Ordering from Andover Norton (2020)

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Well, I thought I was doing good. Placed an Andover order on 6/28. Contacted Andover to ask about a tracking number. They provided but it was via Royal Mail. What happened to using DHL? Why can't I choose? Shipment will go from Royal Mail to USPS. I have very little hope of seeing this package anytime soon. I would have happily paid the DHL premium. :-(

@ZFD can you have someone explain the shipping options, especially to the US?
 
I ordered an item from UK eBay that was shipped Royal Mail / USPS and it did show up, after about 2 weeks. I too would have paid extra for air mail if it was available.
 
I ordered an item from UK eBay that was shipped Royal Mail / USPS and it did show up, after about 2 weeks. I too would have paid extra for air mail if it was available.

I'm happy to get something in a month via the mail from the UK. Actually I'm not happy as I will pay for faster service if given the opportunity.
 
In the future, you should check with me. I have lots of new AN parts - if I have them in stock, it will cost you less and you'll have them in 2-3 days.

Thanks Greg. What was throwing me off is that one shipment from AN got here in a couple days, which was fine. But they switched the shipping method and I ordered expecting a couple days will now turn into weeks or months. And I had no indication how it would be shipped until I emailed them.

Normally I will order from Old Britts, one because I have known them so long and two, they are so close. But I have been ordering from AN recently because I don't want to make Ella work any harder. :D They have been doing it for so long and they need to continue tapering down.

Old Britts and AN are convenient and easy places to order from. Are you considering opening up an eCommerce site?
 
Old Britts and AN are convenient and easy places to order from. Are you considering opening up an eCommerce site?
1/2 way there. You can add to cart and send which tells you what's in stock and tells me what you want. The prices are mathematically figured for the masses - they are almost always more than people here will pay. I could setup ordering in an evening, but pricing is a monster especially since I don't try to make money from forum members (if I know they are), clubs I'm a member of, or people I do repairs for. I get a small discount from AN and I buy in bulk to keep it. Therefore, UK shipping doesn't hurt nearly as much since it gets spread out over an order. BTW, I'm not a member of ONE but since I watch all The Mighty Garage videos, the same applies.

I also keep a list of needed parts. People tell me what they want added to my next order and I get it for them. I just received an order - the next will be in 4-6 weeks and I already have parts on the list for several people. The same is true for Amal and I can save people a lot of money on carbs and other things - unfortunately, they have had supply problems for quite a while on Norton carbs and the virus is not making it any better - I sold the last Premier carb set I had in stock for a Norton yesterday.
 
1/2 way there. You can add to cart and send which tells you what's in stock and tells me what you want. The prices are mathematically figured for the masses - they are almost always more than people here will pay. I could setup ordering in an evening, but pricing is a monster especially since I don't try to make money from forum members (if I know they are), clubs I'm a member of, or people I do repairs for. I get a small discount from AN and I buy in bulk to keep it. Therefore, UK shipping doesn't hurt nearly as much since it gets spread out over an order. BTW, I'm not a member of ONE but since I watch all The Mighty Garage videos, the same applies.

I also keep a list of needed parts. People tell me what they want added to my next order and I get it for them. I just received an order - the next will be in 4-6 weeks and I already have parts on the list for several people. The same is true for Amal and I can save people a lot of money on carbs and other things - unfortunately, they have had supply problems for quite a while on Norton carbs and the virus is not making it any better - I sold the last Premier carb set I had in stock for a Norton yesterday.

I work on e-commerce type sites all the time. They are a bit of work but once you get them going they can be easy to maintain.

It’s pretty common to have customer groups, and from there you can maintain group discount levels.

Given the number of robust free platforms I’d never write one from scratch anymore like Fred did. That being said the Old Britts site is still be of the clearest and easiest to use in the whole Norton world. Sure there are some quirks but he managed to put a ton of useful information in a very compact solution. Not only that but there’s some great background management tools too.
 
I work on e-commerce type sites all the time. They are a bit of work but once you get them going they can be easy to maintain.

It’s pretty common to have customer groups, and from there you can maintain group discount levels.

Given the number of robust free platforms I’d never write one from scratch anymore like Fred did. That being said the Old Britts site is still be of the clearest and easiest to use in the whole Norton world. Sure there are some quirks but he managed to put a ton of useful information in a very compact solution. Not only that but there’s some great background management tools too.
Understood - I do this for a living and have for a very long time. I make an hour in my real work about what I make in two weeks on parts so it's a matter of priorities.
 
Hi Dave

I noticed if your order has larger expensive items it gets DHL. If smaller less expensive it goes USPS. USPS is the problem. Shipment gets to the US in a couple of days then sits around here in the US.
 
I like Andover.
I can't be the only one who gets upset about wading through the Triumph minutiae to get to the good stuff.
 
Shipping method is determined by volume and weight in the absence of customer input/request.

I ordered a number of parts from AN which included a clutch basket/hub/engine sprocket and a rear drum. Between acknowledgement/payment I got the package via DHL in about 10 days.

I ordered a complete stainless exhaust system from Keihan on a Monday morning, paid for it while they were still open and got the parts 3 days later via DHL

I sent parts to AU via the USPS International Priority Mail and it took about 3, 1/2 weeks to be delivered. Pre Covid-19 the same shipment rarely took more the 10 days, one was delivered in 7.

Companies that ship a lot of parts save money by pateltzing many orders that are bound for the same country. Western European shipments to the US arrive at the shippers terminal on the east coast and get unbundled and distributed up and down the eastern part of the US and the rest of the orders get re-palletized and sent on to yet another terminal where the the process repeats.

USPS and Royal Mail send individual packages in containers, but, at least for in the Northeast get split out at the Customs Service at JFK and put in the USPS mail stream.

I had to return an exhaust system to Keihan some time back when I ordered the wrong pieces. UPS and FedEx wanted something like $120 USD with delivery within 7 business days. I sent the box USPS Priority, it cost me under $70, but took a tad over 2 weeks to get to Keihan....

Covid-19 has caused major delays and will continue to do so until the threat, real or imagined, goes away.

Best
 
Desktop shortcut or favorite to: https://andover-norton.co.uk/en/shop-drawings/4 takes you to 72
Desktop shortcut or favorite to: https://andover-norton.co.uk/en/shop-drawings/5 takes you to 73
Desktop shortcut or favorite to: https://andover-norton.co.uk/en/shop-drawings/6 takes you to 74
Desktop shortcut or favorite to: https://andover-norton.co.uk/en/shop-drawings/7 takes you to 75

Then you don't even need to select from the list. I spend a lot of time on AN because it's quicker and easier than the parts books.
 
"Covid-19 has caused major delays and will continue to do so until the threat, real or imagined, goes away."

It's real.
Two previously healthy friends are going into long term care after " recovering " from Covid.
Brain damage from lack of oxygen.

I find myself mildly annoyed at the wait for parts and also the inability to pick up eBay US items in Lynden, Wa. That's been my routine for years, buy parts or tooling on eBay, get it delivered to my US PO box 15 minutes away, then swing down and bring it home.
I started doing this because many Ebayers will not ship to Canada. In time I learned that it made sense to also have items from the UK shipped to the US PO box as it avoided the standard 2 week Canada Border Services holdup.

Cannot do this right now as the border is closed, for good reason.
Anyway, when I start to get cranky over shipping delays, I think of my two friends' awful situation post Covid and it puts my Covid shipping difficulties for the hobby in perspective.

Glen
 
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