Jeer Penn State Industries

[PrivatePens]

It seems like customer service keeps declining.

I made a purchase today via their website about 2:30 EDT. At about 3:30 I decided to add one more thing. So I called their customer service line and started to explain that I made a purchase and wanted to add one thing. I was immediately told "No, we can't do that."

No I know from experience they are not the fastest in fullfilling orders - never have been. And I am confident that they did not fill my order in one hour. But they wouldn't even try. How hard would that be exactly? Instead - I was told that I could get it shipped for only 5 dollars. No offer to waive shipping. And if they can ship for 5 dollars which is lower than their cheapest rate it tells me they are just ripping us off on smaller orders.

Unless I can't get it anywhere else - I'm done with Penn State Industries. In all the years I used to deal with the owner of Arizona Sillhouette (before it was sold) - he was grumpy but ALWAYS took care of his customers. At least that was my experience.

Per the forum rules:
Webiste: Penn State Industries | Pen Turning | Pen Kits | Dust Collector
Order method: Web followed by Phone
Items Ordered: Pen Blanks; Pen Tubes; etc.

Syd

 

[edstreet]

Actually it is not as easy as you think it is. For several reasons actually.

First and foremost you have payment information storage. PCI requirements and hellacious when it comes to vendor storage of card information so most systems dispose of that information as soon as the transaction is complete.

Second is order life cycle. The order itself may not have shipped but the chance of it being in a different department is pretty good. In order to modify that you would have to stop that department from processing everything, find your order, pull it then modify it and put it back in line. All this time you will have wasted a good number of labor hours and untold cost not to mention other orders.

Truth is those shops that can/will allow you to change the order have most commonly one of 2 several setups going like a) they sit on your order for a time period, i.e. amazon waiting on $ processing for a day or 3 b) small shop where one person does everything.

The only clear concise path you have and the one that SHOULD be taken is make sure your order is 100% correct before placing it. Might want to try keeping a shopping list next time. At this point it becomes a trivial education experience on shopping.

 

[PrivatePens]

I'm glad you are an expert on PSI's procedures. However, you are apparently misinformed.

1) "Customer service" said they would have to "call the warehouse" but wouldn't do that.
2) They could have taken my credit card information over the phone for the additional purtchase.
3) AMAZON has NEVER sat on my order; they have excellent customer service. AMAZON which has many more warehouses and a much larger operation can easily cancel and reissue an order.
4) My order was 100% correct. Adding something later doesn't make it incorrect.
5) They could have cancelled the order and recreated one.
6) The order still hasn't shipped.

 

[Robert Sherlock]

Craft Supplies has the same policy. They do make it abundantly clear before you order that you can't add additional items without a separate shipping cost...not sure if PSI was as clear.

 

[Dan Masshardt]

I like how amazon gives you until the package is ready to go to change your order. Without having to get on the phone.

I can understand how they wouldn't want to rip open a package to change it, however, stellar customer service would even do that.

Unwillingness to update an order an hour later if its not been packaged is poor. It doesn't matter if its hard. You do it.

That's what makes raving fans instead of the growing list of reluctant customers. Count me in that list.

Just my opinion.

 

[nativewooder]

You said you placed your order on the web site. Then you called customer service to add something. One, you placed an order with a computer, Two, you placed another order with a human. Therefore you should be prepared to pay two shipping charges. As much as I dislike PSI, the mistake was yours. Even though I will not order from them again, I must admit that I have received excellent service when calling on the telephone, and terrible service when using the site.

 

[Edgar]

Regardless of a company's size, if they want to provide excellent customer service, they will. Try as I might, I don't always get everything on an initial order, whether for myself or on a company order, and I appreciate companies that are willing to assist in those cases.

Mouser & DigiKey are my favorite electronics suppliers because I can place an order on line & they always ship the same day. However, if I need to add or change something, all I have to do is call them sometime before the order ships that same day and it gets taken care of - no hassle & no extra charges.

 

[The Penguin]

Craft Supplies has the same policy. They do make it abundantly clear before you order that you can't add additional items without a separate shipping cost...not sure if PSI was as clear.

let's be fair - when you order from CSUSA, they ship in stock items the same day if ordered before 4pm EST, otherwise they ship the next day.

