Steel City Service??

[Robert foster]

My SC drum sander failed ( input feed roller failed) yesterday about noon. I called Sc customer support to get it fixed. All I got was a recording to leave a message and they would get back to me. I also emailed them and sent a message on there website. They haven't contacted me yet.
Are they still in business?? I sure hope so. I have four years left on my 5 year warranty.
Anybody know what's happening?

Bob

[Rod Upfold]

Try sending an email to sales and see if they answer you and then tell them that service won't answer you.

Rod

[glenn bradley]

Are you calling 800 897 7709? That is the number I have used for my stuff.

[Paul Ryan]

Things have chaged at Steel City. You used to be able to get someone with out having to leave a message, or wait on hold, or punch a bunch of buttons on your phone. They HAD really great cutomer service. Things have slipped lately.

[Wayne Symons]

I too had a problem back in April. I purchased a 17" drillpress and it was missing the capture ring for the table raise/lower rack. Called Steelcity around the 2nd week in May and did receive the missing part but not until the middle of July!!!!

They told me that they were in the process of moving all of their inventory from Murfreesboro, TN to Hayward, CA and that was causing the delay.

I also sent a comment via their website. They EMailed me after 2 months asking if my issue had been resolved. (They delayued response was apparently due to some problems with their website?

I am hoping that once things settle down with their move, there service will improve.

I too have heard that Customer Service used to be pretty good!

Wayne

[Matt Meiser]

They are moving again? Hasn't it only been a year or two since they moved from Pittsburgh to Murfreesboro?

[glenn bradley]

Sounds like JessEm's stories that have been going on for way too long. I sure hope not.

[John Thompson]

I have 3 Steel City machines and SC had great customer service. Steel City re-organized several months ago moving the main operation out of Murfreesboro, TN. to CA. Scott Box is no longer the president of SC nor his brother Jim over technical. Two other partners (Craig Wall and Tom Guertin) are no longer there in daily operations.

The new president is one of the original partners who heads the Canadian operation of SC and customer service is being handled from there and some from CA... with different people answering the phone so it is not the same people that were giving the outstanding customer service until several months ago.

As far as the folks that were running Steel City... General International had a press release at AWFS to the effect they are opening a new distribution center in the U.S.A.. That operation will be run by Scott Box (former president of Steel City).. Craig Walls.. Tom Guertin.. Curt Thomas (all former key figures in sale and management) will all be there in sales and distribution for General International.

For those having a problem with customer service.. I would suggest you email or call the Canadian operation and ask for the new president. Get in his ear that customer service is not taking care of you. That is precisely what I intend to do if I need anything.. and I mean precisely and to the point!

Good luck and hope that clarifies the issue somewhat....

[Denny Rice]

I have 3 Steel City machines and SC had great customer service. Steel City re-organized several months ago moving the main operation out of Murfreesboro, TN. to CA. Scott Box is no longer the president of SC nor his brother Jim over technical. Two other partners (Craig Wall and Tom Guertin) are no longer there in daily operations.

The new president is one of the original partners who heads the Canadian operation of SC and customer service is being handled from there and some from CA... with different people answering the phone so it is not the same people that were giving the outstanding customer service until several months ago.

As far as the folks that were running Steel City... General International had a press release at AWFS to the effect they are opening a new distribution center in the U.S.A.. That operation will be run by Scott Box (former president of Steel City).. Craig Walls.. Tom Guertin.. Curt Thomas (all former key figures in sale and management) will all be there in sales and distribution for General International.

For those having a problem with customer service.. I would suggest you email or call the Canadian operation and ask for the new president. Get in his ear that customer service is not taking care of you. That is precisely what I intend to do if I need anything.. and I mean precisely and to the point!

Good luck and hope that clarifies the issue somewhat....

So the way things sound now, SC is a shell of what it use to be. Will SC become another Delta when it comes to customer service? God, I hope not. Over the years I have had nothing but problems dealing with Delta.

