NEWSFLASH ……. Woodworking supplier preforms outstanding job.

With all the bad news going around lately regarding various woodworking supplier store I thought I might share a good experience …….

At the Melbourne WWS I bought a new bandsaw from Hare and Forbes Melbourne outlet …. Heerless Machinery. Although the information that I was given when looking at the product wasn’t overly helpful (I put this down to me not knowing what to ask/look for and that there really isn’t a lot to talk about when it comes to bandsaws) I made the purchase. Not knowing the size of the product I enquired about delivery back to Geelong …. I was told that it would be done by McPhee’s for around $50.00. Thinking that I would be able to pick it up I declined delivery.

After some correspondence with Kenmill who had his delivered last week I thought as it was around 2m long and 150kg I might get it delivered after all. I called H&F last Thursday and asked if I could get it delivered. They said that was fine and I would have to arrange a company …. not wanting to do all the running around I asked if they could arrange it …. yep no problems … I said that I was told it would be around $50.00 for delivery and gave my credit card details. I was told that I wouldn’t be able to get it the same day but Friday should be fine …. sorry nobody would be home how about next Tuesday …. no problem all sorted. As I hung up the phone I started to worry …. stupidly I had given my credit card number and not really confirmed a firm price … what if McPhee’s looked at the size and the weight and wanted to charge $100???? Oh well just wait and see.

To my surprise I came home on Monday night to find a card from McPhee’s saying that they had missed me …. well I did arrange for Tuesday!!!. I called McPhee’s on Tuesday morning ready to have a heavy word as it wasn’t meant to be there until Tuesday …. they were very understanding and didn't even allow me to get heavy… I didn’t even need to quote the number on the card as the item had been dubbed the large heavy thing. McPhee’s dropped it off with great care on Tuesday afternoon.

Upon arrival home last night I found that H&F had mailed out a receipt for the $50.00 delivery without being asked.

So there you go a long winded story that really doesn’t help you much but it is good to see a transaction that went better than I had predicted. I will be sure to pay a visit to H&F for the dust extractor.

A happy Stinky.

Nice one.........It has been my expierience in my life before retirement that we always give more space to bad news stories than we do for good ones.

In business you get complaints and bitches by the ton, you get very few letters praising the service or the staff.

I am sure there are more good stories than bad stories out there but we just don't see them as worth repeating.



Macca

I would agree .....

from reading this board it is very popular to jump on the back of some suppliers ..... under the guise of warning off other woodies from similar experiences ..... but we get to a stage where everybody is bagged and their isn't anybody left to go to.

How about a list of the good places to go and get good prices and service rather than always listing the ones to avoid.

HEAR bloody HEAR Sir S :D :D :D :D :D :D

Brian @ Burra and a beautiful day:p

I also agree.

During the last four months I bought from Herless Machinery a 12" disk sander and a jointer. Their service over the phone and in person was very good on both occasions.
Unfortunately they don't stock the range of products like Carbatec but I now check with them first for any tool I want to get.


Peter.

Good idea, Stinky.

Most people would know this already, but I find Mik International here in Adelaide are excellent to deal with. I've bought a number of tools from them and they have always been quick in advising me on tool purchases.

I've also had good experiences in buying discount quality tools from both Glenfords and EPTS/Flintware/Gasweld here in Adelaide. Even though I've come off as a novice the guys there have always been patient in advising me.

Given that the USD seems to be heading south for the winter, can anyone offer any stories about good experiences with purchasing from US suppliers. I've purchased a couple of small tools from Lee Valley (which arrived on time and in perfect order), and I've heard other good reports about them. Are there any other OS suppliers anyone has had good experiences with???

BTW, I've seen a few customers behave like total bearded clams in hardware stores. One time at my local Bunnies I watched a guy, who was apparently a carpenter and was accompanied by his wife and young daughter, ask for "trade price" on a Ryobi CMS. The price was less than $300, so any discount would have been tiny, but this guy was determined to ridicule three levels of staff until he got his way. All of the staff politely explained the store's policy on why they didn't sell that item at trade. He didn't get what he wanted and stormed out swearing so much it would make a sailor blush. After he left, I quietly congratulated the staff on how they handled the situation. The customer ISN'T always right and some of them should be told to f**k off and never come back!

Haymes Paints - top products and people (Prospect) plus Leda Machinery - Graham Juttner really knows his stuff.

Brian @ Burra;)

I too had a very good experience with Herless Machinery at the WWW show.

Both my brother and I purchased a 2 HP dust extractor and hose kit each. Knowing we had a few things in storage tent out the back and Dad to take home, we decided we would take one of the extractors and both hose kits and I would pickup mine on the Monday morning. I hoped they were correct in saying that there was still some more back at the shop.

