Woodcraft as a Festool dealer

[skids]

I am not completely sure this is the best place for this post, so I pre apologize if not.

I just want to say, without going into a great amount of detail, that I have officially had it with Woodcraft as a dealer. The service and attitude is hurendous and seems to pervade the company (at least the locations in my area). I have purchased thousands of $$ in pieces in the last few months (now including a Kapex), and only exercised the 30 day return ONCE and I was made to feel incredibly guilty by the folks at Woodcraft for it. Just an odd tension, and attitude, suddenly short and unwilling to help any further. First time I let it go..But today, I had to bring back my Kapex due to an issue with it, for exchange. Unfortunately they didn't have another one to exchange it on the spot. I got a ration of crap over it again. All sorts of questioning and again attitude. So instead of an exchange I made it a return. I am tired of it, and I won't be repurchasing another Kapex from them as a replacement I am speaking with my feet and taking my business elsewhere-just not sure where yet. I was hesitant to go online for the saw in case I needed to return, but I may just have to go that route now.

I know they are one of Festools larger US dealers, so this may not have any impact, but the way they seem to represent Festool is just not the same as some of the other (smaller) dealers I have visited or spoke with. And TWO of the Woodcrafts I visited told me don't buy this saw because it is NOT a start to finish saw. Which now that I have used it, I couldn't disagree more. Not sure what this will accomplish other than allowing me to vent, I am truly not happy that I have spent all this money to be treated with inferior customer service. I know this isn't Festools problem, but out of my adoration of Festool I thought it was useful to post the fact I have had continual poor experiences with Woodcrafts knowledge and support of your product. In my opinion, the pricing is deserving of white glove service, and being able to carry Festool is an honor for a dealer. Not sure what Woodcraft is thinking...

 

[Administrator_JSVN]

Sorry to hear about your experiences with Woodcraft. It's important to us that our customers have a positive experience with Festool throughout the process, from researching a purchase to after the purchase. I'll definitely be sharing your feedback with the Festool employee responsible for working with Woodcraft. I suspect that will mean that it will also be shared with Woodcraft corporate. I would like to mention that Woodcraft is a franchise with the exception of a few corporate owned stores and because of that each can be managed differently. So, this may or may not (hopefully not), be representative of other Woodcraft stores.

If you have any additional information you'd like to share, please feel free to send it to me privately, sho@festoolusa.com.

Shane

 

[skids]

Thanks Shane..I am happy to go into detail over the phone if needed. Honestly, I am not just grinding an axe here, I can go where ever I want ultimately. But I invested time (and money) and tried to keep my business in one place in the hopes it would benefit me on the customer service side of the deal. Not the case, at either of these locations. After I left the location I returned the saw I drove to another location that was an hour away that had one. Even after they were rude..When I got to this second location, I was in their Festool section for 30 minutes and NO ONE, not one person came over to ask me if I needed help. 4 old men were sitting in the kiosk in the center of the store doing nothing. I ended up leaving and not buying from them either, for various reasons. But service is at the top of the list.

Like I said this is not Festools fault. This is Woodcrafts issue, maybe I should follow up with their corporate offices as well. Meanwhile I am Kapex shopping and I will go out of my way NOT to shop with Woodcraft in the future.

 

[erock]

I'm not trying to jump on the wagon to bash Woodcraft.

But I too have had poor service with my local Woodcraft.  Little or no help, lack of knowledge of Festool and very limited stock.

The nearest Woodcraft to me is 40 minutes one way.  Not worth my time anymore. 

I received a survey from Woodcraft once, and in that survey I expressed my feelings towards the local store.  I never received any kind of response.

I only make my Festool purchases online now from the great dealers on the FOG.

Just my two cents.

Eric

 

[lino-man]

One of the things I learned from a training program for floor installers is that a bad experience is often repeated (the story) at least 12 times. You can do so much damage to your own business this way. I suggest that anyone having such an experience send a letter to the local franchise owner.
I often shop at the Woodcraft in Eugene, OR which is almost 400 miles away. I don't have a local one unfortunately. But the experience that I have each time is great. Even a couple warranty issues were so professionally handled. I can't say enough good things about them there. My guess is that the owner is smart about customer service.

 

[peter halle]

As a moderator I am not supposed to promote one dealer over another - I guess I might have influence.  By the way, I agree with that policy.

