Trouble with Chad's Tool Box

[flintsghost]

For the second time (I'm a slow learner) I tried to place an order with Chad's Tool Box for some Stahlwille tools. They make a claim on their site that they are the lowest price and offer a 115% guarrantee of lowest price. I had found that Maryland Metrics had a considerably lower advertised price and gave the link to Chad's tool box for them to confirm. The customer service person went back and forth with me about it by email, refused to take the order, and even went so far as to tell me in an email that the 115% price guarrantee applied to items that were in stock. She also said that Stahlwille had to be ordered but they did have a warehouse in Florida. In a separate email she said it applied to everything they sell but she still refused to honor the link. Be that as it may, they refused the order by email and wouldn't return my phone call even though the answering system indicated you could leave a message and someone would call back. I finally just gave up. This marks the second time I had trouble with them. I would advise caution with these people.

The last time I tried to do business with them was over some HAZET items and they charged my CC immediately and it showed on the statement. Then they explained it would be 6 to 10 weeks till the products arrived in the country. Normally cards aren't charged until items are in stock and shipped. Financing your business with the money from orders for products you don't have is a bit like a Ponzi scheme. I also think it may be illegal to do that and is certainly in violation of VISA policy. I think I'll avoid them in the future. Good luck to anyone who does have success with them.

 

[dsforever]

I wanted to add a frustration of my own to this message. On March 9, 2014 I had placed an order for some items, and my CC was immediately charged. I understand that a couple of items were not in stock, and might take some time to deliver, and was OK with that.
On March 20th I got an e-mail stating that the “held to ship” was complete, so I expected the items to be on their way. My CC bill arrived in April with the charges, but no tools yet, so I contacted Chad’s Tool Box via their "Chat" dialogue box to check on status. They stated that they still did not have one of the items, and said hopefully it would be in within 1-2 weeks. They suggested that they could delete that item to get the shipment moving, and I said yes. Things then went south…. They accused me of consumer fraud for a payment dispute, which I do not understand. How could it be fraud when they want to charge me for something I have not yet received? I understand that things sometimes don't arrive from suppliers when anticipated, and am willing to work with a merchant on that. I don’t expect a merchant though to charge my CC for an item that may or may not arrive within a 2 month period with no definite delivery date. Accusing me of “Consumer Fraud” was the phrase though that caused me to post this message. Needless to say, I will never place an order with these folks again.

 

[Tarheelgarage]

I orderd from them my first and last time abot 4 years ago.
Got nothing but bull **** run around on item they said was in stock but wasn't.

Sleazy liars.

 

[Skin]

Very few places let you special order items without payment up front otherwise people cancel and they get stuck holding stock they dont want. Sorry but i cant sympathize. The ETA of every Hazet item is clearly marked on their site with most labelled 3-6 weeks.

dsforever sounds like you filed a chargeback instead of waiting for them to give you a credit for the cancelled item. Again, cant sympathize.

To add to this chads price match policy does work but its very specific. Competitor needs to have the item in stock, it has to be the same exact sku, and price needs to include any other fees like shipping.

 

[Engine]

I ordered some Wiha screwdrivers from them several months ago and they showed that the items were in stock. It turned out that they did not have them in stock and had to wait for their European distributor to send them.

Instead of waiting to charge me for the order until they had the drivers, they charged me anyway -- and told me to wait for "a few days". OK, I'll be patient. After several weeks of waiting, emailing, listening to excuses, attempts to get me to buy something else, etc. I had finally had enough and told them to cancel the order. They reluctantly did so and I had to wait even longer for the credit to appear on my charge card.

If you don't have something... and you don't even know when you will get it... then what the hell are you doing trying to sell it?

This was the biggest hassle I have ever had with an online order in my life.
Fool me once, shame on you -- fool me twice, shame on me.
I'm done with Chads for good.

 

[forp]

I think the problem with Chad is they don't always stock everything. If you ordered a couple of items and one of them is 'waiting for sail boat from Germany' then you are toast. I ordered several times from Chad and it's always loooong wait. I suspect they have shipment from Germany once or twice a week or so. However, my order always arrive correct. So I have to give them credit for being reliable and Slow.

If you are in a hurry, why not give them a call and ask if the items you want is in stock?

 

[Bielio]

I think the problem with Chad is they don't always stock everything.

Like to add my current ongoing experience to save some other buyers the frustration.

I contacted Chads about checking 2 separate items to verify they're in stock.
I was told over their IM service that they had well over 80 pieces in stock for one item and over 30 for the other.

I made an order which says "delivery in 4-10 days" for 3 items (2 of item #1 and 1 of item #2).

Well,
We're two weeks down this bumpy road and nothing has happened.
Thankfully I paid through PayPal and have protection.
Giving them one last chance with a detailed email asking for my status before I call B.S. and get my money back.

Save yourself the headache and just pay a few $ more and buy elsewhere.

I've realized that customer service for a lot of these online shops mean everything. I also reminded myself that ordering tools from Germany/ Switzerland/ Finland/ Sweden get to my doorstep faster than ordering domestically from companies like Chad's.

Customer means everything when you're a 100% online retailer.

Chad's is on wire with me, and I'll most likely stop being a customer of theirs.


Kudos to those lucky people that get status updates and get their orders promptly.

 

[lastgoodusername]

This was my experience with chad;

45 days no items. Finally got in touch with them. Could not tell me when items would be shipped or when they would become available. Told them to cancel order. I assumed I would be refunded my money back to paypal. Wrong. This clown puts it down as store credit. Okay , things happen. Placed another order to use the store credit. Then contacted them immediately to see if items were in stock, This ***** told me it takes 5 days to process an order , but everything "looked good". No answer , just looks good. I told him to forget it and just refund my money. He said gladly minus a 15% "cancellation fee". Contacted paypal, opened a dispute, he never even responded to them. Got all my money back and I would recommend staying away from this cast of clowns. Free advice and worth every penny. Johnny

 

[Davefr]

Chad's is terrible:
http://www.resellerratings.com/store/ChadsToolbox

Next time try KC tool. They stock many of the same brands and their service is top notch.

 

[archirelic]

I may be the odd-man out, but I've just this year alone placed at least a half dozen orders and all orders / products have shipped in a timely fashion and arrived in a timely fashion.

I had a question about multiple products being in-stock, color, etc. and they were very prompt with their responses - all the same business day.

And over the years I've placed many orders with Chads and have never had an issue with any of them.

 

[anymore99]

Like to add my current ongoing experience to save some other buyers the frustration.

I contacted Chads about checking 2 separate items to verify they're in stock.
I was told over their IM service that they had well over 80 pieces in stock for one item and over 30 for the other.

I made an order which says "delivery in 4-10 days" for 3 times (2 of item #1 and 1 of item #2.