PennStateInd...

[penhead]

Excuse the language, but what the HE*L is up with Penn State Industries..??

I have 'never' ranted about a vendor before, but thier customer service has totally surpassed pis* poor, and I am a _very_ patient person.

I won't rant about the entire poor service leading up to my rant as of now, but I just got off the phone with their 'technical support'...and I am not sure if the fellow could not speak English or was just totally inebriated out of his mind and couldn't speak.

I had a question (I thought a simple question) of looking for information on their website that 'use' to be there, but was no longer available...how to change perfumes when using their 'perfume pen - pkperf'...yes, i know how it is done, but would like to print it out and give to customers (just about everyone who buys one of those things asks that question).

Thier 'tech support' person stumbled and mumbled through some kind of an answer, and when i asked if it was available on thier website....he hung up on me..

Of course trying to understand what he was saying, he may have been inebriated and just passed out 8>)

This is not the first time in the last couple of weeks that I have had an issue of total disrespect for the customer, thier lackadasical approach to helping the customer, thier terrible time frame for shipping orders, basically thier attitude seems to have changed to one that after you have placed your order, good luck in getting it and hope you don't have any issues.

And, this all seems to have gone down hill just within the last couple of weeks... I have dealt with the company many times over the years and NEVER had an issue that wasn't resolved with no problems and very quickly....so what changed the last couple of weeks..??

 

[Rob73]

I don't purchase from PSI anymore unless I absolutely can't find what I'm looking for anywhere else.

 

[seamus7227]

I don't purchase from PSI anymore unless I absolutely can't find what I'm looking for anywhere else.

+1 ON WHAT HE SAID

 

[BSea]

I don't purchase from PSI anymore unless I absolutely can't find what I'm looking for anywhere else.

I'm the same way. There are a couple of vendors that sell PSI products. Woodturningz is one, and they can get just about anything you want from PSI even if it's not on the Woodturningz website (at least anything I have wanted so far). And their service & customer support are top notch.

 

[Monty]

Guess I'll have to see what happens to my order I placed with them yesterday. Normally I'd have ordered from elsewhere, but no one had what I wanted in stock and the lady at PSI said they were in stock.

 

[renowb]

These vendors that get PSI stuff...do they actually get it from PSI? I do Majestics a lot and would love to order from someone else, but not if they get it from PSI.

 

[penhead]

I may be mistaken, but I am pretty sure that the vendors that resell PSI items, just purchase the items in large quantity from PSI (so they can get the discounted price) and then resell at a cost lower than what a single item would cost you from PSI.

These vendors that get PSI stuff...do they actually get it from PSI? I do Majestics a lot and would love to order from someone else, but not if they get it from PSI.

 

[psilevy]

Setting the record straight

I checked with my tech support guy Jerry who took this call who is a very sharp guy (but does speak with an accent) ... He specifically told you what our instruction sheet states (yes it IS published on the Web site) and both explained and referred you to these instructions ................
___________________________________________________________________
Loading the Applicator with Perfume
• Dip the applicator tip while in the pen, into the perfume bottle and hold it for one minute. This will soak up the perfume.
The white applicator tip will swell and stay in place when filled with liquid.
• Before refilling the pen, clean applicator tip by soaking it in household type alcohol.
______________________________________________________________________

You appear to be upset since your were either confused by these instructions or upset that we don't give a "handout" about this refilling process. We DO respond to requests of this type but apparently we've never had this request and consequently couldn't possibly anticipated a request like this (yes we DO respond to requests when we feel it would enhance our products). Normally the fellow selling the product will explain the process to the customer or publish his own instructions if necessary ... or the recipient is familiar with this type of product.

I'll sand by our tech, our instructions, and our company on this one and dispute this gentleman's representation of the event.
Ed Levy
VP and GM
Penn State Industries

 

[TheRealSmith]

As I have said before PSI has always treated me great fast shipping and great customer service. In the last 3 years I have ordered at least 15-20 times per year with no problems. Very happy with the service I have received and I am a hard to please customer....:frown:

 

[OLDMAN5050]

They did me right on a defective lathe I bought.................. never a problem......

