Craft Supplies - a few answers
Ben Williams
allow me to take a few moments and answer some of the questions that have come
up in this thread. First - the web site. Thank you for bringing the error in
the links to my attention (although I wish it had happened differently). As has
been mentioned, when trying to bring up the Mega Jumbo Jaws on the web site
there are 2 ways to get there. If you do a key word search it takes you to the
correct link. However if you go through the "online shopping" section (which I
think most people do) the link takes you to the page for the 12" jaws for
$79.99. If you don't carefully read the text you will never know that you did
not get to the correct page. This has been corrected. The link now works.
This should solve any problems with this item in the future.
As for why we didn't fix the problem in the catalog 6 months ago when Phil had
the problem - let me explain. We send 2 catalogs per year. A fall catalog
(Sept or early Oct) and a spring catalog (April). The fall catalog is the only
catalog that we can correct typographical errors, price problems, etc. You will
notice that the first 8 pages of our spring catalog are numbered A1-A8. After
the first 8 pages, the catalog is exactly the same as our fall catalog (with the
exception of the front and back cover). When we go to press in the fall we
print enough catalogs for both mailings. Half of these are mailed out, the
other half wait until spring. We then stick 8 pages onto the front of the
catalog put a new cover on it, and send it as our Spring Catalog. Therefore, if
we find an error in November, it can't be corrected in the catalog until
September of the following year. To do the catalog any other way is far too
costly. In fact, we used to only do a Spring Flyer until we figured out that we
could do a full catalog for only a little more money if we did it this way.
Hopefully this explains why the error was not fixed in the spring catalog.
Listen, we do all that we can to avoid these problems. We have more than 10
people that proof read the catalog before it goes to print. Every year we find
plenty of mistakes though. I wish I could say that this is the only one. I
keep a "corrections copy" of the catalog in my office so that we will fix any
problems each fall.
Now for the $20 price difference. Hind sight being 20/20, it would have been a
better idea to sell the customer the jaws at the $79.99 price, rather than stir
up this hornets nest. However, our customer service representative was
following instructions on a note that I myself typed and tied to this product in
our database. We don't sell thousands of these jaws, but of the ones we have
sold this is the first time a customer has not been satisfied by the "meet you
half way" resolution. I am sure that if the call had been transferred to me I
would have sold the jaws at the $79.99 price. Contrary to some of the opinions
I have read, we are not in business to rip off our customers.
As General Manager I am disappointed whenever I hear of a situation in which the
customer leaves with a bad taste in his mouth. I (and my entire staff) do all
that I can to ensure that this doesn't happen. Unfortunately sometimes it does.
Please consider me your contact here at Craft Supplies. I can be reached at
1-800-551-8876. Although I am not always easy to get a hold of, please leave a
message and I will get back to you. Alternatively please feel free to email me.
bwil...@woodturnerscatalog.com
I check my mailbox regularly, and will respond ASAP.
Finally, those on this group that question the honesty, honor and integrity of
the ownership of Craft Supplies USA do not know the Nish family at all. While I
will admit that the posts from Darrel do not do much to further the image many
of you have of him, I'll bet he feels that his name is constantly being dragged
through the mud by this group. Eventually that would wear thin on anyone of us.
I take exception to many of the comments made by individuals on this group.
However, I am not here to start another war of words with anyone. That is not
my intent with this post. I simply wanted to introduce myself to this group,
answer a few questions, and let you know that I am always available to you
should you have any problems, questions, or just want to talk about things.
Thanks for giving me the time.
Ben Williams
General Manager
Craft Supplies USA
Sherwin Williams
Thank you for your explanation on some of the issues raised on this
newsgroup as to Crafts Supply (CS) business practices. I do believe,
however, that many or most of these issues could be avoided with some simple
quality control measures.
For years the Crafts Supply web site has had many link problems that are not
corrected, or not corrected in a timely manner. For example, today try
several of the links to Chis Stott videos and you'll receive the following:
A problem has occurred while PDG Shopping Cart was processing your request.
The previous form attempted to add an internally undefined product into the
shopping basket. Please notify the webmaster of this problem and the URL
which brought you here.
