Agreed. How many people do you think go to Resellerratings to leave a positive review?Originally Posted by Mike Henderson
Member
Agreed. How many people do you think go to Resellerratings to leave a positive review?
Member
Hard to believe it's even 50%!
Moderator
I ordered some store-branded dynamite and birdseed to end some bird troubles I have been having.
Everything arrived fine, but the dynamite blew up in my face. Customer service said it was my fault but I believe the dynamite was defective.
Despite this, Sisyphus that I am, I am doomed to continue to purchase from them.
W. E. Coyote,
Death Valley
Member
Thanks. Amazon (along with ACME) added to my "Avoid At All Costs" list, at least for woodworking tools. For the record, never get one single tool from Amazon. Woodworking is my hobby, no reason to add pain to myself by dealing with unreliable vendors. "Customer service first, price second" has always been my shopping motto, serving me well for the past two decades plus.
Simon
Last edited by Simon MacGowen; 12-15-2018 at 4:35 PM.
Member
I have had good experience. Just received some Milwaukee rolling tool cart with broken wheel. They sent the $50 repair kit after a short phone conversation.
Contributor
Acme Tools is legit, but my dog hasn't had very good luck with them...
My dog.jpg
Contributor
I've purchased from Acme in the past with no problems.
Simon, I buy from Amazon ALL THE TIME, and have ordered several smaller power tools from them. I've been a prime member for almost as long as that's been a thing. No problems at all, even with returns and defective products.
I also buy from ToolNut and am currently having a problem an order: I ordered some things that said "in stock" almost two months ago but still haven't been delivered. I'm positive it's a manufacturer problem (checked the manufacturer's web site) - not a ToolNut problem. Sometimes stores can't predict manufacturer issues. They could have done a better job keeping their web site up-to-date and communicating, but I've had enough good interactions that I'm not sweating it.
I would follow Wade's advice and try again to contact them. If that doesn't resolve things satisfactorily, cancel the order.
Contributor
I posted my experience with ACME above so this is about Amazon and woodworking tools as this thread appears to be heading that way.
I ordered a ShopFox W1812 from Amazon, $1599+tax, to make Plantation Shutters. Got a call about delivery the day before delivery. Got an automated call day of delivery. Item never arrived. Next day, no delivery. Called Amazon, they have a special office in CA that handles large freight items, they ordered another one, gave me a $100 credit, for the inconvenience without any prompting from me.
Second unit arrived at 8:45pm on a rainy Friday night. Driver said the box looked damaged, so we took it off the lift gate and wheeled it into the garage. We could see it had been dropped of knocked over and took the outer cardboard box off. looked like the polystyrene packing had done its job so I took delivery.
I had another project going on so I didn't touch the W1812 for nearly two months. When I finally going it out of the box and assembled, I noticed the cutter shaft pulley was broken and the cutter shaft was pushed in a little in the bearings and would not turn completely.
I called Amazon and they again apologized, organized a free pickup and instantly credited the payment. Next day a truck arrived and took the assembled machine away. Unfortunately, Amazon did not see one available, so I bought one from another vendor.
We use Amazon for the majority of our shopping and have never had an issue with a single purchase that was not resolved with a single call or online.
On a side note: a few months ago, Amazon had a warehouse sale, in my home town, of all the items returned. We got a list of these some 40K items. In the list were 3 SawStop tablesaws and two Shopfox W1812 planer/moulders (probably the ones I ordered). I went along about a week after the sale opened to the public but was not able to find these items. The sale price started at 40% off and was reduced 10% each subsequent week.
Last edited by ChrisA Edwards; 12-15-2018 at 6:01 PM.
Member
Nothing against Amazon or suggesting people to avoid it. My comfort level in shopping is just different, as the story shared by ChrisA in another post is exactly what I will try to avoid. I am willing to pay a little more in exchange for a hassle-free purchase experience when things go well AND when things go under the water. The latter is very important to me. I know a few friends who got into some serious after-sales issues with furniture or laundry machine vendors after chasing some "great" deals. They admitted after the fact that they were penny-wise. One moved into a new house with no master bedroom furniture for over 4 months while trying to sort out the mess.
