Disappointed with Shopsmith

algale · Post by **algale** » Wed Mar 19, 2014 9:59 pm

dgreen810 wrote:algale

Thanks for agreeing with my trivial reasoning!! Sometimes little things really tic me off. I can' think of a reason in the world when someone would want to buy a hub?? Maybe to upgrade an old disc.

I will say the person I talked to was the same person who handled my Power Pro cancellation, maybe she had an axe to grind.

Don G

Don,

I think that when they switched from aluminum to steel discs, this was in the day of the 500 and the hubs for the new steel discs were of the length that worked with the lower saw guards/narrow tables for those models. When they went to the 510 and later 520, those hubs were too short to work with the new saw lower saw guard/wider table configuration of the 510/520. Hence, new longer hubs were made up and included in the upgrade kits and additional one hubs were made available and sold to folks like Reible who had a whole herd of old steel discs with short hubs. All that said, I still see no harm in selling the plate separately.

Al

db5 · Post by **db5** » Wed Mar 19, 2014 10:10 pm

[quote="dgreen810"]I tried that. I know it's a small issue but it seems to me a company that is totally NOT (you left out NOT) customer oriented with no stores where you have face to face contact would make some effort to work something out.[/quote

With few exceptions these are the facts regarding dealing with enterprises where you have no contact other than internet or phone:

The "customer no service" people you talk to share the following characteristics: They are
under-educated
under-trained
under-paid
under-motivated
under-valued
who tell you they under-stand when you complain.

The good ones quickly move to other jobs; those who don't become supervisors with the same lack of skills or desire to help.

None, not even supervisors have the power or desire to change anything in dealing with customers. The fault is with management, looking at the bottom line quarterly, rather than long term.

Shopsmith has a captive market with no competition except those selling used equipment. Therefore, they can command outrageous prices which offset the loss of business from poor customer support. I truly believe that if Shopsmith focused on responding to customer concerns, fixing existing problems, incorporating customer recommendations into new products and learning how to be more like Nordstrom (their prices are comparable for products) when dealing with customers, they would make far more money with a larger market. Market share means nothing as there is no share.

algale · Post by **algale** » Wed Mar 19, 2014 11:46 pm

[quote="db5"][quote="dgreen810"]I tried that. I know it's a small issue but it seems to me a company that is totally NOT (you left out NOT) customer oriented with no stores where you have face to face contact would make some effort to work something out.[/quote

With few exceptions these are the facts regarding dealing with enterprises where you have no contact other than internet or phone:

The "customer no service" people you talk to share the following characteristics: They are
under-educated
under-trained
under-paid
under-motivated
under-valued
who tell you they under-stand when you complain.

The good ones quickly move to other jobs]
DB5, I'm curious what bad experience(s) you have had with Shopsmith customer service? When I have dealt with Shopsmith customer service, and particularly Jan and Linda, I have found them to be well-trained, knowledgeable and helpful, and have managed to get the vast majority of issues dealt with in a satisfactory way.

redleg · Post by **redleg** » Thu Mar 20, 2014 6:41 am

algale wrote:
db5 wrote: DB5, I'm curious what bad experience(s) you have had with Shopsmith customer service? When I have dealt with Shopsmith customer service, and particularly Jan and Linda, I have found them to be well-trained, knowledgeable and helpful, and have managed to get the vast majority of issues dealt with in a satisfactory way.

I have to agree with algale. I have repaired quite a few older Shopsmith and have had absolutely fantastic assistance from customer service. The first Power Pro Mark 7 that I ordered I had to cancel also. We were purchasing a second house about the same time and the Wells Fargo rep said it would look better if I didn't have that much on my credit card with another bank. Shopsmith was very nice and cancelled the order for me. I bought the house, didn't use Wells Fargo, and reordered the Shopsmith. Customer service still gave me the demo discount a month after the demo.

