Frankstools- Poor customer service

[Rivera]

Hello everyone, I created this account for the sole reason of warning other buyers about Frankstools and the buying experience that he has provided me.
To start, I ordered $196.20 dollars worth of Koken Zeal 3/8 drive sockets on 3.23.20 and expected shipment within 2-3 weeks as promised. It is currently 4.22.20 and I have not received my shipment or any update on its progress. I emailed on the 9th,10th,12th,20th twice and finally on the 21th without a single response from the seller. My final email to Frank was a request for shipping information or a refund and I let him know I was going to leave a review on his poor customer service on garagejournal. That was the only email where I got a response wherein frank said "As for badmouthing me, I can stop that...Do as you want...". My experience has been horrendous and i still have yet to receive a refund. I would rather purchase off of Amazon and not have a warranty than deal with this horrendous customer service. TLDR; do not order from Frankstools if you value seller communication and customer service.

 

[speed88]

I have unfortunately had the same experience. Eventually he will put himself out of business with his horrible costumer experience and shady business practices. Everyone please don’t buy from this scammer!

 

[bushmechanic]

I don't know the guy, but the site has trackers I don't like.

There's a lot of Yahoo in that place, and Yahoo is one of the least trustworthy web entities on the planet right now.

 

[blazemaster83]

Sounds like Frank is an *******

 

[BlakeTheCarGuy]

I have had good luck with them honestly I ordered something from them a few years ago after he was recommended on YouTube had the tool in 3 weeks.


Sent from my iPhone using Garage Journal

 

[theamcguy]

Frank has always treated me right. Remember some things he needs to order from Japan and that can slow down an order. Either way everything I have ordered has always shown up. Frank is no scammer. I have received 2 orders from him in the last two weeks. Both were ordered in August; special order from Japan, they showed up just like always.

 

[paulsomlo]

Ordered a set of KTC wrenches from Frank, no problems whatsoever.

 

[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

 

[BlakeTheCarGuy]

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

I haven’t had a bad experience with him either. Haven’t tried it this year though and don’t want too.


Sent from my iPhone using Garage Journal

 

[Zmann]

a lot of vendors I dealt with in the past are either gone altogether or not doing well

this is a tough time to be a business IMO

no excuse for this repeat request though

 

[American Locomotive]

I wish Frank would realize it's not necessarily the delays that are frustrating people, it's the fact that his communication is absolutely terrible. It's not hard to answer an email.

Frank literally only has to do the following things:
- Be honest about expected shipment times. He should know by now about how long things take to come from Japan. There's enough complaints about estimated arrival times that he should know his ETAs are not accurate.

-Provide a weekly update to customers who's orders are not fulfilled. Keep track of them on a spreadsheet. Just a weekly "Hey I haven't forgotten about you, here's the latest news on the shipment from the factory" would go A LONG way to calming people down.

- ANSWER E-MAILS IN A TIMELY MANNER. If someone emails you a question, respond within 24 hours, even if you don't have an answer for them. Pay some college kid part time $12/hr to respond to emails if you have to. It'd avoid so many problems.

 

[Jmellc]

I sure won’t buy from him. Not having something is no sin but keep the customer in the loop. If you missed notifying him, do respond to his inquiries. Most people are very forgiving if you make the right efforts. I can deal with most anything but a bad attitude cuts your lifeline with me.

 

[Formerjeeper]

Full disclosure, I have no affiliation with Franks Tools but have bought from him a couple of times and all has gone as promised.

I think his site could use an improved layout/ecommerce interface but seems like a good place to get hard-to-find Japanese tools at fair prices. That's my entire experience.

Not trying to start an argument but not sure I agree this was egregious. I read the PDF and every time you sent an email, Frank responded within a few hours, even on Sunday evening.

Hard to tell from the email exactly when you placed the order or what the expectation was about whether he should ship a partial order or wait until all items were in stock. Looks like you asked him on a Thursday to ship the partial order and he shipped it on Tuesday? Could have been a little faster but doesn't seem terrible for a little guy running a side business. That's the only thing I can see that Frank could have done better.

In fact a reader could conclude that your response was a little aggressive after he explained about the shipping company being offline over the weekend.

As soon as he realized you were unhappy he offered a refund or a partial shipment, your choice.

Again, not trying to start an argument, just an outside perspective and I try to be slow to make a public complaint, especially on a forum like this which is probably heavy on the guy's target market.

Hope it's helpful and well received.

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