General complaint wood carving.

[DiLeon]

Went to Woodcraft with a student.....he came out with $3,000 dollars with wood carving equipment...(got big money). I bought a few items and pulled out my check book. They told me, "Sorry we do not take checks anymore. I said, "Well then you just lost a great customer,.....and you tell your boss I said that. Money is money. You know who I am ....and you know that I am a good customer. An I even brought this guy over here!" He just stood there with a stupid look on his face. That means I got to order everything from the mainland.....Smokey Mountain Supply and Peachtree take my checks. I asked where are the Maikita die grinders....did not know what that was..... Where are all the good gouges, did you have a sale? He did not know that one either. And they wonder why places go out of business? New guy nope......he just does not give rats rear end.

[Bob K.]

Woodcraft carries a ton of stuff and they're great for woodworking equipment, but I find very little there that is useful for my wood carving purposes...mostly it is parts for my bandsaw, drills and dust collector...I don't do much power carving. I get most of my carving supplies from Smoky Mountain Woodcarvers, Mountain Woodcarvers and Wood Carving Supply,,,their service is good and their staff is knowledgeable. And I would never buy wood from Woodcraft.

[DiLeon]

They are the only wood store supply in the whole islands, so if you need something in the next few days you have to go there. Being that said,... they are very expensive and now looks like not very customer friendly. Wood forget it ....way too expensive. It is sad when a company does not serve the customers needs. Most power tools come half the cost, from Amazon and free shipping. Smoky Mountain Supply those guys spoil you with great service and products and so does a few others. I just do not get it, got a customer that pays why in the heck would do things to make them not come back? Do they honestly believe they are just too good to be true? It is really sad and I am not the only customer that feels that way.

[Soggy]

That's a bummer Dileon, this old world is a changing and it's not for the better. Yesterday I stopped into the city to buy my winters supply of basswood, when I pulled out my wallet and proceeded to pay cash, the clerk looked at me as if I had two heads...lol. he appeared to have a problem trying to figure out how to enter the sale .
Wayne

[Eddy-Smiles]

Swore that I'd never go back to Woodcraft and it's now going on ten years. There have been times when it would have been handier to stop by and pick something up quick but in the past their customer-service has just gone against my grain.

[Paul_Guraedy]

There is a Woodcraft store (Plano) near where I stay in Wylie, Texas. I go there to look around but they have little to offer in woodcarving. Some nice wood; but refuse to cut it into lengths, except to fit into your vehicle. I have visited other stores that sell hardwood and all have been willing to saw blocks into the lengths I wanted, if I bought the whole block/board. This is fair. Why make only one or two cuts to fit in a vehicle and not a couple of more? Not customer friendly!

[Michelle]

Sorry that Woodcraft is being difficult, Dileon. It's got to be annoying when they're your only local shop. Can you speak with the manager to get the details? And, I'm sure they will take a debit card, but you may not use them since you prefer checks. I stopped taking checks at my store, too, as the few that didn't clear made me nervous for all. I would, however, take them from known customers...people I knew would be back and had written me checks for years without issue. I'm not sure Woodcraft has the same options since they are run by a corporate office.

[Steve838]

According to the Woodcraft website, of the 70 stores now open, only four are corporate owned, meaning the chances are that yours is franchised. This gives the owner more leeway to accept checks from known customers. A discussion with him would probably result in changes being made.

[mpounders]

I think you don't get a lot of consistency with local Woodcraft stores. Some may have friendly and helpful staff, but others may not. It seems like some are geared somewhat more towards helping their friends and people they know rather then new business and walk in traffic. Not sure if that is because they hire people who are great woodworkers and poor sales persons or whether they are just poor sales persons? Either way, it drives people more and more to purchase online rather than supporting local businesses. You would think more people would figure out that customer service is critical to a lot of successful businesses.