Shopsmith Forums

Well, what to make of this experience? I called SS to order some parts. My call was placed on hold "await the next representative." 45 minutes later I was still waiting and so I hung up.

My call was today, 10.20 (Thursday) at 3:00 pm (CST).

I just wonder about a company that makes people wait for inordinate periods before the customer can give money to the business.

Maybe, the problems at SS are worse than imagined. This is fairly basic customer service. Answer phone - take order - take money.

Oh well, I love my Shopsmith, but they sure make it difficult.

Yes, I know the feeling of long phone waits. For a while, a few months ago the waits grew smaller. This got me to thinking of this situation in another way.- -

I knew that Shopsmith had cut their staff to a minimum due to their financial problems and had expected longer waits. When they didn't happen and my calls were answered almost immediately, I couldn't help but wonder if the volume of orders had decreased substantially. Since then, a longer wait signaled a good thing to me. That might have meant the larger volume of calls had returned. & that's a good thing for all of us!!

I'm also aware that NO CALLER is ever snubbed or hurried through their order or questions. In the past few years, Ive only talked to either Jan, Linda or Dave. Three people that know the machinery very well and they do a great job of solving problems, answering questions and taking orders without a fault. Never have had a mistaken order!:)

I'm fairly sure those folks also do other things than answer phones.

I just wanted to put my two cents in. I called to place an order this past Monday and my wait time was under a minute. I don't know if that reflects on the state of SS's business but it sure made me happy!

Lately they have been very fast for me. I have had the xx minute waits in the past, but the past few weeks have been under a minute whenver I called.

Try callig earlier in the day, rather than later. They do queue calls, so once they get more than three or four, you're going to be holding. Just like traffic, it starts stacking up and pretty soon your looking at a long time.

Every time I read one of these discussions I feel myself tighten up. I often feel like I as well as others have unrealistic expectations given the difficulties of our times. Then I have a day like today. We needed to have our car serviced. Nothing major, simply time for routine maintenance. Then while visiting with the service specialists I discovered that the factory tires on my model car are only expected to last 15,000 miles. I bit my tongue and left that place. Then my wife and I set out to accomplish a list of errands. The next two places we went did not have advertised items in fact neither of them had ever stocked anything resembling the ads. Then a trip to Woodcraft, I spent a fair amount of money yet once again they did not have two items topping my list. Please forgive me but as I sit here this evening I need to say it again. I am too demanding and expect every vendor to have what I want, when I want it and at the price I desire. I pray that each of us can learn to take a deep breath and be a bit more patient. After all the folks that care the most about us allow us space and time to live up to our claims. why should we not treat others the same way. Yes I know I have abused the use of the soap box and shall retire it to the dark dusty corner of my closet. fjimp

Since I was laid off a couple of years ago as a CADCAM Machine designer, I've had to switch yet again my careers to keep roof & food for my little family. I am a Technical Specialist for Small & Medium Business at a major computer corporation. I work at a Call Center with up to 250 others, and we answer calsl all day long. We do not have time limits, just requirements to resolve the issues in the first call whenever possible. Sometimes callers are irate because they've been in the queue for a long time 20-45 minutes (extreme cases), but we have to still be smooth and courteous to snitty customers. Most of the time we can help, and the customers feel better overall for the experience. Please be friendlier to the person on the other end of your calls,; it makes everyone's days better. Really. I had a call tonight 1 minute before I was supposed to leave and ended up staying 90 minutes late to help the man. We do what we must to be a better Country, and not outsource to some 3rd world country. Thank you SS for the great help you've given me the times I have called. And thanks for being in the USA.

mgdesigns wrote: . . . We do what we must to be a better Country, and not outsource to some 3rd world country. Thank you SS for the great help you've given me the times I have called. And thanks for being in the USA.

Ah yes! The last time I availed myself of 'customer service' the combined effect of the other side of the world speech idiosyncrasies and chopped telephone transmission caused a multiple request/please repeat sequence to finish with an impatient 'Indian' shouting the request for my mother's maiden name. The resultant clipping of the telephone transmission did not help much! Oh, did I mention I do not hear well either?:rolleyes:

I have found call centers located in Washington state and Nova Scotia to be the most down to earth 'real' people! Linda is in their category also.


Perhaps there is much time consumed with Power Pro interest! Hope so! Never experienced the queue wait myself at SS.

Maybe the wait time is down because SS hired a new person to handle some calls????
Bill V

wa2crk wrote:Maybe the wait time is down because SS hired a new person to handle some calls????
Bill V

Or the wait time was up due to the 'experienced' staff training the 'newbie(s)'. Orrr the oldies getting trained on the PP.

FWIW: Giving up after 10 minutes and trying 'later' is far less aggravating than waiting much longer in the queue. JMHO If they are that busy, they do not need me adding to the problem!