Anyone have problems with Northern Tool?

[jack bacon]

I purchased my Puma 6060V compressor online on December 9 and it was delivered to the store on December 13 and it was picked up last night Thursday December 19.

I was supposed to receive a $50 electronic gift card emailed to me 1-2 days after the order was processed. Inquiring on the whereabouts of the gift card said it was emailed to me December 13 but never received. Further inquiries received an email Friday morning December 20 saying the electronic gift card info would be emailed in 10 minutes yet received nothing.

Email inquiries are not being answered for over 24 hours.

My last email I sent tonight stated if I do not receive the gift card by end of day Monday December 23 would result in return of the compressor and I will take my business elsewhere.

I will be calling the Northern Tool headquarters Monday morning to complain.

Has anyone else had trouble with Northern Tool?

Best regards,

Jack

 

[ElectroLight]

I've ordered from them many times in the distant past, never had an issue. I gave up on them when HF came to town.

 

[brucer]

might check your spam mail folder.

 

[jhelrey]

I haven't nor have I ordered something that big.

PS: Loretto is about 5 mins from me.

 

[Thumper68]

I have always had good experiences with them. In fact one time they accidently shipped me 2 5hp B&S engines, when I informed them of the mistake (only charged me for the one I ordered) they told me to keep it and thanks for the business.

 

[jack bacon]

Thanks Brucer! Found it in my SPAM folder.

jhelrey, where you located? May have to have a garage tour

 

[Dick in Wisconsin]

I've done business with them in Wisconsin, never a problem. Good friend is a store manager for them, good guy. Something has slipped between the cracks somewhere.

Anything in your spam folders?

 

[jomobco]

Glad it's all good. I've always liked them. I bought a domestic 20 ton press from them. They have been good to deal with.

 

[Flivver250]

Always had great luck.

 

[stinkythings.com]

I have been buying tools from them since I was 15 years old. I ordered mini-bike parts over 25 years ago and they shipped me $1000 of additional merchandise. My parents made me call and tell them what happened. They apologized and told me to keep everything also. I have ordered so much since then, they have made all their money back and then some. Never had a problem.

 

[coljar]

I've ordered from them in the past and the store in Johnson City, TN. is really nice. Beats HF any day. Glad everything worked out for you.

 

[RedneckWelder]

Never had a problem with Northern. I appreciate a store that has a huge variety of useful stuff...

 

[Clay1969]

Aside from flimsy shelves and a 31 bit drill set that wouldn't punch a hole through warm butter they are great. I guess I should have known better than to get a 31 piece set for $19 and expect the "titanium coated" bits would even perform as good as my trusty 15 yo set of B&D bits...which they do not. All the "extra" bits included only made me more pissed when one by one they all proved no match for a piece of 18 gauge galvanized. Throw the old bit in the drill and done deal. In essence, no luck there, but they did send me the $10 gift card to match the internet offer over the holidays, so it's all good.

 

[jdieter]

I bought some shelving from them, around $500 worth. Every package was damaged and missing half the shelf clips. It took a month and a half to get everything resolved. After telling them how piss poor their customer service was I vowed to never use them again.

 

[jonathan75]

I just got my garage heater from them using the holiday discounts and sale. They have always been good to me also. The place smells great too!

 

[pepi]

Never

 

[rslaback]

You'd of lost money on that deal by the way. While you may pick up items at the Northern Tool store that were ordered online, you are responsible for return shipping to the warehouse when you return items.

 

[RRich]

I had a problem with them a few years ago when I bought my Hobart 140 welder. The current catalog showed a free cart with purchase which was confirmed when I ordered by phone. The welder arrived without cart and when I called to ask when it would arrive I was told that they no longer offered the cart and that they had right to change the offer at any time and if I didn't like it I could return the welder. I had assembled and used the welder and needed it for an ongoing project so I couldn't return it. After several phone calls to supervisors with really bad attitudes I gave up and vowed never to deal with them again.

 

[getbent4x4]

alot of their china tools are relabeled harbor freight at a higher price.

 

[Jagmandave]

I've done business with them for years, and yesterday was the first time they did something that I still don't understand!

I got a flyer in the mail that had the ProFusion heater on sale again for $99, my buddy needs heat in his garage (we missed the black Friday deal) and this is the perfect size so we headed over Sat morning - flyer in hand - to pick one up.

They had them on the shelf and as we headed to the checkout they stopped us and said they couldn't sell it to us at that price. I showed them the flyer and they said yeah, they could do it after Jan 5th, but not till then!

