Shopsmith Fix Your Order System Rant

mrhart · Post by **mrhart** » Wed Apr 11, 2012 11:39 am

I ordered 2 blades yesterday at 8am.
The clock is running and it was $12-13 as well.

I wanted a gilmer belt to continue my restoration, but...backorder, wait a couple weeks and call back

I will be checking e-bay this evening unless you all have another source.

wiredone · Post by **wiredone** » Wed Apr 11, 2012 11:43 am

the gilmer belt can be gotten elsewhere. I'm going down to Auto-Zone with mine, they have a gal there that really knows parts, and loves a challenge.
My kind of parts person!
If we can match it, Ill let everyone know what it is.

terrydowning · Post by **terrydowning** » Wed Apr 11, 2012 11:59 am

dusty wrote:I know this works because I just ordered a Mark 7 as I was writing this post. Unfortunately, I removed it from my shopping cart before logging off shopsmith.com.

Dusty, you are a tease!! As I was reading I thought, Finally!! just to be let down at the end.

swampgator · Post by **swampgator** » Wed Apr 11, 2012 1:33 pm

When I wrote small databases for the Naval Air Station Pensacola, I always spent a day or two with the intended user to see if we could improve on customer service and build it into the database. Also, made the database to suggest what they needed to input next. If it is correct, they can skip the field and go to the next. The database needs to be intuitive saving keystrokes and removing as much guess work as possible. Too many database designers have no idea of what goes on in a work space and they just design something from orders of another person who has no idea of what happens in a production situation. Many folks who worked in IT thought that because they made blanks to fill in, they had built a database. Well......sort of.

Every time I have used Shopsmith order site, I have to also place a call to get it corrected. But, I've always recieved excellent treatment. And, I'm available for free consultation.

dusty · Post by **dusty** » Wed Apr 11, 2012 1:47 pm

terrydowning wrote:Dusty, you are a tease!! As I was reading I thought, Finally!! just to be let down at the end.

Sorry. That was not my intention.

2bits · Post by **2bits** » Wed Apr 11, 2012 8:20 pm

The next time I call in an order and Dave answers I am going to make sure I am not calling at a "bad" time. I always get the impression that I just interupted a very critical moment in somthing.

I try to place most of my orders online so I wont have to interupt him. Sometimes I get really really lucky and Jan answers:D

JPG · Post by **JPG** » Wed Apr 11, 2012 11:01 pm

mrhart wrote:I ordered 2 blades yesterday at 8am.
The clock is running and it was $12-13 as well.

I wanted a gilmer belt to continue my restoration, but...backorder, wait a couple weeks and call back
I will be checking e-bay this evening unless you all have another source.

Say What????????

backhertz · Post by **backhertz** » Thu Apr 12, 2012 1:30 am

I have probably ordered over 200 items from the Shopsmith web site without a single incident since 2007. The only delay encountered was my pre-ordering the DVR upgrade kit in June of 2010 and finally receiving it in September 2010.

The web is a little quirky at times. But that is something I'm sure their IT department is on top of. I just go on doing other things & the site aways comes back. You might have an issue with your machine/ISP/who knows.

You also have the choice of faxing an order as per the pdf catalog they have. 1-800-543-7586. I think the order for is on page 95. You need to check. I've never tried it.

I did place an order tonight for $199. Shipping charges were $16.49. That's not too bad. I believe it also includes handling & insurance. Many people moan & groan, but I'm not sure how many of you have been to Poe Avenue to the factory and taken a tour. To me it represents and American success story. I'll pay a few extra dollars because the Shopsmith name, reputation, and dedication to quality is something that is important to me.

I see one customer service person always getting slammed. I don't think that is right for a public forum.

wiredone · Post by **wiredone** » Thu Apr 12, 2012 2:14 am

I think that if the customer service rep in question was better at his job, he wouldn't get slammed. It's about accountability.
As I stated earlier, He might just be ready for a different avenue of pursuit as far as his career path is concerned.
Or a long time-out.

rlkeeney · Post by **rlkeeney** » Thu Apr 12, 2012 7:29 am

After several of you pointed out that you had an add to cart button I looked at the page html code and it was in there.

Duh, for some crazy reason the Shopsmith site was being blocked buy software on my computer. I deleted the block and now there is a a button.

I've never had an add to cart button on the Shopsmith site. I emailed them about it in the past and didn't get a response and assumed that was the way the site worked.

I now have banner adds in the forum as well. I don't remember seeing those before.