Online Tool Vendors: Which are the ones to avoid?

[iandh]

That's right I have no problems with lead times the tools are coming from around he world that is to be expected.

My issues are with what the other members have stated to be fact:

1. Bogus Pay Pal Fees'

2. Bogus Extra handling cost for Wiha Tools for Canadians

3. Bogus *We will match the best price* they don't BTW.

4. Bogus *Our customers are NO.#1* and we will talk with you and help you.

These are my beefs with Chads . . .

Exactly, I don't care a damn bit about waiting... I just care about service and an honest idea of when my product is going to show.

I also don't like having to pay $8.75 shipping for an item that costs Chad's $1.75 to send first class mail.

 

[caseyjw]

I didn't see anybody in this thread complaining about long lead times.

I refuse to buy it from Chad's because I'm not going to pay $8.75 shipping on a damn $12 screwdriver and then wait three weeks in the process.

My problem was an issue with "price matching," which I didn't think worked as advertised; delivery time; and a feeling that Chad's didn't really want to be bothered with customers.

Maybe I read too much into it?

Casey

 

[Bolster]

ATT didn't see my posting (which you quote above) because it was a recent edit. I hadn't given sufficient details to support my comment, which is why I added it. The fact that I can still remember a bad transaction from many months ago is a testament of its own.

Lookit. In my experience, Chad's was slower by a significant amount, than other tool sellers. You can come up with a stack of justifications and excuses to explain it away, but the fact remains (in my case at least) that Chad's was not competitive with other sellers on several issues, including the time it took to actually get me the tool.

If all sellers were as slow as Chad's, I'd say you'd have a case in defending them. But (again, my experience) that's not the case. At the end of the day, it actually DOES matter if the tool is in my hand, or sitting on an inventory shelf somewhere.

May not matter to theoreticians, but it matters to ME.

MERKAVA: Great question to ask, good info we're getting in this thread. Really bothers me when online sellers "slip through the cracks" and cause grief to lots of people, because there's no clearing house of information on them.

 

[FNFS2000]

I've spent thousands on dozens of orders from Chads in the last few years and am very happy. Price matching has never been a problem, and their catalog price gets updated to the new lower price so they don't have to do it again and we are assured of low prices. Never had a problem emailing either, and I communicate with them alot. I'm probably a pain in their side asking a zillion questions about things before I order, but I really appreciate their fast "human" responses with great product info, some of them actually use the tools...Unlike most places I try to contact about any kind of product. Its nice to communicate with people allowed to express character. After emailing most stores I'm left feeling pretty ticked with a long form letter(usually 1-3 days later selected by someone who barely reads english in India) that really didn't adress my question. I've fired emails back and forth with people at chads like a live chat service. Sometimes it can take a few minutes or an hour for the initial reply but follow ups are instant, seems that way in many stores-must have to do with the way mail is handled by the puters?

 

[ZRX61]

Northern Tool

Bunch of absolute ******* idiots. Wanted to charge me $147 shipping on a $120 kids toolbox. When I questioned this I was told "UPS & FedEx charge us more than usual for shipping because we do much business with them"

WTF?? They honestly expect someone to fall for that line of ********?

So I get the toolbox shipping details & check online with both UPS & FedEx... Both came back with about $60 shipping.

I call Northern back & end up with the same ******** artist.

***** at Northern counters with "well, it is Christmas so just pay it anyway"

That was 3 1/2 years ago, they still send me catalogs which go straight from the mailbox to the trashcan.


My kid ended up with a 3 piece Craftsman setup for about $130

 

[Teken]

Northern Tool

Bunch of absolute ******* idiots. Wanted to charge me $147 shipping on a $120 kids toolbox. When I questioned this I was told "UPS & FedEx charge us more than usual for shipping because we do much business with them"

WTF?? They honestly expect someone to fall for that line of ********?

So I get the toolbox shipping details & check online with both UPS & FedEx... Both came back with about $60 shipping.

I call Northern back & end up with the same ******** artist.

***** at Northern counters with "well, it is Christmas so just pay it anyway"

That was 3 1/2 years ago, they still send me catalogs which go straight from the mailbox to the trashcan.


My kid ended up with a 3 piece Craftsman setup for about $130

That is so weird that you mentioned them *Northern Tool*. I almost pulled the trigger on four items, I placed them in the cart waited for the system to spit out the shipping, and I almost fell off my rocker!

