A little beware on shopsmith orders as of now

[reible]

Hi,

I had placed an order by phone last week, the package arrived yesterday. I had ordered several items, set screws, square cutter for the lathe duplicator, (2)knobs for blade guide on the bandsaw, and I thought (2) 10-24x1-1/4 Fillister HD screws. The part # I had written down was 502659 and that is what I believe I gave the lady. The box has (2) 502699 washer things.

When I called this morning I really didn't expect any problem. I expected they would correct my order and have two parts in the mail to me. NOT so, the other lady was sure I must have given the wrong part number SO I would have to put in a new order. I declined since the shipping was as always too much for only a couple of small screws.

In the old days I'm sure they would have dealt with this much better, right now I'm feeling miffed. And, I have to make do with bent screws for another year or so.... when I place another order from them.

Actually this happened at a good time, right before I was about to go to the Lowes on Thursday and spend some more money on a couple of items, now I can convince myself to stay home and save the money. I did say I was miffed didn't I.

Ed

[JPG]

Hi,

I had placed an order by phone last week, the package arrived yesterday. I had ordered several items, set screws, square cutter for the lathe duplicator, (2)knobs for blade guide on the bandsaw, and I thought (2) 10-24x1-1/4 Fillister HD screws. The part # I had written down was 502659 and that is what I believe I gave the lady. The box has (2) 502699 washer things.

When I called this morning I really didn't expect any problem. I expected they would correct my order and have two parts in the mail to me. NOT so, the other lady was sure I must have given the wrong part number SO I would have to put in a new order. I declined since the shipping was as always too much for only a couple of small screws.

In the old days I'm sure they would have dealt with this much better, right now I'm feeling miffed. And, I have to make do with bent screws for another year or so.... when I place another order from them.

Actually this happened at a good time, right before I was about to go to the Lowes on Thursday and spend some more money on a couple of items, now I can convince myself to stay home and save the money. I did say I was miffed didn't I.

Ed

When I order by PN, they usually echo back what it is. If they do not recognize the PN they have said so and asked what it was(common with ancient PN).

Thanks for the heads up!

That has to be a management directive. Understandable, but a kitb for sure.


Back in de olden days, dey identified standard hardware items with an accurate description, and, mentioned(in de manuals) they were such and commonly available at a 'hardware store'.

But then there is only one of those currently in town(5 mile drive)!:mad:


P.S. I will insist upon a complete review of the entire order including part numbers and descriptions in the future!!!

[frank81]

Did you get any written confirmation of your order prior to receiving them? I order a lot of parts from a lot of different sources for the unreasonable amount of projects I always have going on, some of which I have to phone in or visit a parts desk. I always send an email of P/N's, descriptions, and qty's to the sales rep just before I call (or print a pick list if going in person).

Customer service after the fact is an entirely different issue. So is high shipping on a few fasteners, a padded envelope and a stamp or two is more than enough.

[dgale]

I have always placed my orders online with SS - partially out of convenience and also because I tend to think of ordering stuff when it's already after business hours EST. One of the advantages is I can review my order on the screen in front of me before pressing the order button, so it's my own fault if the wrong item # gets entered etc. I imagine there are items and parts that can't be located on the online store but so far I haven't found any that I was after. I recently needed a bunch of parts of fix some issues with my bandsaw (the PO had somehow broken the mount for the upper wheel and fixed it via welding...he actually did a pretty clean job welding aluminum but I figured this had to lead to some alignment issues, so I replaced said parts)...all of the parts were available online via the parts diagrams for the various SPTs.

All that said, if someone needs to place an order via phone because the desired parts aren't available online, or else they just choose to do it the old fashioned way, this seems like really lame customer service to me. A couple of screws? I would be miffed as well over any company that wouldn't take the "customer is always right" approach and promptly drop thew screw in a small padded mailer and ship them right out to you. Penny wise and pound foolish was their response to you and I'm surprised.

[JPG]

Did you get any written confirmation of your order prior to receiving them? I order a lot of parts from a lot of different sources for the unreasonable amount of projects I always have going on, some of which I have to phone in or visit a parts desk. I always send an email of P/N's, descriptions, and qty's to the sales rep just before I call (or print a pick list if going in person).

Customer service after the fact is an entirely different issue. So is high shipping on a few fasteners, a padded envelope and a stamp or two is more than enough.

'They' do not have time to check e-mails!!!:(

[mrhart]

Despite responsibility, customer service should prevail. Its just good business, even when fault lies on yourself.

[reible]

Looks like my Thursday outing is back on.

Just received this email:

"A no charge order has been entered for 2, 502659 screws.Thank you
Customer Service"

My confidence has been restored!

A BIG THANK YOU to Customer Service!!

Ed

[dusty]

When I order by PN, they usually echo back what it is. If they do not recognize the PN they have said so and asked what it was(common with ancient PN).

Thanks for the heads up!

That has to be a management directive. Understandable, but a kitb for sure.


Back in de olden days, dey identified standard hardware items with an accurate description, and, mentioned(in de manuals) they were such and commonly available at a 'hardware store'.

But then there is only one of those currently in town(5 mile drive)!:mad:


P.S. I will insist upon a complete review of the entire order including part numbers and descriptions in the future!!!

I believe you are talking about someone other than Shopsmith. Shopsmith has hardly ever provided a real description for most of their hardware items (screws, bolts nuts, set screws, etc). Something like "setscrew, 1/4"" has been typical. When you order by part number, you better know what it is that you need/want AND what they think you are ordering.

Yes, times have changed. The all mighty dollars has gotten to be the primary factor. Customer satisfaction is slowly dwindling as the key element. It used to be that "the customer was always right". NO MORE!

[wa2crk]

Two rules for retail sales folks

#1 The customer is always right
#2 In the rare event that the customer is wrong, refer to rule #1.
Management.

Glad that it got straightened out!!
Bill V

[tomsalwasser]

Looks like my Thursday outing is back on.

Just received this email:

"A no charge order has been entered for 2, 502659 screws.Thank you
Customer Service"

My confidence has been restored!

A BIG THANK YOU to Customer Service!!

Ed

Big Brother is watching you.