Rockler store in Buffalo = No thanks!

[Brian J Austin]

Guys,

I had yet another bad shopping experience @ Rockler. I wrote them an email this time, and I thought I would share it.




Dear Sir or Madam,

I started woodworking as a serious necessity. A few years ago I purchased a home that needed extensive remodeling. When I started I could hardly swing a hammer. Today, I am a competent trim carpenter and general woodworker. I have made entire balustrades, newels and stairs from rough sawn cherry timber. I am proud to say that I made every piece, from the two piece hand rail to the fillet to the moldings myself.
My tools are simple and purchased after serious research and consideration. Some tools, such as my Miller Falls level and my Starrett combination square belonged to my grandfather or father respectively.
However, I am not writing you today to tell you about some tools that I own. I am writing you today so that you can understand my reasons for never stepping foot in one of your stores again.
The straw that broke the camel’s back, so to speak, was on January 24th. I was looking for a protective shroud/dust collector for my older table saw. I was sure that I had seen a device in either your catalogue or one of your competitors. I was at a nearby lumber yard and decided to find and buy that device, or something else that would both trap dust and protect my fingers. I entered the store (Transit Road, Amherst/Buffalo, NY) and began to browse; the store employees were assisting other customers. After some looking thought the store I could not find what I was looking for. By then, an employee whose name I do not know was free and I asked for some help. I told him what I was looking for and why, and asked if Rockler carried such a device. He asked me why I would need it. At first it seemed like an honest question, as a former salesman and current criminal investigator, he seemed to be qualifying me as a customer so that he could find the device that I needed within my budget. I told him that I needed to keep my fingers safe from my saw blade and to assist in dust collection. I informed him that the Exaktor, while the superior solution to my problem, was out of my price range.
He then, in not such direct words, told me that I was an idiot. He told me that the “energy in the dust particles are too great to be captured like that” and “at most I get 30% of my dust particles and I have a 1100 cfm dust collector.” He never asked what my dust collection capabilities were.

Before I walked into the store, I had my mind set that I would by this shroud/guard. I asked again if Rockler had such a device. He again told me that it was not something I would want, nor would I want the “bazooka” that is the Exaktor. I would have asked to speak to the manager, except that I believe that he was right behind this employee when this occurred. He asked me if he could help me with anything else. I forgot about the list in my pocket, which included some items to tune up my new-to-me saw (universal mobile base and power tool safety switch amongst other smaller items like magnetic hold downs and saw blades). He told me to browse around the store if I wanted to. I turned around, walked around for less than a minute and after I decided that I was done at Rockler, I left. I still don’t know if Rockler has what I want.
Previously at Rocker I wanted to buy a plate for my router that my father had used and handed down to me. Instead of pointing me to the plate I needed, the salesman told me that I should update my “Crapsman” router. On another visit I had $500 in my pocket. I wanted a decent 6 inch jointer to pair with my Dewalt 735 thickness planer. I knew the tool that I need was a jointer, I needed to flatten and square 5” square rough sawn stock, for stock that I wanted to keep at that dimension. The salesman instead told me that I needed a Freud glue line rip blade, for a table saw I did not have at the time. I left and purchased a used 6” Jet on Craigslist.
As my skill level increased I always looked at the Rockler catalogue at my father-in-law’s house. I anticipated purchasing tools like a Leigh dovetail jig, or a Porter Cable router motor with lift. While I still anticipate owning these tools in the next six months, I do not anticipate purchasing these tools at Rockler.

Sincerely,

[Brian Effinger]

I'm sorry to hear that you had bad experiences there, and am glad I haven't. I was actually in there that afternoon, not to buy anything, but to ask if any of the employees there belonged to a local wood turning club. None of them were members, but they offered the advice of calling one of the club board members up and asking to attend a meeting before I joined. The time before that, I was in wanting to pick up a piece of router fence that I had ordered. They couldn't find it anywhere, so the owner said I could take one off of the display instead of coming back at a later date. I can say that I have never had a problem with any of their employees.

It sounds like you emailed this to their corporate address, so I would email it directly to that store's owner. His name is Ed, I believe, and the email address is store11@rockler.com.

[Dan Friedrichs]

Hopefully someone will inform their sales staff that when a customer decides he wants to buy something, let him buy it!

[Mike Goetzke]

I had similar bad experiences at my Rockler with one employee and the manager. Don't want to go into details but I stopped shopping there too and within 6-months the store closed. It was sort of sad because a couple of guys that worked there were really nice. Since there are so many internet choices now the personal service is what makes or breaks these retail stores.

[Dave Lehnert]

The Rockler store here in Cincinnati has excellent service. It is a company owned store.
Since woodworking stores are not on every street corner. I think I would have given Rockler the opportunity to make things right. But you kinda closed the door on that saying "I will never step foot in the store again" No reason for them to even try now.

