ShopSmith Order filling Shortcoming.. Again!

[paul heller]

The worst problem has been how the orders are packed -good boxes and packing material, but used totally wrong. Instead of interspersing the items and the packing material, they throw everthing into the bottom of the box and then fill the rest of the box with packing. This does nothing to protect the items. They bounce around and mark each other up and have once even punched a hole through the box bottom and leaked out parts, as well as having resulted in broken items more than once.

I have to agree with you about this aspect of the experience. But in my case, usually there is no additional "packing" and parts rattle around. I wonder if they are aware of this little problem.

Paul

[JPG]

I have to agree with you about this aspect of the experience. But in my case, usually there is no additional "packing" and parts rattle around. I wonder if they are aware of this little problem.

Paul

I made them aware when it happened to me. I feel they DO need to know!

[a1gutterman]

Hi Don,

These are trying times...

... Has anyone received a printed catalog in the last year? I have filled out the request on line about 3 times, so far nothing. Is the catalog only on line now?

They have knot so stated, but I have knot heard of ANYONE getting a printed catolog in quite some time and I believe that they are no longer producing them.

Is it my imagination or have things been getting worse with(for) SS since the death of Mr John Folkerth last year, or is it just the tough economic times?

As sad as his passing is to many of us, I think it is the economy, knot his passing, that is the main source of their problems.

I am glad I am retired, and even though I have been hit hard by the investment markets, I don't have to daily deal with trying to survive in the current commercial /job market. Don M.

Aren't you lucky!!!

[robinson46176]

All of a sudden the short phrase "fixed income" isn't so bad...

[dusty]

I made them aware when it happened to me. I feel they DO need to know!

You bet they need to know!

However, this situation is something that I have never experienced. Keeping in mind that I have not ordered anything really significant since my "Lift Assist" but I have never received anything from Shopsmith that wasn't well packaged.

Some of this less than adequate handling might be the direct result of the economy but Shopsmith can ill afford to let something like this become part of their culture. Superior Customer Service is one of the things that sets Shopsmith apart from their primary competitors. It makes me sad to think that they may be letting that slip away.

The frustration that I have is that I am not sure how one goes about reporting something like this. Just calling and talking to whoever answers the phone might not get the message to the persons who need to know.

I am not confident that an internal system exists anymore to handle really significant customer complaints. I do not mean to say that the ladies in Customer Service are slacking off, they are NOT. But they can only do so much with a problem like this. Management needs to be involved.

I really hate to think that an era may be coming to an end.

A Couple of After thoughts:

I no longer have any Back Orders.

I have not received a Printed Catalog since I got the 2008 catalog at the TA. This may also be a sign of the future.

This is not all bad. In the past, I had so many catalogs that I carried them in my truck for reading material while I was waiting for SWMBO. I left many copies in outer office waiting rooms at the VA, the Doctor's Office, the Lawyers Office, etc. That might have been an expense (to Shopsmith) for which there was no payback.

[paul heller]

The frustration that I have is that I am not sure how one goes about reporting something like this. Just calling and talking to whoever answers the phone might not get the message to the persons who need to know.

I agree with you, Dusty. Perhaps a letter to the president?

If Shopsmith are going to be the internet based company they want to be, then they should be watching our comments here and participating in this discussion. Yet they never say anything in these forums. I don't think they understand yet how the internet works. I think Nick understood it.

The interenet is such a perfect mechanism to get cozy with your customers when done correctly. They have created a tremendous infrastructure in this website, yet it seems to me that they don't take advantage of it.

No, I think they are going to have to figure this out on their own. Or not. Nick tried to explain it to them, but he is not there any longer to give them vision and guidance. We in this forum have given them tremendous ideas, but I wonder if anyone is listening. Sink or swin.

I hope they swim! I've been ordering a lot lately. And, like the rest of you, I am fond of this company and I care about it.

Paul

[dlbristol]

Nick and others have said in the past that this is a forum " for the users" and not for the company. That was and is understandable and even admirable. It is a great service to those users who use it. I feel it is probably the best tool I have to get help. In times of change however, what makes sense now may be different than what made sense before. I am not advocating that SS " take over the forum" in anyway, but I agree that they might benifit greatly from listening to some of the old hands on this forum.

I don't know how to contact SS right now ( about this issue), but I will find out. The question of whether or not SS listens to this forum presupposses that we on the forum are not talking to them another way. All of us can get pretty passive at times. Perhaps we can be a bit more proactive and actually help this company. SS I think would be smart enough to listen and well served to do so.

Some of the guys on this site have unbelievable knowledge and skill with the machines and the ways to use them. All are willing to help with waht ever you need. Something as simple as the packing to prevent shipping damage could save some $$ for little investment. There are probably others. ( this kind of thing can get lost in the struggle to solve bigger issues)
I might suggest that they bring Nick back for a guest appearance and make a few new Sawdust sessions to be released every other month or so. every time I watch one of his sessions, I want to buy something!!

[bob84]

I ordered both belts for my Mark V Goldie on May 12th and although I am only 50 miles from Dayton I got the order May 22nd!

The nice lady that took the order stated at times they may only get the drive belts in and much later the poly V belt in from the supplier. If that happens they will ship the available one and then later ship the other, at no additional shipping cost. However, both arrived within a few days!

[dusty]

I don't believe that back orders are near the problem they were a few weeks/months ago. Shopsmith is working on this problem, you can bet. They don't like back orders any better than we do. They are costly.

You can contact Shopsmith by sending an email to Admin. Doug is swamped but I am confident he reads the email. If he doesn't then I have to feel privileged because he reads all of mine and responds as appropriate.

Click here: http://www.shopsmith.net/forums/showgroups.htm

I got there by clicking on View Forum Leaderson the home page.

[W3DRM]

I don't believe that back orders are near the problem they were a few weeks/months ago. Shopsmith is working on this problem, you can bet. They don't like back orders any better than we do. They are costly.

You can contact Shopsmith by sending an email to Admin. Doug is swamped but I am confident he reads the email. If he doesn't then I have to feel privileged because he reads all of mine and responds as appropriate.

Click here: http://www.shopsmith.net/forums/showgroups.htm

I got there by clicking on View Forum Leaderson the home page.

Dusty,

Well, I can only speak for my own situation. I have been waiting for a Mark V power switch since last December. All inquiries up until the last two, have resulted in "sorry the part is still on back-order" replies. In my last two inquiries, I requested that my inquiry be escalated to management. So far, I have had no replies to either of those inquiries. I also requested the engineering specs for the switches - no reply of any kind in over a week. Those inquiries went to a "Doug C" in customer service. I'm not sure if that is the same Doug you mentioned in your post.

I am working on another solution to the switch problem that may be of interest to other SS owners with switch problems. I have ordered a Solid State Relay (SSR) from Mouser. It is an AC to AC SSR (meaning it can be contolled by an AC input and control an AC output load). The SSR is rated at 40A and will switch from 50 to 240V AC. Mouser is estimating a 6-week lead time on the order so it should be here sometime in July. In the meantime, I have ordered a substitute switch from Bill Mayo that should work fine on the SS Mark V. The only difference is that it does not have the removable safety tab.

I am really disappointed in the lack of response from SS to my last few inquiries. Ignoring the problem won't solve it and only raises the concern levels for everyone concerned.