This is small stuff but it really made my day. Have a 10″ empire level with magnets on the bottom. Used to do a lot of gas piping. Some of the mags came off, so I found empires web site. Traded a few emails, and viola a week later new level comes ups. Somewhat restores my faith in people/companies.
Mike
Replies
Well if you want to talk about great cust. service, I want to give a tip of the hat to Alaska Industrial Hardware (Juneau store). My approx. 60 day old Bosch roto-hammer crapped out on me. Middle of a big job- I HAVE TO HAVE A DRILL! Bosch customer service more or less laughs at me and sez send it to somewhere in Calif. I explain the pickle I am in and ask if there is any way to speed things up, they laugh at me again.
I call Alaska Industrial Hardware where I bought it and explain my situation. They say they only do exchanges for 30 days , but we will make an exception. They are the heros.
They have already made a good bit of money off of me and I suspect they will make a lot more in the future.
It's always amazing to me that more places of business don't realize how you remember things like that. Good as well as bad. Mike
I tell ya, that Viola is a great gal. Send her flowers, she deserves it.
Viola is my last name...amazing how many people pronounce it "Voila", however.
Union Tools. I bought their Razorback hand shovel some years ago.GREAT shovel. Cast blade, indestructible in rocky soil (so I thought).Last summer the handle broke and after finding that no one sells them locally, I contacted their main office to try and buy a new handle (the thing is several years old, and seen hard use).They just asked for a photo of the shovel to prove it and they said they'd send me one in a few weeks.A few weeks later, NEW shovel. And I was prepared to pay for a handle. Also, they changed the design where mine had broken. :o)Very nice service DOES stick in your mind. Norm
Yep, and she plays a sweet tune.
I`ll add a quick tale of praise to the thread.
Some years back....when Stanley began their "Contractor Grade" line of hand tools, I purchased a chalk box. The thing was a peice of crap...jammed on me constantly, string broke repeatedly...drove me nuts as I was in need of it daily on the project I was working. Last straw occured up on a roof overlooking the Long Island sound....which is where I tossed the thing in a moment of frustration.
It weren`t a week old....hadn`t kept a reciept....(do you guys keep receipts for similar purchases?). Jumped online when I got home and typed off an irrate Email to Stanley Works. Like you...exchanged a few emails, and within a week there was a box sittin` on my front stoop. Three new chalk boxes of various sizes and a one gallon tub of chalk.
Haven`t hesitated to buy Stanley products since.
J. D. Reynolds
Home Improvements
"DO IT RIGHT, DO IT ONCE"
I've had my Quick Drive Auto Screwgun replaced several times, once upon their solicitation of me! The whole shebang too; case, drivergun, stick and tips.
They have kept me upgraded to their latest greatest and thrown a few boxes of screws, t shirts and hats my way.
I think I am one model behind right now..........I'm waiting for the call.
EricI Love A Hand That Meets My Own,
With A Hold That Causes Some Sensation.
Of course we save those receipts Jaybird! Those receipts are like gold! They are worth at least 30 cents on the dollar.
If you don't want your receipts, pay cash and send them to me.
blueWarning! Be cautious when taking any framing advice from me. Although I have a lifetime of framing experience, all of it is considered bottom of the barrel by Gabe. I am not to be counted amongst the worst of the worst. If you want real framing information...don't listen to me..just ask Gabe!
I`m in the habit of keeping reciepts for major purchases for tax purposes.....the smaller items get totalled but not itemized. Any benefit to itemizing them?J. D. Reynolds
Home Improvements
"DO IT RIGHT, DO IT ONCE"
Jaybird, do you file as an employee, or a business?
Employees have the worst deduction rules and therefore pay a much higher tax rate. It's one of the ironic realities of the tax system. If all the employees actually took advantage of all the business writeoffs by starting their own business, our government would be forced to re-write the code.
In the business world, all small tool expenses reduce the taxable amount by their exact amount. Therefore, any business that is paying taxes in the 28% rate, effectively has Uncle Sam subsidizing their tool purchases by the tax rate. Writing off all legal taxes is the number one (or very close) wealth building prinicple.
Where else can you get a 28% return on your investment, with no risk, simply by saving a receipt and writing the amount into a ledger?
blueWarning! Be cautious when taking any framing advice from me. Although I have a lifetime of framing experience, all of it is considered bottom of the barrel by Gabe. I am not to be counted amongst the worst of the worst. If you want real framing information...don't listen to me..just ask Gabe!
Actually you are forgeting about the SE tax which after adjustments runs about 12% and it is on the first dollar of business income.
Your right Bill! That se tax is 13.4%!
blueWarning! Be cautious when taking any framing advice from me. Although I have a lifetime of framing experience, all of it is considered bottom of the barrel by Gabe. I am not to be counted amongst the worst of the worst. If you want real framing information...don't listen to me..just ask Gabe!
