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.

"Gerald" wrote in message
oups.com...
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.

Don't know about you, but I usually phone a someone first to see if they
have what I want in stock.

"Upscale" wrote in message
...
"Gerald" wrote in message
oups.com...
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.

Don't know about you, but I usually phone a someone first to see if they
have what I want in stock.



Depends on the item. Do you phone ahead to the grocery store to see if they
have hot dogs? Bread?

If you are talking about Danish oil, sandpaper, a 1/4" Forstner bit, I
expect they will have it in stock. Replacement blades for a 15 year old
discontinued planer, different story. Twice I wanted to get a set of Cool
Blocks and the local store was out of them. I asked about it and was told
"they go out as fast as they come in". I suggested they order more. I was
given a strange look as though they never thought of that.

Let's see on my last three trips: Cool blocks, 18" drawer glides, 2 of 4
handles I wanted.

In article .com, "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.

Is your phone broken?

--
Regards,
Doug Miller (alphageek at milmac dot com)

Nobody ever left footprints in the sands of time by sitting on his butt.
And who wants to leave buttprints in the sands of time?

Whether one phones or not is still not an excuse for a poorly stocked store.
It would seem to me that if something sells well, the merchant would either
reorder with more frequency or purchase larger quantities. Even if one does
call before making the trip to the store, what is the point of a business
that is chronically understocked? If this happens often, I certainly can
appreciate Doug's disappointment with his Woodcraft store.


"Doug Miller" wrote in message
. com...
In article .com,
"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.

Is your phone broken?

--
Regards,
Doug Miller (alphageek at milmac dot com)

Nobody ever left footprints in the sands of time by sitting on his butt.
And who wants to leave buttprints in the sands of time?

This is a catch 22 situation for everyone...the store and the
customer.....in a perfect world the store would have everything you
desire and lots of it in stock. I can tell you from experience, the
store will always be out of some things. You try to keep your
inventory dollars at a respectabvle level and not have you inventory
get out of control, but you try to stock for your customer's needs. It
is hard to do, and then your supplier shorts you or they are
backordered and the problem gets worse. If I am making a special trip,
I will call first.

I always enjoy going to visit and see the store anyway. If they do
not have it in stock, my WoodCraft store will ordered it and ship it to
me at no shipping charge.

Try treating the store and the employees as you wish to be treated. As
an employee, we hate being out of stock as well.

Mike

I too am an employee, it is as Mike says, but no one hears about the 200
satisfied customers that come thru the doors daily. We , as employees do
not like to send a customer away empty handed, but it does happen.

Ken in Indy


wrote in message
oups.com...
This is a catch 22 situation for everyone...the store and the
customer.....in a perfect world the store would have everything you
desire and lots of it in stock. I can tell you from experience, the
store will always be out of some things. You try to keep your
inventory dollars at a respectabvle level and not have you inventory
get out of control, but you try to stock for your customer's needs. It
is hard to do, and then your supplier shorts you or they are
backordered and the problem gets worse. If I am making a special trip,
I will call first.

I always enjoy going to visit and see the store anyway. If they do
not have it in stock, my WoodCraft store will ordered it and ship it to
me at no shipping charge.

Try treating the store and the employees as you wish to be treated. As
an employee, we hate being out of stock as well.

Mike

"Ken" writes:
I too am an employee, it is as Mike says, but no one hears about the
200 satisfied customers that come thru the doors daily.

Ok, then, I was a satistied customer today! Of course, I just picked
up some hose clamps and a 5" to 4" adapter that just HAPPENED to show
up in the store yesterday - new product from Delta and all, and just
what I needed! What I went *in* for was a 4" splice to try to build
such an adapter, since our Woodcraft doesn't normally carry stuff for
5" hose.

We , as employees do not like to send a customer away empty handed,
but it does happen.

Our Woodcraft carries heavy iron too. I got a Delta X5 planer a month
or so ago, and they had five in the back, so no shortage there.

