Rockler vs. Lee Valley

[Gary Keedwell]

This goes with the poll we had recently on our favorite store to order things. I placed two orders on the fourth of July. One order from Lee Valley and the other from Rockler. Both about the same($100). Well, that was a Holiday but I received my L.V. order on 7th (friday mornin) Tomorrow will be a week and I still haven't received my Rockler delivery.:mad: Didn't start out as a contest, but I am sure curious as to when it will come. Gee, I really like Lee Valley, and they have a tracking system to show you daily where your package really is.

[Don Baer]

Thats why I don't shop internet.. I need instant gratification..or maybe I'm just impatient.

[Scott Steeves]

Not that Rockler is bad, but every Lee Valley order is a pleasure in every way. I love the way they pack things, even the tiny little doo-dads that manage to get in every order.

OK, I don't really like the pop-up that asks for quantity... Minor gripe.

[Aaron Beaver]

I like them both. Have had good sucess with both of them and their customer service. Rockler should of sent you an email that was a shipping confirmation and it should have the tracking number in it, usually UPS.

[Brad Townsend]

I like them both. Have had good sucess with both of them and their customer service. Rockler should of sent you an email that was a shipping confirmation and it should have the tracking number in it, usually UPS. Most of the deliveries from Rockler to my house have come via Spee Dee Delivery and have no tracking available. Often I receive the shipment prior to getting the notice of shipment email from Rockler. It's not that the shipping is super fast - it's about average. For some reason, the shipping confirmation goes out very late.:confused:

[Lee DeRaud]

Not that Rockler is bad, but every Lee Valley order is a pleasure in every way. I love the way they pack things, even the tiny little doo-dads that manage to get in every order.You say that like it's a good thing. I recently ordered a bunch of these shelf brackets:
(http://www.leevalley.com/hardware/page.aspx?c=2&cat=3,43648,43651,48735&p=48735).
They're great shelf brackets, but the packaging was, um, excessive.

Ok, they come in pairs and each pair is in a baggie. Each bracket of the pair is in its own baggie. The hardware for each bracket is its own baggie (inside the bracket baggie inside the pair baggie), consisting of a plate that screws to the wall, plus two screws and drywall inserts...which of course are inside their own baggie. For those of you playing at home, that's a total of seven plastic bags for each shelf's worth of brackets.

I had ten shelves to put up...by the time I was done, I could have started my own landfill. :eek:

[Michael Cody]

This goes with the poll we had recently on our favorite store to order things. I placed two orders on the fourth of July. One order from Lee Valley and the other from Rockler. Both about the same($100). Well, that was a Holiday but I received my L.V. order on 7th (friday mornin) Tomorrow will be a week and I still haven't received my Rockler delivery.:mad: Didn't start out as a contest, but I am sure curious as to when it will come. Gee, I really like Lee Valley, and they have a tracking system to show you daily where your package really is.


I too prefer Lee Valley -- shipping is fast, but I also buy from Rockler, realize that Lee Valley probably was not shut down on July 4th (it's not a holiday in Canada) .. Rockler might have had a backlog from the holiday weekend or stock shortage (though they should let you know that)..

I think Rockler is slower also, but I've had good service from them so I wouldn't write them off.

[Vaughn McMillan]

...Ok, they come in pairs and each pair is in a baggie. Each bracket of the pair is in its own baggie. The hardware for each bracket is its own baggie (inside the bracket baggie inside the pair baggie), consisting of a plate that screws to the wall, plus two screws and drywall inserts...which of course are inside their own baggie. For those of you playing at home, that's a total of seven plastic bags for each shelf's worth of brackets.

I had ten shelves to put up...by the time I was done, I could have started my own landfill. :eek:
Reminiscent of the pen kits I've seen. Every individual piece seems to have its own bag. I haven't seen so many little zip-lock baggies since my rock and roll band days. :cool:

- Vaughn

[Lee DeRaud]

For those of you playing at home, that's a total of seven plastic bags for each shelf's worth of brackets.Reminiscent of the pen kits I've seen. Every individual piece seems to have its own bag. I haven't seen so many little zip-lock baggies since my rock and roll band days. :cool:Zip-lock...oh, don't I wish they were zip-lock. At least then I could reuse them for small parts or something.

[Gary Keedwell]

Mike,

Your right. I forgot that it is not a holiday in Canada. I'll subtract one day from their total!!

Gary K.

[Frank Pellow]

Mike,

Your right. I forgot that it is not a holiday in Canada. I'll subtract one day from their total!!

Gary K.
But, for USA orders, Lee Valley ships from New York. And, I expect that they were closed there.

[Scott Loven]

Where are you located? New York vs Minnesota for shipping could account for the delay.
Scott

[tod evans]

Reminiscent of the pen kits I've seen. Every individual piece seems to have its own bag. I haven't seen so many little zip-lock baggies since my rock and roll band days. :cool:

- Vaughn


whatcho mean vaughn?:rolleyes:

[Dave Anderson NH]

For general information, Lee Valley does NOT ship US orders from Ogdensburg NY. I discussed this with Rob Lee once when I thought this was the case myself. The US sales and 800 number go to Ogdensburg, but shipping is done from the main warehouse in Ottawa.

