Anyone have any issues with precisebits.com?

[Scott Shepherd]

I just had an experience with them that's left me quite surprised. I called to order bits on Tuesday, needed them on Thursday, and wanted to order them over the phone. They were quite helpful but preferred I order them online. I explained that I need them on Thursday, and they told me I had about 1 hour left before the cut off for shipping that day. I placed the order within 5 minutes of that call.

Got a call late in the day, telling us they didn't ship. I paid $14 to ship them 2nd day air, so now I would be behind. So we call them, they tell us for about $6 more, we can go next day air. Okay, fine. So $20 now. Not happy, since we got the order in by the time we were told to, and them not shipping it in time now is costing us more money. Not sure how missing your ship day is the customers fault, but apparently it is.

So the bill comes, it's for $30 shipping.

So for the 1 cutter we needed to use, we had to order $50 minimum and now we're looking at $30 shipping. So $80 into this project.

So I call and let them know that as a first time customer, this wasn't a good experience. We were told $20 for shipping and it was $30, and that was incurred because they didn't get the order shipped out. We were told to get the order in within the hour and it shouldn't be an issue. We did that. So we did all we were asked to do, and we keep seeing the bill go up. I tell him that I do not believe they did anything dishonest, but from a first time customer, this hasn't been a very smooth, pleasant experience.

He tells me that I need to buy my bits from somewhere else from this point on.

Really? Are you serious? You have a first time customer call and tell you that things didn't go as YOU TOLD them they would go and you tell them to get stuffed? Let's see who set the expectations..... THEY DID.

They said to get the order in within the hour, we did. They said 2nd day air to get them by Thursday, didn't happen. Had to go to next day air. So it's not as if I'm sitting here making up unrealistic expectations. They were set by them.

Before hanging up, he said he'd credit the $10 difference in shipping.

Wow.....I can't imagine ever treating a customer like that.

Anyone else had any issues or was this just a blip?

[James Leonard]

Did you talk to Ron Reed? Please call back and tell Ron what his order desk did.

Let us know what the reply is.

-James

[James Jaragosky]

Did you talk to Ron Reed? Please call back and tell Ron what his order desk did.

Let us know what the reply is.

-James

Scott I have ordered from them twice. Both times everything worked out as planned.
That said If your experience had happened to me I would no longer use them.
As A consumer I have the choice to spend my money anywhere I choose.
I will not spend repeat money for poor customer service or a poor product.
Jim J.

[Scott Shepherd]

It was Ron Reed that we spoke to every time. I was never rude, never raised my voice, never said anything inappropriate.

He told me that they just didn't get to the order in time to ship it and I asked him how, as a customer, that meant that I had to pay more? If I ordered something 2nd day air, meaning I need it in 2 days, and you don't ship it that day (as you indicated you would), is it my responsibility as a customer to have to pay for next day air? So if I needed it in 5 days, and ordered ground, but you waited until the last day to get it out, is it my responsibility as a customer to now have to pay next day air because you didn't ship it? I don't get it.

If I'm missing something here, let me know. Because I honestly don't get it. How can you not getting it shipped in time mean your customer now has to pay more?

[Dan Hintz]

Steve,

I've only had the one experience with PB, my recent order of multiple collets for the Stinger (I picked up 5 collets, an extra nut, and the wrench). Nothing was wrong with the process, but then again, I wasn't in need of it right then... tough to screw up a standard order in the customer's view.

In my 8 years in business, there has only been one customer that I would like to have told to shop elsewhere, and that was because he was a royal Pain! He placed an order using a P.O. Box as the shipping address, even though my e-cart says in BIG BOLD LETTERS right under the address box we do not ship to P.O.s. The order hung in the cart for nearly a week until one of my routine flushes turned it up. I wrote him immediately, apologized, and said the order would ship out the next day.

Remember, I run the LED business during my "off hours". He wrote back around 11 a.m., while I'm at my day job, demanding I call him immediately. Several more one-sided emails ensued (I wasn't home to answer or even know they were there!) over the next few hours, eventually saying if he didn't hear back from me soon he would start a chargeback. The guy was giving me roughly 4 hours or so to reply to the entire mess before starting the chargeback. Lucky for me I came home a bit early that day...

In the end, I shipped it next day air at my expense to make him happy (lost some serious money on that order), and I hoped I would never see him again. A few months later, same guy, but this time I was home... again, he wanted fast shipping, but he was willing to pay for it. Still had an attitude about it all. I hope he never calls again.



Anyway, I see nothing wrong in what you did, assuming you were never demanding or nasty about it all. Makes me think twice about placing any re-orders through them, though. They made the mistake, you paid for it to be resolved, and let them know that wasn't the best way to keep a customer... if I were him I would have apologized for the mistake on our part and offered not only to refund the extra money spent, but offer some form of discount on the next order (is 10% too much to calm a frazzled nerve, even if it means your profit margin is a bit slimmer next time around?).

Yeah, don't get me started on the customer service issues again... I don't think my blood pressure can handle the rise.