But you can always buy clamps if nothing else ;-)

on 4/6/2005 8:41 AM TEF said the following:
Whether one phones or not is still not an excuse for a poorly stocked store.
It would seem to me that if something sells well, the merchant would either
reorder with more frequency or purchase larger quantities. Even if one does
call before making the trip to the store, what is the point of a business
that is chronically understocked? If this happens often, I certainly can
appreciate Doug's disappointment with his Woodcraft store.

What is the point of discussing this if we're going to do so with
incomplete information?

That Gerald didn't call to check to see if the item was in stock before
he went is his "bad." Pure and simple. More so if he traveled a great
distance. If he was already in the neighborhood and "just stopped by,"
what the hell's the big deal?

"They don't have anything" is pure, unadulterated bulls**t. It's
hyperbole that means absolutely nothing to me but that the OP doesn't
know what the hell he's talking about. If they have nothing would their
doors be open to the public and would they be paying an employee to tell
somebody "sorry, that's out of stock?"

We don't know what he was looking for. Was it a couple booked sheets of
Birdseye Maple veneer? Was it a certain, not terribly popular hinge?
Or, perhaps the opposite? A very popular item that was in their sale
flyer that week? Hell, we don't even know - from Gerald's post - if it
was the same item in each instance.

So, there you have it. We don't know just how put out Gerald has a
right to be. We don't know if the store is "chronically" understocked.
All we really know is that he never bothered to check before making the
trek.

There's really nothing wrong with not calling to check stock before
going in to make a purchase. It's just that it seems a tad whiney to
bitch about it later.

One further point, since Woodcraft is a franchise operation I don't
think it fair for anyone to view all stores in this light. I know I
won't be patronizing the Knoxville store - not even if they were selling
brand new Unisaws for $1,000 out the door. But that's only because that
particular store's not close by.

Unquestionably Confused wrote:
One further point, since Woodcraft is a franchise operation I don't
think it fair for anyone to view all stores in this light. I know I
won't be patronizing the Knoxville store - not even if they were selling
brand new Unisaws for $1,000 out the door. But that's only because that
particular store's not close by.


I'm with you. Frankly, I can't remember ever leaving the local (Matthews, NC)
Woodcraft store empty handed. I have on occasion had to wait for something to
come in, but I've initiated those transactions by phone first. They're
excellent about calling when the stuff gets there.

Most recently, it was about a selection of bandsaw blades for my 18" Rikon
(which I bought from them). Since they only recently began selling the saw,
they didn't have any spare blades when I first bought it... but they had been
ordered. They called me when they came in, but I put them off. Then I went to
get them the day they put the whole store at 15% off. I picked up a 3/8" and a
1 1/4" blade made by Timberwolf.

In the Charlotte area, they have a nicer selection than the Klingspor shop which
is closer to me. In any case, I always call before I go, and if they have it, I
ask them to put it aside for me if I'm coming out that day.



--
Mortimer Schnerd, RN

VE

Of course they are poorly stocked, just like my local Woodcraft store
is. At those prices they cannot afford to put too much into the
overhead. Thats the result of overpricing, ie: pricing yourself out of
the market. Sure for the most part the quality is excellent, however
many of us on a budget simply cannot afford to shop there for everything
we need.
John

TEF wrote:
Whether one phones or not is still not an excuse for a poorly stocked store.
It would seem to me that if something sells well, the merchant would either
reorder with more frequency or purchase larger quantities. Even if one does
call before making the trip to the store, what is the point of a business
that is chronically understocked? If this happens often, I certainly can
appreciate Doug's disappointment with his Woodcraft store.