Here is an excerpt from an email I sent on the 3/14/2014:

linda, thanks for the fantastic service you provide for shopsmith. you have the best customer follow-up anyone could ask for. fedex managed to get the quill here quickly and i re-installed it last night. looking forward to using it today. please pass a thank you to jim for the repair and the autograph. thank you! roger

JonE · Post by **JonE** » Thu Mar 20, 2014 9:58 am

ditto algale and redleg.
Proprietary? Yes,
Expensive? Yes.
Customer service far and away better than any industry competitor? Yes.
The customer service model described does not fit this company. Linda and Jan, if I'm not mistaken, have been there for years.
I have 5 Machines that I have obtained over the years along with many accessories. In all that time and many calls, I have had only one unsatisfactory experience with customer service. Over twenty some odd years, many contacts and despite all the company financial challenges and changes, that's not a bad record.
I have been critical of Shopsmith's sales model and execution in the past. Shopsmith is not for everyone. It is not always "easy" but for me, "thankful" doesn't quite cover my feelings when it comes to Shopsmith's customer service and this Forum and the enjoyment and value they have provided.

skou · Post by **skou** » Thu Mar 20, 2014 10:50 am

While Shopsmith no longer sells my model of Shopsmith, they do use them to build the Mk-X series of Shopsmiths. (And, have since '53.)

However, I needed the rubber insert for the sanding drum, so I called, even though they aren't in the catalog. She said (and this is from my weak memory) $6 plus $2 shipping.

Only time I've ordered, and it was easy-peasy.

One thing we need to remember here, and that is who is sponsoring this Forum. Shopsmith, in my (never to be) humble opinion, gives us a LOT of latitude here.

steve

db5 · Post by **db5** » Thu Mar 20, 2014 9:16 pm

JonE wrote:ditto algale and redleg.
Customer service far and away better than any industry competitor? Yes.
The customer service model described does not fit this company. Linda and Jan, if I'm not mistaken, have been there for years.

That is great to hear. CS is so bad in most companies that it is exceptional that someone stays long enough to help or learn some things. I've never had any dealing with SS since they closed their retail stores (which were very well run). So, my apologies for disparaging these employees. Maybe that's why things are expensive. They pay good employees enough to become great employees and not leave for another opportunity.

Thanks for enlightening me.

wrmnfzy · Post by **wrmnfzy** » Thu Mar 20, 2014 10:11 pm

As long as you are dealing with one of the ladies it's great, the guy not so much.

beeg · Post by **beeg** » Thu Mar 20, 2014 10:17 pm

Jan and Linda have more than 30 years each there .

JPG · Post by **JPG** » Thu Mar 20, 2014 10:56 pm

One thing that has been 'overlooked' here is that the aluminum Mark 5 disk was manufactured by a defunct previous corporate manufacturer, and not the current producer. That and the 'detail' that the aluminum disk is not all that compatible with the 510 table(the aluminum disk to too thick for 'intable' mounting). That is the reason for needing the longer hub. Any disk will still work 'off the side' of the table.

As for why a separate disk is not available, I do not have a clue. There should not be a balance/wobble issue since they are assuming one is capable of replacing the shorter hub with the new, longer one on an 'existing steel disk'.

Now as for CS. Linda and Jan are polished gems.

Dave, a bit rough around the edges.

Although None of them can produce gold from lead, they really do try to accommodate requests which they can respond to(a couple harder than one other;)).

As for 'response' time keep in mind the pletora of 'parts' involved here in both production and older models including SPTs. I consider it a small miracle that SS has survived at all. In order to survive, the company has had to minimize warehousing of parts, and that results in delays. Although the pricing seems excessive, do realize these are procurred in small batches, are 'unique' usually, and in fairly low demand.

As for sponsoring this forum, I believe the preponderance of participants here who have either upgraded to a power pro, purchased one, or intend to do so speaks for itself!

Geez apparently I missed all this 'fun' yesterday!:D