Customer service....what do you expect?

[Greg Urwiller]

I recently ordered one of the "offshore" Mast-R-Top router phenolic table tops that are being clearanced from Jessem. Figured it would be a good match with my Mast-R-Lift. I got it about a week and a half ago. Unfortunately it had a couple of flaws in it. The plate cutout had a bit of "router blight" on one edge. No problem, won't hurt a thing. Then, when I took one of the protective cardboard corners off so I could get a hold of it to get it out of the box, I found a damaged edge, just up from one corner. Looks like it had been dropped and it jammed the phenolic edge in, raised the surface a bit, and actually breaking the laminate top in an area the size of a silver dollar. Felt rather deflated after finding this. I decided that I would try to sand the area down and use it. But, I still felt I should inform Jessem of this. I emailed them that night telling them of it. But, I did say, while I was disappointed in the top, I had no intention of returning the top and/or looking for something in compensation. The damage was small and could be repaired/lived with. That was a week and a half ago. That said, I really expected to receive an email from them. I know, I said I didn't want anything from them. But, is too much to ask for, at least, an acknowledgement? Something like "hey, we're sorry that happened, please try us again and we hope that we can help you in the future". Is it too much to ask for a little common courtesy these days? Am I out of line for wanting something like this? Greg

[Dan Keeling]

That sounds reasonable. I know I don't have the luxury of ignoring customer complaints, why should anyone else? Were they on clearance due to flaws?

[Stephen Cherry]

This is why I buy used. It's all beat up, but at least it's cheap. For new stuff, it should be right. One thing every manufacturer should learn is that the purchase experience of their customer is the product.

[glenn bradley]

Jess Em has a pretty good reputation for erratic customer service over the years. There was a period a few years back where people couldn't reach them by phone or online for so long, it was rumored that they had gone under.

Every now and then there will be a report of the type of CS response from them that I would call "normal" but, more often than not, the stories resemble yours. So, no, you are not expecting too much. It is just that in this case, the response (or lack of it) is not unusual. Don't take it personally.

[Ruhi Arslan]

Is it too much to ask for a little common courtesy these days?
Yes. You as as a consumer should be grateful that they took your money and do not even contemplate questioning whether you should receive a functional and undamaged product you paid for. If you did know how extremely difficult it is to get those overseas raw material suppliers deliver on time and many other thousands of things can go wrong in supply chain and the factories and holidays and other stuff, you would not even bother to write an email to let them know that the product they sold you arrive damaged.


Am I out of line for wanting something like this? Greg
No, you are not. But your expectations from this vendor is too low and ambiguous. Did you ask any questions to be answered? An acknowledgment would be nice but as I said above, I think it is too much to expect common courtesy from anyone is asking too much for many years now.

[Matt Day]

I think it is too much to expect common courtesy from anyone is asking too much for many years now.

That's real uplifting!

I have to disagree. There are a lot of good companies out there still and if you care about good CS you should buy from them to pay them back for their efforts to keep you happy. If you're not happy with JessEm because of their sub-par CS, don't buy from them again. I have run into some poor CS of course (non-wood related), and I doubt I will buy from them again. On the other hand, I've had some excellent CS that has made me want to buy more because it was a pleasure doing business with them and they've taken care of me.

Lee Valley is a perfect example of common courtesy, good products, and lots of returning customers.

[Myk Rian]

I think Ruhi said that "Tongue in cheek".

Tops for drill presses and router tables are so easy to make, I only have myself to blame for a screw up.

[Dan Schocke]

I'm only half serious here, but I think you should be happy that they did what you asked of them :-).

Contrast this with my recent experience with Sears customer service... I had several gift cards that I needed to use, so I decided to order a Kreg router table system from them. It shipped very quickly, but they only sent the steel stand -- not the table or fence. I called customer service and told them I had received only part of the item that I ordered. The representative I spoke with asked me what I expected them to do... A little stunned, I told her that I expected them to send me the entire item that I had paid for. After being put on hold for about 10 minutes while the rep "looked up" my order, she came back on the line and told me that the package was delivered and sitting on my front porch according to their records. After I explained the situation again, I was put on hold for a few more minutes, then told I had to return the product and reorder (with free shipping this time). Sounded dumb, but OK, whatever. Then she told me that I'd have to pay for the reorder with a credit card and wait for my refund from the original purchase to come as another gift card. I asked if she could simply charge my credit card for the new table and then refund it when they received the return merchandise, allowing me to actually use the gift card for the purchase (which was the whole point in the first place). Nope. No way. Could reorder after I received my new gift card, but that's it.

To give them credit, I received profuse apologies from the customer service rep and in a couple of emails after my call -- we're sorry for your trouble, please consider shopping with us again (branded with several Sears innovation graphics). Yeah, great, whatever. Now, 5 weeks later I still have no router table and no gift card. To be honest, they can keep the apologies. I'd rather they just send me what I paid for or refund my money, both of which to me seem like very simple things to do.

You should also be elated if you spoke to someone located in the US. Sears customer support has apparently been outsourced to the Philippines, where English is spoken but not comprehended.

--Dan

[Steve Costa]

WoodPecker Custom Service:

I recently purchased a Woodpecker Router System, phenolic table, lift, fence & stand. Table arrived damaged. Called Woodpecker & explained the problem on Thursday. Was told that a new table would be shipped on Monday as the shipping person was off & they wanted to inspect the table before it was shipped. New table arrived in perfect condition the following Monday. THAT IS CUSTOM SERVICE!!!!! Will I buy from Woodpecker again---ABSOLUTELY!!!!

[Grant Wilkinson]

I spent a lot of money on Jessem products before they left canada. I never was happy with their customer service and their products were not all they are cracked up to be either. Now, they are back in Canada and I wrote them to ask about retro-fitting my router lift, since it is acting up. That was weeks ago. They never bothered to reply. I will definitely never give them another dollar of my money. Being a Canadian, I wanted to keep my money in Canada. Big mistake as far as giving it to Jessem was concerned.

[Rich Neighbarger]

I will definitely never give them another dollar of my money.

Unfortunately, this is about the only thing that customers will do that works. Eventually sales will fall and the company will have to rethink market strategy to continue conducting business. I say unfortunately because it will take a long time and will not help your immediate problem. As far as damaged goods arriving, you do not have to "make it work." Look up the consumer protection laws that regulate trade in your jurisdiction. "Fit for a particular purpose" is quite universal across most states.

[Matt Meiser]

Unfortunately I think that if you email customer service, on average you shouldn't expect to receive a reply. I think that's stupid--why publish an email address if you aren't going to reply--but that's the way it is. I'll often start with an email on a non urgent matter, but if I don't hear anything for a day or two I call. Sometimes I'm surprised though with a real person replying and actually taking care of the problem.

[Dave Lehnert]

What do I expect?

I expect bad service. Surprised if I get good service. Not the way it should be, but the way it is.

If a company is not going to answer customer service questions via e-mail, they should do away with it. However, I would give them a call first.