[Frank Pellow]

For general information, Lee Valley does NOT ship US orders from Ogdensburg NY. I discussed this with Rob Lee once when I thought this was the case myself. The US sales and 800 number go to Ogdensburg, but shipping is done from the main warehouse in Ottawa.
OK Dave, I stand corrected. :o

[Keith Hooks]

I've never bought from Rockler, but I love Lee Valley. In fact, I have an order on the way to my house as I type this. Their website is clean and easy to navigate, their shipping is fast, and they have a good selection of quality products to choose from. They're a breath of fresh air.

Of course, I am in no way affiliated with them.

[Lee DeRaud]

For general information, Lee Valley does NOT ship US orders from Ogdensburg NY. I discussed this with Rob Lee once when I thought this was the case myself. The US sales and 800 number go to Ogdensburg, but shipping is done from the main warehouse in Ottawa.Wonder if it's different for tools vs hardware: the Fedex label on my last box of stuff shows Ogdensburg as the 'shipped from' address.

[Mark Rios]

I've never bought from Rockler, but I love Lee Valley. In fact, I have an order on the way to my house as I type this. Their website is clean and easy to navigate, their shipping is fast, and they have a good selection of quality products to choose from. They're a breath of fresh air.

Of course, I am in no way affiliated with them.



That's one thing them damn Canadians have....fresh air.



:D :D :D



(Just teasin' Canadians. Please don't throw a moose at me or something).

[Chip Olson]

Interesting; I've always found Rockler to be much, much faster.

...though that might have something to do with their store being a 20-minute walk from my house. :-)

[Mike Hill]

I have gotten away from ordering from Rockler. I purchased their router table and a set of wooden legs when I first got into woodworking. When it all arrived, the router table is OK, but you get what you pay for :) The leg set was warped and almost impossible to bang together. When I called Rockler, the individual I talked to did not seem interested in either making an adjustment or sending me another set of legs. So I have gravitated to Wood Craft, Lee Valley and buy a lot of tools off of Amazon.com

Mike

[Lee DeRaud]

Interesting; I've always found Rockler to be much, much faster.

...though that might have something to do with their store being a 20-minute walk from my house. :-)There is that. I've very rarely run into anything I wanted in the catalog or website that the local store didn't have in stock...and why pay shipping when it's a ten-minute drive away?

[Kevin Blunt]

Hey Mark!

What do you mean by "those damn Canadians". :D

And believe me, when it's the middle of July and it's thirty five in Toronto, the air certainly ain't that fresh.

All I am looking for is a little credit here! Didn't we bring all of us woodworkers the wonderful LEE VALLEY. That is worth some kudos isn't it? And one more thing that I'd like to add that I just discovered recently. THere are four or five items that I would like to buy from LV and found out that if I live in America I could buy the exact same products and it would save me $80cdn because I have an american address and the exchange rate is so good right now that LV over estimated on their American prices when they set them:( . Or so they say when I called them:rolleyes: .

All I can say is " those damn Americans" for getting our "made in Canada" Veritas products for cheaper than we ourselves do. GRRRRRRRR!!

Now, now, don't go gettin' all bent out of shape here. I am just havin' a bit of fun and besides, I know that you americans gave us Lie-Nielson and I love you for it!:p :p :) :)

Cheers guys,

Kevin

[Kevin Blunt]

oh! I didn't see the brackets about the moose Mark.

Rather than me throw him at you, maybe I will get him to just stand in the middle of the road and block traffic without a care in the world, while he chews on lord knows what, and annoys the hell out of you! He likes to do it to us "damn Canadians" so I am sure he would love to get an American the odd time.:D :D :D

Cheers & Beers

[Mark Rios]

Hey Kevin.....at least you damn canadian and this damn american can agree on one thing. There ain't no fresh air around a moose.


:D :D :D

[Chip Charnley]

Reminiscent of the pen kits I've seen. Every individual piece seems to have its own bag. I haven't seen so many little zip-lock baggies since my rock and roll band days. :cool:

- Vaughn

And they probably had agricultural products in them not metal and wood!:rolleyes: :eek: :D

[Gary Keedwell]

http://smileys.smileycentral.com/cat/15/15_8_212.gif (http://www.smileycentral.com/?partner=ZSzeb001_ZNxmk311BBUS) Well, I finally got my box from Rockler. As I'm sitting here typing, I have my new apron on. Been looking at that apron for months. Like the fact that it doesn't put pressure on my neck. ( LOML has that job) lol. I live in Massachusetts ( TAX achusetts) so 6 1/2 days isn't so bad I guess. Still, if I need it ASAP~ good old Lee Valley will get the call from me!!!

Gary K.







http://www.smileycentral.com/sig.jsp?pc=ZSzeb068&pp=ZNxmk311BBUS (http://www.smileycentral.com/?partner=ZSzeb068_ZNxmk311BBUS)

[Kyle Stiefel]

I could not be more impressed then I am with Lee Valley. I had to ship a plane back for some reasons which had nothing to do with the product. They called me very concerned that something was wrong with the product, not at all I told them. They then REFUNDED the plane price and SHIPPING TO and FROM. This was my first experience with a company go completey above and beyond.

I am sold on their Veritas brand as well as unbelievable customer service. I congratulate you my friends to the east (live in Alaska) for a job well done.