[James Leonard]

All I can say is that I have never had a bad experience with them or with Ron, who has bent over backwards to help me in the past. If it indeed was Ron you spoke to and not a disgruntled employee then there must have been something seriously wrong there that day since Ron is the President, not the order clerk. Still, you did not have a good experience which too bad. They definitely sell world class products.

-James

[Joey Jarrard]

As a person that has to deal with a good number of phone calls to and from vendors & customers. It is hard to not let the frustration from one call to spill over to the next. I have spoke with Ron 2 or 3 times. Once about being a reseller of his product ( I will not do) the other is to order collets for customers. I as a customer have no problems with Ron or the service I have got. Just my $.02

[Scott Shepherd]

Thanks guys! I'm not suggesting for one minute that they are a bad company. I was just stunned when he said for me to buy my bits from someone else in the future. I have customers I wish I never answered the phone for, but I'd never tell a customer to go somewhere else when they were explaining to me why they thought they had a bad experience in a civil manner. Just seemed really out of character for a company to do.

Oh well, no big deal. Looking back on it, I should have just ordered from MSC or Travers. I could have bought 1 or 2 bits with no minimum order and they would have been here the next day with no next day air charges.

I guess the customer is not always right Sounds like they don't treat everyone that way, so I guess I'm special. My Mom always told me I was special, I just didn't know that was what she meant

[Dan Hintz]

Stupid is as stupid does...

[John M Torrez]

We got contacted by one of our customers about this thread as they couldn't understand how something like this could happen (I think that says a lot about our level of service right there). Attached is Ron's response about what had happened from his perspective.

Scott, we try our hardest to make sure all our customers are satisfied with their order and our service. It saddens me that anyone would walk away with these kinds of feelings about us. If there is anything I can do please let me know.

As I remember it:

1. Scott's dad called on Tuesday morning looking for help cutting a material that his shop had never cut before. I spent about 20 minutes helping him decide on a cutter, made some suggestions about cutting strategies and got him started on the ordering process.

2. Since it was getting kind of late in the morning, I told him that, if he got his order in within the hour, we would TRY to get it out that day.

3. We got his order about 11:00 AM, before our nominal cutoff. Nonetheless, we were slammed that day, and there were too many international shipments and express orders ahead of him.

4. When his order did not go out, I contacted him to let him know that we were not able to ship it.

5. He asked how much it would be to change the shipping from FEDEX 2nd Day to Next Day.

6. Since he lives in a town only a few miles from a FEDEX hub I told him that I THOUGHT that it would only be $6.00 or so to upgrade the shipping. Again, I was very specific that I did not know the actual amount for certain.

7. He approved the upgrade to Next Day shipping .

8. We shipped the tools yesterday (Wednesday), but the shipping went from $14.00 to over $30.00 (which is absurd).

9. He called today wondering where his tools were. I tracked the shipment while he was on the phone and found that it was on the truck out for delivery.

10. As we continued talking, Scott got on the phone. It was clear that he was upset about the increase in shipping. I agreed with him that a $16.00 increase was ridiculous, but that is often the case with FEDEX. Since we only charge the actual shipping amount, it was pretty much was beyond our control.

11. He could not seem to understand why, if he had gotten his order in to us before the cut-off, the order did not ship the same day. Apparently he was not impressed by the fact that there were a LOT of orders ahead of his, from customers equally anxious to receive their tools. I did not , and do not EVER promise same day shipping because of the nature of our business. Nonetheless, we try, and usually succeed the meeting this goal.

To make this enumerated story shorter, I told him that I would refund the $10 (which we did) and suggested that he might want to go somewhere else to buy tools in the future.

I understand his frustration at not getting his order when he thought that he would, for the price he expected. However, I have also been in business long enough to know that even companies with the best intentions cannot always meet the expectations of every customer.

Could I have handled the call better? Absolutely! Anyone who has ever dealt with us know that we make a lot of effort trying to provide the best service possible to our customers, many of whom need significant help selecting tools. I do not know know if you have ever called one of the bigger tool houses and asked for application help, but I have. While most folks are polite and try to get you pointed in the right direction, they do not use the tools themselves and can only offer somewhat generic advice. We have a testing lab with a CNC router whose only reason for existence is cutting (or tryign to cut) any material that is thrown at us. That is why the customer service people here can usually provide pretty accurate guidance when it comes to using our tools. That is also why hundreds of customers have sent of samples of wood, plastic, animal bone, exotic metals, and composites for us to test.

In any case, that is what happened. I am sorry that it ended on such a sour note.

P.S. I realize that Scott's name is actually Steve. We used Scott as it's what his username here is.

[Mike Package]

I ordered a .023 fret slotting bit from Precisebits.com. When I opened the box, the tip had been broken off. While I didn't get them impression that they were thrilled about replacing it (who would be??), they shipped out a replacement free of charge the next day. I will definitely order from them in the future. The near future, actuallly - I need collets and bits for my Stinger.

[Brandon MacDougall]

I ordered bits from them and was happy with the service.

[Dan Hintz]

John/Ron,

Thanks for the viewpoint from the other side of the coin.

