CSUSA is failing me

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MikeJW

Member
Joined
May 1, 2012
Messages
3
Location
Memphis, TN
I have bought from Craft Supply for a number of years, but lately I have decided to give up on them. Twice in the last couple of months, I have made an online order and it has been 3-4 days before they even ship. I don't remember them being so slow in the past. Is this some new policy of theirs? I don't mind waiting on an order to arrive, but I think companies should ship the same day or next. Am I being unreasonable?
MikeJW
 
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Agree completely. If I need something I always call them to push them quickly which I should not have to. That is why they are always my last choice. But there are a few things only they carry like the chrome pill holder key chain.
 
Their website says if order is placed by 4pm est they ship the same day. Now I could see where is would take 3 days if it was placed after 4pm on a Friday.
 
That is what their policy says - but not their practice. you would then assume that if you placed an order after 4:00 on Monday that it would ship for sure on Tuesday - but not the case. I have contacted them about it twice before. they truly don't seem to care. They were always my first choice - because of their selection. Then I started looking at member sights here on IAP. I think I can get about any of the kits CSUSA sells at the same price or better, but the service is FAR better. So now I do all of my shopping with IAP vendors.

Scott
 
Indy Pen Dance does, and I believe Roy at the classic nib does. I know he carries the juniors.(Rollerballs) ... Not sure about Fountains.
 
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not disrespecting IPD, Exotics or CN - but the prices seem to be very similar to CSUSA (Except Roy has some on sale right now). I wonder if any of the 3 will come close to CSUSA's discounted prices for bulk orders. The only way I buy kits from CSUSA is through a bulk order.

I've ordered from Exotics and CN - and the service is exceptional, without a doubt! I'm sure IPD provides excellent service as well...I look forward to ordering from IPD in the future...and more orders from CN and Exotics.
 
I'd like to apologize if anyone has had any problems with our shipping. We do our best to get orders out as quickly as possible.

If anyone has had issues come up, please call us at 800-551-8876 and feel free to ask for me directly, or send me a PM through this forum. Either way I'd be more than happy to look into what might have caused the problem and solve it.
 
In my opinion, a little communications goes a long way. pick up the phone and talk with their customer service to see if you all can resolve the issues. I've been dealing with them for a few years now and really never had any issues.
 
Mark@CSUSA said:
I'd like to apologize if anyone has had any problems with our shipping. We do our best to get orders out as quickly as possible.

If anyone has had issues come up, please call us at 800-551-8876 and feel free to ask for me directly, or send me a PM through this forum. Either way I'd be more than happy to look into what might have caused the problem and solve it.
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There you go! That's good customer service.
 
I ordered from CSUSA on Saturday, they shipped Monday and I recieved it on Tuesday. Can't get better service than that.
 
Wow! In the past 4 or 5 years, CSUSA has NEVER failed to ship my order the same day it was placed.

I noticed that Mark has offered to look into the problem, I would let him check it. It sounds you may have hit a "glitch".
 
I placed an order yesterday ( Tuesday) and it shipped yesterday - tracking info estimates delivery Thursday. Such is usually my experience.
 
In 8 years, I've only had one small issue. I call and the situation was solved in 30 seconds. Hundreds of orders from them and never an issue.
 
As a vendor, and a long time customer of CSUSA, I can tell you some orders are delayed because the "submitted information" is incorrect.

Please check your order to be certain you entered your zip code, the proper spelling of your email and your street address is absolutely correct. Today's Postal Service will not allow us to ship if it does not recognize the address--so "fat finger" mistakes will make the parcel impossible to print a label.

We try to call you if we encounter this and, like me, many of you don't answer your cell phones unless you recognize the number. So, any minor error can turn into a rather serious delay.

Just meant as "food for thought",

Ed
 
Mark@CSUSA said:
I'd like to apologize if anyone has had any problems with our shipping. We do our best to get orders out as quickly as possible.

