# Customer Care Survey 01 - Rutlands ***RESULT*** 5.63



## Newbie_Neil (30 Mar 2007)

Average score was 5.63. (slightly above average)

However, worryingly, almost a third of the voters thought that Rutland's service was below average.


Hi all

Following on from a suggestion made by Lurker I'm setting in place a customer care survey for each of the companies in The List.

The result, and your comments, will be available as a link.

I am looking for you to vote on your *personal experience*, you can also post into the thread if you wish to make any further comments that you think would be useful.

Thank you for your participation.

I'll start the ball rolling with a 7.

Thanks,
Neil


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## andys wood shed (30 Mar 2007)

Quite a few purchases to date and a satisfied customer for a number of years. I have to say I've never had a problem.

I've always ordered by phone and have been informed if an item was out of stock with an estimated delivery.

So they get an 8 from me.

Andy


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## Losos (30 Mar 2007)

Hi Neil,
This is an excellant idea. I have voted since I have dealt with them (Albeit not that often)

Was wondering if you think a few of the Euro firms might be worth listing such as Dick Tools of Germany?


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## Drew (30 Mar 2007)

I gave them 1 because you didn't allow for negative numbers. If it had been up to me I would have cancelled my chrissie pressy and given them a large flea in their ears as well.

Drew


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## Newbie_Neil (31 Mar 2007)

Hi Losos



Losos":1i0lfgdr said:


> Was wondering if you think a few of the Euro firms might be worth listing such as Dick Tools of Germany?



The idea is to do the same thing each month for a new company. We will get to them all eventually.

Cheers,
Neil


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## Lord Nibbo (31 Mar 2007)

I gave them a 4.
Ok 95% of my orders were delivered with no problems and delivered quickly *But* it only needs one bad non or long delivery to leave a nasty taste that you never forget.


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## nickson71 (31 Mar 2007)

I've only ordered from them once and I have to say that they were great 


I managed to screw up the online bit so they phoned me to check my credit card number .......... then phoned me back to say that all was ok and the order was being processed and then ............. I got the items next day 

Excellent service .......... considering I made the cock up 

I'm not going to vote as I've only had the one order and I may be ordering some more stuff soon so I may rate them then 

However I though that I'd let people know my limit experiences


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## Sawdust (31 Mar 2007)

Lord Nibbo":lin2q5xj said:


> I gave them a 4.
> Ok 95% of my orders were delivered with no problems and delivered quickly *But* it only needs one bad non or long delivery to leave a nasty taste that you never forget.



And therein lies the problem with a poll like this and judging a supplier by comments on here because if they give good reasonable service no-one notices or comments but one problem overrides everything.


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## Alf (31 Mar 2007)

2. - they were appalling over my bandsaw purchase. Just took the money and left us to the tender mercies of NMA. I've risked orders subsequently, but it's more in a spirit of adventure (making sure the diary is clear for the subsequent month, just in case, etc) than a happy care-free shopping experience. 

Cheers, Alf


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## Anonymous (31 Mar 2007)

They are just up the road from me so when I order I can collect. Usually ready in 20mins.
It's a funny looking place. New building on an industrial estate. Very quiet. No showroom or retail. Just some very young looking people at computers in the front office. Basically a smooth mail order op with everything ready packed on the shelf - except for Alf's bandsaw :lol: 
I guess they send bigger stuff from source and don't stock it themselves.
I'd also guess that any back-up would be limited either to return/replace - or the buck passed to the manufacturer/supplier.
Happy Birthday Alfreda ccasion5: 

cheers
Jacob


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## Noel (31 Mar 2007)

I haven't voted because I haven't used Rutlands. With a £10 postage charge to N. Ireland and 5 day delivery I won't be using them anytime soon. Despite somebody from Rutlands posting here saying that postage to NI is under review not a lot happened (although it come down from £15 at one stage). Last thing I wanted was a round-over bit and I wasn't going to pay £20 for a £10 item. Wealden got the business at half the total cost of Rutlands and it arrived, as per usual, in a couple of days.
Axminster have a good postage policy and quick delivery and generally get most of my business amongst UK suppliers


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## Amateurrestorer (31 Mar 2007)

I have always got good service from Rutlands, I like their deal of the week as well. It's an 8 for me.


