Be aware if wanting to buy from bestsharpeningstones site

[tony mashadi]

Hello everyone-
I just thought to leave a quick review regarding my experience buying sharpening stones from the bestsharpeningstones website. About a month ago I ordered few different stones and accessories from them for few hundred dollars. They advertise free shipping for 2-3 days shpiping on bigger orders. I immediately received a tracking number which when tracked shows no actual tracking for any items. I have been emailing them over and over through different channels but not a single respond. I also tried contacting John Poe who is the guy in charge I guess with no luck. I called several times but both their numbers are for an answering service who just say they will pass my info along but I never heard again. Finally I checked and saw several similar complains on BBB site even though they are not accredited. I also saw other similar reviews in other woodworking forums. I wish I had checked them before. Most complains are about not receiving items, or partial receiving, or receiving empty boxes. Thankfully I paid with PayPal and looks like they can get me a refund.

Save yourself the headach even their prices might be a few buck better, you might never see your item.

[Lou Ortiz]

Sorry that you had to take the hit, but thanks for flagging this land mine

[Ben Rivel]

Thanks for the review! Good to let others know about bad companies! Dont worry, Paypal will take care of you. Youll get your money back.

[Mark R Webster]

I recently, essentially had the same experience with the same company: tracking number created, item never actually shipped, no response to emails or answering service calls. Never received item. I have filed a dispute with my credit card company. When I checked BBB (unfortunately after the fact) I noted the company's rating is F and complaints very similar to Tony's and mine.

[tony mashadi]

Wow, what's amazing is that as soon as you google sharpening stone " bestsharpeningstones .com " comes up as one of the top 3 results. Usually such sites are ok. I mean you'd think that benefit of doing actual business with such name and such google status would be much higher than to just rip people off like this. I have opened a case with PayPal and I'm pretty sure I'll get my money. The only thing that worries me a bit is if the guy tells PayPal that he will make good on the order and then send me an empty box. I read on BBB that he has sent empty boxes before. And, as far as PayPal is concerned if he give them a tracking number that actually shows a delivery he is good to go. The first tracking number he gave me still shows nothing as of now. I guess we will see.

[Marc Burt]

If PayPal doesn't help you (which I feel confident they will) then you can still make a claim with your credit card. They will make it right.

Sorry this happened to you.

[Gerry Grzadzinski]

PayPal always sides with the buyer.

[Rich Riddle]

You can pay to have your site come up in the top three or five searches. A good computer type can do it for relatively nothing. Thanks for the lesson. Sorry you had to learn it.

[Sean Nagle]

I was looking for a pair of stones to touch up chisel and plane iron edges quickly while working and I ran across this thread. I'm glad I did too. I was ready to place an order with Best Sharpening Stones since they seemed to have the most competitive prices. However, any company who has ever exercised the kinds of practices reported here deserves to be out of business. Thanks so much for the heads up.

[Frank Pratt]

Just the site name scares me away. Thanks for the heads up though.

[Rick Malakoff]

Wow! About 2 months ago I called them , told the customer service girl that I had a question before I placed an order...no one ever called me back.
Lucky me.
Rick

[Patrick Chase]

I went through the same thing with bestsharpeningstones a couple years ago. Like you I got a refund through eBay.

[Patrick Chase]

You can pay to have your site come up in the top three or five searches. A good computer type can do it for relatively nothing. Thanks for the lesson. Sorry you had to learn it.

Google puts a little "Ad" icon next to the "promoted" results (the ones that are paid for as you describe) so that they're clearly distinguishable from the search results.

FWIW when I search for "sharpening stone" bestsharpeningstones.com doesn't even come up on the first 3 pages.

Definitely not speaking for my employer, Google.

[Phil Mueller]

I’ve always dealt with sharpeningsupplies.com. Excellent service.

[Curt Harms]

Wow, what's amazing is that as soon as you google sharpening stone " bestsharpeningstones .com " comes up as one of the top 3 results. Usually such sites are ok. I mean you'd think that benefit of doing actual business with such name and such google status would be much higher than to just rip people off like this. I have opened a case with PayPal and I'm pretty sure I'll get my money. The only thing that worries me a bit is if the guy tells PayPal that he will make good on the order and then send me an empty box. I read on BBB that he has sent empty boxes before. And, as far as PayPal is concerned if he give them a tracking number that actually shows a delivery he is good to go. The first tracking number he gave me still shows nothing as of now. I guess we will see.

it'd be a shame to resort to this but if someone received a box that felt suspiciously light, maybe have someone video you opening it. That way if the box is indeed empty you'd have video proof of opening the sealed box. Destroy any wrapping in the process so you couldn't be accused of reusing the original wrapping to wrap an empty box. Probably not perfect but should help your case. SWMBO buys 'art pottery' and has received some pretty beat up boxes containing poorly packed and broken pottery. She always takes pics before opening in such cases. She has never failed to get her money refunded.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Photos can make the difference!

Several years ago, I gifted a fellow Creeker with the original "The Bomb" lathe gifted to me by Creekers. It was a Jet VS Mini lathe. I mounted it to a piece of plywood, put it in a doublewalled box, padded it to fill the unused space, insured it and shipped it to Colorado via FedEx. When the recipient arrived to pick it up, the FedEx agent told him it was destroyed in shipping and advised him to refuse to accept it. When it arrived back to me, I photographed it, ran down a copy of the sales slip the Creekers used to purchase it for me. The photos and the sales slip resulted in being reimbursed by FedEx for the replacement value of the lathe and accessories.