John DeBoo wrote:

Of course they are poorly stocked, just like my local Woodcraft store
is. At those prices they cannot afford to put too much into the
overhead. Thats the result of overpricing, ie: pricing yourself out of
the market. Sure for the most part the quality is excellent, however
many of us on a budget simply cannot afford to shop there for everything
we need.
John

TEF wrote:

Whether one phones or not is still not an excuse for a poorly stocked
store.
It would seem to me that if something sells well, the merchant would
either
reorder with more frequency or purchase larger quantities. Even if
one does
call before making the trip to the store, what is the point of a business
that is chronically understocked? If this happens often, I certainly can
appreciate Doug's disappointment with his Woodcraft store.

I was in the market for the Delta Unisaw some time ago and, given its
size, and my lack of a truck, wanted it delivered. There was a
woodworker's warehouse (now defunct) about 8 miles up the road. I asked
about delivery, offering to pay, and wait. The manager had no interest
in selling it to me.
The Woodcraft store manager warned me of a 10% off coupon in the flier
coming in another week, saving me $160, and only accepted $50 to drive
1-1/2 hrs round trip and spent an hour helping me unbox and set it up.
For service like that, I don't think I'd look to save the last dollar on
a purchase.

Somehow, the attitude in Woodcraft always seemed more pleasant than the
other places.
JOE

John DeBoo says...

Of course they are poorly stocked, just like my local Woodcraft store
is. At those prices they cannot afford to put too much into the
overhead. Thats the result of overpricing, ie: pricing yourself out of
the market. Sure for the most part the quality is excellent, however
many of us on a budget simply cannot afford to shop there for everything
we need.
John

Woodcraft prices aren't that bad. If not Woodcraft or Rockler, where
can you really go? Local stores, if there are any, are likely to be
even pricier and big box stores don't stock high quality woodworking
tools and supplies. I'll admit Minwax finishes and Stanley hand tools
are are OK for some things, but where else do you go to get dye stains,
Waterlox, a marking gauge, a scraper burnisher, or a good water stone?
If you can find Deft brush on lacquer at a box store, it might be $1
cheaper than Woodcraft. Big deal. I'm glad we have Rockler and
Woodcraft.

I've had really good luck using that there Internet email thing, Copy and
paste the item from the website into an email, go to the store locator and
grab the standard 'city name'-retail email address and usually have an
answer back within 1/2 an hour as long as I don't send it at lunchtime..

It used to be that stores had "stock rooms". No more. It's a Fed
Ex/UPS society that we live in now.

Stock in the back = tied up cash and we just can't have that. The
stores try and keep stock as small as possible. There are still a few
stores that stock some items, but for the most part, they go on an
order it when sombody asks policy.

Same reason your customer service drops off the chart when the holidays
are over. Gotta cut that overhead. Come on, they have to free up the
money so they can pay their CEO's.

I do agree with the fella's above, call ahead if you're heading in for
something in particular. WoodCraft has always been great that way for
me too.

"bremen68" writes:


It used to be that stores had "stock rooms". No more. It's a Fed
Ex/UPS society that we live in now.

Stock in the back = tied up cash and we just can't have that. The

They free up cash by not stocking stuff and then spend all that cash
paying huge shipping bills for overnight delivery.

A lot of stores lose my business by not having stuff in stock, or not
carrying it at all. Sure, the store can order it, but so can I and
probably for less money.

Brian Elfert

Brian Elfert wrote:

"bremen68" writes:

It used to be that stores had "stock rooms". No more. It's a Fed
Ex/UPS society that we live in now.

Stock in the back = tied up cash and we just can't have that. The

They free up cash by not stocking stuff and then spend all that cash
paying huge shipping bills for overnight delivery.

A lot of stores lose my business by not having stuff in stock, or not
carrying it at all. Sure, the store can order it, but so can I and
probably for less money.

Actually, they conserve cash flow in order to be able to do other things
such as pay the light bill, rent or the mortgage, salaries, benefits,
....

It's only a prudent way to do business. Some high volume items pay to
keep in stock, sure, but it's financially impossible to maintain
inventory of high-ticket or low-turnover items.

