PSA: Don't order from the Lista QuickShip website

[RichieP_MechE]

Short version:
Called Lista customer service today to check on an order I placed a through the QuickShip website while ago. The customer service rep said they haven't actually had quick ship available on any products for at least two years and that orders placed through that site often get "lost in the system."

Long version:
Back in late January 2022, I wanted to buy myself a Lista technician series toolbox for my garage. I contacted my local distributor that I use to buy Lista products for work and got a quote. Price was about what I expected, but lead time was not: 14-18 weeks. Pre-pandemic lead times from them were about 4 weeks. Though I didn't actually need the toolbox by any particular time, I decided to try to see if I could find another source.

The Lista QuickShip website actually proved to be the best option. The price was a bit cheaper than my distributor and shipping was free, which is definitely attractive with LTL shipping prices these days. So I placed the order, not expecting them to actually deliver in the advertised 6-8 days (given the current state of supply chain) but hoping for something a little more reasonable than 14 weeks.

In retrospect, I should have gotten over my millennial aversion to making phone calls and contacted customer service after a month and no status update on my order other than "order received". Alas. I am also very patient, so after that first month I assumed that I would probably be waiting for at least 14 weeks like everybody else.

I would log in every so often to check the order status, and it never had any updates beyond "order received". After 14 weeks had passed (mid-May), I shot off an email to Stanley B&D customer service. I soon got a response from the Territory sales manager. I didn't have much success finding out anything from him after some back and forth emails, I think it might have been more to do with me be a pretty small sale compared to the large company orders he undoubtedly deals with.

Anyways, after not getting an email response for more than a week from the sales guy, I just called up customer service today and had a nice chat with a helpful customer service rep. She told me that the QuickShip program really hasn't existed for at least 2 years, they have had no inventory for it. And that orders that get placed into that system often get stuck in limbo and never make it into the factory production queue. She said that she's not really sure why the company keeps that website up given the issues that it has (and lack of any inventory).

Thankfully, I did get confirmation that my order was going to make it into the production queue, possibly early next week. I don't know if this was because something the sales rep did and just forgot to email me, or if my phone call got it moved up the line as I talked to customer service. At any rate, lead times are still pretty long - I was told that at this point it might ship in September (so 10ish weeks).

So, lesson learned - had I actually picked up the darn phone sooner, I would probably have a shiny new toolbox in my possession by now.

 

[CGarage]

You need to always talk to folks when money is changing hands- and especially on a custom order. The automated ordering process leads to too many excuses when it is any vendor other than Amazon.

 

[Grant Gunderson]

I ordered some Vidmar drawer pulls from them last summer. They arrived quickly. Only problem is for the next 4 months they kept sending me invoices and threats of collection despite preypaying fir the order with my credit card. Ended up taking 4 emails to customer service showing my paid cc receipt before they got **** straight on their end. Great products, **** management.

 

[ChevyEFI]

In retrospect, I should have gotten over my millennial aversion to making phone calls and contacted customer service after a month and no status update on my order other than "order received". Alas. I am also very patient, so after that first month I assumed that I would probably be waiting for at least 14 weeks like everybody else.


So, lesson learned - had I actually picked up the darn phone sooner, I would probably have a shiny new toolbox in my possession by now.

Props for acknowledging this in an open and honest way. When I hear "it's not in stock" from someone who only checked the web, I cringe. Enjoyn to the new storage; good to see you found your way through Silent But Deadly for the purchase.

 

[sourabhdeepsingh]

Short version:
Called Lista customer service today to check on an order I placed a through the QuickShip website while ago. The customer service rep said they haven't actually had quick ship available on any products for at least two years and that orders placed through that site often get "lost in the system."

Long version:
Back in late January 2022, I wanted to buy myself a Lista technician series toolbox for my garage. I contacted my local distributor that I use to buy Lista products for work and got a quote. Price was about what I expected, but lead time was not: 14-18 weeks. Pre-pandemic lead times from them were about 4 weeks. Though I didn't actually need the Lista toolbox by any particular time, I decided to try to see if I could find another source.

