What do you know about In-line Industries?

[Richard Hart]

Matter of concern-placed an order for machined pulleys last week. Got the order# on the site. But no tracking, no way on the site to check order status. I sent a message through the site with a polite question about a timeline. No response. So I called. There are two numbers listed in the contact information on the bottom of the main page. No answer, no voice mail, nothing. The other #is either disconnected or it is a fast busy.
If it's a small or one man operation I can understand but at least fix it so I can communicate.
Do any of you have enlightenment on this?

edit: uh-oh. https://www.bbb.org/us/ma/webster/profile/woodworking-equipment/in-line-industries-0261-290111/complaints

Thanks,

Rich

[Stewart Lang]

Whenever you need to find honest reviews about a company, Google them as "company name" and then the word "forum". It'll search public forums for that name.

Googling "In-line industries forum" brings up plenty of reviews. Most not good.

https://sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?78764-Anybody-else-have-trouble-dealing-with-In-line-industries

https://www.woodworkingtalk.com/threads/inline-industries-delivery-time.55226/

https://www.finewoodworking.com/forum/in-line-industries-and-or-jerry-cole

[Richard Hart]

Whenever you need to find honest reviews about a company, Google them as "company name" and then the word "forum". It'll search public forums for that name.

Googling "In-line industries forum" brings up plenty of reviews. Most not good.

https://sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?78764-Anybody-else-have-trouble-dealing-with-In-line-industries

https://www.woodworkingtalk.com/threads/inline-industries-delivery-time.55226/

https://www.finewoodworking.com/forum/in-line-industries-and-or-jerry-cole

Thanks for the tip... looks like I'm gonna get what I can get from Amazon. That's what I get for my lack of detective work. 🙄

[Rick Potter]

Dealt with them several times.

1: Jerry Cole is the inventor of the Dubby Jig, Pals, and several other items. He is a hard working regular guy, but is lousy at running a small mom & pop business.

2: His products are first rate, and worth waiting for. The Dubby sled was rated best by several magazines.

3: You can probably get them through Peachtree or Woodcraft with less hassle. He used to sell mainly at shows, and his booth was always well attended, but shows are few and far between these days.


PS: Check his youtube videos. He has a whole series on rebuilding a saw like yours.

[John Jardin]

We should be thankful for posts by members like Rick, Derek, John J and so many others. They cut to the chase and patiently respond to mostly newbie questions.
Ricks response to in line industries is exactly right and should put an end to any attempted negative remark against one of the finest additions and companies to our craft.
Twenty five years ago, I bought the Dubby sled at the WW show in Springfield MA. At the same show, I bought the Micro Fence attatchment for my router. These 2 items have guided me towards my goal of building fine furniture.
The Dubby sled is a must for beginners to appreciate the goal of accuracy.The Micro Fence is also a must as an accurate guide for your router.
These 2 tools are among the many which are available to bring accuracy to our craft.

[Bruce Wrenn]

Bought a Dubby many years ago. One of the best purchases ever, IMHO. Ordered turned pulleys from Jerry, also many years ago. Again a great purchase and purchase experience. Did you know that cast iron pulleys are also turned. A run of the mill Browning works just as good as "turned pulleys."

[Cary Falk]

I am going to have to disagree with some of the comments in this thread. A person that is hard working but can't run a business should not be hailed as one of the finest companies in our craft. I will also have to disagree that some of the products are a must have. I don't own any of the mentioned. They are probably great. There are other products that can accomplish the same thing by other companies with better customer service. I owned some PALS about 15 years ago and they were great. I didn't experience any problems with the order that I recall. If I was having the same issue as the OP I would probably not do business with them again. It looks like there are enough problems with communication for a person to take pause and ask questions without being accused of "attempted negative remarks". I know that the current environment has caused everybody issues but it looks like the problems go back farther than 2 years.

[David Buchhauser]

I am going to have to disagree with some of the comments in this thread. A person that is hard working but can't run a business should not be hailed as one of the finest companies in our craft. I will also have to disagree that some of the products are a must have. I don't own any of the mentioned. They are probably great. There are other products that can accomplish the same thing by other companies with better customer service. I owned some PALS about 15 years ago and they were great. I didn't experience any problems with the order that I recall. If I was having the same issue as the OP I would probably not do business with them again. It looks like there are enough problems with communication for a person to take pause and ask questions without being accused of "attempted negative remarks". I know that the current environment has caused everybody issues but it looks like the problems go back farther than 2 years.

I have no personal experience with In-Line Industries, but I think the BBB link gives some sort of indication that this has been an ongoing problem for his customers. My advise to Rich would be to call your credit card company and have them refund your payment (if it has already been processed) or block the payment if it is pending. I have unfortunately had to do this on several occasions in the past and my credit card company (Chase) has always backed me up.

There are most likely other sources for machined pulleys (stock or custom).

David

[Bruce Wrenn]

I have no personal experience with In-Line Industries, but I think the BBB link gives some sort of indication that this has been an ongoing problem for his customers. My advise to Rich would be to call your credit card company and have them refund your payment (if it has already been processed) or block the payment if it is pending. I have unfortunately had to do this on several occasions in the past and my credit card company (Chase) has always backed me up.

There are most likely other sources for machined pulleys (stock or custom).

David


Did you read down far enough to find out that Jerry was hospitalized with pancreatitius for a spell. That will know the wind out of anybody's sails. Most the product (Dubby's) that Peachtree sells are made over seas now.

[David Buchhauser]

Did you read down far enough to find out that Jerry was hospitalized with pancreatitius for a spell. That will know the wind out of anybody's sails. Most the product (Dubby's) that Peachtree sells are made over seas now.


Yes - I did read all the complaints, including the one from 2019 you are referring to. None the less, that was 2 years ago and only one of quite a few complaints to the BBB. I can only imagine that there were many more complaints/problems that were never reported to the BBB. I'm sure he is a nice guy, but all those complaints should have been a wake up call to get his act together. I know if I ran my business that way, I would probably very soon have no customers for my products.
David

https://desert-hybrids.com/id63.html

[Jim Becker]

A business can have a great product and unfortunately have less-than-stellar customer service. The former is great, but there can be no good excuse for the latter, other than very temporarily, such as for the medical situation that was mentioned. Communication between a business and customer these days is incredibly easy, as is setting up a quality online store operation that provides for the same. A business owner just has to schedule daily time to attend to communications when they are a one person shop. I have no skin in the game for this particular situation for sure, but it's sad to me that things appear to be the way they are.

[Tom M King]

Sounds a lot like what happened to Stu, at Tools from Japan. A sad situation. My advice would be to cancel the payment, and get what you want from somewhere else.

I'm still waiting on a couple of platform ladders that I ordered from a Black Friday sale from Lowes. Just last month, they canceled that order, and replaced it with current model numbers for the same price. Still waiting, but I'm not worked up over it.