Don't count on Defender for a bit...

[chris95040]

They are clearly in over their heads with servicing latent demand, or something...

I spent a few boat bucks over a week ago on an assortment of items - heard nothing for several days, then was told my stuff would be ship "today, tomorrow at the latest", and now, 3 days after that (and well over a week since the order was placed) I'm told many of my items are backordered til the end of June. Everything I ordered had ample supply listed online at the time I ordered. Feels like so long ago, ha!

I should have known something was up a few weeks ago when I ordered an eye-spliced 3-strand dock line and it showed up looking like a cub scout had done the splice.

Lifelong customer who has never had anything to complain about with them, but wow, this year, I'd find somewhere else. Something ain't right over there.

[C420sailor]

Massive labor shortage everywhere. I haven’t seen so many help wanted signs in my life. I’m sure the entire supply chain is shorthanded.

Couple that with increased demand, and you may see prices on the rise...

[Dr. D]

I had a different experience. On Tuesday afternoon I ordered an anchor (Rocnor Vulcan, 33 lb). It arrived today, Thursday. Couldn’t ask for better service.

[GreenWave]

They are definitely suffering and hence we as customer suffer as well. It depends on what you order. An anchor is off the shelf and they just put it in a box.

I ordered some hatch covers late last year. Received them but they went defective within days. Defender said they would have Lewmar send more. Never got them despite Multiple emails.

They are in the penalty box and I will only buy from them if they have something I absolutely need and cannot get somewhere else. Time will likely fix this problem.

[marcjsmith]

Spent several boat bucks since August on my refit. Lines, fenders, gaskets, af paint, etc. not so much as a hiccup in supply or service.

Happy customer here, Ymmv

Now Home Depot....is another story altogether. F&ckers

[DanielI]

FWIW, my new SS clutch handle arrived yesterday, on schedule.

I suspect supply chain issues are what you are seeing, which would explain why it is a problem with some things, and not others.

[Capt.Don]

Originally Posted by C420sailor

...

Couple that with increased demand, and you may see prices on the rise...

I noticed that too. In fact, I found better prices at West Marine (I couldn't believe it).
Don

[marshmat]

There are absolutely some supply chain issues going on. One Defender staff member told me recently that an order they'd placed with Standard Horizon in January still didn't have a confirmed ship date from the factory, five months later.


I think the distributors are all doing the best they can. Our local ones have been a little slow too, even though they're still fully staffed; logistics networks are at the breaking point on many fronts.

[Dr. D]

Originally Posted by GreenWave

They are definitely suffering and hence we as customer suffer as well. It depends on what you order. An anchor is off the shelf and they just put it in a box.

No box needed!

[donradcliffe]

There is a shortage of skilled labor. My friend went into West Marine last month and asked if they had a tiller cover. "What's a tiller?"

[Chotu]

Sourcing anything this year and last is a complete crapshoot. You get whatever is in stock and make the best of it.

Just be happy you aren’t building a new house. I hear they have it even worse than we do.

I had to get a pair of regular 15,000 btu air conditioners for the boat instead of the nice reverse cycle heat pumps I had my eye on. It was a 6 month wait on the heat pumps because the coil manufacturer couldn’t get raw materials, which then go into the heat pumps I was hoping to buy.

[chris95040]

Originally Posted by Chotu

Sourcing anything this year and last is a complete crapshoot. You get whatever is in stock and make the best of it.

Just be happy you aren’t building a new house. I hear they have it even worse than we do.

I had to get a pair of regular 15,000 btu air conditioners for the boat instead of the nice reverse cycle heat pumps I had my eye on. It was a 6 month wait on the heat pumps because the coil manufacturer couldn’t get raw materials, which then go into the heat pumps I was hoping to buy.

What really has me upset is not the lack of availability - that's understandable! What really peeves me is that I ordered 25 feet of hose when that they claimed to have 400 feet in stock, and then a week later they tell me it's backordered til end of June. And in between they had assured me it was shipping "tomorrow at the latest" Lies!!! lol, ah well. And I'm *still* completely in the dark about the rest of my order, even after a long phone call with customer service.

You are right - its a mess out there, everywhere, and it's clear that Defender's inventory management and customer service is buckling under that pressure, which is precisely why I wrote this to warn folks not to "count on defender for a bit".

[Chotu]

Originally Posted by chris95040

What really has me upset is not the lack of availability - that's understandable! What really peeves me is that I ordered 25 feet of hose when that they claimed to have 400 feet in stock, and then a week later they tell me it's backordered til end of June. And in between they had assured me it was shipping "tomorrow at the latest" Lies!!! lol, ah well. And I'm *still* completely in the dark about the rest of my order, even after a long phone call with customer service.

You are right - its a mess out there, everywhere, and it's clear that Defender's inventory management and customer service is buckling under that pressure, which is precisely why I wrote this to warn folks not to "count on defender for a bit".

Yup. My post was a little bit on the periphery, but I’ve had similar experiences with lots of businesses.

I’ve been calling on every item lately to make 100% sure it’s in stock and shipping right away.

I’ve also had some bad experiences with Defender in the same way you have.

[Tom Boles]

Agree with C420Sailor....never seen so many "help wanted" signs in my life. And yes, supply lines have been severely affected. I have had an order for a new Magma Grill with Overton's since late March.....on backorder with no prediction on delivery date. I have always had excellent results from Defender, but shortages on quantity and quality of employees is severe. I believe this may be the new norm. During the pandemic a lot of very qualified people in every industry took early retirement. Now everyone is scrambling for a reduced labor force. Hard to fix.

[chris95040]

Agreed, and it’s probably unfair to single out Defender- just want folks to know that if they are expecting to launch soon, order your stuff yesterday!!!