ALL my premium woodworking machines and tools were bought through reputable vendors with track records that I am happy with. 50% negative reviews? Thank you very much; I won't take my chances, or risk of becoming a statistic of one of the 50%.
Simon
Contributor
Ironically, a lot of Amazon's early growth in the 90s was through acquisitions, and they developed their tool and hardware presence by buying a mail order/early e-commerce outfit called Tool Crib of the North. Anyone remember them?
Second or third generation old fashioned family run operation out of (I think) North Dakota. It was decent sized acquisition for Amazon at the time, $600MM if memory serves me (this would be less than a rounding error for Amazon today).
So they folded into Amazon and exactly 10 years later, the family that sold it re-emerged as Acme Tools, probably the day after their non-compete agreement ran out. I bought my blue Jet table saw from them when they were Tool Crib, and I have bought several tools from them as Acme, and I have also bought plenty of woodworking stuff from Amazon and I have not one bad report about any of these transactions. I hope the OP will keep trying to sort out the CS issue.
It's a buyer's prerogative to blacklist any vendor, but I think Amazon will survive the loss of Simon.
Member
And I will survive the loss of any good deals that any vendor that is on my blacklist may offer.
It is also my prerogative (because it is MY money) to continue to support those reputable vendors that offer great customer service, even though, they, too, will survive the loss of my business if I do it somewhere else.
Simply stated, no business is big enough -- not yet -- to influence where I will spend my money.
Simon
Last edited by Simon MacGowen; 12-15-2018 at 7:05 PM.
Member
If the vendor listed the tool as 'in stock' on the website and then refused to be apologetic and bend over backwards when a customer waiting for his paid order called to ask about it, than that vendor is not one I would ever do business with again.
Would you treat your customers that way? Advertise to the world that you have an item in stock and then leave your paying customer in suspense when he calls asking about it? You've got to do better than 'I don't know when they'll be in stock' at that point!
Customer service has long been trending downward despite the convenience of online shopping. Unless folks start showing the vendors that they value it (with where they choose to spend their money) it can still get worse.
I'm another one who has had an Amazon horror story, so I guess they can survive the loss of me as well...and all the others I've seen with similar experiences. I'll pay more and wait longer to avoid going through it again just like Simon.
Dojo Kun, 1: Be humble and polite.
Contributor
+1. Good catch Mike.
"All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing."
“If you want to know what a man's like, take a good look at how he treats his inferiors, not his equals.”
Contributor
Valid point Simon. I should have worded it that you and Amazon will each survive the loss of each other. And yes, agreed, it is your absolute prerogative to hold whatever opinion or perception you choose, and patronize a business (or not) as you see fit. And whether others agree with you is, of course, their prerogative.And I will survive the loss of any good deals that any vendor that is on my blacklist may offer.
It is also my prerogative (because it is MY money) to continue to support those reputable vendors that offer great customer service, even though, they, too, will survive the loss of my business if I do it somewhere else.
Simply stated, no business is big enough -- not yet -- to influence where I will spend my money.
Simon
Contributor
Rob, ACME has a good rep with people I know. But, as someone else said, it's your personal Customer Service story that's all that matters. If you aren't satisfied you should call and cancel the order. No more angst or irritation. BTW, they "shouldnt have" charged your credit card if they haven't shipped, so the issue lies with ACME not your card company. And IIRC, you can put a block on a company to keep from being charged after you cancelled.
Simon: As usual, you make lots of good points. I also pay more to get the Customer Service I want. Lee Valley & Lie Neilsen being great examples, but I do the same with tradesmen, contractors and even (gasp!) car dealers. One screening criteria I use: If they are hard to contact before I ever pay them (when they are "selling"), what will they be like if I have a problem later? (I'd be invoking this one right now in the OP's situation.)
Fred
"All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing."
“If you want to know what a man's like, take a good look at how he treats his inferiors, not his equals.”
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote