something Wicks doesn't carry. Well, here's another data point.
I needed a flap position indicator, since my flaps are split and I can't see them from the cockpit. So I had to order the position sender from AS&S. I called them Friday the 9th to make sure they actually had it in stock. It took them almost 20 minutes to ascertain that indeed, they had exactly ONE in stock, in California. Since I was forced to order from them anyway, and it was too late to ship it out that day, I looked through the catalog and found some more stuff that Wicks doesn't carry and called them back on Saturday to order the sender and the other stuff. I was assured it was all in stock in the California warehouse and would ship on Monday, and just to make sure I had it in time for the weekend, I requested it ship 3 day UPS. They made me "confirm" through email that I REALLY wanted a $15 set of N56ML letters for my plane, and then on Monday called me to tell me that some of the switches I ordered were actually backordered, and would have to ship separate (hmm, didn't you say they were in stock on Saturday?). "Fine, just ship the rest." I was temporarily impressed that they bothered to call, but wondered why they didn't know that when I placed my order and they said it was all in stock. Thursday came and went, and so did Friday. The UPS man came today to deliver my Hooker Harness seat belts, but no AS&S shipment. So I called. After about 5 minutes on hold, I get "Gee, I don't know what's going on with that....I see the order but don't see where anything happened with it...these parts are all in stock in the Georgia store, and we'll send them right out to you, and pay the shipping". Great. If I'd never called, I'd NEVER have gotten them! My three day order just turned into twelve, and I still have the same opinion of AS&S, firmly rooted in past experience. I'd rather pay Wicks a tad more and face a slightly more limited selection, but get exactly what I ordered two days later, every time. I know....I'm just whining....but I feel better now! Mark Langford, Huntsville, Alabama N56ML "at" hiwaay.net see KR2S project at http://home.hiwaay.net/~langford