 

[RogerH]

I use PSI a lot, but I look at it this way. Cheap prices generally mean poor service. For instance, I don't expect Macy's service at Wal-Mart.

Now, with that said, I just complained to PSI today, was given a run around by the lady who answered the phone, and was then treated to accusations by a person in tech department. I asked for a supervisor, and Walt came on the phone after I had been on the line for over 20 minutes. He was nice and took care of the problem.

I second the motion on Woodturningz. They are great. I ordered from them today, and 30 minutes after I placed the order on line, they called, apologized profusely and said they were out of one acrylic blank. They offered a bunch of alternatives, and were as nice as could be. And, they ship within a few hours of each order I place. PSI often doesn't ship for DAYS after I order.

 

[DozerMite]

Some of the larger suppliers believe they are invincible without realizing how they became a larger supplier. Without the customer, they will find their demise. One unhappy customer that chooses to share their experience, soon turns to a small group and grows... quickly.

Standing by a tech that is disrespectful, can't successfully do their job (which is to satisfy the customers needs by knowing the product and any associated materials), and then ultimately disconnecting the call before accomplishing the task of customer service... is just unacceptable.

This type of attitude indicates to me that I should support an alternative supplier. The list is long...

 

[el_d]

yes we DO respond to requests when we feel it would enhance our products

Does that go for Emails also???? Because Im still waiting for a response from around last Christmas on SEVERAL emails I sent to your company.

I understand that many people will pick up the phone and Call but not everyone can. I work nights and enjoy being able to peruse the website and click at my own leisure.....

I did not see any type of apology for a misunderstanding in your reply.

No more PSI for me........:bad:

 

[bobjackson]

I buy a lot from Penn State and have never had a problem. I've never had to call them however. My stuff is shipped quickly and so far has always been right.

 

[Displaced Canadian]

I have been ordering from PSI for the better part of 3 years now and have never had any issues with my orders. I always have it shipped the cheapest way possible and it shows up in about 8 days.

 

[76winger]

Cheap quality, good quality, good customer service, bad customer service, friendly techs, rude techs, Quick shipping, slow shipping. Everyone has a little bit of all of this and no one is completely on the good side of the meter in every aspect, all of the time.

Your going to get a varied mix from of all of this from any supplier and none are completely invulnerable to all of this because in the end you're dealing with human beings and even good people screw up once in a while on something. The question to be asked is what do YOU do when YOU have problem with a supplier? Do YOU call and get the problem worked out satisfactorily or do YOU give up disgruntled and run off to complain to everyone about it?

I'm thinking about this in terms of a great little book I read last year called QBQ (Question Behind the Question) by John Miller. The premise of the book to encourage a line of thinking where, instead of thinking about what someone is going to do fix my problem, I think about what I can do to fix the problem or make it better.

I also think it's better to spread positive views about people and things rather than negative. Yeah I know there's a lot of negativity out there, but spreading negativity just makes me feel more negative and bitter. And when it comes down to it, I feel better not spouting off about the negative stuff and just spreading the positive experiences. The power of positive thinking makes you feel positive ya know!

I also fail understand how people can expect a company as it grows larger to keep responding as quickly and efficiently as it did when it was smaller. Sheer economies of scale are going to dictate that as a company grows larger and larger that it will become harder and harder for it to respond as well to small quantity orders that helped it grow larger to begin with. It's a sad fact that the costs to a large company grows considerably and they have to devise ways of keeping costs down, providing good quality and decent service that us little guys can't fully understand. It's really amazing most of the larger companies still do as great a job as they do!

Instead of my rambling on forever, let me pose an example from my own experience here. Below are four cigar pens I recently made and the back two I paid a little more for and waited an extra day or so for due to ordering them from PSI. And the front two are from one of the vendors that sell PSI pens (as well as non-PSI pens) but they don't indicate in their listings which are and which aren't from PSI, so I got a couple to try to see if saving a couple bucks would be good. I notice clearly that the clips are thicker on the front two and not finished nearly as well on the sides as the PSI pens. And the first one in the front even has a slightly wrinkled nib because it apparently has thinner metal and deformed in my press during assembly (which has never happened with any other pen I've assembled so far.


