Woodcraft: An ever increasing bad experience......

[Brian Fulkerson]

Over the years of collecting tools and woodworking supplies, I have ususlly resorted to giving Woodcraft a very good shot. However each and every time I engage the retailer, I find myself more and more dissatisfied. In fact, the local Woodcraft next to me has become terrible.

(1) Staff

The staff, though they know my first name, doesn't give a crap about me regardless of the endless times I have visited them for supplies. Each time I ask for advise, I either get bothersome discust remarks or ignorant answers that I could have as easily answered myself, i.e. looking at the catalogue and reading me specifics about a product.

(2) Cost

Frankly, I am at the point where I will never buy large purchase items from them. And I will NEVER again buy wood from them. A local Hardwood dealer sells for a good 40-50% less. Their markup is a comlpete joke. I would rather order products online to save $$, tax, and the hassle of working with them. Even their sale prices are higher than online retailers.

(3) Inventory

My local Woodcraft must be hurting like crazy. There is never anything on the shelves. I wish I had a nickle for each time I have heard a Woodcraft employee say "we are out of stock and could have it a week from Monday".

I don't mean to vent however this is clearly an example of a franchise waiting to fail. Poor customer service (result of internal business problems), and Inventory turn (Not having the $$ and will to support inventory turn). It makes me sad because there is no other specialty tool store left near me (all the other ones closed due to the economy). As much as it is nice to save money online, there is nothing like walking in a store, see an item, receive good service, and walk out with it.

I hope experiences are different elsewhere in the counrty.

Regards,

Brian

[John Coloccia]

Woodcraft are locally owned. The two in my are are phenomenal (same owner). I always go there first and they bend over backwards to help me out. There are others that have had poor experiences with their local Woodcrafts as well, but most seem outstanding.

[Brian Kincaid]

I like the Woodcraft in Dallas, they have some good folks there, but since they no longer carry Lie-Nielsen I doubt I'll have a reason to make the trip.

-Brian

[Neil Brooks]

In all seriousness, have you written a thoughtful letter to the franchisor??

They SHOULD care about your experiences in their franchisee's location.

They MAY start taking a closer look at the requirements of the Agreement (associate training, inventory levels, etc., etc.). If it's really that far out of line, then they may have options to buy the location(s) back and/or take the stores from the current franchisee and try to find another.

In any case, I'd tell Woodcraft. Can't hurt.

[Mark Carlson]

My nearest store is about an hour away, so I always order online. If I order on monday I get it on friday. Never had a problem with the few times I had to return an item.

~mark

[Bill Pitz]

There's a Woodcraft about 60 miles south of me, I visited once when in the area. The salespeople that were in the store during my visit were possibly the most unhelpful people I've ever met, and condescending to boot. Their product knowledge was limited to a few memorized phrases, similar to someone reading info from the package. They made a big deal about how durable some of the machines are, they use them for two hours every third Saturday afternoon. Whoa. Those must be Industrial Duty Machines if you run 'em nearly 2 and a half hours a month.

I will not be spending my dollars with Woodcraft.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

I have 1 Woodcraft 110 miles away and another 260 miles away. I have had nothing but great service from either.

The closest one is owned by a father, mother and son. When I bought my mortiser there a few months ago, the father and son helped me load it into my car.

The father and mother delivered my PM3520B lathe and helped roll it into my shop.

It's really dependent upon the folks running the store. The staff at the closest one....great.

The store in Boise. I have never been there but I have called them and they were nothing but helpful!

[Peter Aeschliman]

I bought a Sawstop at the Seattle store a few weeks ago and found the salesman very helpful. He remembered me from my first visit to look a the machine, and they sent me a handwritten thank you letter afterwards.

So yes, it's very much based on who owns the store.

[Rob Sack]

I remember visiting Boston and going into the Woburn store. On a couple of occasions, over a year apart, I found the store personnel to be be less than helpful, condescending, and rather arrogant. This was several years ago. This past year, on a recent trip, I went in and the staff couldn't have been more friendly and helpful.

It's my understanding that all but three Woodcrafts are now franchises. My local Woodcraft, in Ventura, California is terrific. The staff is extremely friendly, helpful, and knowledgeable. I would suggest that if you are having a problem, contact the owner and see if you can straighten it out. It would seem to me that the best way to resolve an issue such as yours is to bring your concerns to the powers at be in a friendly, non-confrontational manner.

[Nick Keane]

Brian,
I'm in Santa Rosa, too. Like you, I only purchase small items. I mostly like the selection of books they offer.

BTW, where do you purchase most of your wood? Mt. Storm is the only local hardwood supplier I know of.

-Nick

[bob cohen]

The store outside kc is very good with respect to customer service. The owner is particular nice and will let you know when he doesn't know. Their prices are on the high side (at least compared to online dealers), but like the other poster said it is nice to be able to see things up close and leave the store with something in hand. I try to limit my visits to their frequent sale days and/or birthday month, when most everything is 10% off.

[eugene thomas]

i can't say good things about their credit department. i have over 800 credit rating and they turned me down for credit card. was like wow that never happened before/.

[Paul McGaha]

Brian,

Sorry to hear of your problems with your local Woodcraft.

I am fortunate to live near (2) very good Woodcraft Stores (Springfield and Leesburg Virginia).

Their staff appear to be experienced woodworkers and they are very helpful and friendly. I remember going in the store around Christmas and seeing the new Unisaw for the first time. The salesman and I were looking it over and I remarked I have one about (5) years old and it is a tool for life. The salesman agreed and told me he had one (20) years old.

It is very useful to me to be able to see the machinery for myself and the stores here stock a fair amount of Powermatic, Jet, and Delta.

I buy what I can from them to help support the store.

PHM

[scott vroom]

I view Woodcraft the same way as I do a strip mall 7-11 mart: I do the bulk of my grocery shopping at the Safeway to save money, but if it's 10:00 at night and I HAVE to have a quart of milk, 7-11 is there for me....at a big price premium. I can't think of any reason to buy things from my local Woodcraft unless I absolutely have to have them now and can't wait a few days for an internet purchase to be delivered. Not only is Woodcraft in my area very expensive, they also collect 9.25% sales tax on top of it (California). Plus, the sales guys are kinda goofy and I don't think they know what they're talking about half the time.

Many retail brick and mortar business are in dire straits in this economy. I lost my paying job and am pinching pennies wherever possible. I consistently save 10-20% by shopping online. Jeff Bezos got it right years ago.

[Mark Maleski]

I am fortunate to live near (2) very good Woodcraft Stores (Springfield and Leesburg Virginia)...[snip]....I buy what I can from them to help support the store.

Yep, me too (I'm in Herndon VA, used to be in Ashburn). When I bought a lathe from the Leesburg store a few weeks ago, I called beforehand to ask if they thought they'd be busy by 10 on a Saturday (wanted to get there before the crowd). The reply I got was that it'd been rather slow lately and they were hoping to start seeing more crowds - a different perspective than I had! Made me pause to appreciate how lucky we are to have the local brick-and-mortar. I hope that doesn't change.