They told us to come back to the stand and someone would meet us out the back with our goods when we were leaving. Even with a Commodore, the packaging on the extractor was too big to fit. We asked the guy if he had a cutter, he did, and he opened up the boxes so we could pack the bits into the car. To my amazement he also took all the empty boxes and foam to a nearby bin for us.

Monday, I rock up and get served by the same buy who served us on the stand (Cameron). He remembered me and also sold me a few bits I needed at the show price. We organized everything and I waited out at the car (with trailer this time). A forklift arrives, they open the tailgate and place the box in the trailer. All I had to do was tie it down.

It looks like my experience wasn't a once off and I look forward to dealing with them in future (after I save more money).

Stephen

Well i also ordered a few thing from the woodworking show on Sunday.

First of all was the Leigh D4 jig from Mik and the service was unbelievable, the jig was sent out on the monday and arrived on the Thursday, i did e-mail them to also tell them how pleased i was with their service..
Also in my excitement on the day i gave the wrong router model number so was given the wrong guidebush (totaly my fault) but i phoned them to tell them my mistake and i was told to send it back and they wil ship me out the correct one..again this was done with very fast service indeed.
Will definately be orfering things from them again.


Next item was a JET 10" saw table, i shall not mention the name of the store, but will say it was promised to me on the monday after the show, (this shop is in Melbourne), Monday came around and nothing so i phoned them and they told me they didn't have the blade, which apperently had to come from Sydney and it was a public holiday in Sydney on that day, so again it was promised to me by Wednesday.
Nothing on Wednesday not even a phonecall, so i called again on Thursday to see what was going on, he then promised it to me on Friday, and again NOTHING.

Monday morning i rang again, by this stage i was furious, he told me tuesday, again nothing....now i am fuming, ring him wednesday morning and i was given no explination as to why it hadn't arrived.
Now he tells me it was going to be the first shipment out today leaving their place at 9:30am...so i left work at 10am to come home and wait....NOTHING!!!!!! and here i am still waiting...
So now i will be ringing them up in the next 10 minutes and cancelling my order.

Item number 3: was from carba-tec i ordered a 2 hp dust extractor they told me it would be by the end of this week, so will report back on this.

I always give credit were credit is due but also don't like to be stuffed around.

Sorry for the long post

Andrew

You asked about overseas suppliers. I recently bought a couple of bits and pieces from Woodworker's Supply Inc in the US (www.woodworker.com). I found them helpful and quite quick. I had a couple of specific queries so I emailed them for help. They got back to me immediately and gave me good, detailed information. My order arrived within 3 weeks of me placing it.

No complaints!:)

Col

I bought my bandsaw from Herless too, and whilst it was a simple, straightforward transaction, they nevertheless gave me a degree of confidence with the way they dealt with it. Arrived exactly when they said it would, and I am very happy with the unit. MIK are excellent, and generally speaking, I have had no issues with Timbercon either.

Stinky,

Don't forget to let us know what you think of the bandsaw.

and the young fella has just applied the sealer:D

Seriously;)

Brian @ Burra

For my 2 cents.... :)

It's easy to fall into a major winge about someone we've had a bad experience with, but we all find it hard at times to find one thing or another - good suppliers are worth looking after and telling others about. So...

Ordered a package & a couple of extras from Gifkins a couple of weeks ago. VERY quick & helpful service, it got sent the same day and I got it a couple of days later. Couldn't ask for better.

UBeaut - ordered a couple of times online and Neil was of course very helpful. First order got lost and was replaced very quickly. Second order was delivered fine.

Carbatec Sydney - while the place could be laid out better (more stuff on display instead of stored upstairs) and Saturday mornings there never seems to be enough staff on, I've never come away unhappy.

Carbatec Canberra - been there a couple of times. Pretty well laid out, always helpful.

Trend Timbers - they could do with better layout etc but no real complaints. Nice stuff & a good range.

Specialty Wood Centre at Toronto - always helpful, always lots of interesting timber & veneers, decent prices, can't ask for much more.

Tool Specialists at Newcastle - a little more woodies stuff would be good, and you sometimes need to be a little careful with the quality of some of their stuff, but I've never come away unhappy.

Veneer Inlay Australia - nice range, placed my first order today as I've started making boxes lately. No confirmation email or anything, which would have been good, but we'll see how it goes.

Anyone have any other good suppliers up their sleeve??

This is about an often bad mouthed company in these Forums - Carba-Tec in Melbourne.
I made a couple of purchases there recently but was unable to get the saw blade i was after as all there available stock was at the Wood show. The lady took my details and said she would give me a call when all the remaining stock had arrived back in the store. Sure enough I received a phone call on the Thursday morning to my mobile which I missed. I didn't notice it until friday morning. I rang and was told the Blade was there for me. As I live in Tullamarine I decided to have it posted out. Asked about courier cost and as it was only a couple of dollars more I chose that. 3pm that afternoon I had the blade in my Hot little hand.
Would have cost me at least that much what with city link tolls and petrol, enabled me to keep playing with my toys while someone else hassled with the traffic.
Well done Carba-Tec.