Now let me ask a question: Who do do think I'm going to buy next round of Cigar pen kits from?

I will give ya one hint - I'll always favor quality over speed.

 

[Wood Butcher]

Price, quality, service. You can have any two, pick them.
WB

 

[sumterdad]

I thought of offing some kits from them but I think I will look elsewhere now

 

[tbroye]

For PSI stuff I order from Woodtuningz. If they don't have it in stock I call them and they order it and I get it before I would get it from PSI. Go figure. If you live on the West Coast PSI sends it around the horn by clipper ship.

 

[nava1uni]

I order from many vendors including PSI. I placed an order last week and received it on Monday of this week. I received an email notice of every step as it was occurring. Whenever I have ever had a problem they have been very quick to respond and correct whatever is wrong. Sometimes I think that someone has a negative experience and then it becomes a pile on. Seems unnecessary to me, especially since all of the manufacturers made some percentage of their products that have some defect, even the most expensive brands. I had a Cross pen that cost me a lot of money and it had a defective transmission mechanism and I had to send it back to be repaired.

 

[Christian]

Price, quality, service. You can have any two, pick them.
WB

I get all 3 from Ernie at Beartooth.

 

[TellicoTurning]

I'm really perplexed at all the complaining about PSI, CSUSA, Berea, etc service...quality... customer service, etc.... I've been turning pens about 10 years... since I got my first lathe... my first order on the internet was to PSI... I've ordered from them often and ever since. I've also ordered from CSUSA, Berea, Bear Tooth, Arizona Silhoutte, Woodturningz, etc... to this date, I've not experienced any problems with shipping, service or quality. I place my orders via the internet, usually get a confirmation of the order within 24 hours and if it's the weekend, the shipment usually goes out the following Monday. I'll get confirmation of shipment soon afterwards.

I place all orders in advance of when I will be needing them and usually get all orders within a reasonable time... between 3 and 8 days... not unreasonable shipping times. I live in the deep woods of a very small town in East Tennessee, so mail can move slowly here.

I worked in shipping in my professional life, so I understand the order process, the order pulling, packaging, invoicing/packing listing, etc, so I know the work involved in getting a shipment out and understand the timing.

 

[wiset1]

I've been turning for just over a year now and those of you that know my work know that I turn a lot of full sized Majestics. In the past year I can honestly say that I've spent thousands of dollars with PSI getting everything I felt I needed for this hobby. While most of my orders with PSI have been fine without issue there have been tainted orders where I've felt the cold hand of the PSI customer support. To date I think I have about 12 emails that were never answered and sent through their site request form. Not sure if this was a tech issue with their site, but it was an issue that required me to waste hours looking for answers and later resulted in wasted money. I've had my order go to another customer and theirs to me. For those who order from PSI you know our info is on the green order printout so I called the other guy and took it upon myself to ship his items. My replacement order ended up taking an extra two weeks. The list could go on

Bottom line, it's hit or miss with PSI and I've found that if you don't have to ask them a question via phone or email you'll be fine. These days I try to use PSI for Majestics only and have since been spending my money with another firm. Plus, I don't really see the coupons coming in the mail for items I buy these days so...

Grain of salt...

 

[Hess]

I second the motion on Woodturningz

 

[Sancho]

I have a deal going with PSI. I got tired of waiting for a response from an email I sent them, so I sent another letting them know I would not purchase any more products from them until they responded to my email. That was almost a year ago, and I have kept my end of the deal.

They do have a nice website thats easy to navigate, but their customer service and order filling/shipping time are inconsistent.

 

[Chatham PenWorks]

PSI is funny to deal with. I was pleasantly surprised with my most recent order. I placed the order this past Sunday, they shipped on Wednesday, and I got it today. In my experience with them, shipping in 3 days is faster than usual. The funny thing is, I got the shipping confirmation hours after the package was delivered. Go figure.