For several years I took the time to call your customer service advising
them of these bad links. However, I stopped that practice because the links
were never corrected. In frustration, now I simply order from Packard,
although CS would be closer for me. Wouldn't it be prudent for CS to check
its own links on a regular basis, and correct them immediately? Surely, its
a simple quality issue~!
Additionally, another quality issue has been back-orders; having experienced
an outstanding back-order that lasted for almost a year, I no longer will
order anything from CS if it is not in stock. I have the tendency to be a
loyal customer of a business that treats me fairly and respectfully, however
I felt betrayed by CS after repeatedly being told the product would be
shipped "in two weeks"; a 'two weeks' that lasted almost a year.
Thank you again for your response. And I hope to enjoy future improvements
in relationships with Crafts Supply and the turning community.
sw
"Ben Williams" <Ben_m...@newsguy.com> wrote in message
news:af7pk...@drn.newsguy.com...
Lyn J. Mangiameli
With the exception of three sentences (my posts should do so well), a great
response that I think most of us can appreciate, for the time you put in to it,
the straightforward information you gave us, and the overall approach to things you
displayed.
But I can't gloss over those three sentences without pointing out that very few
people or companies have engendered the same reactions as has Darrel and CS. Lots
of both large and small companies are consistently held in very high regard by
virtually all in this group: Lee Valley, Vicmark, Packard, and Oneway are some
that immediately come to mind. If one is unhappy with how one's name is treated in
this group, it might be wise to look first to oneself. I honestly don't believe
anyone wishes to percieve Darrel as a jerk, or CS to seem like anything less than
a great place to do business with. Hopefully efforts such as yours (and Dan's) will
do much to give us all reason to look again, sooner or later, to CS as a desirable
source for our woodturning supplies and equipment.
Lyn
Donald Watland
Thank you for your posting, and introduction. As has happened many times
in the past, with any number of retailers (including the Biggies: Home
Depot, Lowe's, etc.), many find it so easy to jump on the soapbox when
faulting a seller, based on the complaints of we poor buyers. Oh, woe are
we! Having read enough of these newsgroup flames, I've tried to imagine a
role reversal, whereby retailers kept a shared list of buyers who became a
royal pain-in-the-arse .... "black-listed" customers. Amongst the
retailers, there would be an unwritten policy to curtail all future sales to
any customers who appeared on this list. Agreeably not a sane business
practice, but this is just a hypothetical reality. Maybe it is no less sane
than the way things seem to be now. Food for thought. There would probably
be far fewer woodturners around, for better, or worse. Isn't the Internet
great!
On a positive note: for the Nish family's unofficial participation and
support of the annual Provo symposium over the many years, and their
kick-off Wednesday affair, thanks. There are obviously many woodturners who
do appreciate both.
In the future, feel free to jump into discussions in this newsgroup, even if
it is regarding a topic that doesn't require a defensive stance. We all
have an equal right to thrown in our own two-bits, at any time, even when it
makes no sense at all. After all, we're all normal, and we want our freedom
.... freedom ....
Banging on my own drum, rum-tum,
Don Watland
"Ben Williams" <Ben_m...@newsguy.com> wrote in message
news:af7pk...@drn.newsguy.com...
..... snip:
> My name is Ben Williams. I am the General Manager at Craft Supplies USA.
Please
> allow me to take a few moments and answer some of the questions that have
come
> up in this thread.
> ........
DJ Delorie
"Sherwin Williams" <bigg...@spamnot.org> writes:
> Wouldn't it be prudent for CS to check its own links on a regular
> basis, and correct them immediately? Surely, its a simple quality
The web server knows the link is broken. It should email the
administrator itself. There should be no reason to require a customer
to take the initiative.
Martin Rost
Ben,
Thank you for the information presented in a well thought out manner. I
hope in the future if a newsgroup member has a problem with Craft Supply
they contact you first. Hopefully they will then be able to post a positive
outcome. A positive outcome is not always where they get their way, but
sometimes just that they are treated well and receive a reasoned explanation
of the situation.
I'm not sure if I side with the original poster or not, but I think that
Darrel's reply really did not help matters. I find your post here much more
business-like. The next time Darrel sees an issue that he wants to respond
to, it might be in his best interest for him to let you reply.
