Complete Shopsmith

[dusty]

At the least it indicates a tolerance for it. They used it themselves (both directly and by way of a third party) for a time.

Any body know what teknatool gets for a replacement motor? May alter the '$500' estimate!!!

I know that one of the Folkerth brothers sold items on eBay; I bought several of them but I have never known Shopsmith to sell on eBay.

I don't believe that means Shopsmith was necessarily in agreement.

[JPG]

[quote="dusty"]I know that one of the Folkerth brothers sold items on eBay]
I have always thought the source of the Folkerth's offerings was SS Inc. He seemed to have a lot of 'second/minor defect' items(like logo upside down...). Shopsmith did indeed list a few items a year or two back. I doubt the total number of items exceeded 15-20. Happened about the time the 'brother' passed. Prior to RLF...

[juwester]

Interesting discussion!
However since all of us want Shopsmith to succeed there is one thing we must consider.
For every Shopsmith part sold external to Shopsmith is a lost sale to Shopsmith. Surely we don't expect Shopsmith to go into competition with itself by sponsoring a place to buy and sell products it to is trying to sell.

Frankly I get a little confused by people that are so vehement about "helping" Shopsmith and then openly admit they often bypass Shopsmith by shopping for their Shopsmith need on EBay and etc.

It is this same thinking that has most of our products coming from other countries. We all want to support the American worker but when it comes time to put our money where are mouth is we go with the cheapest price.

Remember every sale of Shopsmith equip on Ebay takes that sales profit from Shopsmith. We already saw where they no longer can afford Nick how long do you think it will take until they can't afford to keep spare parts on hand or their excellent customer service staff that helps answer all our questions?

My two cents if I have offend anyone let say I'm sorry but we have to consider all the consequences of our actions not just what meets our immediate goal.

Ed, with all due respect I disagree. I bought a used Shopsmith locally, but would not have ever bought one new due to budgetary constraints. since then I have spent more than $400 directly with Shopsmith on parts and accessories. That's money they would otherwise never have seen.

On the topic of excellent customer service, I seem to have a slightly different experience. I've not called, but have used the weblink. I'm surprised to get emails regarding orders from anonymous folks, with no real info (and IMHO no reason for anonymity -- one of their strengths should be their CS, and being personal). Twice now an order has gone weeks with nothing happening, no communication at all regarding backorders, and I recently ordered something from the email special. No word, as usual, and after two weeks checked the website and noticed it was marked as shipped, but again as usual with no tracking info (they charged my credit card that day). Two weeks later, still no product, so I email and get a frustratingly vague answer
promising a tracking number soon -- never got that, but the order showed up a few days later, Makes me wonder what the deal is -- to charge me and not ship for two weeks and give NO explanation in response to an inquiry is not good customer service.

I like the machine, and hope the company survives and thrives, but IMHO they need to step it up CS-wise. They are missing opportunities to shine that take very little money, just a little effort.

Regards,

Julian in Illinois

[dusty]

Ed, with all due respect I disagree. I bought a used Shopsmith locally, but would not have ever bought one new due to budgetary constraints. since then I have spent more than $400 directly with Shopsmith on parts and accessories. That's money they would otherwise never have seen.

On the topic of excellent customer service, I seem to have a slightly different experience. I've not called, but have used the weblink. I'm surprised to get emails regarding orders from anonymous folks, with no real info (and IMHO no reason for anonymity -- one of their strengths should be their CS, and being personal). Twice now an order has gone weeks with nothing happening, no communication at all regarding backorders, and I recently ordered something from the email special. No word, as usual, and after two weeks checked the website and noticed it was marked as shipped, but again as usual with no tracking info (they charged my credit card that day). Two weeks later, still no product, so I email and get a frustratingly vague answer
promising a tracking number soon -- never got that, but the order showed up a few days later, Makes me wonder what the deal is -- to charge me and not ship for two weeks and give NO explanation in response to an inquiry is not good customer service.

I like the machine, and hope the company survives and thrives, but IMHO they need to step it up CS-wise. They are missing opportunities to shine that take very little money, just a little effort.

