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View Full Version : I come to praise Lee Valley O.T.



Dave Comissiong
05-05-2003, 2:50 PM
Hi all;

I'm one of your professional lurkers. I have been woodworking since I was a kid and now, as an "early retiree" I love plugging into this forum just to keep up with things. The reason for the post is to share a very recent Lee Valley experience. I purchased a three shelf metal rod patio greenhouse from LV 3 or 4 years ago. As would be expected the plastic shelf supports started disintigrating with age and UV. No big deal especially on a $50 purchase but everything else on the unit was fine including the plastic cover. I know that LV sell the covers as a replacement item so I called their order desk to see if I could buy some new supports. I needed to replace 3 of the 8. Well, their rep insisted on sending me three new ones FREE, postage paid!! I really wasn't asking for a freebie and offered several times to pay. I just didn't feel like throwing something out that was perfectly good otherwise. So today, I got my repalcement parts and it must have cost LV $3-$4 to ship to me. I can't tell exactly because the postage is metred but that would be a conservative estimate. NOW THAT IS CUSTOMER SERVICE!! As an marketing and sales professional who specialised in CRM I appreciate not only the superior effort but also what smart business it represents. If more companies practiced their lip service and sloganism our ecomony would be in even better shape. Congratulations, Rob!! I know you read this newsgroup so stand up and take a bow. You and your Dad have trained your company well and it will undoubtedly repay you in many profitable years ahead while your lesser competitors struggle. By the way, as I told your rep you really should offer these supports as a catalogue item for when I need to replace the other five. I am proud to have so much of my pension cheque go to your establishment!!!

Jim Becker
05-05-2003, 5:44 PM
Yes, Lee Valley does understand Customer Relationship Management (I'm in the biz, too). They get business from me more frequently than other vendors, even when the price might be slightly higher. My wife now buys gardening items from them, too. As icing on the cake, I was pleased to read in a recent catalog about their "good works" in the form of donations they make each year to worthy organizations...there is no better reason to have one of their calendars on your wall like the one I'm looking at while I type this. (And the pictures are kewel, too!)

Stan Smith
05-05-2003, 8:10 PM
Yesterday I discovered that I need 4 items related to turning. I could have gone to a place that specializes in turning items such as CraftSupplies. Instead I immediately asked myself if LV would have all the items that I need. They did and the items are very good quality. They shipped them out today. Of all the companies that I do business with, LV is the very best!!

Stan

John Miliunas
05-05-2003, 11:12 PM
I could be wrong (it'd be the first time this year...:D ), but I don't believe I've visited *any* WW site or forum where anyone has had anything bad to say about LV. I think that says an awful lot for a company, especially one which deals in such a wide variety of products. Hats off to LV! :cool:

Stan Smith
05-06-2003, 1:26 PM
And if you ever have to call them on the phone for anything, it will make you have a better day at having the opportunity to talk to very nice people.

Stan

Steve Rayboy
05-08-2003, 6:12 AM
I am a faithful customer of Lee Valley, ordering a few times a year. The only time I wasn't satisfied
was 2 years ago, when I ordered the Inchmate + calculator by Sonin. It worked fine for a couple of weeks, and then I think I left it out in the sun too long (instructions said not to). After that, It was useless. Since it was my fault, I wrote it off.

After reading this thread yesterday, I sent an E-mail to Lee Valley. I asked them what I should do...trash it, contact Sonin, or???

They Emailed me within hours, saying they no longer carried that model, but they were going to send me the better calculator by Sonin for free. Not only that, but I have to send back the useless one, and they would refund my postage!!!

What a company. If only there were more like Lee Valley.