When lowest-initial-cost wasn't the overriding consideration w/ many
customers, it was possible to be able to do some things that simply
can't be done any longer if one wishes to stay in business. The
occasional loss of sale to the "you don't have it so I'll order online"
is a cost that can't be made up for because there are too many who order
online irrespective of onhand stock simply to save a few bucks on sales
tax and wouldn't patronize the brick-n-mortar store even if it had
everything they wanted if it were a nickel per item more.

Duane Bozarth writes:

It's only a prudent way to do business. Some high volume items pay to
keep in stock, sure, but it's financially impossible to maintain
inventory of high-ticket or low-turnover items.

A lot of items I've tried to buy and were out of stock at local stores are
medium to high volume stuff, not something that would collect dust for a
year. Some stores have back stock, but most are what you see is what you
get.

I wouldn't expect a woodworking store to stock a Unisaw unless they are a
machinery dealer.

Some of the items aren't worth online ordering due to shipping, but some
are.

Brian Elfert

On 6 Apr 2005 05:16:36 -0700, the inscrutable "Gerald"
spake:

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.

Gerald, you could have called the store to check stock before driving
any distance. I made that mistake once with Harbor Freight and won't
again. (50 mile r/t) Whatever you do, call the store manager and give
him your gripes. If it was he to whom you talked in Knoxville, call
corporate instead and give them the story. They have a reputation to
keep up and if he isn't doing his share, they need to know.


--------------------------------------------
Proud (occasional) maker of Hungarian Paper Towels.
http://www.diversify.com Comprehensive Website Design
================================================== ====

Well, I'll take the ding for not calling ahead and checking to see if
they had the item in stock, but three times in a row tells me they
stock very little of anything. And it was a Porter Cable Dovetail Jig.

"Gerald" wrote in message
oups.com...
Well, I'll take the ding for not calling ahead and checking to see if
they had the item in stock, but three times in a row tells me they
stock very little of anything. And it was a Porter Cable Dovetail Jig.

I have overheard workers at my local Woodcraft complaining about slow
delivery of PC stock. Exactly how true this may be is hard to say.
But, I would not assume that they or anybody else has PC gear instock.
Jim

"Gerald" wrote in message
Well, I'll take the ding for not calling ahead and checking to see if
they had the item in stock, but three times in a row tells me they
stock very little of anything. And it was a Porter Cable Dovetail Jig.

I guess it depends on the type of store one goes into, so I wouldn't think
that dovetail jigs are that popular a woodworking tool for the average home
owner. Saws, drills, hammers, etc. could be considered commodity items for
joe woodworker, but not a dovetail jig. I agree with you however, if a store
regularly doesn't have what I want, whatever it is, it soon gets dropped off
my 'like to visit' list.

"Gerald" wrote:

Well, I'll take the ding for not calling ahead and checking to see if
they had the item in stock, but three times in a row tells me they
stock very little of anything. And it was a Porter Cable Dovetail Jig.

All three times?

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

In article .com, "Gerald" wrote:
Well, I'll take the ding for not calling ahead and checking to see if
they had the item in stock, but three times in a row tells me they
stock very little of anything.

A conclusion not supported by the evidence. A conclusion better supported by
the evidence is that they don't stock what you're looking for.

And it was a Porter Cable Dovetail Jig.

They probably don't stock more than a couple of those anyway. All it would
take is to sell two of them in one week, and bang! They're out of stock until
the next truck comes in.

--
Regards,
Doug Miller (alphageek at milmac dot com)

Nobody ever left footprints in the sands of time by sitting on his butt.
And who wants to leave buttprints in the sands of time?

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. While I like some stores in the
chain (especially the one in Manchester, CT and not the one in Pittsburgh,
PA), it does not seem to be a discount operation. However, one
theoretically can buy something immediately and walk out the door with it.
By contrast, Amazon and other websites offers many of the same items (often
for much less), but one has to wait for an item to be shipped. If a store
offers neither inventory nor cheap prices, what marketing niche is it
supposed to fill and why would one continue to shop there?