If anyone has had issues come up, please call us at 800-551-8876 and feel free to ask for me directly, or send me a PM through this forum. Either way I'd be more than happy to look into what might have caused the problem and solve it.
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Now that is the way a company should deal with an issue. I don't know Mark but all the people I have met at CSUSA have always been ready to help with anything anytime.
 
Never meant to bash CSUSA. I looked at my invoices for march - over $500 that month alone. (Not including the group purchase i participated in here) I do more woodturning than pen turning and CSUSA is an excellent one stop shop for a woodturner with great prices. I would estimate 75% of my turning supplies come from CSUSA. However shipping is what it is. I will PM Mark my customer number so he can look in to it. Maybe its because I'm on the east coast or in the greater Metro NYC area... I don't know when they ship - only when I receive. I will continue to shop CSUSA - but if I can get pen supplies from vendors here at the same prices with faster shipping its a no brainer.
 
ed4copies said:
As a vendor, and a long time customer of CSUSA, I can tell you some orders are delayed because the "submitted information" is incorrect.

Please check your order to be certain you entered your zip code, the proper spelling of your email and your street address is absolutely correct. Today's Postal Service will not allow us to ship if it does not recognize the address--so "fat finger" mistakes will make the parcel impossible to print a label.

We try to call you if we encounter this and, like me, many of you don't answer your cell phones unless you recognize the number. So, any minor error can turn into a rather serious delay.

Just meant as "food for thought",

Ed
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Tipically I use the address given and entered by the customer at PayPal or my store and still I find that some people don't know where they live. I get quite a few mistakes.
 
Smitty37 said:
Tipically I use the address given and entered by the customer at PayPal or my store and still I find that some people don't know where they live. I get quite a few mistakes.
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I worked on a school bus routing database once, and you'd be amazed at how many people would give a PO box number or a rural route number. Hey lady, we're not picking your kid up at the post office!
 
I always have a great experience ordering from them. I place an order Monday and to my surprise my order was here today(Wednesday). I was not expecting the order until Friday or Saturday. They are one of the first vendor I order from when I need something fast.
 
GoatRider said:
Smitty37 said:
Tipically I use the address given and entered by the customer at PayPal or my store and still I find that some people don't know where they live. I get quite a few mistakes.
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I worked on a school bus routing database once, and you'd be amazed at how many people would give a PO box number or a rural route number. Hey lady, we're not picking your kid up at the post office!
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Or they don't know how to spell the name of the street they live on - or they don't know if it's a street, lane, circle, avenue or what. Or, they think they live on Brown St when it's really E Brown Avenue....Some of it isn't their fault - in 32 years living in the same house I went through 5 address changes including 3 street name changes.
 
NYWoodturner said:
That is what their policy says - but not their practice. you would then assume that if you placed an order after 4:00 on Monday that it would ship for sure on Tuesday - but not the case. I have contacted them about it twice before. they truly don't seem to care. They were always my first choice - because of their selection. Then I started looking at member sights here on IAP. I think I can get about any of the kits CSUSA sells at the same price or better, but the service is FAR better. So now I do all of my shopping with IAP vendors.

Scott
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I have been dealing with them for years and have never had a problem. I think that you should contact them and speak to them about your problems. I would never recommend airing your difficulty if you haven't spoken to them directly. I think that any business can have a problem, but unless you contact them they will never know and will be unable to correct it. Just my own feelings.
 
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nava1uni said:
I have been dealing with them for years and have never had a problem. I think that you should contact them and speak to them about your problems. I would never recommend airing your difficulty if you haven't spoken to them directly. I think that any business can have a problem, but unless you contact them they will never know and will be unable to correct it. Just my own feelings.
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I did contact them in two (of many) instances. I also PM'd Mark @ CSUSA. He said "most of our orders go FedEx Ground or FedEx Home delivery, and for most of New York, that translates into about five business days on average, from the time they pick up the package from us, to when it gets to your door." Once again - I'm not bashing CSUSA. I hope my wife never finds out how much I spend there..., I was just agreeing with MikeJW about the shipping. mark confirmed it - 5 days average and there is. Itching they can do about it. Most of my wood turning supplies come from there. I have found vendors on here can can get me product much faster. When I am ordering supplies for pens - it usually involves customers pending orders. Speed makes a difference. Don't make this into something it's not.
 