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## woodbloke (31 Mar 2007)

I've only ever ordered one item from them so don't feel really qualified to take part in this poll. However the plane did arrive promptly so I have no problem.......at the moment :wink: - Rob


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## Waka (31 Mar 2007)

I've used them quite a lot and have to say that I 've had no bad experiences with them.


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## tonybaloni (31 Mar 2007)

An 8 from me too. Many orders, not too many problems. Most sorted quickly, mostly by Georgina in customer services. 

A bonus in terms of a £150 freebie a couple of years ago probably swayed my vote too. :wink: 

Tony


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## CHJ (1 Apr 2007)

Used them a few times, goods always up to expectations on value for money stakes. having said that I tend to buy at "on offer" prices, not main catalogue price.

Just one item was delayed delivery several weeks from order, ostensively because the supply chain was broken, but to be fair I was kept informed on delivery expectations on a regular basis with a refund/purchase elsewhere option offered. 
I stuck to order as price point difference was significant. (A cynic might query if this had anything to do with non availability)

One poor performing item queried with them when I found out that there was a known manufacturing defect, resulted in the units manufacturer promptly sending a replacement.


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## Paul.J (1 Apr 2007)

Gave them an 8 even though i did have a problem with one order which they did eventually sort out.Mainly down to delivery driver :roll: 
Ordered a few items from them since and have had no problems.
Good service.
Paul.J.


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## Losos (1 Apr 2007)

Sawdust said:-


> And therein lies the problem with a poll like this and judging a supplier by comments on here because if they give good reasonable service no-one notices or comments but one problem overrides everything.



But actualy that is the strength of a poll. At the time of writing 47% of people who did vote are happy with the service, and only a small percentage very unhappy. 

I think it is a good idea, and it will be even more useful in future when more firms are covered and side by side poll results are known.

As Lord Nibbo says, a major cock up does leave lingering memories and the desire to tell the world is understandable, but there is always a risk with any supplier that something will go wrong.


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## RinkyDinky (1 Apr 2007)

Its a 1 from me, less if i could.....

Re stocking charges when they incorrectly supply an item STINKS


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## Mike.C (1 Apr 2007)

> Sawdust,
> 
> And therein lies the problem with a poll like this and judging a supplier by comments on here because if they give good reasonable service no-one notices or comments but one problem overrides everything.[/



At first I was going to agree with this. One members comments could cost a company a great deal of money in lost business, yet it could be a one off, but other members or lukers have no way of knowing this unless they too have shopped with the company. 
Then I thought that this is the very reason that polls are a good idea, because not only do we see instantly what others think of a company by how they vote, but we also have their comments on how their orders have been handled, and if it went wrong, how good or badly the company dealt with the problem.

I also like the idea of grading the vote from 1 to 9 because not everyone is going to leave a comment after they vote, so at least this way we are not getting a simple YES or NO vote. 

One thing I would like to see is the company being given a chance to reply to a members comments, because IMHO if a company takes the time to reply it shows that they take their customers complaints seriously. Or do the moderators let the companies know of the complaint already? 
I know that the mods have enough to do but I just thought that they should be given a chance to reply.


Neil can we do a poll on Lyndhurst next?, because after the way they treated Byron I would like to see how they have dealt with other members orders.

Cheers

Mike


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## Newbie_Neil (1 Apr 2007)

Mike.C":3igkzjk2 said:


> Neil can we do a poll on Lyndhurst next....



I'll add it to the list, Axminster is next.



Mike.C":3igkzjk2 said:


> One thing I would like to see is the company being given a chance to reply to a members comments



It is my intention to contact the company each month so that, if they wish, they can comment.

Cheers
Neil


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## Mike.C (1 Apr 2007)

> Neil,
> 
> It is my intention to contact the company each month so that, if they wish, they can comment.



Wow that was fast thanks Neil.

Cheers

Mike


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## Alf (1 Apr 2007)

Hmm, I'm surprised there's so many votes above average - is Rutlands really "above average"? On that basis are we going to need a rating up to 20 for the likes of Lee Valley? :-k See, I voted on the basis of 5 being, as it says, average - whereas I get the feeling some are doing "marks out of ten" which is a bit different, isn't it?

Cheers, Alf


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## Newbie_Neil (1 Apr 2007)

The vote so far puts Rutland at 5.5

Cheers
Neil


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## Rod (2 Apr 2007)

Ihave only placed one order (online)with them and everything arrived a couple of days later ,well packaged and all correct so no complaints from me ,but it was only one order.