Nothing specific to report at this time, but I remember that Lee Valley is very good to deal with.
Whenever you are asked if you can do a job, tell'em "Certainly, I can!" Then get busy and find out how to do it. T. Roosevelt
Bought a Bosch sawzall a few years back. The machine itself was fantastic but the blade retainer sucked big time. It was lousy, but........I lived with it for almost 2 years. Finally I couldn't stand it anymore, decided I'd fought with it enough. Bought a PC Tiger.
Came home and e-mailed Bosch asking if they would consider redesigning the blade retainer,......told them I just couldn't use their sawzall anymore. They said that they had just redesigned an enire line of tools, send my saw back to them and they'd exchange it for the new model.
Did just that, got the RS 20 model, so far so good.
Is there any other company out there that would exchange an almost 2 yr old saw?
I bet not many.
Rod
Bought a new Johnson LASER level a while ago at a big box. Got it home, took the case out of the carboard sleeve, and promptly broke one of the latches on the tool case while opening it for the first time.
Got online, found Johnson Level and Tool, fired off an e-mail asking for a new latch. This was about 2:30pm.
NEXT DAY a whole new tool case shows up by FEDEX first thing in the morning. A little later that day an e-mail came in confirming they'd be sending me a new case because they didn't have any replacement latches in stock....
Man, that's fast.
Dinosaur
'Y-a-tu de la justice dans ce maudit monde?
Pop in a nice $400 Grohe faucet, turn it on and urf, water just dribbles out. Go to the website Sunday nite to poke around and notice a "feedback" link. I click it and write a letter stating how the faucet is great but well water pressure is low and how do I remove the flow reducer?
Get a reply Monday asking for my address. Got 2 new high flow elements in the mail before the end of the week! Yes - I sent a thank-you note......
Duluth trading company.
I ordered some tee shirts. Those long tailed jobbers.
They fit great.
I was concerned about shrinkage.
And the pocket is like right in the center of the chest.
Apparently their manufacturer puts the pocket an exact distance from the center of the shirt, and it stays right there, no matter what size the shirt is. Therefore, it looks like it is right in the middle of the shirt, when I put the shirt on.
I wrote them an email.
Told them, first of all, I was happy with the quality of the shirt.
That the fit was perfect, but I was concerned about shrinkage. (Then made a point that that was not a complaint, because that is something to be expected.)
Then, again telling them clearly that this was not a complaint... I asked if they would consider having the manufacturer move the pocket to the side, incrementally consistant with size, as the size of the shirt goes up.
I ended the email, telling them that this email was not meant in any way to be a complaint. I was happy with my purchase. That it was just a suggestion.
They sent me three more tees at no charge...
They emailed me back to say they were going to, and I told them not to. That I was happy with the purchase. They sent the tees anyway.
THAT is intention to please a customer.
:)
...
(No word on the pocket thing, but having twice as many of the tees sure made it easier to start wearing them for work, BEFORE they got their first stain. LOL)
(And BTW: guys, when you see me in so many pics with the same green tees on... now you know why. LOL YES it is a clean shirt !! *g*)
The person you offend today, may have been your best friend tomorrow
"I was concerned about shrinkage."Aren't we all, Luka...
Jon Blakemore
Where is the SE tax 13.4%? I thought it was FICA x2. That would make it 15.75%. Unless my tax person has been lying to me.Small receipts really add up, so keep them and come up with a system for organizing them, by job, customer, month, whatever works. You'll be surprised at the amount in just one month. I do something similar with pocket change, since I hat carrying it around. At the end of the day, I put it in a jar. When the jar is full enough, I take it to the bank for them to count and gimme the cash.
"I cut this piece four times and it's still too short."
"Where is the SE tax 13.4%? I thought it was FICA x2. That would make it 15.75%. Unless my tax person has been lying to me."Except you don't pay taxes on the "employer" half. So that is taken as a decuction on the front of the 1040.So the effective rate is less.
DOH!
"I cut this piece four times and it's still too short."
Highfish, you might be right....I haven't looked at the taxrates in a long time and I pulled that number out of my membory. Bill Hartman is making a good point about deducting the employer half, but that wasn't what I was thinking. I
I also never look at my paycheck! Mama won't let me.
blueWarning! Be cautious when taking any framing advice from me. Although I have a lifetime of framing experience, all of it is considered bottom of the barrel by Gabe. I am not to be counted amongst the worst of the worst. If you want real framing information...don't listen to me..just ask Gabe!
I have also had very good luck with AIH here in Kenai. Which is suprising considering the trouble that the owner is in. When I was working in Anchorage last year the plumber was telling me that he would just walk in to the store grab a bunch of money out of the till then leave. Nobody would know how much he took but they all knew what he was spending it on.
Dave