Martin
P.S. I've order from CS only once, but only because I just haven't bought a
lot of items at all for the lathe. I would order from them again, but as
another poster mentioned you need to be an informed consumer.
Ben Williams <Ben_m...@newsguy.com> wrote in message
news:af7pk...@drn.newsguy.com...
lewis dodd
I am the guilty party of the origional post. It was never my intention
to start a tirade of e-mails. Your e-mail is very professional and
courteous. It is the closest I have gotten and the only one seeming
somewhat personal and responsive to me, albeit to a newsgroup and not to
me personally. I will (because of this e-mail) put CS back into my
shopping loop. I also will take you up on your offer to communicate
with you personally if need be, when ordering from Craft Supplies. Not
to further pick a bone, but this is the first professional response from
Craft Supplies that speaks of professionalism. I cared not for the
personalization and "tone" of Mr. Nish's posting without the courtesy of
personal communication beforehand. This has been berated enough. For
my part, consider a "handshake" done and a new page in our lives
beginning.
Regards
Lewis
Jim M
Thanks for the courteous and professional manner in which you addressed
the situation that had arisen on the newsgroup.
I am pleased to see that the link on the web page through the online
shopping section has been corrected. I apologize for being abrupt about the
link problem in earlier posts. I was the one who suggested we keep the group
apprised of the situation until it was resolved. I am sorry it seemed to
come to push and shove tactic to get a relatively minor link problem
resolved. I know that many of us on the newsgroup are fairly computer savvy
when it comes to networks and web pages and such, so a simple flaw like this
just seems ridiculous to have caused all this problem when a couple of
keystrokes and uploading of an amended web page would have fixed it long
ago. But at least you have now rectified the situation and I applaud your
efforts.
I can understand your printing problem now as to why the error had not
been fixed in the spring printing. Thank you for clarifying that issue. From
a standard customers perspective it seems strange and bewildering for that
to have happened in two issues of your catalog and not been caught the
second time around. However, I do agree with Jeremy Goodwin that a simple
and effective solution would be to print a corrections page in your extra
section of pages for the spring issue. It could help resolve a lot of
problems that could potentially arise like the situation with Lewis Dodd.
My other concern, like Sherwin commented about is the problem with
backordered merchandise. The last time I ordered from your company, it took
eight months for the order to be completed. It took three months to get the
initial part of the order, then in three more shipments I think as it was
did the other merchandise arrive over the next few months. CS does really
need to address this issue. I'm not sure of why you have the inventory
problem in getting shipments out on a prudent schedule or what is the cause.
I know that when I was in college and had to take a business management
class that there are formula's to be used to track sales and inventory and
project your supply vs. growth of projected sales for said items. There are
computer programs that do that now.
What incentive does one have to order with your company when in the past
the orders are often late? This turned me to going to other sources where I
don't have that problem.
I'm not sure if you would want to do this, but other companies I have
dealt with in other areas offer incentives for the buyer to purchase from
them. Something that I think would work for you and get people to come back
to CS is if you offered 10 or 15% discount on the next purchase if the
current order doesn't arrive within the first month. Or a 10% off the
current order if it arrives after a certain amount of days. That would serve
two purposes. 1. To help bring customers to order from you. 2. Help keep CS
on their toes and keep track of inventory/sales and keep enough merchandise
in stock.
Food for thought.
Thanks for posting and thanks for listening.
--Jim
"Ben Williams" <Ben_m...@newsguy.com> wrote in message
news:af7pk...@drn.newsguy.com...
Dave Mundt
Well since their site appears to be hosted on a Windows-based
system, it MIGHT not be able to do this, but, the Apache webserver
creates logs that point up any link errors it finds. Makes it a lot
easier to keep track of how the health of the website is doing.
In any case, yea, it is the responsibility of the webmaster to
create and maintain the site so that all the links are good.
Regards
Dave Mundt
Kevin_...@ci.juneau.ak.us
wrong place. The web server doesn't care were it points as long as it's
a valid link. They're still working on the "Do what I'm thinking, not
what I asked for" OS. Should be out RSN*...
...Kevin
*Real Soon Now