Lee Valley's Superb Customer Service

[Jim DeLaney]

A few weeks ago, I was using one of my Lee Valley HSS Forstner bits, and it quit working. Took me quite a while to figure out that the cutter head was spinning within the drill's shaft (I first thought the DP chuck - an Albrecht - was slipping)

Anyway, I e-mailed Rob Lee - just to tell him about the failure, and to ask if this was a common failure mode (since I have about a dozen more of these bits). I also told him that the bit in question was over two years old, and had been used many times before.

Rob replied within a couple hours that the failure, while rare, was not unheard of. He explained that the HSS cutting head is welded to a softer steel shaft, and then turned to size, and on occasion the weld gets turned away in the process.

He then sent me a replacement bit - even though I'd been using the old one for two years.(!)

The package even arrived with a personal note inside apologizing for the inconvenience.

<B>NOW THAT'S CUSTOMER SERVICE! </B>

Thanks Rob!

[Ken Wright]

No question in my mind its the best followed very closely by the folks at JET ..... they (LV) have even gone so far as to try to find a competitor that has a product they don't have and then email you with a place to buy the product.

It don't get any better than that.

[Stan Smith]

Lee Valley has a great website that is fast and logical. They also have info data on how to use certain products and parts (i.e. earth magnets). Their catalogs are nicely presented. They answer all e-mail very quickly and they people on the phones are very polite and pleasant. Nope, no negative comments whatsoever for Lee Valley. I buy a LOT of stuff from them.

[Jim Baker]

This sounds like an exceptional company. I will check them out and try to give them some business. Thanks for letting me know about them.