Shopsmith Forums

doug45601 wrote:The forum is all yours!

OK! Take your ball and go home! Perhaps it this attitude on your part which got you the response from SS that you did get that is SO different from Dusty's experiences. Yes! This old fart IS telling you to GROW UP!

I am sure you will see this(you really need to) since you 'abandoned' this thread before!:)

Everybody calm down! I think we have a miscommunication problem here.
I don't know what was said but what Doug heard was distressing to him.

I don't know Shopsmith's policy on working on things that I have tampered with but again I think it takes communication here. Example we are talking about the bearing on the cutter head. I would think SS would be relucant to help if I called and said I had a machine shop cut my old bearings from my cutter head, turn the shaft and installed new bearing and now I can't get my cutters parallel. My first reaction if I were SS would be, "do you think maybe in all of this you jacked up the shaft." So yea I would expect SS to be less than helpful in this situation. However if I called and said I was having a problem with the height adjustment I would expect SS to help.

Now to shipping, I don't know how SS is setup but it is my guess everything gets shipping and handling, they have no way around it. Also do you know how many products sit in "customer pickup" or "will call" boxes? Often a customer will order a part just in case, then proceeed to repair the problem and never call back to say, "Hey I won't be needing that part, restock it." So again I can understand SS not wanting to agree to this.

Now the question is how was all this policy expressed to Doug, none of us know except Doug and the person he talked to at SS. Having done and managed customer service for a career I know some people hear what they want to hear. However I also know that for various reasons Customer Service reps can say things that enflame or make the situation worst. I also know that we as humans often say things in such a way that other people take us wrong. So what happened I don't know.

However here is what we do know. Doug came looking for help. He was given excellent advice and researched it (machine shop). He also tried to keep the money in house by going to SS. Unfortunately SS didn't offer him the solution he was looking for. Doug became frustrated with SS. He reported what happened to him then people said they didn't believe it and one told of his experience of taking a machine for repair and etc. In effect Doug was made to look like a liar, However neither really makes Doug story untrue they only show that different situations produces different results.

I can understand Doug's frustration with SS and now with this forum. But let us understand what is happening here. This is not because Doug is a bad person, or that SS is a bad company or that anyone that responded to Doug is a bad person. The problem is communications and patience.

As I was cautioned that other day perhaps we need to calm down take a breath and stop trying to place blame when we really don't know exactly what happened or what was said.

Peace

Hi,

I agree with Ed.

As a group we need to not try to exclude people just because we have and different experiences and relations with Shopsmith. We can't start attacking people because they expressing different views about the company... I know we have done this several times in the last while.... Now if Gil, Bob and Harry go over and to another forum and pointed a finger at this posting and people came over here to read this what would they come away with???

Perhaps we need to respect what was said and still be helpful??

Ed

reible wrote:Hi,

I agree with Ed.

As a group we need to not try to exclude people just because we have and different experiences and relations with Shopsmith. We can't start attacking people because they expressing different views about the company... I know we have done this several times in the last while.... Now if Gil, Bob and Harry go over and to another forum and pointed a finger at this posting and people came over here to read this what would they come away with???

Perhaps we need to respect what was said and still be helpful??

Ed

Ed and Ed,

I'm sorry but no one has excluded George from anything. If anything, George has rejected us.

He has stated opinions and I have countered with opposing opinions. What some of you don't know is that this is not the first time. What is a pity is what this is really all about - Shopsmith Quality and Customer Service.

My posts (except for one PM) are there to read. You be the judge and jury. If I should draw down - say so and I will comply.

Ed in Tampa wrote:Everybody calm down! I think we have a miscommunication problem here.
I don't know what was said but what Doug heard was distressing to him.

Now the question is how was all this policy expressed to Doug, none of us know except Doug and the person he talked to at SS. Having done and managed customer service for a career I know some people hear what they want to hear. However I also know that for various reasons Customer Service reps can say things that enflame or make the situation worst. I also know that we as humans often say things in such a way that other people take us wrong. So what happened I don't know.

Peace

I think the excerpt above sums up the beginning of 'the problem'

I do not think ANY one accused Doug of being a liar but Perhaps he did take some comments that way.

Most 'contradictory' comments were expressing a more positive experience with SS tech support OR being concerned this was an indicator of future responses.

Yours truly did jump all over him but only because of how he was reacting to posts after his. He seems to have a low huffy threshold. I overlooked the first tantrum.

I Am POSITIVE he is VERY frustrated regardless of the cause. I sympathize with that frustration, but NOT his reaction to it!

Gee it would be very interesting to hear SS tech rep side of this!

It is well when members of this forum practice tolerance to all other members. This is a place to give and receive help and guidance. Let us keep it that way. None of us can know the Frame Of Reference of any other of us, so let us knot make any judgements, and try to keep all responses positive.

a1gutterman wrote:It is well when members of this forum practice tolerance to all other members. This is a place to give and receive help and guidance. Let us keep it that way. None of us can know the Frame Of Reference of any other of us, so let us knot make any judgements, and try to keep all responses positive.

You ARE right! Some folks can get carried away sometimes(I be looking in the mirror). I just have a problem tolerating folks who take out their frustration on the folks on this forum who go out of their way to help them. Dusty (of all people on this forum) did NOT deserve the chatter directed his way. Perhaps I was too defensive on his behalf! Hopefully I can someday achieve the calm tolerance and restraint he exhibits so often.