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## Bean (2 Apr 2007)

I have placed a few orders with rutlands, I have had problems with them but I gave them a 7 due to the way they sorted out the problems. Any company can have a problem with supply or the equipment they supply, the true mark of a decent company is the manner in which they sort out the problem.


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## Newbie_Neil (2 Apr 2007)

Hi Bean



Bean":2wjrulpv said:


> ...the true mark of a decent company is the manner in which they sort out the problem.



Absolutely, that's why I also gave them a seven.

Cheers
Neil


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## Jake (2 Apr 2007)

Interesting. I have used them a few times, and never experienced any problems, so I thought they were OK. Then I bought a compressor/nail gun package from them and they sent the wrong, smaller, compressor by mistake. 

Their attitude really irritated me, they expected me to be around on a weekday, i.e. take a day's holiday, to allow them to do a swapover. They wouldn't gurantee a time slot because "our carrier doesn't do that" and they wouldn't do a weekend because "our carrier doesn't do that". I pointed out that they could use another carrier which could do a weekend, given that this was completely their problem and they said "we have a contract with this carrier". So I had to take one of my few enough annual days off to help them sort out their mistake. Throughout the attitude was dismissive, and there was no apology at all at any stage, even when I pointed out the inconvenience they were putting me through.

3 for me. Would have been 1, but for the other transactions which went through without a hitch, but as said above, that is no real test of CS.


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## Buckeye (2 Apr 2007)

The problem I have with Rutlands is that they don't say whether something is in stock on their website when you order whereas Axminster, for example, do. Major pain in the rear to order you long sought after tool only to be told it will be a month before they have it.

Apart from thie major fact I have found their website, catalogue and service to be very good especially their deals of the week.


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## ivan (2 Apr 2007)

Apears OK if goods in stock *AND* if correctly described. Have had to work too hard when when things went wrong, so no more than 4. By contrast, Ax's after sales has never faulted in over 20 years.


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## martlewis (2 Apr 2007)

7 from me.

Orders have always turned up on time and when c/s promised a delivery date on a back order, it actually turned up on the day they said :lol:


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## johnjin (2 Apr 2007)

A great idea Neil. 
A poll is the best way of finding out what a company is like as most of the time you hear of a company only when they have screwed up even if that is in reality only one in a thousand orders.
An 8 from me as after several orders I have yet to have a problem with them. Of course you only really find out what a company is like when things go wrong.
All the best
John


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## Dave S (2 Apr 2007)

I have seen several polls of this nature, and in my experience they have never worked.

Firstly, the questions are usually not tightly worded enough so that, as Alf suspects, different respondents interpret the question and grade their answers in different ways.

Secondly, since the raw data is what is presented, there is no adjustment for, nor recognition of, distortion in the data. There will be an over-representation of those with fewer purchasing experiences.** An amateur may place a higher importance on price compared to a professional who may place a higher importance on meeting a delivery date. And there will certainly be an over-representation of negative experiences.

Thirdly, the reader who _does'nt_ appreciate the distortions in the data may gain a very false impression, whereas the reader who _does_ appreciate the distortions will realise that the data doesn't actually tell you very much at all.

Finally, everything here is in the public domain, and I have seen more than one website running this kind of poll give up after attention from a company's solicitor.

** Consider person A makes one purchase, has a bad experience and awards 1. Person B makes 99 purchases, all are perfect, and awards 9. Company gets a rating of 5, 'Average', even though 99% of purchases were perfect. 

Dave


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## Escudo (2 Apr 2007)

I have always found Rutlands to be a good firm to deal with.

I have purchased a few things over the last year and they were all delivered promptly.

Their catalogue is well designed, clear and has lots of nice pictures.

I am going to give Rutlands a 8/10.

I have docked 2 points because;

1. I find the sale items are generally poor and mostly items I do not want.
2. I do not always believe they are the most reasonably priced.

Well thats my opinion.
Esc.


