TEF responds:
TEF Apr 6, 4:19 pm show options

Newsgroups: rec.woodworking
From: "TEF" - Find messages by this author
Date: Wed, 6 Apr 2005 19:19:37 -0400
Local: Wed, Apr 6 2005 4:19 pm
Subject: Woodcraft Store
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I don't get it. It would appear that many of the responder to this
thread
have some vested interest in Woodcraft. There seems to be all kinds of

justifications put forth as to why this store fails to have what Gerald

wants to purchase. Some are even critical of the guy for not calling
ahead.
As I understand it, Woodcraft is a specialty store for the woodworking
community. Therefore, to say that stocking a dovetail jig is something

extraordinary seems to be an odd defense.

OK. How about someone who doesn't have a vested interest in Woodcraft,
to the point of despising some of the people in the corporate offices?
If you've got much of a drive to make, it only makes sense to call
ahead. There is no way on earth to know if any particular dovetail jig
is on hand without asking, and if you're setting up 5-6 gallons of gas
and a couple hours time, it's foolish to take a chance. Most of these
stores, the franchises, are of moderate size. They can only stock so
many items of each kind. How many types of dovetail jigs can you name,
off-hand? P-C, OK. Whoops, also the P-C OmniJig (I think that still
comes in two sizes). Leigh. Keller (several of those). Akeda. The list
goes on. Should there be a dozen each in the back end of each of 60+
stores each day, every day?

If you have three and both sell within three days, what the hell. Just
go ahead and have corporate FedEx three more. Freight costs are
nominal. My butt.

Stocking "a" dovetail jig isn't extraordinary, but selling them isn't
either, which means stock does get depleted. Only a person interested
in a long drive on a nice day should go to buy one without calling
first.

Another point: this is not always the franchisee's fault. It is quite
possible for corporate to under-order tems, to misjudge the demand over
a particular period of time for any particular item. In fact, if
profits are considered, it's a lot better to under-order by a couple
than to over-order by a dozen you have to hang on to, only to get stuck
with the dozen when a new model is introduced. And that doesn't mention
the warehouse space used or not used.

Keeping enough stock on hand, but not too much, is a complex subject.
In fact, I'm pretty sure MBAs work pretty hard figuring it out for
class papers. It's not just a matter of loading up shelves. It's a
matter of budgets for product, space, rate of sale, predicted rate of
sale and much else.

There are two things I don't understand: why the OP didn't call ahead;
why the OP didn't just ask to have it shipped to his home.

"Charlie Self" wrote:


OK. How about someone who doesn't have a vested interest in Woodcraft,
to the point of despising some of the people in the corporate offices?
snip of good info
There are two things I don't understand: why the OP didn't call ahead;
Especially before the second or third trip, after being disappointed
before!! g
why the OP didn't just ask to have it shipped to his home.

--
Alex -- Replace "nospam" with "mail" to reply by email. Checked infrequently.

Ken says...

Dave,
There some people that you simply cannot please, and will find fault
with everything , there life probably reflects this, then there are those,
the majority, that call ahead or come back if the distance is not far. We
have a couple at our store that , when they come in , you hate to wait on
them. Many of our customers are like family , and all are treated that way.

I've been to your store a couple times. The last sales dood that helped
me was indeed very nice. Had a devil of a time finding the place. I'll
bet that Dead End sign does nothing for business. And the traffic...is
almost Chicago-like.

wrote in message
oups.com...
In the past they will order the item and ship it to your door for free.
You just pay the local sales tax.


A nice gesture, but does not always solve the problem. If I want something
shipped and ca wait a few days, I'll probably do it from home and the Lee
Valley web page. Part way through a project I find I need a new widget, or
the bandsaw blade breaks, I usually want it NOW.

In the case of the dovetail jig, it is a purchase that usually has been
thought about for a while and a few extra day makes no difference.
Ed

Also, I've found that they are very helpful calling them. You can
fill out a yellow card and when the item arrives it will be kept in
the back for 30 days so you can pick it up. I can't recall his name,
but a Knoxville Woodcraft employee unstuck my 2-3 morse taper adapter.
He said it was the most difficult adapter he has encountered, but to
have it taken apart made my day. In general, thumbs up to the
Knoxville Woodcraft store!

