Let me pull up the old email archives...pretty sure it was tom@... but been a decade since. Did you call him? Usual approach is 'Hi - I'm calling for Tom and yes - I'll hold until you get HIM on the phone.'
Let me pull up the old email archives...pretty sure it was tom@... but been a decade since. Did you call him? Usual approach is 'Hi - I'm calling for Tom and yes - I'll hold until you get HIM on the phone.'
I didn't speak with him, but was told he was involved. I just spoke with someone at LN. They don't have anymore No. 8s in stock and they don't have any good lever caps. So they said they are going to make a batch tomorrow, and I'll have it by Monday after it's been tested. I expressed my disappointment, but that was that. Guess I'll wait until Monday. Going to be a while before I decide to do business with them again.
Tom is a smart businessman. He would send or someone (from LN reading this thread) would remind him to send you.r the replacement part with a bench brush or a token gift card along.
If all you get after all this is a #8 and nothing else, they have given up a golden opportunity to turn a bad sales experience into something more positive.
Simon
Simon; this issue will get fixed to the customers satisfaction shortly. LN do offer a lifetime guarantee on their tools. What wont change are the comments that were made within this thread that will appear again and again and again when someone searches feedback on LNs reputation. Could this issue have been handled better by the OP. imo yes. And it would not include venting his frustration on an open forum.
Stewie;
Last edited by Stewie Simpson; 11-17-2017 at 1:51 AM.
A quick check of some LN retailers shows the #8 out of stock, so not surprised they did not just call one of their dealers to pull stock. That said, I bet there is a #8 lever cap in the show room that would work...have to think the lack of a #8 for tire kickers to play with is less important than a frustrated owner of a $475 paperweight.
I created this thread because of Lie-Nielsen's reputation. I was second guessing myself and thought I was doing something wrong after receiving the 3rd bad cap. Of course I'm frustrated, but this has all happened and I don't think it should be ignored. I don't think putting LN on a pedestal and ignoring their mistakes helps them or us, their customers that keep them in business. What people will see is an issue, and then (hopefully) a resolution with Thomas Lie-Nielsen reaching out to the customer.
Stewart,
Really? The OP was patiently working with LN to get the issue resolved. After 3 tries and a month of time passing, he obviously wanted a second opinion on what to do. He got it, and the process appeared to work. That is what the feedback loop is all about. It's sometimes not pretty but when done properly it works every time. No company is perfect and customers are in charge or the companies they support don't last very long. It seems to me, as someone who knows more about LN than most (after all, I did sell my saw making company to them back in 1998), that they may have grown to the point where their intense customer focus is slipping from levels where it was in the past. I'm sure, like all feedback, this episode will underscore the need to redouble their efforts. NO ONE is doing a company any favors by silence when confronted with defective goods or poor service.
apathydemotivator_grande.jpeg
Agreed, as long as the sharing of a bad service experience is done in a civilized manner, which the OP has.
The OP actually has displayed the kind of patience that many in his situation may not have.
It is true a reputation tarnished online will never go away and thus it is critical (if reputation is treasured by the company) that a company handles all customer complaints or service dissatisfaction speedily. A while back, I saw a thread about a problem expressed on a router plane made by a smaller tool maker. I scratched my head as to why the tool maker allowed the "complaint" to linger on for weeks in the thread.
We all know Rob from Veritas is pretty much the only vendor principal who has the guts to address the forum directly, even though many many other vendors -- large or small, power or hand tool -- quietly (secretly?) monitor our discussions constantly that affect them. This is a double-edged tool. Rob gains not only information (on his company as well as on the competitors) no money can buy him but also our trust by interacting with us. But the risk is high too as this not a Veritas fanboy or fangirl club and he has to sometimes face a hostile audience. I personally know two small tool makers who said they would not want to be pinned black and white in their handling of customer concerns.
If anyone thinks telling a vendor honestly when it screws up is hurting the vendor, they are misguided in their thinking.
Simon
Yes, Steven can be commended for his patience with this issue.The OP actually has displayed the kind of patience that many in his situation may not have.
Sometimes when things are going screwy it is helpful to be able to release our frustration on a forum like this with friends we have not yet met.
Some of the frustrations, such as an unanswered email sent on an observed holiday Friday, may have been tamped down.
Anyone who finds this thread in the future will likely also find a happy ending.
jtk
"A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
- Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)
Not your usual LN story. Hope things work out.
"A hen is only an egg's way of making another egg".
– Samuel Butler