CSUSA can't add to an order because they are turning orders out quickly.

Can PSI make the same claim? I think not.

 

[Bean_Counter]

Best thing to do with psi is avoid em like the plague. Too many othe great vendors that sell the same products and have better customer service and pricing. Other vendors alsp ship much faster as well. I've never understood why it takes 2 weeks to get a package from them when they can ship it USPS flat rate cheaper and make people much more happier by getting it in 3 days. I ordered from them once and it took 2 weeks to get it. I can order from a completely different country and get it faster.

 

[LagniappeRob]

Craft Supplies has the same policy. They do make it abundantly clear before you order that you can't add additional items without a separate shipping cost...not sure if PSI was as clear.

Actually, twice CS has done exactly that for me... yes it went on a separate order and shipped separately but with absolutely no shipping charges.

 

[LagniappeRob]

...
First and foremost you have payment information storage. PCI requirements and hellacious when it comes to vendor storage of card information so most systems dispose of that information as soon as the transaction is complete.
...

Not sure what that had to do with the discussion exactly. It could be charged separately and still put in the same box. Also one of the options during checkout is "My credit card number is on file at PSI." So that is possible to do with them.

 

[PrivatePens]

It usually doesn't take much effort to give a little good customer service. I order magnets from a company that appears to be a small to midsize company and they have consistently provided incredible customer service. They were once out of something and CALLED me when it came in to see if I still wanted to order it. Who keeps track of that without an actual order being placed? You would think in today's times companies would care a little more. I don't know of other people's experiences but I have never had a problem with CSUSA. Maybe others have but I have purchased from them many times without a glitch. I did once call them to add something and they did. Sure - they may have a policy against it but they tried to accomodate and did. Obviously if it was packaged and ready to go that wouldn't seem reasonable. It was over a year ago so maybe things have changed.

Alas, it appears that my PSI order still hasn't shipped.

Bean Counter - I agree with you completely. I can order from Taiwan and get it quicker if they send it by boat.

 

[LagniappeRob]

BTW, Amazon has combined multiple orders into the same box for me as well. But then it saves them money as I don't pay shipping (Prime). Personally I think, in terms of shipping speed and customer service, PSI could learn a lot from Amazon.

Edit - to be fair the last couple times PSI has done well by me. But I mainly deal with their resellers (EB, etc.) more than them now.

 

[LagniappeRob]

Bean Counter - I agree with you completely. I can order from Taiwan and get it quicker if they send it by boat.

Last year, I ordered from Timberbits and PSI on the same day, the Timberbits order was here days ahead of the PSI order.

 

[Scruffy]

Over the last few years,...

I have had maybe 20-25 orders from PSI. I have nothing really to complain about. They may be a little faster, but I choose and pay for the delivery method. They are just using my choice.

I suspect their internal structure is a number of separate smoke stacks that once it gets past certain stages, it takes an act of God to change its course.

I've unfortunately had some contracts with companies that were like that.

 

[NittanyLion]

I think we need a new forum for PSI.....

 

[Jerryz]

Well, I've had nothing but praise for psi. I can't say I have a ton of experience. But, two orders, both shipped immediately, and I got the tracking info ASAP. All items were there and delivered on time. So perhaps I was 'lucky' twice on a row.

 

[psilevy]

It seems like customer service keeps declining.

I made a purchase today via their website about 2:30 EDT. At about 3:30 I decided to add one more thing. So I called their customer service line and started to explain that I made a purchase and wanted to add one thing. I was immediately told "No, we can't do that."

No I know from experience they are not the fastest in fullfilling orders - never have been. And I am confident that they did not fill my order in one hour. But they wouldn't even try. How hard would that be exactly? Instead - I was told that I could get it shipped for only 5 dollars. No offer to waive shipping. And if they can ship for 5 dollars which is lower than their cheapest rate it tells me they are just ripping us off on smaller orders.

Unless I can't get it anywhere else - I'm done with Penn State Industries. In all the years I used to deal with the owner of Arizona Sillhouette (before it was sold) - he was grumpy but ALWAYS took care of his customers. At least that was my experience.