[John Thompson]

So the way things sound now, SC is a shell of what it use to be. Will SC become another Delta when it comes to customer service? God, I hope not. Over the years I have had nothing but problems dealing with Delta.

I really can't answer the question Denny as I have no clue how current management views customer service but... with a few of these negative remarks being made I don't intend to confine my complaints (so far none with 2 machines over two years old and one a year) to a customer service rep.

The reason I reccomend complaints and concerns after recieving poor customer service are directed to the new "top gun" is so your complaint of being treated poorly by customer service goes no farther than the ear of a customer service rep himself. You can't correct problems unless you are aware problems exist but... at that point.... given time to correct issue's and it's not done... then you can form a true big picture without speculation that has a tendency to run wild as gossip at the office water cooler.

[Robert foster]

I got a call from someone at steel city this morning and the part is suposed to be on its way.

Bob

[Rob Damon]

My recent issue with SC.

Bought a Oscillating spindle sander back in the end of 2008. It has a five year warranty.

I opened the base cabinet up a few weeks ago and notice oil everywhere. After wiping everything off and cleaning up the oil, I figured out it was coming from the view glass port that shows the level of the oil. The sealant around the view port either did not get installed properly or it just failed. It has had maybe 2 minutes of run time for the uncrating just to test the motor. (Still in the process of setting up the shop, at least I uncrated it.)

So I emailed them. No answer. A week later I emailed them again, and they did follow up, saying they were having computer server issues. No problem, I can understand that.

I told them the seal around the site glass had failed and that it looked like a fairly simple repair, that I could handle myself, if they could send me the sealant.

Their reply was "Go and use an "xyz" sealant that you can buy at any automotive store."

I figured they could at least send me tube of the sealant. Since when our you suppose to provide your own warranty service?

I emailed back, "Never mind, I guess I misunderstood what 5 year warranty service means, guess the next time something happens to the OSS, I just contact Powermatic for warranty service on it, considering they will do as much as you have done." No offer to say take it to a local dealer, and here is where they are located. No-offer of a tube of sealant.

I have not heard anything back from them and it has been a couple of weeks.

I accidentally deleted the email telling me what the sealant was, that I was suppose to go and buy, so it sits. I may contact Oliver, because other than the base cabinet, the Steel city and the Oliver appear to be identical, same site glass.

Rob

[Jim O'Dell]

This is disheartening to hear. :( I don't have any SC products I was looking at, but it was neat to have another good player in the market to choose from. My guess is that there aren't enough sales in this down turn economy to keep that many big wigs going. Odd that GI could get that many of them though. Hope it's just the pains of change, and that they get back on track soon, before all the good work gets killed. Jim.

[Dave Lehnert]

Not sure if it had anything to do with this or not but end of last year I was looking at 18" bandsaws at a very large dealer here in town. The guys have worked there for years and point you in the right direction. They also have an in house service department.
They were excited about the Steel City saw and pointed out how well built is was etc.. A few months ago I went back to look and they answered my questions about it and did not say anything negative about it but just did not seem too excited now to sell it to me. They liked the JET.

[Mike Heidrick]

I want to point out how nice Jim and Scott were to SMC members at the 2008 IWF conference in Atlanta. Scott had a HUGE SC booth in Atlanta. Looks like our 2010 camp will be at the General booth Mr. Sarge. Anyway, sorry to see those boys go but I wish them the best at General. Guess Sarge's shop will be a little greener next time we meet.

BTW, I Saw a Canadian General lathe last week - OMG drool is all I can describe to you. Huge Honkin beautiful lathe and I do not turn! It looked like a Big Daddy OneWay.

[Rod Sheridan]

BTW, I Saw a Canadian General lathe last week - OMG drool is all I can describe to you. Huge Honkin beautiful lathe and I do not turn! It looked like a Big Daddy OneWay.

Mike, all General equipment is Canadian, you can tell because it has a maple leaf emblem and a coffee holder that fits a Tim Horton's large cup!:D

OK, one of the above isn't true, however it would prevent well meaning visitors from trying to set their coffee cups on my jointer........Rod.