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## Losos (3 Apr 2007)

Dave,

Yes, statistics can always be tricky, especially to those of us who are not statisticians, however, lets give the mods 10 out of 10 for trying  

I do hope it doesn't degenerate to the 'solicitors letter' status. That would be a shame, and if it does I do hope the mods will be allowed to tell us who is banging of 'solicitors letters' and we can them make up are own minds about who to deal with in future :wink:


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## Mike.C (3 Apr 2007)

> DaveS,
> 
> I have seen several polls of this nature, and in my experience they have never worked



Well lets hope that this one is different. I certainly think that it should be given a chance.
IMHO the mods deserve a pat on the back for posting the poll, which no matter what anyone says is going to help at least someone choose where to buy their new toy in the future. 



> DaveS,
> 
> Firstly, the questions are usually not tightly worded enough so that, as Alf suspects, different respondents interpret the question and grade their answers in different ways.



If anyone is worried about the wording, then maybe the mods might change them in future polls, and it may help if these members come up with a few suggestions.



> DaveS,
> 
> Thirdly, the reader who does'nt appreciate the distortions in the data may gain a very false impression, whereas the reader who does appreciate the distortions will realise that the data doesn't actually tell you very much at all.



If members think that the scores in these polls are distorted and as Dave states "The data does not actually tell them very much at all" then it might be a good idea to ask everyone who votes to also post a message explaining what score they gave and why they gave them. Because again IMHO I think that those who have left messages in this poll have explained their reasons for the score they gave very well indeed, and I am sure that if it is done like this in the future anyone reading them will be left in no doubt how the writer feels about the company
In fact if I was new to Ukworkshop or a lurker and read the few posts/rants about Rutlands in the last few years I would never shop with them, but after this poll things have changed considerably and I would say that they look like a far better company now.

Lets give these polls a chance and as I have said if you think the wording of the polls should be different, then tell the mods how you think they should be worded.

Cheers

Mike


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## gidon (3 Apr 2007)

Mike.C":brsbz051 said:


> <snip> ... but after this poll things have changed considerably and I would say they look a far better company to someone who has not had a dealings with them before.



Will be interesting to see the other polls - the results do seem better than I'd have expected from the comments in the forum, but as it stands even with all the aforementioned caveats - 1 in 3 people have still voted that the service is _below _average which is not something I'd imagine Rutlands would be proud of.


Cheers

Gidon


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## Mike.C (3 Apr 2007)

> Gidon,
> 
> but as it stands even with all the aforementioned caveats - 1 in 3 people have still voted that the service is below average which is not something I'd imagine Rutlands would be proud of.



BINGO a hit on the very first go. That is exactly what I left the bait for. Even though "21" members have given a score of 8 you still noticed from the messages that these members think Rutlands customer service is not very good, and that is why IMHO each voter should leave a meassge, because as you have shown, this along with a score is the best way to get a real feel of what a company is like.

Cheers

Mike


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## TonyW (3 Apr 2007)

Mike.C":23rwebrn said:


> > Gidon,
> >
> > but as it stands even with all the aforementioned caveats - 1 in 3 people have still voted that the service is below average which is not something I'd imagine Rutlands would be proud of.
> 
> ...


I certainly agree with the above sentiments. In particular leaving a message. In my case I felt that I had very poor customer support and service this on my first net order to the company. On reflection I will probably give them another try - but this time by phone order.

BTW Is it Mr Rutland who gave the 1 Simply the best score 

Tony


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## Newbie_Neil (18 Apr 2007)

Hi all

Well, after 79 votes the average came out at 5.63.

Interestingly, almost a third thought that Rutlands customer service was below average.

Cheers
Neil


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## lurker (18 Apr 2007)

Its true that they have a below average score, but before this poll, based on what I'd heard elsewhere, I would have not touched them with a very long pole. 
Now my opinions have mellowed somewhat, so the poll did Rutlands a slight favour.


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## Dad (18 Apr 2007)

I agree with lurker. Not used Rutlands (so didn't vote, obviously) - on 3 counts - a) what I've read here b) price c) Axminster

Might give them a go now if/when appropriate


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## Newbie_Neil (18 Apr 2007)

Hi lurker



lurker":1d5rkp3u said:


> Its true that they have a below average score



Err, no. As five was average, they scored above average. :wink: 

Cheers
Neil


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## lurker (19 Apr 2007)

Neil,

true :-k but I factored OUT whoever polled "simply the best" :lol: :lol: 

Jim


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## Newbie_Neil (19 Apr 2007)

ROTFL.

Neil


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## Newbie_Neil (10 Dec 2007)

Hi all

Anyone thinking of buying from Rutland might like to look here.

Cheers,
Neil


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