Is Wenzloff still in business?

[Jared Withers]

I'm looking for some advise or insight. I made an order with wenzloff back on October 3rd. A month passed without a shipping notification, so I called and spoke with Mike and he explained that he had had some health problems and was just getting caught up. I said no biggie. He said my item was packed and would ship out the next day. After two more weeks of waiting I tried to call again but there was no answer. I have called and emailed weekly for the last month with no response. Meanwhile I've seen updates to his website such as the shipment of a batch of his model 77 saw and a server migration. Now the phone number and address has been removed from their website. Two weeks ago I moved to a new house, so now if he does get around to shipping my order it may not get to me. Repeated attempts to update my shipping address with Wenzloff have gone unanswered.

Does anyone have any insight into mike's situation or know a better means to contact him? I feel like I'm being ignored while other customers are being taken care of. I'm close to filing a fraud complaint with my credit card, but I've read so many positive things about Mike in the past I thought I would ask here first.

Feel free to PM me if you don't want to post publicly. Thanks,

Jared

[Jerome Hanby]

Shipping address changes can be a pain under the best of circumstances. I placed a new order with Meisel hardware, typed in the new address, got email confirmation with the new address and they still shipped it to the old house. They replaced the merchandise quickly with no hassle though and the delay got me out of having to get those toys ready by Christmas <g>.

[Joe A Faulkner]

Lee Valley is still listing their saws. I almost ordered the dovetail saw from them today to take advantage of the free shipping, but in a moment of self-control, talked myself out of it.

[Tony Joyce]

I just received an order last week from July, so patience is a must. He has a great product and very good prices. If you need something quickly you may have to go elsewhere, sorry.

Tony

[Jared Withers]

Tony -- was your credit card charged when you placed your order or when it shipped? The items I ordered were listed as in stock, so I was not expecting a delay due to fabrication.

Thanks.

[Mike Holbrook]

Jared,
I have been through some similar issues. I have most of my order after quite a long wait. I think you have to call Mike. I have talked to him quite a few times. Yes, he has had personal health issues. He also explained to me that he has had a very difficult to diagnose data base issue that has made it very difficult for him to follow up on some, not all of his orders. I know Mike was working on the data base issues and I also understood they were making some changes to their web site. It was my understanding that Mike's email backlog has become hopelessly deep. I think the problem is Mike is trying to fight a battle on multiple fronts while he fights with health issues. I think your best chance to resolve your issue is to keep calling until you get Mike via phone.

[Sean Richards]

I am sure you will get your order eventually. Mr Wenzloff is by all accounts a great guy. However I have not actually ordered anything from him as despite 2-3 emails and a couple of attempts via the web site contact form I have never received a reply.

[Chris Vandiver]

Try calling Mike between 8-9:30am PST and 4-5:00pm PST. That has worked in the past and may work now. Good luck.

[Jared Withers]

Thank you for the tips. Does anybody know his phone number? I did not make note of it and it is now removed from his website.

[Jim Belair]

Thank you for the tips. Does anybody know his phone number? I did not make note of it and it is now removed from his website.

For a phone number you might try contacting Lee Valley customer service even though you didn't buy the saw through them.

[Patrick McCarthy]

the shop was 503.359.5255

my order two years took a long time (the better part of a year) but was worth the wait. I would buy from him again.

Mike is a good guy. It has been my impression he has the best of intentions, but apparently has a lot of balls in the air that he is trying to juggle.

[Chris Griggs]

This message is currently posted on the front of his homepage - I'm guessing it just went up.

"Update to: Well, that went smooth...

OK, the site itself is functioning fine. The data was migrated just fine. However, the email has gotten a bit mucked up. In theory sometime today or early tomorrow we are suppose to be able to get to it and suspect there will be a boat load of email to sort through.
We have the notifications working (mostly) but email is still spotty.
Thank you for your patience."

[Jared Withers]

I tried calling again this morning and his voicemail box is full, so I guess I'm not the only one. I'll have to go to my CC company to get my money back. Thanks for your help.

[Bruno Frontera dela Cruz]

I wonder where the "and sons" are? It is Wenzloff and Sons after all...

This is the problem with sole proprietorship and I empathize with his situation, at the same time however he is still promoting his site as a business and should behave as such.

I have two saws from Mike and they are excellent, I also have two saws from Mark at Bad Axe which are also excellent. That said, it was a bit difficult (not a disaster though) to get the ball rolling and follow up on things with Wenzloff compared to Bad Axe and that was before any known health issues...mark has never gone more than 12 hours without responding to an email or phone call no matter how backed up things were.

[Ryan Griffey]

I waited three months for a half back saw kit and some parts. It was like pulling teeth. However, I was happy once they arrived.

I would have made another order but I'm not willing to deal with the issues at this time. I hope Mike gets things figured out. He is a great toolmaker.