Anyone order from Franks tools?

[dede2897234]

Hey guys,

I had 2 great buying experiences with Frank back in 2016. However, my third buying experience in June 2020 went no where. I placed a 5 item hand tool order for around $150 dollars. He had everything in stock except the KTC plastic rivet pliers. He said they would arrive in 3 weeks. However, this item did not arrive in said time frame. I gave him 1 more week.

I twice asked him for a refund on the KTC pliers; and for him to ship the rest of the order. Frank acknowledged twice he would ship the order and never did. I emailed him saying that I received better service from him in the past and other vendors selling Japanese hand tools. I mentioned disappointment in his service up to date. He went on a rant on how other buyers cancelled on him due to the long delays. Then, Frank asked me again for the third time what I wanted (WTF???) to wait for the KTC pliers or a refund.

He finally issued me a refund in late July. Frank must have realized his large KTC order from Japan will arrive much later than expected.

I will never order from him again!

If you would like to read my email conversation with him, I attached a PDF.

Dave

 

[Ralf11]

or maybe it means the seller should advise customers of the problems

In fact, federal law requires that. So it sounds like Frank is cruising for a bruising if somebody files a complaint.

 

[speed88]

Hey guys,

I had 2 great buying experiences with Frank back in 2016. However, my third buying experience in June 2020 went no where. I placed a 5 item hand tool order for around $150 dollars. He had everything in stock except the KTC plastic rivet pliers. He said they would arrive in 3 weeks. However, this item did not arrive in said time frame. I gave him 1 more week.

I twice asked him for a refund on the KTC pliers; and for him to ship the rest of the order. Frank acknowledged twice he would ship the order and never did. I emailed him saying that I received better service from him in the past and other vendors selling Japanese hand tools. I mentioned disappointment in his service up to date. He went on a rant on how other buyers cancelled on him due to the long delays. Then, Frank asked me again for the third time what I wanted (WTF???) to wait for the KTC pliers or a refund.

He finally issued me a refund in late July. Frank must have realized his large KTC order from Japan will arrive much later than expected.

I will never order from him again!

If you would like to read my email conversation with him, I attached a PDF.

Dave

The guy seems to have a lot of issues. I know I will never order a single thing from him again. When he tried to put me down and say I should get my tools from Kmart it spoke volumes about him as a person. It is not my fault he can’t complete the order or update his site. Every time I asked for an up date it was just a few more weeks. After a few months of empty promises and no product, His game or scam gets a little bit old. It took him forever but I did finally get my refund. Might be because I turned it over to the credit card company to get my money back.

 

[GrantCee]

I placed another order with Frank a couple of weeks ago; everything was delivered in a timely manner. In fact, I've yet to have a bad transaction with Frank. He's been friendly, prompt, and his prices are generally good. Based on my experience over several years, I'll buy from him again.

What am I doing differently than some others?

Simple, really: I don't order anything he doesn't have in stock. It's not just with him — I don't usually order anything from any company that doesn't have the item in stock. Over the years I've learned that, regardless of the size of the business, a special or incoming order is far more likely to have an issue. So, I generally only order from places that have it in on hand. If they don't, I either wait until they do or I order from someone who does.

With Frank, I just send him an email asking if he has the item(s) on hand; if he does, I place the order. And, based on past experience, it arrives in a reasonable timeframe. Easy.

 

[True Brit]

Sorry to say but he screwed me over. I would NEVER order from him again.

I always support Veteran owned businesses but this guy is dishonest. Don't make the mistake I made.

 

[mazdeuce]

I had one successful order from him and now I'm two months into my second without any communication. Luckily it was a small order. Bummer.

 

[zktk01]

I had a problem last year got refund after 3 months waiting. I tried to give a second chance, but I ordered on Oct 18th still nothing. I am glad Palmac.net is around to do business with, I have not had any issue with them.

 

[Dillweed]

I ordered 1 item from him in November of last year and the website said the order was received and the "status" field was blank.

I really don't like to be impatient/entitled or bother people so I waited over a month, and the status never changed, so I e-mailed asking if there was tracking information. 5 Days later he responded saying "thank you for your order, it has been shipped" and he provided a tracking number. Nice.

I waited over a month again, and checked the order status and tracking details. The "Order Status" was still blank, and looking up the tracking details it said "there is no information for this shipment", so I sent him another e-mail to see if he actually shipped it and if so, what happened to it?

He gave a very sharp response stating that he shipped it and the postal system in Canada was to blame, "it's always a problem". He then let me know that he will "do like everyone else and stop shipping to Canada".

That was the only information he provided lol his customer service skills need A LOT of work. If I could offer him some constructive criticism it would be: when one of your customer's has an issue or question, ask yourself "how can I help this person?".

If it were me, I would say something like "yes, I shipped it, let me double-check that it got handed to Canada Post. If it did, then you should ask them about shipment # XXXYYY on your end if you could".