We have read here time and time again about Woodcraft dealers and the differences in selection and service from one location to another.  Let's for the sake of this post we drop the Woodcraft name and just call them Larry's Tools and Sam's Tools.  Each has the ability to train and stock based on their situations.  One finds that Festool is a major selling product and one doesn't.  If you were Larry or Sam you would be handling things accordingly and differently.

There are great dealers out there and some of them operate under the Woodcraft banner.  I know from personal experience.

it is always best to let those vendors who do not meet your expectations know why.  Otherwise they may never know.  It is also what you would want if you were in the retail / service industry.

Peter

 

[skids]

As a moderator I am not supposed to promote one dealer over another - I guess I might have influence.  By the way, I agree with that policy.

We have read here time and time again about Woodcraft dealers and the differences in selection and service from one location to another.  Let's for the sake of this post we drop the Woodcraft name and just call them Larry's Tools and Sam's Tools.  Each has the ability to train and stock based on their situations.  One finds that Festool is a major selling product and one doesn't.  If you were Larry or Sam you would be handling things accordingly and differently.

There are great dealers out there and some of them operate under the Woodcraft banner.  I know from personal experience.

it is always best to let those vendors who do not meet your expectations know why.  Otherwise they may never know.  It is also what you would want if you were in the retail / service industry.

Peter

Agreed to a certain extent...The one thing I would say is the pricing (as we all know) is fixed, and any dealer who decides to take on this product line needs to have enough business savvy to know that the best (possibly the only) way to set yourself apart is on service. Festool did their part by coming up with incredible products, I did my part on coming up with the money to buy it...Woodcraft (in my area) seems a little deficient in their understanding of how to stand behind it in many ways, and quite honestly if I have to spend time explaining it to them I definitely need to find another dealer. Because what REALLY need to be doing is spending my time earning more $$ to buy more Festool.

They operate under a singular name, but the customer doesn't benefit from the consistency or convenience that should provide-in facts it's the opposite..Until today I had no idea about franchises and how they bought their product. Not sure I wanted to either. But now I do, and all-the-more now I want to find another source to buy.

I am beyond caring enough about these guys to provide feedback that would help them unfortunately, and this pre-dates my Festool addiction.

 

[Nick C]

If I'm not mistaken, Woodcraft is a franchise operation. My wife is a small-business financial consultant, and she informs me that some folks purchase a franchise without having the slightest idea about or interest in the business. They staff the business with the cheapest labor they can get, and hope it turns a profit. On the other hand, some people who purchase a franchise know a great deal about the business, and  genuinely enjoy working it to help it prosper. There are two Woodcraft stores in our area. One of each type.

 

[GAKnothead]

The Atlanta "Larry's Tools and Sam's Tools" franchise (if  you know what I mean) is quite a place.  I go out of my way to steer all my business to them. Steve, the owner is a true craftsman and the entire gang goes the extra mile for me. Unlike three other local stores full of attitude, they understand the value of a satisfied customer.  Last month, I returned a heavy defective special order item and they had a replacement in house within just a few days.

 

[TomGadwa1]

Hi Skids. I can very highly recommend Toolhome out of Austin Texas. The owner Tom Bellmare is very knowledgeable and provides great customer service. I just saw two KAPEXES at his shop. Check his business out. You will be happy if you do.

 

[fdengel]

I'm almost in shock sometimes after reading about the poor service some people have had at Woodcraft - seems there are good ones and bad ones.

The one in my area has been excellent, and I generally like that store because of the good service I get there.

 

[nehardwoodfloors]

Yup, its funny, they act as though they are over worked in there or something!
Go back to smoking butts and wittling a bird feeder, ill order online thank you. What can be expected for 50 yr olds working for barely more than minimum wage.
It wasnt a winning, hard working attitude that landed them where they are.
Rant over.

 

[skids]

Yup, its funny, they act as though they are over worked in there or something!
Go back to smoking butts and wittling a bird feeder, ill order online thank you. What can be expected for 50 yr olds working for barely more than minimum wage.
It wasnt a winning, hard working attitude that landed them where they are.
Rant over.

Spot on!

 

[skids]

Hi Skids. I can very highly recommend Toolhome out of Austin Texas. The owner Tom Bellmare is very knowledgeable and provides great customer service. I just saw two KAPEXES at his shop. Check his business out. You will be happy if you do.

Tom is phenomenal, spoken with him in the past. I was looking a little more local since he is in Texas. He is an example of the dealers that emulate what Festool is all about.

