What's up with Veritas/Lee Valley?

[Dennis Droege]

I ordered a Veritas 5 1/2 plane back in February. Checked on the order a month or so later and noticed that the handle (tote?) was on back order. Checked a couple of weeks later, and found that the plane itself was on back order. Called customer service and c.s. told me that they would have everything by today. Maybe they will, maybe they won't. Zero communication. I would have cancelled the order and bought a different make plane, but this is the one I want to try. Has anyone else had this experience with LV/V?

[Jason Lester]

I was going to order some chisels and a block plane and they're all on backorder as well. There's a few things that show they aren't even available to backorder now too.

[Patrick Chase]

I ordered a Veritas 5 1/2 plane back in February. Checked on the order a month or so later and noticed that the handle (tote?) was on back order. Checked a couple of weeks later, and found that the plane itself was on back order. Called customer service and c.s. told me that they would have everything by today. Maybe they will, maybe they won't. Zero communication. I would have cancelled the order and bought a different make plane, but this is the one I want to try. Has anyone else had this experience with LV/V?

I've always had good experiences with them. I heard they got caught out by the sudden CITES listing of Bubinga, though. That would explain the handle issue.

[Frank Martin]

Lee Valley is a top notch company. So, rest assured you will be taken care of. I have been a customer for 15 years now and always great experience. I think I had one minor problem in all this time and they made sure I was happy with the outcome, which I was.

[Jason Lester]

Definitely a great company, just odd that they are out of stock of so many products.

[Tony Wilkins]

Definitely a great company, just odd that they are out of stock of so many products.

I think they were just catching up after the last free shipping special and now they have one again.

[Bruce Haugen]

Did you call LV customer service? Everyone else is speculating. LV would know.

[Aaron Rosenthal]

I went in to decide on a saw yesterday and found out it was totally out of stock until (at my local shop) April 24 or so.
This morning I get an email they have a special credit back promotion if you buy from one of the stores, expiring April 22.
Had to laugh. I'll rib them Monday.

[Don Dorn]

Did you call LV customer service? Everyone else is speculating. LV would know.


Called customer service and c.s. told me that they would have everything by today. Maybe they will, maybe they won't. Zero communication.

Yep, he did.

[Dennis Droege]

I did. They told me I wasn't the only one. Very nice. No explanation. I see from the other posts that they are a good outfit, and I'm excited to get my hands on the plane.

[Tony Zaffuto]

Top notch company and I've been ordering from them longer than I can remember (sorry to you Sens fans for what the Pens did to them last night). Products are very well thought out for ergonomics and use.

LV stands behind their products, with no hassle returns, plus if they discover some sort of flaw with their product WITHOUT the customer asking, they replace or otherwise, fix the issue (anyone here remember the minor marking issue on the saw file holder?).

[Frederick Skelly]

Agree with Tony. Lotsa threads here praising LV - and for good reason.
Fred

[Rob Lee]

Hi,

We’re currently experiencing a production issue with wood parts (ironically). Since we’ve brought all handles in-house, we’ve been challenged to catch up with orders, let alone get ahead. We have stopped actively marketing many of the products, and expect to have our act together soon. New equipment has been ordered/installed, and we are looking at a second shift to catch up. We have more than 1000 finished planes waiting for handles...

It has been a challenge to convert to a torrefied wood, and we did not anticipate how steep and how long the learning curve was.

Please accept my apologies for the delays - we have good people working hard to get out of a sticky situation.

Rob Lee
Lee Valley and Veritas

[Patrick Chase]

We’re currently experiencing a production issue with wood parts (ironically). Since we’ve brought all handles in-house, we’ve been challenged to catch up with orders, let alone get ahead. We have stopped actively marketing many of the products, and expect to have our act together soon. New equipment has been ordered/installed, and we are looking at a second shift to catch up. We have more than 1000 finished planes waiting for handles...

So it sounds like this was indeed a knock-on effect from the sudden CITES listing?

[sean contenti]

Hi,

We’re currently experiencing a production issue with wood parts (ironically). Since we’ve brought all handles in-house, we’ve been challenged to catch up with orders, let alone get ahead. We have stopped actively marketing many of the products, and expect to have our act together soon. New equipment has been ordered/installed, and we are looking at a second shift to catch up. We have more than 1000 finished planes waiting for handles...

It has been a challenge to convert to a torrefied wood, and we did not anticipate how steep and how long the learning curve was.

Please accept my apologies for the delays - we have good people working hard to get out of a sticky situation.

Rob Lee
Lee Valley and Veritas

Very interesting. I'm guessing this has something to do with the stores selling lots of offcuts of torrefied maple in varying stages of handle manufacture?

Glad to hear you guys are climbing the curve. I quite like the new handles, both my #4 and #7 have them.

[Dennis Droege]

Checked my order this morning. It's been put off another month, until May.
I just got off the phone with them. The man I spoke to told me that there is a problem with the people who do the castings.

[Dave Zellers]

Checked my order this morning. It's been put off another month, until May.
I just got off the phone with them. The man I spoke to told me that there is a problem with the people who do the castings.
It sounds like Lee Valley is experiencing a rough patch. It happens. There are two things you can trust in- They are a rock solid company and nothing will get between them and maintaining their quality standards.

It is a shame that you can't have the gratification of using your plane right away, but it sounds like life has reared it's ugly head.

As a sole proprietor for 40 years in my own tiny world, I like to say, if you don't have a couple of unhappy customers left in your wake, you were not really in business. Such is life.

Lee Valley will in the end make you happy.

I'm waiting until May for delivery of my 2" PM V11 Butt chisel just ordered under the recent free shipping offer. Not to mention a mini router plane! because I told them to just hold the order until the chisel was ready.