Regards,

Julian in Illinois

For budgetary reasons I have not ordered much of significance from Shopsmith recently. However, my past experience has always been excellent. We all know that they are working with a reduced staff and if business is picking up maybe they are falling behind some. Let us hope that business is picking up somewhat.

Julian, to avoid these problems, I would suggest that you order your own parts online and then follow up almost immediately (a day or two) to get status. By doing this you'll have an order number to use for reference and some reassurance of status.

As for writing an email or online post to customer service - never. I don't know why but there have been many comments made here about the written support being sub-par. I just don't do it.

As far as I know, the staff at CS is Jan, Linda and Dave. It seems that Linda and Jan open shop in the morning and Dave closes in the evening. I don't know who does the written communications and don't need to know.

Added Comment: It has been my understanding that my account is NOT CHARGED until until the order GOES TO SHIPPING. But going to shipping may mean something other than what we want to believe. I know that my account has been charged when only a part of the order is shipped while the rest is on back order. When that happens, Shopsmith charges shipping only once but charges your account for the entire purchase. The back ordered items arrive with NO ADDITIONAL shipping charges and no charge to the account.

If I discovered that my account was charged for a back ordered item (nothing has shipped) I would raise a real ruckus but I don't believe that happens.

Be aware that when Shopsmith takes your order, the card number is placed in the system and your bank (credit card company) confirms it to be valid but your account has not been charged. I have witnessed this online only to check my account later and find no evidence of a charge.

These comments are based on my own observations and a couple conversations with CS about the subject matter.

[beeg]

As for answering emails, Jan told me she DOESN'T have time to even check emails.

[juwester]

As for answering emails, Jan told me she DOESN'T have time to even check emails.

Wow, if that is true then they are really missing out. There is no reason for this -- one person who can type and who is well-informed can answer MANY more emails than phone calls in the same time period, and I (and I imagine many others) cannot usually call and chat during the day -- my workplace, oddly enough, frowns upon that. Seems to me both are important.

I've also wondered why they do not take full advantage of their web presence -- the website photos are quite small and low resolution, with no links to big photos, and often the details are more sparse than they need to be, which is what prompts more calls and emails in the first place. If they had a decent order and shipping system online, GOOD photos and more information available, I'd imagine they'd get more orders.

For someone from the company to say that they have no time for email makes me wonder if anyone there is looking forward and not just treading water. The future will require more and better online connectivity, not less.

[JPG]

Wow, if that is true then they are really missing out. There is no reason for this -- one person who can type and who is well-informed can answer MANY more emails than phone calls in the same time period, and I (and I imagine many others) cannot usually call and chat during the day -- my workplace, oddly enough, frowns upon that. Seems to me both are important.

I've also wondered why they do not take full advantage of their web presence -- the website photos are quite small and low resolution, with no links to big photos, and often the details are more sparse than they need to be, which is what prompts more calls and emails in the first place. If they had a decent order and shipping system online, GOOD photos and more information available, I'd imagine they'd get more orders.

For someone from the company to say that they have no time for email makes me wonder if anyone there is looking forward and not just treading water. The future will require more and better online connectivity, not less.

WoW! A generation gap example. I would never trust an inquiry to an e-mail(except where no other option is available) but would always prefer a conversation that may lead to the correct answer being given to the question I did not did not ask due to ignorance.

Unfortnately IMHO the e-mail/leave a message on 'voice mail' habit has almost totally taken the place of direct communication. Those places which only offer those 'options' are not interested in being 'responsive' They are more interested in controlling costs.

Sure it is quite cost effective, but not very goal effective(especially after getting mundane, non-relevant, simple minded, canned responses by e-mail(a day or more later)). In order for even relatively simple inquiries to be answered effectively(correctly) there is often the need for interactive communicating in real time. E-Mail just does not do that! Unfortunately a lot of 'younger' folks just plain do not understand that(But then they are not cognizant of anything better!).

End old fogey rant!

I would rather wait a 1/2hr to get a live person than wait longer for a non-effective e-mail response. Of course getting the incorrect response may be due to inadequate inquiry. The live person responder can immediately compensate for that!;)

BTW I do not believe she meant NO-ONE opens the e-mails, merely that she herself did not have the time to.