Per the forum rules:
Webiste: Penn State Industries | Pen Turning | Pen Kits | Dust Collector
Order method: Web followed by Phone
Items Ordered: Pen Blanks; Pen Tubes; etc.

Syd

Wow !!! We're damned if we do and damned if we don't! Your comment "they are not the fastest filling orders..." is unfair and inaccurate based on the changes we've made to our infrastructure to expedite all orders we receive. There have been many unfair rants on the IAP against Penn State Industries but this is the first to complain that their order was processed too fast!

If any of you have ordered from Penn State Industries recently, you'll find that your order either has been shipped the same day or the next day at the latest. In order to do that, we've vastly automated and improved our processing systems to the point that web orders hit our picking and shipping department within minutes after your order is placed on-line. And yes .. your order was likely filled within an hour !!

It's also likely that your 2:30 order was already packed with hundreds of other orders being processed through our shipping department and burried on a skid ready to ship either today or tomorrow. It's impossible for us to ferret out a single order an hour later to pop something else into the box. If you called within minutes of placing the order its possible that we could have caught your order before being processed but after an hour - the order is well on its way to being shipped to you.

Oh Well ................ I hope your order arrives quickly and in good condition and you're happy with our products. We want to whatever it takes to make our customers happy and my focus lately has been on speeding up order processing to get your products to you as fast as possible.

Contact Kathy our customer service manager and we'll credit you the freight (or give you FREE Freight) on your additional order. In the future - understand that we're geared to expedite your order and that adding to it is problematic after an hour - please try to have your order complete when you check out on the on-line store.

Best Regards and thank you for your business
Ed Levy
VP and General Manager
Penn State Industries

 

[RDH79]

I will have to take Ed Levys side on this one. The last 2 orders I have placed with them have been shipped the sameday or the following day. I was wondering if something had changed there. Before I couldnt say much good about there shipping but now
I like what you have done.
Thanks
Rich H.

 

[Carl Fisher]

I've had my share of gripes in the past but PSI has definitely kicked it up a notch over the last few months. Any orders I've placed recently have been on my door step almost as fast as most of our other IAP vendors.

Definitely a marked improvement and I say good job to PSI for listening and going through the efforts to improve.

 

[suefox51]

Ordering from PSI has become a joyful occurrence! Placed order late yesterday and receiving shipping notification this morning - KUDOS!

 

[edstreet]

Wow !!! We're damned if we do and damned if we don't! Your comment "they are not the fastest filling orders..." is unfair and inaccurate based on the changes we've made to our infrastructure to expedite all orders we receive. There have been many unfair rants on the IAP against Penn State Industries but this is the first to complain that their order was processed too fast!

If any of you have ordered from Penn State Industries recently, you'll find that your order either has been shipped the same day or the next day at the latest. In order to do that, we've vastly automated and improved our processing systems to the point that web orders hit our picking and shipping department within minutes after your order is placed on-line. And yes .. your order was likely filled within an hour !!

It's also likely that your 2:30 order was already packed with hundreds of other orders being processed through our shipping department and burried on a skid ready to ship either today or tomorrow. It's impossible for us to ferret out a single order an hour later to pop something else into the box. If you called within minutes of placing the order its possible that we could have caught your order before being processed but after an hour - the order is well on its way to being shipped to you.

Oh Well ................ I hope your order arrives quickly and in good condition and you're happy with our products. We want to whatever it takes to make our customers happy and my focus lately has been on speeding up order processing to get your products to you as fast as possible.

Contact Kathy our customer service manager and we'll credit you the freight (or give you FREE Freight) on your additional order. In the future - understand that we're geared to expedite your order and that adding to it is problematic after an hour - please try to have your order complete when you check out on the on-line store.

Best Regards and thank you for your business
Ed Levy
VP and General Manager
Penn State Industries

I think if you read my first post I mentioned the department issue, order lifecycle and there is some other issues that many here does not realize.

For example could you tell them/us the ball park number of orders per day? That would allow many/most to clearly see what volume size that is going on and it is not a simple matter as they think it is. Comparing a vendor with 1-2 people with one that has say 50 is not even the same ball game. The logistics of a warehouse is down right amazing when you actually see the nuts and bolts details of how things are done.