Perhaps we should start a Suppliers "Hall of fame"?

Being in sales myself (not woodwork related) I always reckon the best indication of a company's service is how they handle a stuff up. We all make them.
I've had two recent cases.
Carbatec Sydney "forgot" my order. Not a big one, but something I needed, and I am a regular customer. After ringing them the goods arrived the following day, no charge no freight, and with a written appology.

2nd case. I must have recieved the only lemon ever to come out of OZZIE JIGS. When I rang Des he was most appologetic and sent a new jig with extra goodies to cover my return postage.

So by my standards here are two reliable companies that I thoroughly recomend.
Regards
Termite

Often one hears that Bunnings have inexperienced staff and only care about moving stock but the service I got from their Nunawading store was excellent.

Recently the laser light on my 4 month old GMC SCMS stopped working and replacing batteries did not help. Yesterday I spoke to David in their tool department and he suggested I return the saw and change it over.

When I returned with the saw the ones on display had been sold, however David checked and found that the backstore had more in stock. He arranged for them to be brought in overnight and this morning put one aside for me and rang me early in the morning to let me know. So this morning I changed it over.

The service was excellent and more than normally is expected from a large store especially as I had lost the original receipt.

Regards,

Peter.

I have just asked for a quote from Gary Pye Woodturning http://shop.store.yahoo.com/gpwoodturning/index.html[/URL]
for a SBW 4300 Bandsaw. He replied the very next day and with the cheapest quote so far and with some interesting info on the bandsaw. Has anyone else had a positive experience from GPW?

regards Blindbambi:)

GPW ..... Yep good experiences. I ordered a 10" Contour Gauge which really was half price ... I paid the same for the 5" at one of the larger stores. The predrilled acrylic pen blanks are also good value ... although I prefered the older colour scheme. The pen parts are also of a high standard.

that'll be a popular forum!! NOT! perhaps it should be called hall of infamy!

seriously a mate a work who is of chinese extraction and has a very tough accent praised MIK to me today he was most impressed by them - so I suppose we all have good stories. a bit like the time I went to Kings cross and found a gun, a pound of Coke and a bag of money...:D

Carbatec, never had any problems, sense of humour and negotiable.
Bunnings, bit vague at times, told me the 6" discs for my Festool sander were no longer made (different 'oles' to most 6" discs).
Scroll Saw blades, www.mikesworkshop.com , cheapest source of blades I have found and on my door in 5 days, not bad from good ole US of A.
Carrolls Woodcrafts, always helpful with the bits I have needed (do I get a discount now Jim?)
Ubeaut products, always insults me! maybe he loves me after all:D products aren't bad either.
GPW, always helpful and prompt with deliveries (even sending stock when I gave the wrong number on my card and got it later)
Benatree, good service and range of gear and patient service with all the misfortunes he's been through this year.

I am with Doorstop - MIK Adelaide.

I purchase from them at the Melbourne Timber and Working with Wood Shows and I purchase over the phone (goods sent in the mail).

Their service is fast, and their advice is spot on and genuine.

At the Woodwork Shows, they have demonstrators that know what they are talking about and the demonstrations are typical of applications in workshops. For example hand planing hard interlocked grained timbers.


- Wood Borer

I bought a Carbatec MC900 about 2 1/2 years ago from Carbatec WA in Perth. While I was in the shop the other day I mentioned to Geoff that the motor seems sluggish in starting up, even when the spindle speed is set to lowest position. He handed me a capacitor to try and gave me a run down on the fitting of it. I thanked him, left the shop and installed it when I got home. Needless to say the motor starts like a dream, on any speed setting on the reese system.
I went back into the shop today, saw Geoff, thanked him for the help and enquired how much I owe him for the capacitor. His reply:"It's a pleasure, you don't owe me anything!!!"

In my book I rate Carbatec WA, in Perth, tops. That kind of service on a motor I've had for over 30 months.........sure takes some beating.

Thanks Geoff, one good turn deserves another!

As the one who started the bitch about Timbecon, I would really like to praise GPW.

This was my first order from them and I ordered over the internet yesterday morning (Thursday 4/12/03). To my amazement the goods turned up at 9am this morning (Friday 5/12/03). Not bad from Queensland to Sydney.

The goods were packaged properly and everyhting was there including instructions (pen mechanisms etc). Even a thank you for the order.

Now that is what I call customer service and they will now have a customer for life. Couldn't be happier (and I will let them know this).

Cheers

Bob