[dusty]

Do realize that when seeking information by email, the only chance you get to frame your request is what you put in "THAT" email. If you ask the wrong question or the question is not totally understood - that communication quickly becomes worthless.

If I get a live person on the phone the chances of an effective communication increase greatly.

I would prefer face-to-face but via real live phone (human-to-human) is an acceptable substitute.

Pictures are the next best thing. Look what has happened on this very forum. Five years ago, there were no pictures. Now nearly every thread has one or more.

Yeah, I know. It might me mine.

[juwester]

[quote="JPG40504"]WoW! A generation gap example. I would never trust an inquiry to an e-mail(except where no other option is available) but would always prefer a conversation that may lead to the correct answer being given to the question I did not did not ask due to ignorance.

Unfortnately IMHO the e-mail/leave a message on 'voice mail' habit has almost totally taken the place of direct communication. Those places which only offer those 'options' are not interested in being 'responsive' They are more interested in controlling costs.

Sure it is quite cost effective, but not very goal effective(especially after getting mundane, non-relevant, simple minded, canned responses by e-mail(a day or more later)). In order for even relatively simple inquiries to be answered effectively(correctly) there is often the need for interactive communicating in real time. E-Mail just does not do that! Unfortunately a lot of 'younger' folks just plain do not understand that(But then they are not cognizant of anything better!).

End old fogey rant!

I would rather wait a 1/2hr to get a live person than wait longer for a non-effective e-mail response. Of course getting the incorrect response may be due to inadequate inquiry. The live person responder can immediately compensate for that!]

I am not THAT young -- mid-40's . I prefer direct live contact, too, but it is not always practical, nor should it be necessary for simple order status inquiries. Perhaps the 1/2 hour+ wait times on the phone would be mere minutes if they dealt with simple requests via a better website and easy access to common questions about order status and shipping.

Someday when I'm retired (hopefully that day will come!) perhaps I will have the ability to sit on the phone for 1/2 plus to get a simple answer -- but the reality is that I would get fired if I did that at work -- it just is not practical. I realize that many of the best contributors on this board are retired (and I really appreciate all of the wisdom and help in all of the posts!), and have the time during weekdays, but surely that is not the way forward for Shopsmith?

If they are to thrive it will be on convincing folks like me and those younger to buy in and spend -- part of that requires adapting to reality and leveraging new technologies that can help them do well -- the phone only even if it takes ages mindset will doom them with folks younger than me. My nephews and nieces want to text me -- I don't do it -- but I'm not trying to sell stuff in a tough market!

Julian in Illinois

[JPG]

[quote="juwester"]I am not THAT young -- mid-40's . I prefer direct live contact, too, but it is not always practical, nor should it be necessary for simple order status inquiries. Perhaps the 1/2 hour+ wait times on the phone would be mere minutes if they dealt with simple requests via a better website and easy access to common questions about order status and shipping.

Someday when I'm retired (hopefully that day will come!) perhaps I will have the ability to sit on the phone for 1/2 plus to get a simple answer -- but the reality is that I would get fired if I did that at work -- it just is not practical. I realize that many of the best contributors on this board are retired (and I really appreciate all of the wisdom and help in all of the posts!), and have the time during weekdays, but surely that is not the way forward for Shopsmith?

If they are to thrive it will be on convincing folks like me and those younger to buy in and spend -- part of that requires adapting to reality and leveraging new technologies that can help them do well -- the phone only even if it takes ages mindset will doom them with folks younger than me. My nephews and nieces want to text me -- I don't do it -- but I'm not trying to sell stuff in a tough market! ]
You make some very valid points(btw mid 40's is a good 'beginning';)).

I quite understand yer point re needing to be gainfully employed. Perhaps SS should consider 'later' hours(that includes later start time). Especially for 'we' who not be in the Eastern time zone!

SS has I believe been unable to 'do things as they should' due to $ issues.

I am encouraged by recent developments not only in the design realm, but also in the marketing world as well(that includes recent web site additions/changes/).

SS has come though a very difficult time and is I believe aware of what additional things need attention($).

They are beginning to walk upright again, but are not yet ready to run! May they soon be winning marathons! Trite, but illustrates my point!:rolleyes:

BTW while waiting that '1/2 hr', the phone be on speaker, & I be doing something else other than just soma.