[Ryan Mooney]

FWIW when I search for "sharpening stone" bestsharpeningstones.com doesn't even come up on the first 3 pages.

I was wondering about that as well as I don't see it anywhere in the top 3-4 pages either. I realize there is some differentiation in the organic results but this looks suspicious and I'm wondering if the folks seeing that don't have a hijacked browser. I'd be tempted to run something like Malwarebytes on that machine.

Actually its sponsored link #2 on bing so perhaps in this case "Google" isn't "Google" but given the business practices people are noting a little "forced marketing" wouldn't be entirely without precedence.

[Patrick Chase]

I was wondering about that as well as I don't see it anywhere in the top 3-4 pages either. I realize there is some differentiation in the organic results but this looks suspicious and I'm wondering if the folks seeing that don't have a hijacked browser. I'd be tempted to run something like Malwarebytes on that machine.

I just tried again anonymously (hiding my interests etc from the engine) and I got bestsharpeningstones as the second advertisement (designated with "Ad" icon) on Google.

I can't look any deeper into this and still be able to talk about it, but I may have inferred interests that cause other advertisers to bid higher or bestsharpening stones to bid lower than would be the case for a generic user. OTOH they may just have exhausted their campaign budget when I checked last night.

[Ryan Mooney]

I just tried again anonymously (hiding my interests etc from the engine) and I got bestsharpeningstones as the second advertisement (designated with "Ad" icon) on Google.

Interesting, and yes I see the same once I opened an anonymous window. That at least makes it just your regular form of skullduggery.. not the more nefarious sorts.

[Raymond Seward]

I always look for companies that accept PayPal for payment. PP has saved my bacon a few times.....only way to buy.

[Kevin Rose]

For anyone who it may concern, I tried buying from BestSharpeningStones. Purchased 3 DMT Diamond plates. Got my package quickly, yay. Opened it up and there were only 2 stones in the box. I called this guy several times as well as emails with no response. Put in a dispute with PayPal to get my money back. This guy who runs the site has zero interest in customer service as best as I can tell. I ordered on October 6th and still zero contact from him.

Stay away.

[peter Joseph]

If this guy tries and sends empty boxes I'd assume that there would be a discrepancy on the package weight. A box that is supposed to contain 3 shaptons yet weights .8 lbs should be sufficient evidence of fraud.

MrR

[Rick Malakoff]

I just saw the 8'' x3'' 3 stone kit advertised on Amazon with excellent ratings!

[Ted Phillips]

Just another data point: I purchased a Shapton Pro from this site a couple of years ago and had no issues. Fast shipping, stone in good condition. They gave me no reason for concern. ...but that was 2 years ago...

As the Creeker's have said - this is no way of doing business...

TedP

[Al Launier]

Bummer! How vulnerable we sometimes are. Sorry to hear that happened to you, with all your wasted effort, anxiety & disappointment, but fortunately you used PayPal.
With the technology available I wonder how hard it would be to have Internet sites checked for business integrity before allowing them to establish their online site???

[Simon MacGowen]

I always look for companies that accept PayPal for payment. PP has saved my bacon a few times.....only way to buy.

Paypal was previously part of eBay and it was instrumental to getting people to buy freely on eBay without worries as you will (practically) never screw up if you pay your eBay purchases with Paypal (which also hides your c.c. information).

eBay's ratings are also a good guidance. One day there may be a mechanism in place that rates every business that sells online automatically (rated by verified buyers only of course). For now, I will stick to established vendors like Lie Nielsen, Lee Valley and the like, or online, Amazon.com, eBay, etc. When you deal with them, you will never be penny wise and pound foolish.

Simon

[Robert LaPlaca]

Ok, a more recent data point.. In late April 2017 I bought two DMT dia-sharp stones from this vendor, product was delivered quickly and the price was pretty competitive.

Never bought anything from this vendor before and seeing this thread will consider myself lucky (one doesn’t know how funny a statement that is for me), I think I will be a one and done.

[Patrick Chase]

I had ordered from this vendor successfully before my bad experience.

I think that they're good at fulfilling orders when the merchandise is in stock, but that they have serious problems in three areas: First, their site doesn't accurately reflect their inventory. Second, their handling of backorders is extremely poor, with no communication or notice as to what's going on. Third, their customer service is nonexistent - the call service can't do anything directly, and messages are never returned.

[Pete Taran]

Charge backs are your friend here. If you do use just a credit card with a vendor like this, and you don't get what you pay for, call your credit card company and initiate a "charge back". A company's credit rate is based on how much hassle the card supplier has to deal with to process their charges. When you initiate a charge back, it's a hassle for the card company. It only takes a few to cause that rate to rise. Think of it in terms of insuring the average 60 year old for car insurance, vs a 16 year old first time driver. This is a way to get back at "the man" for crappy service. This will get their attention, trust me.

[Andrew Pitonyak]

I might have avoided them if i had seen this earlier, but, I have made a few purchases form them in the past year with no issues. Very happy with the stones that I have from them. They packed very well and shipped quickly.

[Thomas Wilson]

I’ve always dealt with sharpeningsupplies.com. Excellent service.
I had to look up the company from whom I ordered stones and strops. It was sharpeningsupplies.com. They were good to me also.