Tormek Work Station thoughts

[Ken S]

This post is neither an infomercial for nor a criticism of the Tormek Work Station. These thoughts would apply to a Tormek or any jigs and accessories.

Being large and heavy, the Tormek Work Station is vulnerable to shipping damage. Mine arrived damaged, and I foolishly accepted delivery. One corner of the box was damaged. I had to pound out a dent in the top lip. It is still fully functional, however, I never had the pleasure of enjoying this large purchase in pristine condition. I should have refused delivery. A word to the wise.

The customer deserves more careful, thorough packing in shipping. I hope dealers are reading this. Given the substantial number of Tormek grinding wheels for sale online, I would guess the shipping problem is common. I can not imagine chipped grinding wheels leaving the factory, given the extensive quality control inspections.

I had a minor problem screwing in the four foot pads. It was no big deal, just some paint not cleaned off the threads after the unit was painted. I ran a thread tap through, which quickly ended the difficulty. The thread is 5/8" course, not metric. A little "elbow grease" (English idiom meaning effort) should solve the problem. At this point, the difficulty is soon forgotten.

Tilting the unit and placing a block of wood under one side makes height simple. After the first two pads are adjusted, tilting and blocking the other side allows adjusting the remaining pads.

My other concern is online pricing. This is one of my pet peeves, which I have covered before. I will say only that one should know the correct, current, Minimal Advertised Price, available from the national importer. Beware of paying any higher than this price, under the guise of "free shipping". Charging any more, and claiming "free shipping" is really "shipping included" at the higher price.
Incidentally, shipping from major dealer in Delaware to Ohio is $25. Caveat emptor.

One other pricing considertion: Tormek has announced a general price increase effective July 1. I suspect the increase will be modest, however, if I was planning a purchase, I would make it before the first.

Be wise, Ken

[Herman Trivilino]

The customer deserves more careful, thorough packing in shipping. I hope dealers are reading this.

I'm not sure they'd care, Ken. More care means more cost to them. The best way to send them your message is to hit them in the pocket book by returning damaged cartons unopened. When they spend too much on replacements they'll be motivated to spend more care packing for shipping.

I'm not talking about minor damages like small marks or even gouges on the container. I'm talking about damage to the container so severe that there's a reasonable expectation of damaged contents.

For consumers it's a psychological slippery slope. We want the product so we're more likely to open the damaged carton just to inspect the contents. Once we do that we now hope that there is no damage because we want to use the product. Then if there is a small amount of damage we are tempted to fix it ourselves rather than repackage and send back. And if we go so far as to discard the packing material we have the additional psychological factor of having to buy new packing material, do the packing, and schedule the pick up.

[Ken S]

Herman, sadly I must agree with your points.  Free shipping has become more important than secure shipping. I really do not want to say that profits might be more important than customer satisfaction. The dent in my work station, which I believe probably happened during shipping, makes me suspicious.

This is not saying all budinesses cut this corner; I have seen at least as many packages which are "bulletproof". I just get discouraged when a package arrives which is sloppily packed, especially when the contents are damaged.

Ken

[Airplanedoc]

Unfortunately the packaging problem, would go back to the manufacturer not the dealer.  Most items ship in the same packaging that they arrive from the manufacturer to the distributor in.  The manufacturer generally specifies the packaging requirements for any given item.  To many manufacturers this means sufficient to withstand being palletized and loaded on a truck/container for shipment to the distributor or store.  For the most part items are received in good condition at this point. The damage comes when it leaves the distributor or store and is handed off to UPS and FEDEX, USPS, or LTL carriers where the corners of boxes are exposed to bumps, dropped down chutes, and travel conveyors, and bounce around in trucks and in some cases tossed to your front door.  If you haven't seen it google UPS worldport, and watch a video of how packages are sorted, think about a up to 70 lbs package sliding down one of those chutes and hitting your package.

When shopping, I always check for the best "total cost" of the item.   Sometimes it's is with free shipping, sometimes it is without free shipping.   I am always amazed at the people who get hung up on "free" and head to it like moths to a bug zapper.

[jeffs55]

Great post!