PrivatePens, no I am not an expert on PSI's procedures. But I do get to see and work with all sorts of details in various company operations on the behind the scenes processing.

 

[capcrnch]

It seems like customer service keeps declining.

I made a purchase today via their website about 2:30 EDT. At about 3:30 I decided to add one more thing. So I called their customer service line and started to explain that I made a purchase and wanted to add one thing. I was immediately told "No, we can't do that."

No I know from experience they are not the fastest in fullfilling orders - never have been. And I am confident that they did not fill my order in one hour. But they wouldn't even try. How hard would that be exactly? Instead - I was told that I could get it shipped for only 5 dollars. No offer to waive shipping. And if they can ship for 5 dollars which is lower than their cheapest rate it tells me they are just ripping us off on smaller orders.

Unless I can't get it anywhere else - I'm done with Penn State Industries. In all the years I used to deal with the owner of Arizona Sillhouette (before it was sold) - he was grumpy but ALWAYS took care of his customers. At least that was my experience.

Per the forum rules:
Webiste: Penn State Industries | Pen Turning | Pen Kits | Dust Collector
Order method: Web followed by Phone
Items Ordered: Pen Blanks; Pen Tubes; etc.

Syd

Wow !!! We're damned if we do and damned if we don't! Your comment "they are not the fastest filling orders..." is unfair and inaccurate based on the changes we've made to our infrastructure to expedite all orders we receive. There have been many unfair rants on the IAP against Penn State Industries but this is the first to complain that their order was processed too fast!

If any of you have ordered from Penn State Industries recently, you'll find that your order either has been shipped the same day or the next day at the latest. In order to do that, we've vastly automated and improved our processing systems to the point that web orders hit our picking and shipping department within minutes after your order is placed on-line. And yes .. your order was likely filled within an hour !!

It's also likely that your 2:30 order was already packed with hundreds of other orders being processed through our shipping department and burried on a skid ready to ship either today or tomorrow. It's impossible for us to ferret out a single order an hour later to pop something else into the box. If you called within minutes of placing the order its possible that we could have caught your order before being processed but after an hour - the order is well on its way to being shipped to you.

Oh Well ................ I hope your order arrives quickly and in good condition and you're happy with our products. We want to whatever it takes to make our customers happy and my focus lately has been on speeding up order processing to get your products to you as fast as possible.

Contact Kathy our customer service manager and we'll credit you the freight (or give you FREE Freight) on your additional order. In the future - understand that we're geared to expedite your order and that adding to it is problematic after an hour - please try to have your order complete when you check out on the on-line store.

Best Regards and thank you for your business
Ed Levy
VP and General Manager
Penn State Industries

For what it's worth, i'll eat some crow.
I've complained in the past about slow shipping and how aggravating it is.
I placed an order a couple of weeks ago and was pleasantly surprised to get a shipping notice the same day.
The changes are great and they're noticed. Hopefully others will give PSI a shot again and see if it works for them.

 

[JerrySambrook]

I have delt with Penn State on and off since the early/mid 90's.

There have been only a couple of issues I ever had with them, and they were great off the bat when contacted about the issues.

I remember the days when 24 carat gold was almost the only thing you could get in most kits, and they did a good job of covering cruddy plating.

By the way, slimlines and "Mont Blancs" and "Parkers" were actually more expensive then.

And the only reason I did not deal with them for a while was because I stopped turning for almost 11 years.

 

[PrivatePens]

Apparently Ed didn't read - or didn't understand - the post. The order didn't ship that day - or apparently the next. So much for fast shipping.

By the way Capcrnch - double check those sometime. Receiving the shipping notice doesn't actually mean it shipped. It just means the computer generated it. Sometimes the company ships immediately (meaning that day) and sometimes not. Usually those shipping notices are simply computer generated and until you check where the package is in the system you can't determine when it ACTUALLY shipped. Virtually everytime I order something - even though the shipping notice is generated immediately - the next day you can confirm that the package actually went out on the day the shipping notification was generated. Apparently PSI generates them immediately but doensn't necessarily ship immediately. At least that is my experience. If you notice his response - he confirms that orders don't go out the same day.