"Doug Miller" wrote in message
om...
In article .com,
"Gerald" wrote:
Well, I'll take the ding for not calling ahead and checking to see if
they had the item in stock, but three times in a row tells me they
stock very little of anything.

A conclusion not supported by the evidence. A conclusion better supported
by
the evidence is that they don't stock what you're looking for.

And it was a Porter Cable Dovetail Jig.

They probably don't stock more than a couple of those anyway. All it would
take is to sell two of them in one week, and bang! They're out of stock
until
the next truck comes in.

--
Regards,
Doug Miller (alphageek at milmac dot com)

Nobody ever left footprints in the sands of time by sitting on his butt.
And who wants to leave buttprints in the sands of time?

on 4/6/2005 6:19 PM TEF said the following:
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

[snip] Vested interest? You a troll?

Reminds me of a story about the guy who walks into a store and asks for
a sabre saw and is told they don't carry any. Then he asks for a
cordless drill battery and they DON'T have that either. He starts
getting testy about this and the guy behind the counter asks "You Polish
or what?"

Naturally this really torques the customer up a notch who demands "What
the hell does that have to do with it? All I want is a sabre saw and
damn drill battery. And, yes, I AM Polish as if it's any of your business."

"Thought so," said the clerk, "This is a butcher shop!"

The OP's bitch might have more meaning if he HAD called in and was told
they had one, he'd reserved it, and when he got there it was sold out
from under him. Or, alternatively, he'd specifically asked for the PC
dovetail jig, had been told "Yep, it's here" and upon arrival many miles
later learned they never did have one in stock but were all too ready to
move him up to a Leigh or Incra.

I don't care WHAT their business plan looks like. No one store can be
all things to all people nor can they stock (or keep in stock) every
single item their target customer base is likely to want.

The fact that Woodcraft, or Rockler's, or Sear's for crapsake, doesn't
have a certain item in stock tells me less about them than does the fact
that somebody is getting their shorts in a knot because they want
something so bad but can't order it or call before driving far enough to
get them ****ed off because it's not sitting on a shelf with their name
on it. That, when you think about it, speaks volumes. Much like the
poster the other day who was ranting about Shop Fox not having a
distributor less than 30 minutes from his doorstep.

Whomever wrote that "you can't please everybody" certainly had a passing
acquaintance with some of these folks.

"TEF" writes:

I don't get it. It would appear that many of the responder to this thread
have some vested interest in Woodcraft.

I have no vested interest, but
1) The store near me claims to have 80% of what is in their catalog
2) 80% of the catalog cannot be purchased in any other local store.


--
Sending unsolicited commercial e-mail to this account incurs a fee of
$500 per message, and acknowledges the legality of this contract.

Try talking to someone at Amazon or for that matter any online order house
about a set up problem or what am I doing wrong. You'll get a recording.
Most employees at Woodcraft are woodworkers, and work there for discounts.
They don't profess to keep everything in stock that they have in their
catalogs, but they come real close.

As for the Porter Cable dovetail jigs. He probably for got to say that
is was the brand new jig, just out, and that all sources were limited to
quantities. We ordered 12 and got 7 who's fault is that ? We finally got
every body satisfied and went on to the next hot item. Calling ahead is
good. Each store has a set reorder point, if some one comes in and buys
everything that the store has, it is reordered on the next Tuesday. If
someone thinks ahead and calls us for a certain quantity of one certain
hinge we will make sure that we order extra to cover their needs leaving the
store inventory intact.
Don't stop shoping in a store because you are not realistic , before
long you'll be doing all of your shopping somewhere esle and that list will
soon get really short.


Ken in Indy



"TEF" wrote in message
...
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. While I like some stores in the
chain (especially the one in Manchester, CT and not the one in Pittsburgh,
PA), it does not seem to be a discount operation. However, one
theoretically can buy something immediately and walk out the door with it.
By contrast, Amazon and other websites offers many of the same items
(often
for much less), but one has to wait for an item to be shipped. If a store
offers neither inventory nor cheap prices, what marketing niche is it
supposed to fill and why would one continue to shop there?

