I agree with jfralph.. In 1991 I visited Chicago and one of the "highlights" of the trip was to see the old JCW warehouse. Wow, was it decrepid, bricks almost falling off as I drove by. That was in the midst of their last bankruptcy.
I've ordered from JCW for 30 years, in good years and in bad years. They are the first place I look outside of my hometown if I have to go Mail order. The reasons are sound. If I can get brand "X" from JCW for 15% less than I can from another dealer, I'll do it. I believe in competition, so when I order such a part I will try three or four diffrent places for prices. If the prices are the same I ask them why I should order from them. What makes their company special as opposed to XYZ company? If they start to bad-mouth the competition and give no reasons for the opinion... it's a strike against them. If they don't match JCW's price, it's a strike against them. If they tell me I'm a fool or stupid for ordering from JCW it's almost hang up time. I hate being called stupid, or a fool. Them's fightin' words. As an example, I was once shoping around for a fiberglass body. I called every manufacture I could find and ended up talking to June at AJ's Fiberglass Bodies. It was June who was half owner and the "J" in the name. As our conversation continued I realized she met all the criteria I had to purchase from...and I threw in JCW as a "bargening chip." She said that the bodies her company made coudl not be compaired to JCW fiberglass bodies because.... and she went on to list the differences and justify the increased cost of AJ's. When she was done... she'd made good sense and at no time did she offer an afront to JCW. She just spoke to the differences in the product. That was class, in my book.
On the other side of the scale I called 4Wheel Parts Warehouse and they were just the opposite, obnixous, accusatory, lying, belitteling and just plain rude. I asked for a supervisor and gave him a piece of my mind about their business practices. I'm glad to know they've changed.
The other example was about a year ago when I needed a 1/4" torque wrench to complete the automatic transmission repair. I called everywhere and finally dug out my "Tool" catalog from JCW. The price was right and it came to my house 2 days later.
Yes, they do foul up orders on occasion. When this happens I ask for a discount on the product I ordered as a "Gee, we're sorry. We'd like to keep you as a customer." inducement. I usually get at least 20% off. When I rebuild the Jeep tub I did not want to use imported steel. I BUY AMERICAN! So I asked them where they bought their steel repair panels. They did not know, and I hung on the phone with the order taker as she:
Tracked down the Vendor (in California).
Dialed the Vendor.
Confrenced me to the vendor.
The Vendor Identified the manufacture (a small comapny in Misouri).
Hung up with the vendor and placed a confrence call to the company in Missouri.
Found an engineer who could confirm where the steel came from
Confirmed the steel was made in the US from NEW steel, not Recycled steel.
Hung up with the manufacture.
Took and confirmed the order.
Now that's customer service. IMHO, thier an OK company to deal with.