Never again

[Lappa]

Total Tools in Canberra is excellent. I tell them so every time I'm there. Being female it is still difficult in some stores to be taken seriously when browsing and purchasing tools and the like.

When I go I usually have a list and as soon as I ask for assistance to find something I don't just get a response over the counter but they whip around and help me locate all the items in the store and offer advice when I request it or get someone else who may be able to assist. I always feel very welcome.

They don't keep Sawstop or Kreg gear instore but ordered it in for me with all the extra bits and pieces I wanted and assisted with loading the car.

Jane

Maybe they are fantastic in store but my experience was on the phone and online and in both instances they sux big time - in my instance

[Mobyturns]

Sadly, there are multiple issues at play here, on one part you've got the poor communication/service offered by Total tools the other is the business model.

I completely understand how the business model can let down the consumer as all stores these days rely on a distribution network, so the staff member who told you you'll get it next day delivery could very well have been correct for a good proportion of orders providing all the ducks have aligned. Ie warehouse has stock, picking/packing happens in timely manner, courier picks it up on time etc.

It doesn't take much to lose a customer for life, but at the same time it doesn't take much to keep a customer for life. Somehow businesses have forgotten this over the years.

My experience with Total Tools in Melbourne is a bit different.
Order 1 placed on Sunday 19 Sept. Arrived Wednesday 22 Sept.
Order 2 placed on Monday 27 Sept, dispatched Wednesday 29 Sept and arrived the same day.
While there are two stores close to me, both within a short walk of a Bunning's, the one I normally go to has friendly and helpful staff.

I ordered something from Lee Valley in the US on the 27th Sept and it arrived today. It's much further than where total tools were sending it.

Simply highlights - it does matter where you live, and what distribution/logistics model is in place. If you live near a major logistics hub the service can be excellent, not so good if you don't because all of the other factors that can and do plague any distribution/logistics model come into play - including high volumes, COVID lockdowns, border closures, industrial action, and simply $hithou$e couriers etc.

[Lappa]

Got a somewhat pleasant surprise. Shipit said in their email I would get it next Wednesday the 6th. Arrived tonight at 6:30pm.

[woodPixel]

Now that's saying something, suggesting Bunnings customer service ...

Bunnings has customer service?

Since when!

[crowie]

Bunnings has customer service?

Since when!

[Lappa]

Well. I must have walked under a ladder, crossed paths with a black cat, broken a mirror etc.
Just under 1 hour of use on the veranda with the new Makita, cleaning up some sections I could not get with the belt sander (80 grit) then 2/3rds of the veranda done using 120 grit.

2713E6A4-D655-4CBA-97B0-B395772A4C45.jpg

[Fluddman]

Bugger! That is indeed a run of bad luck. Hopefully it will just get replaced.

Now we'll really see if their customer service is up to scratch.

Cheers

[crowie]

Well. Just under 1 hour of use on the veranda with the new Makita,
cleaning up some sections I could not get with the belt sander (80 grit) then 2/3rds of the veranda done using 120 grit.

2713E6A4-D655-4CBA-97B0-B395772A4C45.jpg

That's got to be a straight warranty swap for a whole new sander!

[woodPixel]

Lappa, the gods are warning you man.

There are reasons for this! Reasons!

[BobL]

Maybe they are fantastic in store but my experience was on the phone and online and in both instances they sux big time - in my instance

When I wanted to buy a specific SCMS last year in the middle of the first COVID shutdown it was out of stock everywhere. I emailed re availability about a dozen tool stores in and around Perth, including 5 Totaltools stores, and got no replies from any of them except the totaltoiols store at Canning Vale store. The salesman from the CV store was helpful and kept me posted, They got my business. I happened to be going past two Bunnings stores and dropped in to find out how long it would take to get one but they were woefully uniformed and not that helpful. They said they would get back to me when they had notification of stock but I never heard a thing.

[woodPixel]

Remember this from the film... where Indy captures the arc and the Good Guys nail it all up into a crate, its then wheeled into a faceless warehouse that pans out into an unseeable background?

Loved that scene. (I imagined the mysterious treasures!)

This is the mail dispatch for OzPost in some regional area. Apparently some grunt was so horrified they took a photo of it.

Apparently its... abnormal....

1633330560967.jpg

[Lappa]

After all the trials and tribulations

from this
80C59536-970C-4977-A841-33FE8DED9A74.jpg

getting there

38FEE08F-2891-420F-979A-6FB12D626C66.jpg

Almost done

5A9052A8-63ED-474D-BECA-7956F41321B0.jpg

Finished

AFB94F74-FBEB-442C-9E56-AAF72421420C.jpg

[Fluddman]

Looking good. Great job!

- - - Updated - - -

Did they end up replacing the sander?

[crowie]

Plus one for LOOKS GOOD Peter!

And have you been given a new replacement for the failed new tool???

[Lappa]

Still waiting Crowie and Fluddman. Couple of problems - the tool shop I bought it from is out of my LGA so I can’t get there yet and Monday was a Public Holiday. Other Makita dealers in my LGA won’t do warranty as I didn’t buy it from them . I spoke to a guy on Friday and he said to send photos and they would have to contact Makita before making a decision. I rang on Monday ( forgetting it was a public holiday) to see what was happening and spoke to another guy that said no problems with warranty, faulty pad and he’d get a new pad sent ASAP. Still will take 3 to 5 days as couriers are under the pump.