Anyone order from babbitts lately?

In need of a few bike parts after a long time again and remembered good experience with babbitts back then.
Just shocked what happened to their customer support since then.
Completely unable to help bc they need a manufacturer with my vin, else they can't identify it?
After two back and forths I went somewhere else to spend my money.

Was this just a 'special' occasion or have things changed to the worse in the last year or two?

 

I stopped using them a few years ago when shipping started taking three weeks. I can ride to the store in a day and a half.
You can still order from them online without needing to supply a VIN.

What you ran into is becoming more common when dealing with real people. The management sets a policy to a look up parts a certain way, and that's the only way new hires are told how to do the job. You probably just talked to someone who either only got trained in that one way, or is one to toe-the-line on policy issues.

It makes sense to use the VIN on newer vehicles since there are so many options offered now. With the VIN they get to cross-check with the manufacturer's build sheet on that individual machine, which helps (but unfortunately does not guarantee) to make sure that you get the part that actually fits. It makes no sense to do that for something older though.