 

[hunter-27]

I checked with my tech support guy Jerry who took this call who is a very sharp guy (but does speak with an accent) ... He specifically told you what our instruction sheet states (yes it IS published on the Web site) and both explained and referred you to these instructions ................
___________________________________________________________________
Loading the Applicator with Perfume
• Dip the applicator tip while in the pen, into the perfume bottle and hold it for one minute. This will soak up the perfume.
The white applicator tip will swell and stay in place when filled with liquid.
• Before refilling the pen, clean applicator tip by soaking it in household type alcohol.
______________________________________________________________________

You appear to be upset since your were either confused by these instructions or upset that we don't give a "handout" about this refilling process. We DO respond to requests of this type but apparently we've never had this request and consequently couldn't possibly anticipated a request like this (yes we DO respond to requests when we feel it would enhance our products). Normally the fellow selling the product will explain the process to the customer or publish his own instructions if necessary ... or the recipient is familiar with this type of product.

I'll sand by our tech, our instructions, and our company on this one and dispute this gentleman's representation of the event.
Ed Levy
VP and GM
Penn State Industries

I'm glad you weighed in on this one, wish you would more often. This specific instance may or may not be on PSI, I don't know or care much. I do however see a definite "trend" in the comments of your company and there are many cases of lackluster at best customer service. I also hear many cases of exceptional service. Sure would be nice for you to evaluate the situation and see if it is a simple fix to eliminate some of the "bad spots" as they are infectious and damaging to the good ones. My opinion, take it or toss it, after all it was at no cost. :wink:

 

[bherdrich]

Since I don't live in Philly and don't shop at their retail store, I believe it would be safe to say that most PSI customers that don't live in Philly do not shop their retail either. That being said, when I send an email to a company that does 95% of their business online, I expect an email back. Like many people here - sent lots of emails, never a reply - stopped ordering.

 

[penhead]

Well, I have been away from the computer for several days participating in a show for several days and then recovering and turning items to replace some of the inventory sold. I had almost forgotten about this thread until I realized that I needed to put in an order for replacing kits that were sold and building even more inventory for the holiday season.

I must say, with all respect, that I really am not sure how to respond to your post and I almost just allowed it to fade away into obscurity...however, since you have stated in your post that I was confused, and have inferred the lack of intelligence on my part, I feel the need to not defend myself, but rather...to show the very exact point of my original post.

First, you are correct. The tech support person DID explain how to fill the perfume pen, and yes, he did state the instructions were on the website. Not only did I agree with him on that statement, but also chided in the fact that I have that information on the instructions that come with every kit.

I see also from your post in response to mine, that you have spoken to your (sharp) tech person and he has informed you of what information he provided...and I find it very admirable on your part that you choose to stand by your employee.

HOWEVER, if that had been the question of how to fill the perf pen..then all would have been fine, and you are correct that I would feel like an idiot.

BUT...AFTER I explained SEVERAL times that was NOT the information I was looking for, your (sharp) tech person chose to hang up the phone while I was still speaking..!!

The question was 'not' how to 'fill' the perf pen with perfume.

**The question was: that the customer has filled the perfume pen with one type of perfume, and now wishes to change the type of perfume to a different brand/smell. What is the procedure for that..?..ie, the customer has filled the pen with 'stinky perfume #1' and now wishes to remove that perfume, and fill the perf pen with 'skunk smell #2'..??

I am not sure how to explain that statement more clearly. I did try explaining that question several different ways (until I was hung up on). And, that information DID use to be on available on your website, I simply could not find it, which is why I called for your support.

And now here is the leadership of the company belittling me, the customer, without bothering to contact or find out what the issue really was...ie, customer support.

I personally believe that speaks loads.