Mark@CSUSA said:
I'd like to apologize if anyone has had any problems with our shipping. We do our best to get orders out as quickly as possible.

If anyone has had issues come up, please call us at 800-551-8876 and feel free to ask for me directly, or send me a PM through this forum. Either way I'd be more than happy to look into what might have caused the problem and solve it.
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I don't make as many pens as most of you (although I hope to get bigger one day!) and have been ordering from CSUSA for about a year - as well as other IAP vendors - and have never had a shipping problem with CSUSA. Sometimes they shipped too fast when I realized I had forgotten something!
 
Just curious, what is slow about a package going across the country in 5 days? How many different vehicles did it travel in? How many people handled it? 5 days seems pretty fast if you think about it.
 
NYWoodturner said:
Never meant to bash CSUSA. I looked at my invoices for march - over $500 that month alone. (Not including the group purchase i participated in here) I do more woodturning than pen turning and CSUSA is an excellent one stop shop for a woodturner with great prices. I would estimate 75% of my turning supplies come from CSUSA. However shipping is what it is. I will PM Mark my customer number so he can look in to it. Maybe its because I'm on the east coast or in the greater Metro NYC area... I don't know when they ship - only when I receive. I will continue to shop CSUSA - but if I can get pen supplies from vendors here at the same prices with faster shipping its a no brainer.
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You may also want to look the shippers. From anywhere West of the Mississippi River, I always request USPS, as UPS doesn't really "work" from Utah to the East Coast.

With USPS, if I order from CSUSA on Monday before 5 pm EST, I have my order in hand Wednesday before 11 AM est. That same order shipped UPS ground will arrive Friday or the following Monday. This is no indictment of UPS, just how the routes work.

A reverse situation, if I order from Racine, WI on Monday the USPS priority shipment will arrive Friday. That same order shipped UPS will arrive Wednesday.
 
Andrew_K99 said:
Just curious, what is slow about a package going across the country in 5 days? How many different vehicles did it travel in? How many people handled it? 5 days seems pretty fast if you think about it.
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We're used to air shipping - 5 days for ground is probably about normal.
 
Inaccurate or incomplete information is "bashing"

NYWoodturner said:
Never meant to bash CSUSA. I looked at my invoices for march - over $500 that month alone. (Not including the group purchase i participated in here) I do more woodturning than pen turning and CSUSA is an excellent one stop shop for a woodturner with great prices. I would estimate 75% of my turning supplies come from CSUSA. However shipping is what it is. I will PM Mark my customer number so he can look in to it. Maybe its because I'm on the east coast or in the greater Metro NYC area... I don't know when they ship - only when I receive. I will continue to shop CSUSA - but if I can get pen supplies from vendors here at the same prices with faster shipping its a no brainer.
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MikeJW said:
I have bought from Craft Supply for a number of years, but lately I have decided to give up on them. Twice in the last couple of months, I have made an online order and it has been 3-4 days before they even ship. I don't remember them being so slow in the past. Is this some new policy of theirs? I don't mind waiting on an order to arrive, but I think companies should ship the same day or next. Am I being unreasonable?
MikeJW
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This is an example of how vendors get "bashed".

NYWoodturner---Look at the shipping policies. They clearly state "Place your order by 4:00 pm Eastern on weekdays and we will ship it the same day guaranteed! (weekends and holidays excluded). Orders placed after 4:00 pm Eastern or on weekends or holidays will ship on the next business day." They also state that standard shipping is normally 2 - 5 days. They have no control over where you live and make it quite clear what their policies are. If you need it faster, a vendor located closer to you might be quicker, or you have the option of overnight shipping.

MikeJW---You started this thread. What day did you place the order? was it before "4:00 pm Eastern on a weekday"? When did it actually ship? Stating that it was "3-4 days before they even ship" is unfair to them if you do not provide details. If you order on a Friday evening your order will ship on Monday.

