• Stop being a LURKER - join our dealer community and get involved. Sign up and start a conversation.

Vinsolutions and Cobalt Debacle

rapidchevrolet.com

Full Sticker
Nov 9, 2009
18
0
First Name
Matt
Hi-Everyone,

I have a gripe and have not been able to solve the issue. We implemented Vinsolutions around the middle of January. We are keeping our cobalt site, but using vinsolutions as the inventory manager. We have cars that are still appearing on our website after 3 days + of being sold. Both companies are blaming each other. I just want it fixed. Has anyone else had this problem? We have changed when Vinsolutions pulls the feed from Reynolds, we have had cobalt working on it. Why can't they take the data from a successful launch and copy it for our situation. Clearly both companies have comparable situations within their respective clients. I just want it to get handled. If anyone has experienced this or has succeeded in overcoming this issue, I would love an answer. I love everything Vinsolutions is about, but I just want this to get handled. I have support in both companies supposedly working on it, but they still say it is the other companies' problem...that still doesn't solve it...

Thanks for the open ear.....

Matt Scott
Internet Manager
Rapid Chevrolet
 
Hi-Everyone,

I have a gripe and have not been able to solve the issue. We implemented Vinsolutions around the middle of January. We are keeping our cobalt site, but using vinsolutions as the inventory manager. We have cars that are still appearing on our website after 3 days + of being sold. Both companies are blaming each other. I just want it fixed. Has anyone else had this problem? We have changed when Vinsolutions pulls the feed from Reynolds, we have had cobalt working on it. Why can't they take the data from a successful launch and copy it for our situation. Clearly both companies have comparable situations within their respective clients. I just want it to get handled. If anyone has experienced this or has succeeded in overcoming this issue, I would love an answer. I love everything Vinsolutions is about, but I just want this to get handled. I have support in both companies supposedly working on it, but they still say it is the other companies' problem...that still doesn't solve it...

Thanks for the open ear.....

Matt Scott
Internet Manager
Rapid Chevrolet

I would happen to guess that your Cobalt site is pulling your information from a pre-set, limited field, if you have a ProCare advocate, have them get involved, and I do mean involved, other wise you'll be lost in their quagmire of a black hole, aka Customer Service/Support department :banghead: and never get the issued resolved.

Good Luck
 
Finger pointing games are one reason why ISM's and ECD's hate to deal with us vendors. One of the two parties should stand up and tell you that they will get it handled regardless of whose fault it is. If they need you authorize something, it's a quick phone call.

Find out when VinSolutions polls the inventory, the time and date. Also make sure you remember the the number of cars that were processed or some other defining characteristic to determine from Cobalt what date and time that exact feed was processed. (or add 123 after the stock number of a particular car).

Either Vin Solutions is taking several days to process the poll and send the feed or Cobalt is taking several days to post it after they get it.
recap

1.Find out the last time VS polled inventory and how many vehicles

2.Find out when VS sent that feed to Cobalt with the same amount of vehicles.(If your inventory numbers don't change try adding the 123 to a stock number so you can identify the exact feed and ask when that car was polled and sent to Cobalt)

3.Call Cobalt and ask when they received the feed with that particular number of vehicles in it or the feed with the "special" stock-numbered vehicle.

4Ask Cobalt when that feed was posted or when will it be posted and verify.

I'm assuming that you have already made sure sold status is given to vehicles in Reynolds in a timely manner by your staff and no one is editing info in Cobalt's content manager.

With my limited experience I would bet that the problem is with VS.
 
Last edited:
Hi-Everyone,

I have a gripe and have not been able to solve the issue. We implemented Vinsolutions around the middle of January. We are keeping our cobalt site, but using vinsolutions as the inventory manager. We have cars that are still appearing on our website after 3 days + of being sold. Both companies are blaming each other. I just want it fixed. Has anyone else had this problem? We have changed when Vinsolutions pulls the feed from Reynolds, we have had cobalt working on it. Why can't they take the data from a successful launch and copy it for our situation. Clearly both companies have comparable situations within their respective clients. I just want it to get handled. If anyone has experienced this or has succeeded in overcoming this issue, I would love an answer. I love everything Vinsolutions is about, but I just want this to get handled. I have support in both companies supposedly working on it, but they still say it is the other companies' problem...that still doesn't solve it...

Thanks for the open ear.....

Matt Scott
Internet Manager
Rapid Chevrolet

Hi Matt, is this an issue that has been going on forever or just something that has happened once in the last week? As in, does it always seem to take 3-4 days to get vehicles removed, or did you just have this happen with a couple vehicles last week, but usually it is fine?

Sometimes it is just the timing of things. When you mark it delivered in the DMS, when we pull it from the DMS, when we send it to Cobalt, and when they actually post the changes to your site.

I will look in our support system for an open support case on this and look in to it some more.
 
I have vinsolutions/cobalt also. Vinsolutions gets my inventory data new/used from my DMS (Autosoft).

I ONLY have cobalt receiving inventory data updates directly from vinsolutions. I don't have cobalt at all integrated with my DMS ( Autosoft ).

This has solved most of my issues.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 person
Hi-Everyone,

I have a gripe and have not been able to solve the issue. We implemented Vinsolutions around the middle of January. We are keeping our cobalt site, but using vinsolutions as the inventory manager. We have cars that are still appearing on our website after 3 days + of being sold. Both companies are blaming each other. I just want it fixed. Has anyone else had this problem? We have changed when Vinsolutions pulls the feed from Reynolds, we have had cobalt working on it. Why can't they take the data from a successful launch and copy it for our situation. Clearly both companies have comparable situations within their respective clients. I just want it to get handled. If anyone has experienced this or has succeeded in overcoming this issue, I would love an answer. I love everything Vinsolutions is about, but I just want this to get handled. I have support in both companies supposedly working on it, but they still say it is the other companies' problem...that still doesn't solve it...

Thanks for the open ear.....

Matt Scott
Internet Manager
Rapid Chevrolet


Switch to Homenet.

Then tell everyone this is how your setup works

DMS -> Homenet -> everyone else

and if they don't like it they can climb a tree


Anthony
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 person