I'm on the other side of the fence. As a customer I can relate to those orders that seem to take forever to arrive. I try hard to not put myself in a position that I definitely need it yesterday. If a piece of equipment needs attention before I will use it again, I do not put it away. I'll go ahead and order anything that I can foresee it taking to repair and can most of the time tell the supplier that there is no hurry and to ship it as cheap as they can. In emergencies, use overnight if possible.  On this subject, I recently ordered parts from Daves Repair Equipment and Dean Fick inquired about when I would need it. Told him no hurry and I was surprised at how quick the pkg arrived.  He also sent me an e-mail telling me when he shipped the order to me. 

That said, once a dealer tells me that an item will be in within a certain timeframe, I will call to see if it has arrived. Never had a dealer to call and tell me something has arrived at their location.  The call is to prevent me driving 30 miles to SEE if a part arrived.