[Greg Cuetara]

sorry to hear about your bad experiences. I have done a lot of shopping at the local rockler here in Maine and have had good luck with both the employees and their merchandise. You do have to get things on sale as they have lots of 25% off coupons.

A few of the employees have been half clueless sometimes when I ask them questions but they are good people to talk to and they do their best to help me.

Do what you need to do and put your dollars in the store where they are deserved.

Greg

[Ken Fitzgerald]

I have shopped in a Rockler one time. 4 or 5 other Creekers and myself invaded the Rockler in Arlington, TX this past June. The crew there put up with our antics and told us multiple times...let them know the next time we were coming and they'd have coffee and donuts waiting for us. I bought my tenoning jig for my table saw there and had it shipped to my home. They treated us well.

[glenn bradley]

My local Rockler is quite good as well. I have been in another Rockler that was not good at all. The Woodcraft up in Folsom was great when I lived there. I re-visited while up there on business; new location, new faces, poor, poor service. My local Lowe's is quite good believe it or not. It is amazing what good management can do for a place; good and bad. I rarely get soured on the whole bushel over a bad apple though. Sometimes, but rarely ;-)

[Greg Pavlov]

That's too bad, Brian, that something like that shouldn't happen, especially in the middle of a project.

I've been in that store a number of times the last several years. There are a few people working there that I very much appreciate who have given me quite a bit of their time and good advice. I've enjoyed going to and being there. I had problems with only one employee, I don't want to go into too many details but they involved a Festool saw & guides that I bought there (the equipment itself was fine, the problems were attitude, incompetence, and mispricing by the employee). I ended up complaining to Rockler and was contacted by the store manager, Ed Joells, within 24 hours, who straightened things out.

[Jim Dunn]

Brian I'm sorry for your troubles at Rockler! But I am happy to say that the Rockler's here in St. Louis is just great.

[Dan Schocke]

Sadly, I've had very similar experiences in the Schaumburg, IL store. I still go there, but I try to avoid their salespeople as much as possible. One thing I've noticed is that they treat me very differently as a 35 year old man than they treat the older gentlemen that shop there. I realize that I don't represent their typical customer, but it's frustrating when they try to tell me "what I really need" (especially when the information they're giving me is clearly not correct). I tend to get the same treatment at the local Woodcraft and other stores with a "more experienced" staff, so for me it's not a Rockler exclusive. The good thing is that woodworking stores rarely hire high-pressure salespeople, so a polite "oh, I'm just browsing" usually lets me get by without much hassle. The down side is when I need help locating something in the store, I'm going to be questioned, lectured, and generally treated like crap. Smile, nod, grab item and proceed to check-out (if they actually do manage to find it). On rare occasions I get treated so poorly that I'll just put whatever I'm carrying back on the shelf and walk out of the store.

One thing that I have learned in the last 10+ years of frequenting the local Rockler and Woodcraft stores is to just not ask them any questions about stationary machines. They may have an employee somewhere on the payroll that knows what they are talking about, but he's usually not the guy that's talking to me. If I'm makng a large purchase like that, I'm going to head to one of the local dealers that specializes in woodworking machinery. They have always been helpful to me -- something I didn't expect as a hobbiest walking into a dealer that mostly sells to industrial types.

--Dan

[Gary Breckenridge]

I think you should have gotten in touch with Rockler corporate first and if you were still unhappy then you should post here.

[Philip Duffy]

Brian, I had a similar experience in San Diego and walked out, leaving a whole pile of pen merchandise on the counter, after a very rude treatment by the sales person. I then wrote an email to Corporate HQ and have received absolutely nothing in the way of acknowledgment. Left a pretty bad taste in my mouth, and there is no similar store in San Diego County.

[John Grossi]

Recently visited Rocklers just north of Pittsburgh for the first time. I had a list of small items on sale, browsed the store and couldn't find anything. With 4 employees, my wife and I, and one other customer, I figured no problem. I asked the wrong employee to help me. He got a few of the items, basically letting me know I was kind of bothering him. Ready to walk out of the store, I went over to my wife. She had asked another employee to help with stain. He was terrific. Wife had just gone over Jeff Jewitt's book and this guy was extremely knowledgeable. Spent almost one hour with us. It turned into a very good experience and am glad we made the 90 minute drive. John

[Chuck Tringo]

The Rockler store here in Cincinnati has excellent service. It is a company owned store.
Since woodworking stores are not on every street corner. I think I would have given Rockler the opportunity to make things right. But you kinda closed the door on that saying "I will never step foot in the store again" No reason for them to even try now.

He did say it was not the first time an employee treated him poorly there...I agree with him entirely, you can only be treated poorly so many times....