Yep, I think you probably have it there. The second is what was intended. And, as I stated earlier, Lee Valley/Veritas should not have to eat the price of the screw + shipping, even if it is in the interest of having customer service that is above and beyond. As a very small tool manufacturer myself, I've added up all the shipping and extra or replacement parts that I've shipped people free of charge over the course of a year . I'm a tiny one man operation. 2 years ago the number for me was nearly 5% of that part of my business. I would imagine Lee valleys percentage may be a bit lower, but still is a likely a hefty number that could go to better things.
As someone who sees both sides of the transaction, yes, its nice when a company goes above and beyond, however, that makes them less profitable (or they have to maintain higher prices to maintain profit) Do you want to eat into the profitability of a company you like because YOU made a mistake? I certainly wouldn't.
A company that prides them selves on customer service will have no compunction about shipping a small part like that, charge or no charge. When it's a proprietary or custom part for a tool, yes,I'll pick up the phone or send an email, and make sure I can at least cover the cost of the part plus shipping, or if they just send it to me, I'll typically make a another purchase from that company that same day. For a stock common item like a screw, yeah, the hardware store is gonna get my $.26.
Thats 10 minutes less the customer service rep has to waste on me, 10 minutes less that the shipping dept has to deal with me, $2.50-6.00 on shipping plus the .26 part they don't have to eat. Assuming that the shipping and customer service folks are making a mid to low wage, thats $2.50 for 10 minutes, each. . .my calling them and getting a tiny little part I could likely find anywhere is costing them a minimum of $7.76
Last edited by Matt Evans; 12-10-2017 at 9:12 AM.
Making furniture teaches us new ways to remove splinters.
Getting back to the original question: on a new product like that, you're likely to find standard screws, either U.S. standard or metric - none of those strange No. 9 machine screws or suchlike, as can be found on Stanley planes. Taking the tool to the hardware store and wandering through the screws-and-bolts aisle to find a match. It's not hard to know when you've got a match - you can feel the screw's fit, or lack of fit, as you thread it in. Unless you've got a stash of machine screws, in which case you can do the wandering in your shop.
I have reconsidered, it's easy.
Take the part with you to Lowe's or Home Depot and find a bolt or screw that matches the thread. I have done it once or twice.