No where in the flyer does it say the deals aren't available till a certain date, it only has the expiration dates. I argued politely with the store manager but to no avail, so we left.

any store I've ever done business with will honor their flyers, sometimes even after the expiration date, but I've never had one refuse to sell something too early! (Unless the dates were clearly marked in the flyer of course - these aren't)

 

[ltusler]

I haven't nor have I ordered something that big.

PS: Loretto is about 5 mins from me.

I'm I Greenfield.

 

[NHBandit]

I've ordered from them in the past and the store in Johnson City, TN. is really nice. Beats HF any day. Glad everything worked out for you.

Only problem I've had, coincidentally at the JC Tennessee store, was rude employees. Twice. First time I went there specifically looking for something that was advertised in an email flyer they sent me. I asked one of the employees wandering around if they had it. Deer in the headlights look and tells me she'll send the manager over. 10 minutes later (they were not at all busy) I go ask at the register if anyone is coming to help me. She calls and another 5-10 minutes later the "manager" appears. Tells me he's got no idea what I'm talking about and asks what the stock number is. I don't have it with me. Now it's not some obscure hard to understand item. It's a gooseneck barn style light. He says without the stock number he can't help me. I ask him to look it up since I live 45 minutes from the store and if it's not a stock item I'd like to order 3 of them. Same story. Without the number he can't look it up. They don't have access to a ******* computer to check their own inventory by looking up the category & the item but I can from home ? WTF.. So I leave and buy the lights at Home Depot. Second time I need help finding an item. There's 3 employees stocking shelves all in one aisle and shooting the ****. I ask for help. "Be with you in a minute".. ok cool. 15 minutes later they are still yakking and stocking shelves. There are NO other customers in the store at this time. I walk over & tell them never mind I'll go somewhere else and leave. **** em. I'm done.

 

[Garage Dog]

I've done business with them for years, and yesterday was the first time they did something that I still don't understand!

I got a flyer in the mail that had the ProFusion heater on sale again for $99, my buddy needs heat in his garage (we missed the black Friday deal) and this is the perfect size so we headed over Sat morning - flyer in hand - to pick one up.

They had them on the shelf and as we headed to the checkout they stopped us and said they couldn't sell it to us at that price. I showed them the flyer and they said yeah, they could do it after Jan 5th, but not till then!

No where in the flyer does it say the deals aren't available till a certain date, it only has the expiration dates. I argued politely with the store manager but to no avail, so we left.

any store I've ever done business with will honor their flyers, sometimes even after the expiration date, but I've never had one refuse to sell something too early! (Unless the dates were clearly marked in the flyer of course - these aren't)

Northern did the same type of thing to me - had a creeper in a flyer that was sent to my house - show up at local store with the flyer about three days after I received it to buy the creeper and some other stuff - same deal, at the checkout register and had an employee and a manager tell me I couldn't purchase the creeper for that price for another 2 days???

I made them reverse everything they had already rung up and walked out with nothing - $200+ sale lost - idiots!

Not saying I won't go back, but what a way to alienate customers who have traveled to your store specifically because of their marketing???

 

[Jagmandave]

Exactly!

I do not understand the mentality, are they hoping to sell out of them at the regular price before the sale date? And then say that item's discontinued but you can buy this exact same item for more?

I called corporate and they were absolutely no help at all, saying that it's up to the individual store manager - they just print and send out the flyers according to what the local store wants.

I think I'm going to have one more discussion with the store manager and if he stands firm, I will probably cross them off my list.....I've bought thousands of dollars worth of stuff from them over the last 15 years or so but there are a lot of places on the great WWW to do business now, I'm not doing business with pricks.

If he says OK, maybe I'll give them another chance.

 

[JakeKohl]

It's probably some sort of end-of-month sales goal / incentive thing vs. flier timing that is backfiring on the company. Company wants to get fliers out in the mail with some time to spare so they can all be distributed before the sale is scheduled. On the other hand, the store doesn't want to discount earlier than absolutely necessary because they're trying to hit a corporate goal for the month.

I don't care for the way that Northern changed their pricing schemes a few years ago. They used to be almost in-line with Harbor Freight pricing on the similar lowish quality stuff with an option for some higher quality items. A few years ago, their prices skyrocketed and but the discount mailers and sales started flowing. There's not a time I don't buy something there without first checking the website...the website is usually cheaper than the store but they'll honor the online pricing.