I suppose my one nagging issue with this is a customer felt he was treated in a way less than befitting a company of PB's stature, and when he chose to express his displeasure in a respectful manner, he was greeted with an air of indifference. It's great that you were willing to refund the extra money in the end, but in my opinion you should have eaten the extra shipping cost so it was completely transparent to Steve.

I know, it sounds a bit harsh... no company wants to lose money for a customer's immediate need or lack of planning, but despite a lack of a promise to get it out that same day, I think there's a certain level of expectation here. It was obvious from the phone call Steve was in desperate need of the item, and I cannot imagine you had no idea how backed up your shop currently was... if you could not spare the 10-15 minutes to pull an item from the shelf and ship it, this should have been made absolutely clear to Steve's father on the phone, letting them know it would most likely NOT ship out that day, and it would be in their best interest to ship it next day air.

The situation was not ideal on either end, but when a customer calls to complain (assuming they're not a raving lunatic with unrealistic expectations, something I don't believe was the case here), it's an opportunity to learn from prior mistakes as well as build an even stronger bond with that customer. I think a "PB went out of their way for me!" thread would go over 100 times better than "Anyone else had issues with PB?", even if it cost you $10. I'm not suggesting eat $10 on every order, but I think the appropriate cases are pretty obvious, and this was probably one of them.

Spending 20 minutes on the phone with someone to help them get through a problem screams great customer service... and it's promptly wiped away by telling a rational customer with a(n at least half-)valid complaint they should shop elsewhere. Hopefully we can consider this a one-time, having-a-bad-day event and move on to cutting chips...

Enjoy!

[james mcgrew]

i been kinda holding off on this as the collets and nuts i recieved from precise are of excellent quality !!! about a year ago i called as the wrench (to me) leaves a lot to be desired, the handle of the wrench is a bout 60% as long as the porter cable supplied wrenches and is also a "high precision fit" that to me is a hair tight, i feel it could be a bit thicker and fit the nut as such, i called precision to see if there were any other possibility's for a wrench, i remember well feeling like i had inconvienced the person (male) i spoke to at precise bits and he was very short with me, the only info he gave me was they were based on er20 specs and i could look elsewhere fo a wrench like i wanted. i never felt calling them again would be a good idea,

i guess the moral of this is, order online and stay off the phone

i ordered er20 wrenches from another source, they do not fit the precise collet nut.

jim

[Scott Shepherd]

John, thanks for actually caring enough to ask what you can do to make it right. I'm not sure what to tell you. I was told by the owner to buy my bits from someone else. So that's out of my hands and into yours. Saying you are sorry it happened is nice, but if the owner told me not to buy bits from him, I have no control over that, so I can't tell you what would make it better.

Here was my point to Ron, which he didn't seem to care about or understand. If I order something 2nd day air, to the customer, that means I'll get my package in 2 days. If I order something next day air, that means I'll get it the next day. However, if I order 2nd day air from you and you wait and ship it 5 days later, then the 2nd day air part was really nothing more than a complete waste of my (your customer) money. Likewise, if I order something next day air, and you wait 4 days to ship it, and then still ship it next day air, I still got it in 5 days. Do you see my point? So allowing me to pick 2nd day air and then you not shipping it that day actually just cancelled out my needing to 2nd day air it. So instead, I now have to pony up for next day air to get it.

I think if you look at my post and Ron's response, you'll see there's not a lot of difference in them, which is a good thing.

However, a couple of points I'd like to correct about Ron's response. First, it was not my Dad that called to speak to him, it was me. I was the one that called. My Dad doesn't run the router and knows nothing about the bits or your company. He did call you back because you left a message for him at the billing phone number on the card that was used to order them, rather than calling the shipping address number where we work. He then called you the next morning to get a FedEx tracking number. So it was me that spoke with you from the very beginning.

There was no "20 minute conversation helping me select the right tools". I told you I wanted to place and order and you told me I needed to do it online, not on the phone. I told you that I was a new customer and I didn't understand some of the terminology used on the cutters (the "ring" and bushing" aspect of it), which he cleared right up. The call lasted 6 minutes. You can see the attachment below for a record from my VoIP call log. 6 minutes. Not 20. So no in depth consultation trying to help me select the right bit for the application. We were not "cutting a material our shop hasn't cut before", we were cutting Corian, which we have cut many times, we just had some small text and needed a small cutter to get into the smaller areas of the text.

He did leave out the part where he told me when I called back to complain about the shipping cost not being what he told us, that if I called most companies and told them I needed something shipped out today, they would tell me to "Get Smoked". I've not heard that phrase before, but apparently it meant that if I asked for a cutter to ship out the same day, most companies would tell me to forget it.

I order cutters from other companies and I've never had anyone tell me to "get smoked". In fact, every company I have ever ordered from has been happy to get my business and treated me with respect and like I was a value to their business, even when we have issues come up, as we all will have in this business.

It's not about how you handle all the orders that go right, it's about how you handle the one's that go wrong that show your character, and telling someone to buy their cutters from someone else says a lot of me.