Shopsmith Forums

Bill's experience was similar to mine. The demos were mid week in Boardman, OH Lowes (Youngstown, OH). Imagine my surprise when I got there after work to find the demo man cleaning up to put things away. There were other owners arriving at this time and he seemed pissed that he couldn't wrap things up and bail.

One Gentleman worked at Baird Brothers Sawmill, the premier hardwoods supplier in the area, and looked surprised that the demo was wrapping up several hours earlier than the post card hours said. He was rebuffed when he asked the man some questions and the look on his face said alot. I made a point to chat with him about some woodworking questions and working at Baird Bros. He was cordial but I could tell he was miffed and left straight out the front door with a "Why did I bother to come here." attitude.

I horned in on the demo man to see how the dust collector he was using to clean up worked and asked him some history questions about ShopSmith. He blew me off, but not before making a point to collect the postcard inviting me to the demo.

The experience left a bad taste in my mouth and diminished my woodworking enthusiasm.

It literally wasn't worth the 15 minutes it took me to drive there.

billmayo wrote:The last Shopsmith demo presenter here in the Tampa was Dave Folkerth. Outstanding gentleman and was eager to discuss about any Shopsmith topic with us. I am sure most know he is Robert's younger brother. I had excellant dealings with him when Shopsmith closed their warehouse. That was why this last demo in Lakeland was such a shock to me to where I could only walk away dazed.

Your right about Dave Folkerth,very good person and really understands the machine, he was at the Lowe's demo in Fairlawn, Ohio in November where I purchased the new Power Pro head. There was 7 people at the demo when he finished and while filling out the sales form another group formed around the machine, so we didn't have time to discuss any questions related to assembly of the machine ( did it myself ).

Note, I had meet Dave about 1 year ago in Akron and he answered my question then about the PP but was not ready to spring for the head.

I had gone to another Shopsmith demo earlier in the year but the sales rep didn't really impress me, kind of a guy you would see at a car show selling life time car wax.

That 'Marketing manager' would think Dave was too low key(non-pushey, non-condescending, talked too slow!).

Just putting my 2 cents worth in. For all of the folks who had a bad experience at any SS demo I suggest that you contact SS directly through CS or some other venue.
Management should be made acutely aware of the attitude of the representative. Word of mouth is the best advertisement you can get if it is positive, If it is negative then it becomes the worst and also the most difficult to overcome.
Bill V

Hm, another SS demo in Georgia!

Lowe's of E Ellijay GA
380 Highland Crossing
E Ellijay, GA 30540

But Ellijay???? Good grief! Why so far out in the boonies?/ North Ga mountains. I live on the northside of Atlanta and it's still 50 miles out and an hour drive time.

I wonder if this will be the same guy that was here back in January at the Lowes out in WEST Atlanta that time, ie about 40 miles and 45-50 minutes. I attended late on Saturday (probably his last demo) and he went through his presentation rather quickly as he seemed ready to pack it up and go home. He had 1 person that was purchasing, not sure what, and he attended to him. I tried to ask some questions, but when he realized I wasn't going to be buying anything, I could sense his lack of interest with me. Granted it was probably his last demo here so don't get me wrong, he was very nice and it was a very entertaining and enlighting demo!!

The major deciding factor to me was the camaraderie I saw in Shopsmith.

Fact had it not existed at the time I would never have purchased the SS.
At the SS demo the Demo'er of course focused on sales but he was never to busy just to talk when business was finished.

In fact had I know the Hands on magazine, and way the customer service was back in the 80's and early 90's would cease I would not have bought the SS.

For me there were too many viable alternatives and at the time the price of stand alone machines were very competitive. So what swung my decision was the SS family that existed then.

Most business schools now teach that loyalty is not an important factor in sales but frankly I think they are talking through their butts. Product or Store owner loyalty will have me travel out of my way and pay a higher price.

With the exception of this forum Shopsmith has made no effort to establish or reestablish customer loyalty. In fact I would guess they haven't kept their old customer data base.

Don't think it works? Go buy an APPLE computer from the Apple store. You instantly become family. They announce to the entire store that "John" here has just bought his first APPLE. People rush to shake your hands and an offer their names and phone number for you to call if you have questions or problems.

I have never walked out of an Apple Store without at least one name and phone number of a person that has told me to call if I have a question.

How many people do we see come to this forum and say hey I don't know what I'm doing help.

If Shopsmith would ask each of us if we would be willing mentors and then offer our names to new customers my guess is they would sell more machines.

You make a very valid point ED. I would have to agree that Customer Service and loyalty is one of the top things I look for in any company. It is getting harder and harder to find that in today's markets. I too feel if Shopsmith was to do that it would help them sale more machines. I would love to find a Mentor in my area here in Iowa so I could go see and maybe learn some things first hand from them. Personally I wish that Shopsmith was still making new or newer videos like the Sawdust Sessions in an HD Format. I can see we both have some of the same things in common Ed. I am happy to have at least this forum with a bunch of great people to help answer what some would call my dumb questions. But, I have always believed that the only dumb question is the one you do not ask right.

Mike Young is doing demos in Amarillo today thru Saturday, so I did the short drive and watched. The PP is an impressive device, but just not quite impressive enough for me to whip out the credit card yet. I can't find anything it will do that I can't already do....maybe not do the same way I would if I had the PP, but I can do it anyway.

Young did a good job on the dog and pony show. And, it was good to see other folks stopping by to see what it was all about. He had a group of 6 or so watching the next demo.

Albuquerque, NM is his next stop.

Wow, more demo's in Georgia........

2-days, April 22-23
Chamblee, GA

Hm, still a little to far, but getting closer........

April 24-26
Suwanee/ Johnscreek, GA

Uh oh!!!:eek: Looks like I might HAVE TO check this one out, as it's only 10 minutes away. Finally a demo at one of MY LOCAL Lowes.

sawwood wrote:Wow, more demo's in Georgia........

2-days, April 22-23
Chamblee, GA

Hm, still a little to far, but getting closer........

April 24-26
Suwanee/ Johnscreek, GA

Uh oh!!!:eek: Looks like I might HAVE TO check this one out, as it's only 10 minutes away. ]LOCAL[/B] Lowes.

Not exactly local for me, but not too far either. I may have to make that trip. Thanks for posting this info!