I didn't bother responding to someone that just prefers to vent and not offer any useful information instead of acting professionally. Also his shipping appears to be very hit or miss, it's likely he never would have shipped it at all and forgot about it if I didn't write in asking about it a month after ordering it.

I wouldn't chance making another order with him again, myself.

 

[yatmandu]

Thought I would share my recent experience with Frank. TL;DR: it wasn't great, and I won't be returning under any circumstance.

- I placed an order late January for 8 items all up
- 10 days later, after no dispatch confirmation and no status update on the "your order" page, I enquired. Frank said 3 items were out of stock, asked if I can wait 10 days for dispatch (and offered refund options etc), I said ok
- 10 days later, no dispatch confirmation, I enquired, Frank said 2 items were out of stock, asked if I can wait one week, I said ok
- 12 day later, no dispatch confirmation, I enquired, Frank said no and said covid is causing delays
- 2 weeks later, no dispatch confirmation, I asked Frank to send what he has and refund the remainder. Frank said he has just received a delivery and that "we are in good shape". I took this to mean he has everything in stock, but then I get a reply saying he is out of one item, and asked if I can wait one week. I said ok, but if it's not here in a week I will need to cancel my order. Now Frank gets nasty and bluntly says that he "does not accept threats very well". Now I am scared that this guy has my money and I may not see anything come out of it.
- 2 weeks later, no dispatch confirmation, I enquired, Frank says it has been dispatched. I asked for a tracking number but Frank has stopped replying, and the order status on the "your order" page remains blank.

Time will tell whether the goods are actually dispatched, but all up it has been 2 months since placing the order, without him once having the common courtesy to volunteer any kind of order update or apology for delay.

Seriously, I understand that there is a global pandemic that is causing supply chain issues, and the delays that can cause. And I like to support small, privately owned companies as much as I can. But Frank needs to understand that some people are working on projects that have deadlines and need tools within a certain timeframe. And if he thinks putting a timeframe to an order is a threat, then he should really find another job in something outside of tool supply and customer service

 

[yatmandu]

Quick update: the parcel arrived eventually but was missing 2 items, and 1 item was an incorrect size to what I had ordered. Frank said he will refund the missing items but I waited and received nothing. So I have filed a dispute with my credit card company to reverse the charge to the value of the missing items.

 

[Frankstools]

Stay away from frankstools! I’ve had a really bad experience with him. Very very shady person.

 

[Frankstools]

I've ordered from Frank several times, and will again should he have what I need in stock. No, he's not the fastest shipper, but he's a one-man band; I cut him a lot of slack because of that.

No complaints about Palmac, either. I've ordered from them twice in the last month, and they were about as quick to ship as Amazon Prime is these days. (That's more an indictment of Amazon than of Palmac.)

Palmac is the backdoor if "Koken USA"

 

[Frankstools]

Is he?

 

[Frankstools]

Is he?

 

[Frankstools]

I've never had a problem ordering from Frank's tools. However, i believe he retired from his job in Japan and relocated stateside so, he may not have access to the inventory that he once had. Secondly, he was having issues with getting Koken items. I'm not sure if that's been resolved or not. He always provided excellent service in the past but, it's been awhile since my last order.
Additionally, Covid has things screwed up beyond all recognition which is understandable.

Not to derail the thread but, since Palmac was mentioned already, I ordered a few Koken things from Palmac last week after seeing them listed on one of Mr Subaru's You Tube videos. As someone else said, Palmac has most of the Koken catalog online. Prices seemed ok and I got my items in less than a week. Packed well too. Hell, they even threw in a few Koken decals.

Since, I'm only picking up a few Koken unique tools like nut grip sockets, their unusual adapters and swivel joints, and not replacing everything with Koken I think Palmac might work for me.

Palmac is the back door of so called "Koken USA", they are making a fortune

 

[M6erfan]

Palmac is the back door of so called "Koken USA", they are making a fortune

Frank, do you still sell KTC? I was looking for the 12 piece Combo wrench set but didn't see it any longer on your new website?

Edit: TMS212

 

[Walter K]

I had my first and probably last buying experience with him a couple of months ago.
Ordered a tool and waited about 3 weeks. Finally contacted him and he replied it's on the way.
Somehow the time lines on the back and forth emails got out of whack. I asked him via email " what's up?"
His reply was "Covid and the supply chain from Japan were messed up. That's "what's up".
He got so ticked off on my inquiry that he cancelled my order and refunded my payment that day.
I received the tool anyway ( mistake?). I contacted him for return postage and he said "keep it."
So I did.

 

[2ndGearRubber]

I waited for part of an order for over a year. All but two items were fulfilled, I stopped asking for updates and have just written off the socket and screwdriver as a loss. Last time I needed a new spark plug socket, I used Palmac, which worked fine.

 

[Frankstools]

Frank, do you still sell KTC? I was looking for the 12 piece Combo wrench set but didn't see it any longer on your new website?

Edit: TMS212

I am adding items daily, I do still carry it