I am not trying to make this personal, but if you have a problem with a vendor and have not at least called them, I think it is unfair to post negative comments about them. Particularly if you do not include the details I mentioned above.
 
jeweler53 said:
NYWoodturner said:
Never meant to bash CSUSA. I looked at my invoices for march - over $500 that month alone. (Not including the group purchase i participated in here) I do more woodturning than pen turning and CSUSA is an excellent one stop shop for a woodturner with great prices. I would estimate 75% of my turning supplies come from CSUSA. However shipping is what it is. I will PM Mark my customer number so he can look in to it. Maybe its because I'm on the east coast or in the greater Metro NYC area... I don't know when they ship - only when I receive. I will continue to shop CSUSA - but if I can get pen supplies from vendors here at the same prices with faster shipping its a no brainer.
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MikeJW said:
I have bought from Craft Supply for a number of years, but lately I have decided to give up on them. Twice in the last couple of months, I have made an online order and it has been 3-4 days before they even ship. I don't remember them being so slow in the past. Is this some new policy of theirs? I don't mind waiting on an order to arrive, but I think companies should ship the same day or next. Am I being unreasonable?
MikeJW
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This is an example of how vendors get "bashed".

NYWoodturner---Look at the shipping policies. They clearly state "Place your order by 4:00 pm Eastern on weekdays and we will ship it the same day guaranteed! (weekends and holidays excluded). Orders placed after 4:00 pm Eastern or on weekends or holidays will ship on the next business day." They also state that standard shipping is normally 2 - 5 days. They have no control over where you live and make it quite clear what their policies are. If you need it faster, a vendor located closer to you might be quicker, or you have the option of overnight shipping.

MikeJW---You started this thread. What day did you place the order? was it before "4:00 pm Eastern on a weekday"? When did it actually ship? Stating that it was "3-4 days before they even ship" is unfair to them if you do not provide details. If you order on a Friday evening your order will ship on Monday.

I am not trying to make this personal, but if you have a problem with a vendor and have not at least called them, I think it is unfair to post negative comments about them. Particularly if you do not include the details I mentioned above.
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CSUSA has responded on here. CSUSA is a good supplier whose customer service speaks for itself to most of us. I see no need to debate it anymore and suggest we just let this thread pass into the sunset.:smile:
 
While we're making motions, I make a motion that Jeff create a post entitled "No unnecessary bashing of vendors" and turn it into a sticky and make reading it a prerequisite to new members joining the forum! :wink:

Bashing a vendor like this for no reason is no different than singling out another member for no good reason and saying bad things about them, it does no good whatsoever and just hurts reputations!

Craft Supply is a good, honest, reputable company with decent folks who are always helpful and there is absolutely no reason for them to go through this bashing nonsense every few months!
 
Texatdurango said:
While we're making motions, I make a motion that Jeff create a post entitled "No unnecessary bashing of vendors" and turn it into a sticky and make reading it a prerequisite to new members joining the forum! :wink:

Bashing a vendor like this for no reason is no different than singling out another member for no good reason and saying bad things about them, it does no good whatsoever and just hurts reputations!

Craft Supply is a good, honest, reputable company with decent folks who are always helpful and there is absolutely no reason for them to go through this bashing nonsense every few months!
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I couldn't agree more with your post, with the exception of one thing.

This is the first time I've seen CSUSA mentioned ( I do try to stay out of the bashing vendor threads ). The one I dont get is PSI. Seems like they get bashed on even when someone starts a thread on them doing something right.
 
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CSUSA Failing

I find it hard to believe you are having that much trouble with CS. I have spent 10 - 15K a year with them for 15 + years and they have always shipped as advertised. On phone orders I always double check to see if everything is in stock and will be shipping that day. Online if I miss the 4pm deadline I know there will be a delay but it has always shipped next day.
On the other hand I have had a big delay with other unnamed suppliers of kits. When I have had a problem with others I call and tell them there was a delay. I think you need to take the time to call their customer service line when you have a problem and give them a chance to fix the problem.
 
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