"Doug Miller" wrote in message
om...
In article .com,
"Gerald" wrote:
Well, I'll take the ding for not calling ahead and checking to see if
they had the item in stock, but three times in a row tells me they
stock very little of anything.

A conclusion not supported by the evidence. A conclusion better supported
by
the evidence is that they don't stock what you're looking for.

And it was a Porter Cable Dovetail Jig.

They probably don't stock more than a couple of those anyway. All it
would
take is to sell two of them in one week, and bang! They're out of stock
until
the next truck comes in.

--
Regards,
Doug Miller (alphageek at milmac dot com)

Nobody ever left footprints in the sands of time by sitting on his butt.
And who wants to leave buttprints in the sands of time?

TEF wrote:
I don't get it. It would appear that many of the responder to this thread
have some vested interest in Woodcraft.

Yep, that'd be me. Just a couple of weeks ago I was extolling the glories of
Geetech 8" jointers from Leneave's as I'd just bought one from them. OTOH, I
did buy my Rikon 18" bandsaw from Woodcraft. My drill press and table saw came
from Home Depot (Ridgid). I have a RAS from Sears. 2 Porter Cable routers: one
from Woodcraft and one from Home Depot. I got a Milwaukee hammer drill from
Amazon. A Bosch jigsaw from Home Depot.... you get the idea.

I get around and call it as I see it. My view is that Woodcraft has a lot to
offer, at least in my area. But a vested interest? Not even close. I'm a
registered nurse by trade and play with tools as a hobby.




--
Mortimer Schnerd, RN

VE

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
Reply | Reply to Author | Forward | Print | Individual Message | Show
original | Report Abuse

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.

On 6 Apr 2005 14:11:00 -0700, the inscrutable "Gerald"
spake:

Well, I'll take the ding for not calling ahead and checking to see if
they had the item in stock, but three times in a row tells me they
stock very little of anything. And it was a Porter Cable Dovetail Jig.

One definition of insanity is "Doing the same thing over and over
again while expecting different results." It's time to try something
different, don't you think, Gerald? How about something more daring?

Call The Japan Woodworker at 1-800-537-7820 and ask for the Razor Saw
(for hardwood) as advertised in FWW at $25.95, delivered.
then
http://www.thebestthings.com/books/video_dovetail.htm Dovetail a
Drawer" is the Frank Klausz classic about handcutting dovies.
$14.95 VHS or $17.95 DVD.

For $45 or so + a bit of time, you'll learn a new skill AND have a
valuable new tool to show for it.

--
Vidi, Vici, Veni
---
http://diversify.com Comprehensive Website Development

My Woodcraft store in Clearwater, FL typically does a very good job. Last
week I went looking for an item, a clamp on bench vise, which they did not
have. I was told several would come in on the Friday shipment. I went in on
Friday afternoon, but the truck had just come in, the item wasn't readily
found in the huge shipment. I would have called, but was passing by
anyhow....besides, the guys were offloading about 2000 board feet of new
lumber too.

Woodcraft called me the next day...they had the item on hold for me and said
to 'come on down'. I can't complain about the Clearwater store.

bill otten

"Gerald" wrote in message
oups.com...
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.

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.
The Woodcraft store in Raleigh has been great for me. It is well
stocked and, on the rare occasion that there is something out of
stock, they've gone out of their way to come up with an equivalent
(usually better) item for the same price as the original. A case in
point is a wetstone sharpening set I was looking for. They didn't
have the set but put together a set of stones and holder that exceeded
the original set's quality for exactly the same price.

Of course, these are franchises so the store quality will depend on
the owner/manager. In the Raleigh store we couldn't ask for a better
manager than Tom Ferone.

Usual disclaimers apply...
TWS

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

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.