On 6 Apr 2005 05:16:36 -0700, "Gerald" wrote:

Well, They did it to me again. Went to their store in Knoxville to
purchase an item and for the third time in less than six months, I was
told "sorry, we are out of stock on that item". That should be their
theme song. Don't think they stock anything. I'm done wasting my time
and gas on them.

I too have issues with the Knoxville Woodcraft store. It would not
be so bad if they would notify me via email about a backorder, but
they insist calling me on the phone which I have limited access. Get
their catalog, call them, and ask if the items you want are in stock
before going to their store.

On 6 Apr 2005 05:16:36 -0700, "Gerald" wrote:

Well, They did it to me again. Went to their store in Knoxville to
purchase an item and for the third time in less than six months, I was
told "sorry, we are out of stock on that item". That should be their
theme song. Don't think they stock anything. I'm done wasting my time
and gas on them.

"TEF" wrote:

My message, for reasons I don't know, followed Doug's. However, I am taking
issue to what he said. My point is that Gerald seems to be having problems
buying a dovetailing jig at his Woodcraft store and there seems to be a
great number of responders defending that store. It seems to me that a
store without adequate stock would not be one that would draw a lot of
business particularly when there are alternative places to shop (that even
have better prices).
Probably a valid assumption. And what do you conclude from that
statement and the fact that they do draw a lot of business? I would
conclude that maybe Gerald's experience was unfortunate, but not
validly generalizable to "they don't stock anything."

Moreover, I did not think that a dovetailing jig would
be considered an unusual item if one were operating a woodworker's store.

That's silly. Gerald didn't say that they didn't have any dovetail
jigs, just the particular make and model he wanted. If I go to the
grocery store, I expect them to have breakfast cereal. If they don't
have the 1.65-oz size of Postlogg honey-oat bran squares with
raspberry filling and splenda sweetening that I was looking for, I
don't claim that the grocery store doesn't stock anything!
--
Alex -- Replace "nospam" with "mail" to reply by email. Checked infrequently.

Greetings and salutations....

On Thu, 07 Apr 2005 16:50:07 GMT, "Ken" wrote:

Dave,
There some people that you simply cannot please, and will find fault
with everything , there life probably reflects this, then there are those,
the majority, that call ahead or come back if the distance is not far. We
have a couple at our store that , when they come in , you hate to wait on
them. Many of our customers are like family , and all are treated that way.

Ken at Indy
"Dave Mundt" wrote in message
. ..
Greetings and Salutations....

*snip*

Yea...although I can certainly understand how frustrations
can build up until one has to vent.
Coincidentally, I was listening to a CD of one of my
favorite saterical philosophers, Tom Lehrer, the other day,
and, was reminded of what became one of my favorite sayings
after I stole it from him years ago.
He was talking about one of the great thinkers he
had run across, and, said that, just before the fellow had
been taken away to the Home for the Terminally Confused, he
had opined that "Life is like a sewer. What you get out of
it depends pretty much on what you put into it".
regards
Dave Mundt

P.S. In an odd twist, as I write this, I happened
to surf into C-SPAN2, and, was interested to see that a speech
by the infamous Ward Churchill was on. He does have some
anger issues, it sounds like...and DOES like to focus in
on the failings of humanity to the exclusion of everything
else.
DCM

On Sun, 10 Apr 2005 05:44:00 GMT, (Dave Mundt) wrote:

Greetings and salutations....

.... snip
Coincidentally, I was listening to a CD of one of my
favorite saterical philosophers, Tom Lehrer, the other day,
and, was reminded of what became one of my favorite sayings
after I stole it from him years ago.
He was talking about one of the great thinkers he
had run across, and, said that, just before the fellow had
been taken away to the Home for the Terminally Confused, he
had opined that "Life is like a sewer. What you get out of
it depends pretty much on what you put into it".
regards
Dave Mundt


I liked his satirical songs like "Nicoloi Ivanovitch Lobachevski", a
testament to mis-spent years listing to the Dr. Demento show I guess.


P.S. In an odd twist, as I write this, I happened
to surf into C-SPAN2, and, was interested to see that a speech
by the infamous Ward Churchill was on. He does have some
anger issues, it sounds like...and DOES like to focus in
on the failings of humanity to the exclusion of everything
else.
DCM

If their aims weren't so destructive, you could almost pity people like
Churchill; one can almost be assured that he has very little joy in his
life, or that what little joy he finds is in tearing down what others have
worked so hard to build up.




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The absence of accidents does not mean the presence of safety
Army General Richard Cody
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