[Ken S]

Agreed. It would be nice if we at least had the option of paying a surcharge for better (proper) packing. I can't imagine that becoming general practice. Too many people would not think it was "thrifty" and business would not want the implied stigma that they were skimping on the customer with inadequate packaging. Shippers would not like the ugly light if truth.  Until this situation is resolved, chipped grinding wheels will remain plentiful online.

Years ago I was considering purchasing a Delta mortising machine. The online reviews were either five stars or one star. The five star customers had paid for shipping. The one star review customers had free shipping and generally a damaged unit.

Ken

[Herman Trivilino]

Unfortunately the packaging problem, would go back to the manufacturer not the dealer. 

If the dealer has to replace items due to packaging issues, it seems the dealer would in turn complain to the manufacturer. And hopefully those complaints would be heard and packaging adjusted. It seems manufacturers would want to keep their dealers happy, and dealers who have to dip into profits to replace items damaged in shipping are not going to be happy.

I am always amazed at the people who get hung up on "free" and head to it like moths to a bug zapper.

Well, I happen to live with one, so I'm no longer amazed by it. Just confused. But fooling the customer seems to be the basis of all marketing strategies. Of course, like all strategies it backfires when taken too far.

Welcome to the forum, Airplanedoc.

[Ken S]

Whether the damaged unit is ruturned to the dealer or the manufacturer. (I believe in the US, damaged units may be returned to Affinity Tool, the importer located in Michigan.), someone has to eat the cost. An excessive amount will look bad on someone's budget.

Most Tormek products are relatively uneffected by poor packing. only the t units, grindstones and work station are really at risk. I bought my SB and SJ wheels during woodworking shows at Hartville Hardware. I also purchased my first T7 from the store. My second T7, T4, and T8 all arrived undamaged, as well as a second SG-250. Only my work station arrived  damaged. In hindsight, I wish I had picked it up in Hartville. I realize not all of us have the luxury of having several Tormek dealers nearby.

Ken

[jeffs55]

Folks, it is the manufacturer who is at fault here. The "unit" should be packaged in a manner sufficient to arrive at its destination intact without regard to extra protection provided that reasonable handling was effected in transit. That term "reasonable" is the problem. I cannot speak for other carriers but I work for the US post office. We are simply not set up in my office for "reasonable" care.

[Ken S]

Jeff, your point is well taken. I worked for the Bell System, which, like the US post iffice, delivered outstanding service day in and day out. As a repair tech, I worked with the lines with serbice problems. It was easy to forget that for every line with trouble there were thousands of customers whose lines were working flawlessly. The same applies to the post office and its helpful employees.

Ken

[Airplanedoc]

I think it comes down to what is the intended delivery mechanism from the manufacturer to the final customer.

1. Mfg to importer/ distribution center   would be palletized  and shipped via truck/container/ship.
2. Distributor to store.  Generally also via truck shrink wrapped to a pallet
3. Store to end customer.   Walk in sales or mail (broad term not necessarily usps)

It seems to me that step 3 is where the problems most likely occur.    If the intended delivery mechanism is in store walk in sales, then the packaging is probably sufficient.  In the US at least however I would suspect that a large majority of sales have shifted to mail order in the last few years.   I don't even know where I could find a tormek product  in a store near me.  I have a regional big box store in town who I suspect could get one  from their warehouse  but they don't carry them in stock at any location in my immediate area, so its not like I can walk in and see a item or talk to someone knowledgeable in store about one.  Its 300 miles/500km round trip to my nearest Rockler or Woodcraft.   I'm guessing Tormek would prefer that we purchased our items in store and package items sufficiently for that purpose.  However, that may not be the newer and current reality for many of us.

[Ken S]

Good post. I suspect the course of least resistance for manufacturers is just to absorb the damaged freight costs instead of insisting on better packing. The customer will probably get an undamaged product sooner or later. Probably sooner most of the time. I see a number of chipped Tormek grinding wheels on ebay, however, I am sure this number is quite small compared  with total shipped sales.

Unboxing a new Tormek is like unboxing a new Apple computer,laptop or ipad. The packaging is well designed; it is a joy to open. It should be an enjoyable event, and usually is. Too bad that many of the dispointments could be avoided.

Ken