Turntex Woods excessive wait time

[tom wood]

I ordered a vacuum chamber and Cactus Juice from turntex Woods over 8 weeks ago. To date I have received neither. I get no response to my emails. Has anyone else had this experience?

 

[stonepecker]

Sometime things happen. I do know that at one time the wait was over 12 weeks from the date of order.
Don't have a clue as to why you are not recieving replies unless Curtis is out of the shop. Give it a little more time.

 

[micharms]

Why not just give Curtis a call. His number is listed on the site and he is an easy guy to talk to.

Michael

 

[Rockytime]

Patience is a virtue. I had ordered one a while back. Due to family emergencies and other things Curtis became really backlogged. He was very quick to let me know my wait would be extended. Communication with Curtis was excellent. I repair clocks and the turn around is 12 to 18 weeks. So my customers have to wait as there very few quality shops in town. In the meantime I did cancel my order with Curtis because I had made a chamber with a pickle jar. If that does not work I will replace my order.

 

[afarooq]

2nd Michael's comment. I had to wait about 9 weeks...Curtis does warn you of the delay...now that I have it...love it..

 

[southernclay]

First off good for you for exploring the why before providing a jeer to his company or bashing him, good of you to do. I don't personally know of his schedule or backlog but would second the phone call route. Emails get lost in the shuffle sometimes. I had to call him last week and he picked up and we talked for 20 minutes or so about a non paying issue. He's a solid guy and puts in a lot of time for free for our community. Give him a call and I'm sure you'll find out the status.

And welcome to the forum! :biggrin:

 

[robutacion]

G'day,

I back what has been said before, and thank you for asking the question before acting.

I know from experience that, Curtis does prefer a phone call, he answers on the spot and takes the time to talk to you.

Emails, are certainly not the best way to contact Curtis, he is a very busy man and he offers the best customer service, when a message reach's him.

With that said, and to validate what I said and knowing that Curtis prefers people to call him, being in Australia phone calls are a little more difficult, particularly due to the time zones between both countries however, I soon worked out the best time to ring Curtis, should the need arises so, I purchased a Skype phone and have called Curtis when needed and that has worked flawless.

I understand your waiting frustration, I don't like waiting myself so, make than call and you will get the answers you are after/require.

Good luck,

Cheers
George

 

[TellicoTurning]

G'day,

I back what has been said before, and thank you for asking the question before acting.

I know from experience that, Curtis does prefer a phone call, he answers on the spot and takes the time to talk to you.

Emails, are certainly not the best way to contact Curtis, he is a very busy man and he offers the best customer service, when a message reach's him.

With that said, and to validate what I said and knowing that Curtis prefers people to call him, being in Australia phone calls are a little more difficult, particularly due to the time zones between both countries however, I soon worked out the best time to ring Curtis, should the need arises so, I purchased a Skype phone and have called Curtis when needed and that has worked flawless.

I understand your waiting frustration, I don't like waiting myself so, make than call and you will get the answers you are after/require.

Good luck,

Cheers
George

Back when I used to talk to Australia on a regular basis, I had to stay up really late or get up in the middle of the night... we didn't have skype in those days...

 

[robertkulp]

I talked to Curtis just a couple of days ago. Call him one evening. If you're nice, he'll be nice, too.

 

[MesquiteMan]

Sorry I missed this and did not reply to it earlier. I reply to all e-mails I receive. Sometimes it may take a number of days before I can reply, it just depends on how many e-mails I get in a day but I do always reply. I'm not some large corporation with a staff of folks to answer sales calls, tech support calls, and to reply to e-mails. I do all of that myself while also running CNC equipment to make parts, build vacuum chambers, and take care of other business related activities. I am fortunate to have my nephew working for me as my shipping manager to bottle resin and ship orders but it is just the two of us.

I do apologize for the delay on the chamber order. I have tried to make it clear on my website that sometimes things happen and the wait could be longer. That is why my lead time is stated as an ESTIMATED lead time. I go further to include this wording under the IMPORTANT-PLEASE READ tab on the chamber product page:

The current ESTIMATED lead time is stated above. This is an estimate only and in no way a guarantee of delivery time. It is nearly impossible for me to predict how production will go from week to week so it could be longer or shorter. I am the only one who will be building your chamber and all it takes is one day out of the shop due to illness or taking a day off to spend with my family to completely mess up my schedule. If you are in a bind and need it quickly, I may be able to accommodate your needs on a case by case basis. I DO NOT send updates on the status of your order as that would be counter productive! If at any time you want to check the status of your order, PLEASE SEND ME AN E-MAIL! I will reply as soon as possible. Please don't e-mail after a week to ask where your chamber is if the lead time states longer than that!

I also sent out an e-mail to everyone on my waiting list on 2/26/16, letting folks know of further delay and gave the reasoning. This year started out a little rough. After taking some time off for the holidays at the end of the year, when I got back in the shop on the first Monday in January, my CNC router was acting up. It took a full week to trace the problem and get it resolved. Without the CNC, I can't make parts! Then, the following week, the shop shipping computer crashed and I spent a couple of days trying to get it back up. The week after that, I was forced to update my website due to changes in the way USPS handles International shipping. I had been working on a new version of the site but was not quite ready to go. I had to drop everything to get it ready. After doing extensive testing and having about 20 people test it for me, I flipped the switch to make it live and it immediately crashed. It took the entire week to get it fixed and working again. Then, two weeks later, I had a family vacation already planned that I could not get out of. That took me out of the shop for a week. By then, it was the middle of February. Lastly, as soon as I got back from vacation, the shop computer that I thought was back working properly crashed again! This time, I tossed it and ordered a new one and had to get it all set up.


So, needless to say, I did not have a lot of productive shop time during the months of January and February and am paying the price now. I have been working every day until 2am in the shop getting parts made and chambers ready to ship, trying to dig out of the hole. I am getting there and trying to work with folks who are in a bind that let me know they are in a bind.


Now, to address the unasked question...why don't I hire someone or outsource my chamber manufacturing. I am SUPER PICKY on anything and everything that I make. I am not willing to settle for 95%. A few years ago, I got way behind on the old style chambers I used to make. I searched around and found a professional acrylic fabricator that was willing to work with me. I had him make the chamber bodies and then I did the rest. His quality was pretty good but not quite up to my standards. I did one order with him and then parted ways. I have also hired folks to work with me to directly make chambers under my supervision. That did not work out well either. I spent too much time fixing their lack of attention to detail so I just want back to doing it all myself. Maybe my quality standards are too high and I should compromise. Unfortunately, I was not programmed that way as a kid and just can't go down that road!


I could easily solve all my problems and have the chambers made for me in China. I have the contacts that could help me get it done and could make a lot of money by outsourcing and having a supply of immediately ready to ship chambers. I would rather quit making chambers than go that route.


So, all of this long post to say that I do reply to e-mails, phone calls are a more sure way to reach me (e-mail is not always reliable), and I am doing everything I can to get chambers out the door as quickly as possible without compromising my high quality standards.

 

[efrulla]

I ordered my chamber from Curtis and there was the expected delay. An e-mail to him and I was given an approximate ship date for my chamber and it shipped very near that date. I have had nothing but a great experience working with Curtis and when I have questions he always responds promptly. I would chalk your experience up to the exception not the rule as far as Curtis responding goes. As for the delivery of the chambers. Sometimes it takes time to get the best and they are awesome.

 

[BJohn]

Hey curtis I sent you a PM the other day? Have not heard back?

Just Joking.

I did send you a question but when you get a chance it is not an emergency>>>>