The Lista QuickShip website actually proved to be the best option. The price was a bit cheaper than my distributor and shipping was free, which is definitely attractive with LTL shipping prices these days. So I placed the order, not expecting them to actually deliver in the advertised 6-8 days (given the current state of supply chain) but hoping for something a little more reasonable than 14 weeks.

In retrospect, I should have gotten over my millennial aversion to making phone calls and contacted customer service after a month and no status update on my order other than "order received". Alas. I am also very patient, so after that first month I assumed that I would probably be waiting for at least 14 weeks like everybody else.

I would log in every so often to check the order status, and it never had any updates beyond "order received". After 14 weeks had passed (mid-May), I shot off an email to Stanley B&D customer service. I soon got a response from the Territory sales manager. I didn't have much success finding out anything from him after some back and forth emails, I think it might have been more to do with me be a pretty small sale compared to the large company orders he undoubtedly deals with.

Anyways, after not getting an email response for more than a week from the sales guy, I just called up customer service today and had a nice chat with a helpful customer service rep. She told me that the QuickShip program really hasn't existed for at least 2 years, they have had no inventory for it. And that orders that get placed into that system often get stuck in limbo and never make it into the factory production queue. She said that she's not really sure why the company keeps that website up given the issues that it has (and lack of any inventory).

Thankfully, I did get confirmation that my order was going to make it into the production queue, possibly early next week. I don't know if this was because something the sales rep did and just forgot to email me, or if my phone call got it moved up the line as I talked to customer service. At any rate, lead times are still pretty long - I was told that at this point it might ship in September (so 10ish weeks).

So, lesson learned - had I actually picked up the darn phone sooner, I would probably have a shiny new toolbox in my possession by now.

Thank you @RichieP_MechE for sharing your experience with us.

I hope new buyers will definitely check this thread before buying Lista products from the Quickship website.

 

[RichieP_MechE]

Update: My toolbox was finally delivered last week! (18 weeks after the order was actually placed)

It seems that SBD finally took down the Quickship website, as it now gives you a certificate error, and if you click through it ends up taking you to the Vidmar website.

Despite the long wait, this is exactly what I wanted for a toolbox, and it's everything I hoped it would be. Now I just need to move it from work, where it was delivered, to my home garage.

 

[Bigblue&Goldie]

Update: My toolbox was finally delivered last week! (18 weeks after the order was actually placed)

It seems that SBD finally took down the Quickship website, as it now gives you a certificate error, and if you click through it ends up taking you to the Vidmar website.

Despite the long wait, this is exactly what I wanted for a toolbox, and it's everything I hoped it would be. Now I just need to move it from work, where it was delivered, to my home garage.

Richie, how are you liking the box so far? I noticed in your post you had it delivered to your place of work; would they not deliver to a residential address?

I just got quoted 25 weeks for a new box. I'm not in a hurry, so that doesn't matter to me. I've been wanting to get a new box for years, but I keep putting it off....

 

[RichieP_MechE]

Richie, how are you liking the box so far? I noticed in your post you had it delivered to your place of work; would they not deliver to a residential address?

I just got quoted 25 weeks for a new box. I'm not in a hurry, so that doesn't matter to me. I've been wanting to get a new box for years, but I keep putting it off....

I love it! I've used Listas for tool and parts storage at work for many years so it was exactly what I wanted. My only regret is that I didn't get the slightly wider box. My wide drawers are the MW size which are 47 inches wide, and they are just a little bit too small for comfortably fitting my socket and wrench collection the way I want. The DW drawers (56" wide) would have been better in retrospect. Still very happy with the box overall.

I had it shipped to work because, at the time I ordered it, I wasn't ready to deliver it to my garage with other work I was doing (it was going to be in the way). So I never checked if they would ship residential. I assume they would, you might just have to pay extra for liftgate service.