[Brian Groetsch]

I got the same call after I ordered a warranty replacement tension shaft for my bandsaw. That was back on June 12th.

They are still using the move from TN to CA as the reason for the slow shipping. The last I heard (two weeks ago) is that they are just getting to the last of the May orders. The part has not arrived, and my band saw has been sitting in the corner gathering dust since.

I expect you should get your part sometime in September or Early October.

[Adam Cavaliere]

I have been a huge Steel City fan. This news is slightly disheartening. Hopefully they keep doing what they were doing. That is what made me a fan of them.

[george wilson]

I use Permax (sp?) to seal up the carriage of my Hardinge HLVH lathe. This is what Hardinge's manual recommended,and it is a very expensive lathe. The carriage is full of automatic transmission fluid.

I'd prefer to use what I know is a good sealant anyway,instead of some Chinese stuff that I know nothing about.

[george wilson]

Read the thread about old cast iron hotness near this thread.

[John Thompson]

I want to point out how nice Jim and Scott were to SMC members at the 2008 IWF conference in Atlanta. Scott had a HUGE SC booth in Atlanta. Looks like our 2010 camp will be at the General booth Mr. Sarge. Anyway, sorry to see those boys go but I wish them the best at General. Guess Sarge's shop will be a little greener next time we meet.

BTW, I Saw a Canadian General lathe last week - OMG drool is all I can describe to you. Huge Honkin beautiful lathe and I do not turn! It looked like a Big Daddy OneWay.

Fortunately Mike.. after 38 years of accumulating and some upgrades I don't need any machines at this point with maybe the exception of a 16-32 sander to use with veneer. But.. I suppose I could grab some cans of spray paint and change the motif. :D

2010 General International and IWF.. possibility for sure but the concrete hasn't fully dried at this point.

BTW... that is a nice lathe as I don't turn either. Same with most General equipement for that matter as most are built to tank specs...

Regards and hope to see ya in Atlanta in some form in 2010...

[John Thompson]

I just got a call from Jim Box.. brother of Scott Box and former head of the technical department at Steel City. I believe he found Rob Damon's email address here on the Creek and contacted Rob about the Sander site-glass issue he had. Jim is no longer with Steel City but still felt concerned over the issue as there is a site-glass repair kit for that machine on which the early ones did have a seal problem.

Jim told me it was OK to include the following information to help ease some concern about the current customer service situation. Scott.. Jim and Mike Box spent 6 weeks packing parts into 4 x 4 x 4 boxes back in Murfreesboro to send to the new CA. parts location. Each had to come off the shelf there and be labeled to go on the shelf in CA. in the same order as the computer locations won't be changed.

So... 7 loaded to the gills tractor-trailers arrive in CA. that have to be un-packed and put back on shelves in the same order they came off former ones. Add a reduction in personel and you probably have a 2-3 month time frame to do so. So... Todd is working frantically in the CA. location to get things un-boxed and organized so customer service can return to normal.

That info is not going to get anyone parts sooner but.. hopefully calm the concern of not getting them at all. I ordered 7 T handle knobs for my SC 18" BS which I know were in stock but.. that was about 12 weeks ago. I know the situation and will continue to be patient as they will eventually come and frankly... I would prefer they fill the higher priority orders first as mine is definitely not high priority.

Sorry to all who are waiting on parts and hopefully this information will at least alleviate some concern you might have of not getting them at all.

Regards....

[Rob Damon]

As John T. stated, I woke up to an early morning phone call from Jim Box. Certainly unexpected. He said he had seen my post on SMC and was sincerely concerned about my experience with getting service to repair the OSS.

He explained what was going on with the move and I said I fully understood. Jim is sending me a repair kit, which is exactly what I was looking for from the beginning.

Service doesn't get any better than this. As someone with alot of mustard, i can certain attest to where my future dollars will be going.

With all of the negative posts, which are sometimes needed to get a sqeaky wheel moving, what really counts is the end results.

I would like to personnally and publicly thank Jim for his assistance in my case.

Rob Damon