My main point with this thread was that Woodcraft just doesn't seem like a good distribution channel for Festool that shares the same standard of service (just my opinion based on my experiences) but unfortunately they have selection, so if you want to see the item they are one of the only places to go. However, I do not enjoy going to any of them to get items. When it was a can of stain of piece of sandpaper I overlooked it. But spending what we do on Festool, at the very least we should get knowledeagble, friendly folks selling it to you. I haven't found that at the Woodcrafts in our area.

 

[Steve R]

As a former Retail Executive, I can say it if it is a chain or franchise it is the Store Owner, Manager or Employee that makes it Bad or Great. The Chain or franchise can only provide the model that if followed will create an okay store and purchase experience.

One problem with being a franchise or chain is that the overall reputation can be greatly effected by the bad apples in the barrel.

If you eat at any restaurant enough times you will get a bad meal/service/or be having your own bad day and create your own bad service experience.

Here in the Twin Cities metro area we have a Woodcraft store in Bloomington, MN and it was owned by a someone from a different state. The reason it is good is that it has a great Manager that has hired great people for the most part. Rumor has it that a New local owner has just taken ownership.  I hope that the new owner will soon announce their presence. It should be even a better store with the new local owner!

That said I do feel that Woodcraft as a corporation needs to be doing a much better job of secret shopping their own stores to really understand the difference between a purchase that shows on the balance sheet and a sale where the customer is happy and wanting to come back. So yes I do think Woodcraft has room to improve..... but who doesn't.  I do think Woodcraft is going to damage their brand name if they don't address the problem Store at once. Social media can help and hinder. If skids has not sent this message to the Woodcraft store, the owner and to the Woodcraft corporation then don't expect it to get better.  One phrase in retailing is "Why do people think the Bartender is going to fix their problems."  talk all you want about how bad the car runs after it was serviced but if you don't take it back to the Dealer/manufacture they don't know it is still broken and can't help you till they know.

In my metro there is a chain of stores that rimes with rock.... and after over 50 visits.... I have given up on that chain totally. I will only go there if they are the only ones that have it and I have to have it today. I would rather order it from anyone else if I can wait for it.  I don't know what it is that the chain does in it's training. But now one former "Rock" employee is at one of my favorite stores.... and guess what... he is their weakest employee.  I avoid he like the plague. Just hope the managers and new owner see the issue and correct it/train it or shoot it.

Cheers,
Steve

 

[wubears71]

The Woodcraft by me is terrific in everything except Festool.  I get the impression that they don't do much volume.  The General Manager does a good job with Festool, but the other employees can tell you next to nothing about the line other than the tools and consumables being really expensive.  There are a few professionals I run into that purchase all their Festool products from the store since it is convenient, but outside of these couple of guys, the majority of people I run into at the store are happy with a cheap power tool and would rather spend money on quality hand tools like Hand Planes and Chisels.  Unless I'm in a pinch, I prefer to do my business with the various companies that are active on the FOG.

 

[zapdafish]

At my Woodcraft to get good knowledgable service I have to go in on the days the employee who received Festool training is scheduled. Other than that I've been pretty satisfied with them. I haven't had to return Festool yet but they handled returns for another product just fine.

I try to buy from them since they do stock it and allow me to go in and try them out. I'm ashamed to say that I did buy my Domino online to avoid the sales tax.

 

[tjbier]

I would like to chip in on my local store in Kentwood, MI.
They are the nicest people there and I get the feling the will bend over backwards for me if I need something.
They seem to be a mom and pop sort of opperation, and the "owners" always seem to be there, the only negitive is that with folks like us (FOG) we tent to know much more about Festools than they do, but that is because I am on here snooping around, where I am almost positive most Woodcraft employes are not. It is our hobby/job/lifestyle, where it may just be a job to them.  I see it as no fault of thiers its just what I like to do, if its was bad customer services then I would have a gripe.

 

[nclemmons]

Woodcraft in Madison WI is outstanding.  New showroom there almost looks like Festool HQ.

I also frequent Woodcraft in Libertyville, IL.  Both stores are owned by the same person and both of them staffed with knowledgable woodworkers and Festool depth. 

I've been in other Woodcraft's that don't stock the full line, nor have the same depth of talent.  I'm feel pretty certain it's a local / franchisee situation.

neil

 

[Kodi Crescent]

Sam and Larry's where I live is okay.  It is good for show-rooming.  They rarely have any of the parts you need, and will not customize like some of the other dealers.  If you special order something you'll wait because they only submit orders every week or so.

The people in there seem to be knowledgeable and usually come right over if they see you perusing that area.