"...burried (sic) on a skid ready to ship either today or tomorrow...." So clearly to PSI if they "fill" it the day it was placed they are doing well regardless of when it actually ships out.

 

[OLDMAN5050]

Never a problem with Penn State.

 

[Justturnin]

Seeing as to how you are going into the archives to dig up old PSI complaints it seems that you are somewhat impossible to please and love to hold a grudge. Let it go.

 

[capcrnch]

By the way Capcrnch - double check those sometime. Receiving the shipping notice doesn't actually mean it shipped. It just means the computer generated it. Sometimes the company ships immediately (meaning that day) and sometimes not. Usually those shipping notices are simply computer generated and until you check where the package is in the system you can't determine when it ACTUALLY shipped. Virtually everytime I order something - even though the shipping notice is generated immediately - the next day you can confirm that the package actually went out on the day the shipping notification was generated. Apparently PSI generates them immediately but doensn't necessarily ship immediately. At least that is my experience. If you notice his response - he confirms that orders don't go out the same day.

In my case, nothing to double check. I ordered, later that day I received a shipping notice that it was going out the following day with a tracking # and boom, the next day it did.

I'm ok with a day or two lead time before it ships, I understand that.
It's much better than the week or so it used to take.

 

[wouldentu2?]

From now on I'm buying all my stuff from Amazon

 

[Scruffy]

Well ... I can assure you..

There are more Gothic horror stories about Amazon than PSI. I have not found a more arrogant organization than Amazon.

 

[wouldentu2?]

Ed Levy,

Thank you for responding and explaining the process the customer has no idea how the process works after we hit the " Buy it and ship it to me now" key.

Do you think you could do a tutorial on this. Just kidding.

 

[capcrnch]

There are more Gothic horror stories about Amazon than PSI. I have not found a more arrogant organization than Amazon.

OT now, but..
I LOVE Amazon. Their customer service has been ridiculously great for me. I order a ton off of Amazon too.
Not pen related, but random things.

 

[Olsarge]

I don't know about adding to an order, but usually when I order on line in the morning, I get an email that afternoon saying it shipped. My last order was placed on a Monday evening and I received it on Friday the same week. From Pa to Texas, I think that is pretty good shipping and I have never had a problem with tech support or customer service. I just hope I don't have the problems y'all seem to have.

 

[randy pote]

i too have had some issues in the past with psi but i have to say the last couple of times i got my order in just 2 days my wife put an order in on 7/30 late after she showed me the slip she forgot to order 3 things i called first thing in the morning they were add to my order got everything on 8/1 i think their service has gotten 100 % better will keep buying from them i also called them this morning for a few more things about 930 just got an email my stuff was shipped. can't ask for any more then that.

 

[PrivatePens]

It appears they did for you what they claim can't be done. It certainly can be done. I guess some of their employees are lazy and some aren't. I'm glad you got stuff added to your order. Clearly they would have more business if they cared about their customers.

 

[babyblues]

It appears they did for you what they claim can't be done. It certainly can be done. I guess some of their employees are lazy and some aren't. I'm glad you got stuff added to your order. Clearly they would have more business if they cared about their customers.

Wow, dude, get on with your life. Go turn something. Time to move on.

 

[dexter0606]

It appears they did for you what they claim can't be done. It certainly can be done. I guess some of their employees are lazy and some aren't. I'm glad you got stuff added to your order. Clearly they would have more business if they cared about their customers.

Wow, dude, get on with your life. Go turn something. Time to move on.

+ 1 !!!!!

 

[Scruffy]

+1 is for extra pont.

Would think maybe +6 for a touchdown.

 

[joefyffe]

Well, I've had nothing but praise for psi. I can't say I have a ton of experience. But, two orders, both shipped immediately, and I got the tracking info ASAP. All items were there and delivered on time. So perhaps I was 'lucky' twice on a row.

I would agree with your last statement!

 

[maxwell_smart007]

I think it's about time to move on here - PSI has responded with a great explanation as to why adding to an order is difficult...if you want shipping out times to go down, then processing times have to as well.