A positive online ordering experience

[Ted Evans]

Too often I tend to be quite generous with my complaints of companies and their service or lack there of but not so generous with expressing gratitude to those deserving.

I would like to offer my gratitude to a company I recently ordered from and that is Wood N Whimsies. One of my biggest gripes with online companies is their absurd charges for shipping; I will often pay more from another vender who has higher prices for an item but reasonable s & h fees.

I placed an order with Wood N Whimsies that came to a little more than $100.00 and was quoted $10 and a few cents for shipping. The order was shipped promptly and I received a notice that a credit of $5 and some cents had been issued because shipping was less than quoted, it was a first for me and I was impressed.

Then I received a Holdfast vacuum system from them Saturday that had a problem. I called Jim yesterday and explained my dilemma. He said that he would call the company about it but it would probably be a couple of hours or so before I heard from him. Well, about 20 minutes later, I received a phone call from John, the tech support person for Holdfast. Extremely helpful and walked me through the problem and it was resolved in about 20 minutes. Great, however, what surprised me was a couple of hours later, Jim from Wood N Whimsies called to make sure that my problem had been resolved to my satisfaction, now I am really impressed.

So, based upon the two experiences I have had with Wood N Whimsies, I would highly recommend them. Fantastic service and their prices are very competitive.

http://www.woodnwhimsies.com/hobbyline.html

 

[KurtB]

Positive Online Ordering

We need more accounts of positive customer service! Anyone got one they can add?

 

[GeorgeH]

Thanks for the info, Ted. I've added them to my "affirmative purchasing" list.

 

[Gretch Flo]

Shipping and handling

I had a thumb screw disappear from my Rigid band saw (Home Depot). HD didn't have a replacement at the store-had to order from company (saw had a lifetime guarantee which I did not think applied to this small item). The small part was about $1.25. S/H was around $7.50!!!!! A asked the clerk if she could just slip it in an envelop-"not our policy=goes UPS" .So I bought 5 to make me feel better when the next one got lost!!! Gretch

 

[fred holsclaw]

i have been dealing with Jim at wood n wimmise for almost 2 years and hvae allways had shipping charges less than what ther site says . all so some times they send you a sample of some new product that they have to see if you like it
never hade a problem with them and dont think i ever will

 

[Mark Warden]

I'll add one for Steve at http://www.turningwood.com/ Quality,Service,and Pakaging all A++ infact I over ordered the sanding disks I got hold up so good I keep using the same ones over again.

 

[Mark Warden]

I can also recommend Bill Grumbine's videos I consider myself a self taught turner. Turns out I'm a bad teacher Bills video shows proper tool use and helped me on my first bowl after I saw it.And as a side note before I even knew he had videos he saw one of my posts and contacted me with an invitation to his shop to check out his lathes. Good guy great videos. http://www.wonderfulwood.com/

 

[Hugh]

I had a good experience with "Oneway". I purchased a lathe from them at one of the symposiums. About two years later I was tightening the tailstock quill and the bolt that holds the small handle on it broke off. My fault totally as I was banging on it and it was not made for that kind of activity. Turns out it is not just a regular bolt but is something my local hardware store did not carry. I sent an e-mail to Oneway and explained the problem and that it was a user caused problem. I was told to send my address to them and they would put one in the mail. I did so. About 4-5 days later, in the mail I received a bolt replacement. No charge for either the bolt or the postage.
Hugh

 

[john lucas]

I've always had excellent service from Craft Supplies and from Packard. I had a problem getting a chuck with the correct mount from Craft Supplies. They sent me 2 that were incorrect. then they discovered that the part #s were wrong and straightened it right out. Both companies have always been good about answering questions, sending the parts and letting you know any back order status.
I did need an odd size screw one time so I ordered it from a company online. The screw was 38cents, the shipping was $5. Sometimes living in a small town has it's dissadvantages. finding screws and bearings can be a real bear.

 

[jimbob91577]

Bear Tooth Woods

For those who are into Pen Making, or those who would like to get into Pen Making. Ernie McFarlane at Bear Tooth Woods is my vendor of choice when it comes to most things Pen.

On my very first order with him, I had erroneously entered the wrong Zip Code for my billing address - it caused his online checkout system to fail. I called their phone number up and got Ernie directly on his Cell phone.

I told him of my malady and he seemed to immediately know what I did wrong. We further talked about some of the items I was purchasing and he gave me some pointers. And finally, he asked what he could do better, on his website, to make it more user friendly.

Still, with shipping, his base rate is $6.70 for a flat rate box, which is great compared to other sites, like Penn State which charges a flat $7.50. But what I like most about his shipping - I usually place my orders on Friday mornings, Ernie gets them shipped out the same day and I usually have my order the following Tuesday. This is great for my Pen Customers as I can usually commit to a 7 day or less build time for custom orders.

 

[Charlie Knighton]

Aaw

i ordered the demostrator handbook, received it promply, and also received an email from Mary Lacer, thanks

ps: the handbook was greatly improved, definetly some atta boys and girls are well deserved

 

[odie]

On an order with Craft Supplies USA, they shipped the wrong block of turning wood. When I phoned in to explain, they said to just keep that block and they shipped the correct one on their dime.......

It's been awhile, but I believe that incorrectly shipped block of wood was worth about $25.

I thought that was pretty good service......and, there's nothing better than getting something for free once in awhile!

OOC

 

[Joe Greiner]

A locking lever (pull to disengage) on my Harbor Freight lathe had become beat up due to my ham-handed mis-use. I used a box wrench on it for a while. I'd intended to order a replacement, but didn't get a round tuit. On a trip up I-95, I stopped at their gargantuan (1000 ft square each way) East coast warehouse in Dillon SC, to see if they had any spare parts. The manager was busy setting up a weekend tent sale, but offered to call me later. I demurred, and said I'd just order one from California. He suggested I "borrow" one from a floor model in the store. They refused to let me pay for it, more than likely because it didn't have a bar code for accounting.

 

[kenvalaska]

The very nice people at Gilmer Wood have always been most helpful and straight in dealing with me. One of my favorite places to visit in Portland and the service on the phone is as good as in person.

Bill at Arizona Sillhouette has always treated me super well. He is a behind the scene supporter of the Desert Wood Turners Roundup in Mesa also.

I have had good experiences with most of the others listed -- and would also add Lee Valley --

 

[Bill Pottorf]

Treeline USA Order.

I purchased one of the new NSK carvers with filter etc. from Treeline at the 2009 Symposium. I ordered some additional burrs and a case to hold them in by their web site. The case ($11.50) and one burr ($2.50), had to be back ordered. Two days later, I received the case in good shape. In another day or so, the second backordered package arrived that was a duplicated 2nd case. I called them to tell them of the mixup so that we could exchange the box for a burr and they just told me "Merry Christmas", it would cost you more to ship it back than the box would be worth here. They mailed the burr that afternoon. All in all, Treeline spent a lot more in shipping the items to me than was charged initially and I now have another new burr box as well. Very nice people to deal with.