Lets just say this company is seriously padding their pockets with inflated shipping charges!

They had some random sale for a item I wanted can't recall what the heck it was, but needless to say taking it in the azzz for 5X the shipping then what the actual shipper charges needs to be addressed by the attorney generals office!

 

[Jeepguy]

i am pretty much in this type of sales position at work. i agree with everyones complaint, but what you dont see is that manufacturers are also cutting back their own inventory. IR is out of stock on 1/2" impacts for 2 months, just as a quick reference.

i know our companies problem is that we try to keep what sells on the shelf, the problem with that is that IT SELLS then we reorder when inventory gets to X.... and keep it on a schedule like that. now when we get busy and that items sells out we are SOL then people complain that they cant get even though the never even consider that the company that sells it cant get it either. then there is the other side of the stocking problem with especially hand tools, you want to advertize that you carry everything but you can in no way actually carry that, and of course, what people want you dont have. i am probably just rambling now but hopefully you catch my drift.

oh yeah, plus for every 1 pissed off "bad experience" customer there is usually hundreds of more than satisfied customers. people that ***** will ***** about anything.

 

[FNFS2000]

i am pretty much in this type of sales position at work. i agree with everyones complaint, but what you dont see is that manufacturers are also cutting back their own inventory. IR is out of stock on 1/2" impacts for 2 months, just as a quick reference.

i know our companies problem is that we try to keep what sells on the shelf, the problem with that is that IT SELLS then we reorder when inventory gets to X.... and keep it on a schedule like that. now when we get busy and that items sells out we are SOL then people complain that they cant get even though the never even consider that the company that sells it cant get it either. then there is the other side of the stocking problem with especially hand tools, you want to advertize that you carry everything but you can in no way actually carry that, and of course, what people want you dont have. i am probably just rambling now but hopefully you catch my drift.

oh yeah, plus for every 1 pissed off "bad experience" customer there is usually hundreds of more than satisfied customers. people that ***** will ***** about anything.

well stated. There is a lot of bandwagoning that goes on with this. It takes emotion to express a bad experience, there is a whole lot more emotion wrapped up in what one person considers a bad experience than what another considers normal, nobody gets excited about something normal or expected. One persons bad is anothers acceptable, and could be the same person on a different day if his wife isn't putting out or he just stubbed his toe or watched the stocks keep tumbling, or whatever and is feeling all grumpy with the world.

 

[supertooljunkie]

I ordered a pipe threader from Northern Tool about four months ago. The ad online said free shipping. Never did get free shipping even when I called customer service and brought it to their attention. It was an item on sale so I made up the shipping that way, but I will NEVER order from them again online.
I second Amazon. I have ordered some of everything from them. Tools, books,, electronics, never had a problem and have always gotten the item much quicker than stated.

 

[mdoolittle]

So many of these online sites seem so fly by night. Most are drop ship stores, half-assed customer service at best. They lure you in with the cheap price on a search and in the end they put the screws to you. I shop AMAZON and TOOLTOPIA exclusively and have never had any problems with either. I also have the Amazon prime shipping so even if I need a $5 bit I get it in 2-3 days. The prime costs $80 a year and is used by our entire family and we are so ahead of shipping costs with it.

 

[ATTappman]

well stated. There is a lot of bandwagoning that goes on with this. It takes emotion to express a bad experience, there is a whole lot more emotion wrapped up in what one person considers a bad experience than what another considers normal, nobody gets excited about something normal or expected. One persons bad is anothers acceptable, and could be the same person on a different day if his wife isn't putting out or he just stubbed his toe or watched the stocks keep tumbling, or whatever and is feeling all grumpy with the world.

I think there's an alternative explanation to emotion - if you had a bad experience you feel a responsibility to let other people know about it. It's important to report what happened honestly, so a reader can form his own opinion about whether you're overreacting or not.

I don't intend to order from chadstoolbox again but it doesn't bother me in the least if other people do. If they weren't pleasing somebody they couldn't stay in business.

