Here's the thing, I was very excited about getting my lathe, and very
irritated when I wasn't getting it. Not having a lathe, I figured I
could at least whine about not having a lathe. Maybe you are used to
getting tragic customer service, I am not. None the less, I was
pretty clear about the fact that I know there are issues when shopping
for the cheapest. I also thought I mentioned that part of the reason
I bothered to write was I had not read other stories about problems,
and figured I would offer up mine.

What precisely is your issue? I assume you have a lathe, yet have
nothing better to do then get your panties in a wad over my shipping
issues? Seriously....ease up on the alcohol, deal with your rage
issues, and for God's Sake....stay away from sharp objects and
firearms.

To everyone else, thanks for your feedback. I still can't get through
to Homier, and I haven't bothered to try the direct numbers you gave
me. I will probably just wait it out because I don't want a 7x10
lathe for $329, nor do I want a 7x12 lathe for $499. For the
record....I am absolutely a cheapskate, and have never spent $300 on
Thanksgiving Dinner.

Thanks,
M.



"turnitdown" wrote in message thlink.net...
Another handwringing cheapskate from that 7 X 10 mini lathe group- These
guys post on endlessly about buying one for 299.99 or 314.95 and then make a
big drama if the thing does't show up exactly on schedule. Once in their
hands they scrutinize the thing like it was a 500,000 CNC mill and moan
about backlash, flex, runout and everthing else that no reasonable person
would criticize in a machine that costs about as much as a family
Thanksgiving day dinner.
Hey guys, if you want quality and service step up and pay the price- if you
are a bottom feeder worrying over the 15.00 price difference get real and
stop the moaning.

"Michael David Lay" wrote in message
om...
I am sure others have experienced similiar problems, but I want to
post my story because I did my homework, did the research, to watch
out for this exact situation.

I decided I wanted a lathe, did some looking around, a lot of reading,
checked out the very EXCELLENT www.mini-lathe.com, and ordered my
Homier 7x12 Mini Lathe for $299, plus $63 in shipping. That was last
Wednesday. Thursday morning my order shows some pending status, the
money had been charged to my card...gone, no longer in my possession,
in Homiers hands. Thursday afternoon my order shows waiting to be
picked up by Fed Ex, good...we are on track. Friday morning, still
waiting to be picked up, same that afternoon. Finally I called to
find out what the hold up was, and after a very long wait on hold, the
lady explained it was waiting to be picked up by Fed Ex, thanks, but I
knew that. I wanted to make sure, so I asked, "is it on backorder?".
No, it should go out today she says. All weekend, still shows waiting
to be picked up by Fed Ex.

Monday comes, and suddenly my order shows the item on Backorder! Odd,
my payment to them wasn't back ordered, they had my money, I had no
indication from them that there would be a problem, but now there was.
I started calling to find out when it might not be on back order, the
line was busy, called again, busy, again, busy...you get the idea.
Called again, it rings....I spend a long time on hold, then....I got
to voice mail, so I can leave a message for someone to call me back.
That's irritating, I thought. Left a message, left my cell number, no
call back. Called again, same thing, waited a long time on hold, just
so I could leave a message....give me a break! Did I mention, I sent
some e-mails through the customer service section of their website
while I was spending all this time on hold. Did I get a response?
Nope.

Now, I have no lathe, they have my money, they apparently don't want
to talk to me to either give my money back or at least tell me when I
might get the friggin lathe.

Look, I live in the middle of no where, so mail order is my only real
option, and I am not naive, I don't expect stellar customer service
when shopping for the best deal in town. I don't really even mind
having to wait longer for the lathe, it was after all $29 dollars
cheaper then the closest competitor. I realize that to sell this
cheaply they can only afford a staff of 2.3 people for their entire
operation, and their order server is a souped up Commodore 64, but
geez.....

I did find one post that talked about this problem from a cached post
from Homiers own forum. This was from a year ago, and their response
was that the problem should be fixed in their new system by 3rd
quarter 2003. I think they did not make that deadline.

So, just wanted to know if others had experienced this problem, and if
anyone new when I might get my lathe?

Sorry for the length of this post, but as I don't have my lathe yet I
don't have anything to do but complain.

P.S. I just checked again, and the status of availability for this
lathe on their website has gone from good to limited. That is an
understatement.