I checked with my tech support guy Jerry who took this call who is a very sharp guy (but does speak with an accent) ... He specifically told you what our instruction sheet states (yes it IS published on the Web site) and both explained and referred you to these instructions ................
___________________________________________________________________
Loading the Applicator with Perfume
• Dip the applicator tip while in the pen, into the perfume bottle and hold it for one minute. This will soak up the perfume.
The white applicator tip will swell and stay in place when filled with liquid.
• Before refilling the pen, clean applicator tip by soaking it in household type alcohol.
______________________________________________________________________

You appear to be upset since your were either confused by these instructions or upset that we don't give a "handout" about this refilling process. We DO respond to requests of this type but apparently we've never had this request and consequently couldn't possibly anticipated a request like this (yes we DO respond to requests when we feel it would enhance our products). Normally the fellow selling the product will explain the process to the customer or publish his own instructions if necessary ... or the recipient is familiar with this type of product.

I'll sand by our tech, our instructions, and our company on this one and dispute this gentleman's representation of the event.
Ed Levy
VP and GM
Penn State Industries

 

[grz5]

Having worked in retail I fully understand that people are bound to have good and bad experiences but the bottom line is that customer service is just as important as the product you provide.

No matter the situation the retailer should ALWAYS be patient, respectful, and willing to do what it takes to help the customer. Because in reality your business depends on it.

-right behind you penhead

 

[RogerH]

The saddest part of the whole matter, if you read through all the posts, is that the majority of members who responded had similar problems with Penn State. And, the response of the rep from Penn State was not to check with Penhead, the customer, but instead to criticize him and blindly support his employee.

No surprise that those of us who still want to buy Penn State products are increasingly buying them through others, where I might mention, the prices are slightly lower and the delivery no worse. Go figure on what Penn State is thinking.

 

[penhead]

pop

 

[Phillyjer]

I usually shop in the actual store and have been VERY pleased with their customer service. The sales staff have been extremely helpful and knowledgable with any of my questions.
I have ordered online from them an noticed that it may take a while till they ship out mail orders. ( A week and a half to get my package. I only live 20 minutes away.)

 

[snyiper]

If the chance arises I choose to buy Penn state items from Wood-n-Whimsis. They are awesome with their fast shipping quick help and great prices. If you dont see it it usually takes Tracy about 5 min to get back to you with price and availability. When I have dealt with PSI I have had good results and at times they only have what you need in stock. I hope the customer service issues that have been stated are only isolated ones. I imagine they do have issues like any company that size and I just wonder if you take all the bad press and compare with the good with their volume what the actual percentage of unhappy people are. I will be the first to admit our vendors here in the IAP have flat out spoiled me in the customer service arena, they have indeed set the bar for others waaaay up there!!!

 

[jaeger]

When I order from PSI I always call them instead of email. Whenever I have had a problem, they have fixed it.

 

[williamcr]

I always try to order from Wood N' Whimsies but there are items that I have had to get from PSI. I can't say that I have had bad customer service from PSI but I have always had slow shipping and I have had e-mails go unanswered. I can say that I have had great customer service from Wood N' Whimsies and I always get fast shipping at a good price. So, I will order 99% of my stuff from Wood N' Whimsies because they have outstanding service.

 

[Finatic]

I just recieved an order from Timberbits in Australia, THREE days faster than I can get an order out of PSI. Whodathunkit!

 

[Richard Gibson]

The customer may not always be right....... but he is NEVER wrong. (From my very first boss and job back in 1975)

 

[beck3906]

The customer may not always be right....... but he is NEVER wrong. (From my very first boss and job back in 1975)

Another thought...

The customer may not always be right, but he is always the customer.

 

[Padre]

John,

This is not a comment about PSI, rather an attempt to answer your question.

If the pen is made out of wood, I would think that since the wick is inside the tube, and the tube is inside the pen, that the perfume would actually permeate the wood: that the wood would soak up some of the perfume that is being used. I would imagine that even a resin pen would retain the perfume. So, even if you could change out the wick and applicator, which I see no way of doing, I don't think the customer would want to do that.

I think the 'old' aroma would contaminate the 'new' aroma. Therefore, it is my opinion that this cannot be done and that the customer will need to purchase a different perfume pen for each distinct perfume they have.