 

[Jeepguy]

I don't intend to order from chadstoolbox again but it doesn't bother me in the least if other people do. If they weren't pleasing somebody they couldn't stay in business.[/QUOTE]

Good point. We had a very BIG Spray gun manufacturer in here yesterday to discuss their current stock situation or lack there of. their statement was a bold one "Keep our brick and mortor and stay in business, or keep everything on the shelf and go out of business"

I agree with that statement. then again if i didnt i probably would be out of work a job now

 

[Stick Figure]

Regarding my earlier post ... http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showpost.php?p=961628&postcount=19

I have to give a little update. The original order was done on May 6th, final email was on May 12th. Today i found a box on my doorstep that contained the 4 piece pick sets. I still think the lack of contact that they have with the customer *****, but sending out the pick sets after they were off back order was a very nice surprise. I may give them another shot now.

 

[Dennis The Menace]

I've looked all over the place for a Wera 1/4" Bit Ratchet and NOBODY sells them... except... *gulp* Chad's Tool Box!

Do I have to "dance witht the devil" and risk placing an order with this place?

What about PayPal charges? Does he still make you pay them?

 

[jay50]

I've looked all over the place for a Wera 1/4" Bit Ratchet and NOBODY sells them... except... *gulp* Chad's Tool Box!

Do I have to "dance witht the devil" and risk placing an order with this place?

What about PayPal charges? Does he still make you pay them?

You will hate yourself for every getting mess up with them after so many of us have warned you.

I took a chance last year with those a$$ clowns and damn near got beat out of an order.

NEVER AGAIN

 

[Bolster]

Other sources for Wera, easy to search. Amazon sells Wera.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0001P18AU/?tag=atomicindus08-20

http://www.hardwaresales.com/Wera-056948-22pc-Kompakt/Hand-Tools/Screwdrivers/Sets-p7312030.html

http://www.jamestowndistributors.com/userportal/main.do

Never used the second and third, so it's not a recommendation.

In my experience, if you order from Chad's, you'll get it, eventually. But it may not be a pleasant experience. Or it might go fine. Experiences seem to vary considerably.

 

[Boiler]

I ordered large sets of SK long SAE and Metric wrenches, and two socket sets from SJ Discount tools on about november 15th. About $400 worth of stuff in one order. One of the wrench sets was nearly $200 by itelf, and everything but it showed up in like 7 days. What scared me is that the entire order was billed, AND the paperwork showed what I received as one of two packages that shipped. Three days later I started emailing (another place that is hard to call) and after about 15 days from the order date they told me they were backordered and would have them in two weeks. Three weeks passed and I was told "early January", next it was February 1st. On Feb 5th I called to cancel. I really wanted it from them as the price was great compared to all others I found, but at this point I'd pay another $40 to actually have the tools or my money. When I called to cancel they said that they finally had them and that I'd have them in a couple days. They finally showed.

I can handle backorders, but if I get on backorder I want you to:

A) Don't charge my credit card until it arrives at your place
B) Communicate and give me an accurate idea of when to expect it.

 

[Dennis The Menace]

You will hate yourself for every getting mess up with them after so many of us have warned you.

I took a chance last year with those a$$ clowns and damn near got beat out of an order.

NEVER AGAIN

I know. Do I have a choice, though? The only other place I've found that sells the Wera bit ratchet wants $99 for them. I laughed so hard, I didn't bother to save the link as a credible tool site. Not even Wera's site lists somebody who I can purchase from. Not even eBay or Amazon have them!

 

[Dennis The Menace]

Other sources for Wera, easy to search. Amazon sells Wera.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0001P18AU/?tag=atomicindus08-20

http://www.hardwaresales.com/Wera-056948-22pc-Kompakt/Hand-Tools/Screwdrivers/Sets-p7312030.html

http://www.jamestowndistributors.com/userportal/main.do

Never used the second and third, so it's not a recommendation.

In my experience, if you order from Chad's, you'll get it, eventually. But it may not be a pleasant experience. Or it might go fine. Experiences seem to vary considerably.

All I want is the 87mm 1/4" bit ratchet. Retail price is around $45 and Chad's has them for $34.

 

[ATTappman]

I can handle backorders, but if I get on backorder I want you to:

A) Don't charge my credit card until it arrives at your place
B) Communicate and give me an accurate idea of when to expect it.

Yes, exactly. I could even handle C) Communicate and tell me they have no idea when I'll get the order, so when I've run out of patience they'll refund my money, no questions asked.