Rutlands....argh!!!!

[srp]

I ordered a Festool Rotex from them when they had a big sale on last year. During the phone conversation I was told what the new price was for the current model - and when it arrived it was an older, discontinued, model. In my opinion they deliberately misled me. I sent it back and got a refund ( I reminded them of the Distance Selling Regs). I'm still waiting for them to refund my carriage charge.
I also bought 6 clamps from them - rubbish quality, and I wrote a review for them. It never appeared on their site, so they obviously edit out reviews they don't like.
So, in my experience, they can't be trusted. They will never see any of my money again.

 

[RogerS]

There are many companies out there with customer service just as abysmal....usually finance and utility companies. Their call centres seem measured on how quickly they can get you off the phone rather than actually resolving (properly) the issue. The same lack of care aso applies to any emails sent in. I break out the champagne when one of these companies actually sorts things out properly the first time. Usually the reply is a cut and paste job that has zero relevance to whatever it was you contacted them about in the first place. It is a great shame that you can't invoice them for your wasted time.

 

[Lons]

There are many companies out there with customer service just as abysmal....usually finance and utility companies. Their call centres seem measured on how quickly they can get you off the phone rather than actually resolving (properly) the issue. The same lack of care aso applies to any emails sent in. I break out the champagne when one of these companies actually sorts things out properly the first time. Usually the reply is a cut and paste job that has zero relevance to whatever it was you contacted them about in the first place. It is a great shame that you can't invoice them for your wasted time.

There are a lot of exceptions though sometimes you have to get through to the right person to get it.

i.e.
BT are usually awful but I had a broadband issue a few years ago and I emailed the then MD (a Dutchman :roll: ). I sent the message just before 11pm on a Sunday night and had a personal reply sent from his blackberry within 20 minutes :shock: This waqs followed up by telephone calls from a director and several senior personnel over the next couple of days.

I bought a cooker hood 12 months ago online from 123 Electrical (part of the Co-op). Good price and service but the courier made a mess of the delivery. Email to the 123 Electrical MD in the evening resulted in a phone call from him at 8am the next morning and he personally ensured they found my parcel. His clout as a large customer was much greater than mine as an individual. This type of service ensures customer loyalty.

Bob

 

[Sawyer]

My Missus is an absolute genius at getting customer service issues sorted (always without the aid of expletives or other abuse).
I'm almost tempted to order something from Rutlands, just to see what happens if they end up getting her on the phone.

 

[Lons]

My Missus is an absolute genius at getting customer service issues sorted (always without the aid of expletives or other abuse).
I'm almost tempted to order something from Rutlands, just to see what happens if they end up getting her on the phone.

I find that women are either excellent or hopeless with few in between and it's all about being calm, prepared and charming if that's the right word.

I try never to get upset or heated as most of the time the guy on the end of the 'phone is just doing a job and often hasn't the autonomy to make a decision anyway so the first question I ask is "who are you, what is your position in the company and are you authorised to make a decision?" If they aren't then I gently insist they transfer me to the right person otherwise you end up repeating the conversation over and over.

If you have a problem. it's important the person you contact wants to help you and antagonism just ensures you go to the bottom of the pile.IMO Threats come as a last resort and if made you have to be prepared to carry them out.

Bob

 

[hunggaur]

last year I order in the region of £4K worth of stuff from them all was fine i then placed an order for another £1.5k of items which were out of stock i waited 3 months for them to arrive in stock.

Rutlands called me to say they had cleared customs and gave me a delivery date. i took the day off work and they did not arrive.

when i called Rutlands they told me they had been delayed at customs and they new the day before they were unable to deliver them but they did not bother calling me to let me know so i wasted a day.

Rutlands just did not want to know and there attitude was tough not our fault it was customs. They could of at least called to let me know they were not going to arrive but they could not be bothered.

I was not impressed i cancelled the order and will not be doing business with them again. They have lost about ££5k business a year from me.

Sorry Rutlands

not impressed

 

[wcndave]

One tends to feel they got too big too fast.

Some of the cheap lines are low quality, however thats often what you get for cheap, and for an infrequent hobbiest on a budget, that could be fine.

Their customer service, to be fair, are always friendly and helpful when you call them, i just think they are not very proactive. As they grew perhaps they did not have time to put the rights checks and processes in place.

Te latest quirk is thati tried to order something small, and not wanting to pay the £20 international delivery (it was free uk delivery) i had it delivered to my uk office. However it still charged me £20.

Calling them up i got it sorted no problem, however, I asked why and it turns out that their system uses the billing address to work out the delivery charge, not the delivery address. I suggested this was daft, he suggested i put UK at the end of billing address, however then my card does not go through...

So i try to order from Ax, or workshop heaven, or toolpost when i can, however have no issue ordering from Rutlands as I know i will get it right in the end, it's my right, however I like to avoid the hassle if possible!

I think if they sorted out a few things, they would lose a lot less revenue. (also the search on their site is rubbish, i searched for "scraper" and got no results, when they have lots of items with that name, got from WH in the end...)

 

[Uncle Chas]

Glad I found this thread...hopefully going to order a few hundred pounds-worth of tools soon & this could have saved me a lot of hassle Cheers!

 

[Mickfb]

Had a Dakota bench on order since May. Every time I rung them they would give me a new date which would pass only to be given a new date. I have now cancelled the order. Decided to make my own bench, went to order a vice of them. Guess what "out of stock"

MICK

 

[deserter]

Too many bad experiences with them, wouldn't buy anything from them ever again. They're the perfect example of getting what you pay for.


~Nil carborundum illegitemi~

 

[Argus]

.


I must confess that I have bought some decent stuff over the years from Rut's without any hitches .........that is until earlier this year.

I have now given up on them, not because of any of the foregoing, but because for some reason, at the end of the checkout rigmarole their system just won't pocket the plastic that it was previously happy to accept.

Nothing wrong with 'cookies', settings, or any of that giberish. Nor anything wrong, I hasten to add, with the colour of my plastic - it works fine everywhere else and continues to do so.

Just Rutlands, I suppose........ However, the good news is that there's not much they sell that can't be obtained elsewhere.

.

 

[JakeS]

You'd have trouble shopping with them at the moment anyway, it would seem - I went back there Friday evening to see if they were still selling mobile bases as cheaply as they were a little while ago, and none of their product pages seem to actually load!

 

[jimi43]

I got a catalogue from them once on time.....

Jim

 

[Losos]

OK, my Rutlands story.
Mark

Mark, wouldn't it be easier quicker and more reliable to order from AB Dick in Germany, they have a telephone service with a lovely English speaking lady who knows all about what's in stock and what isn't and they deliver to all of Europe so I would assume Norway is included in that.

They are not the cheapest supplier around 'tho, I'll admit that (They had a Japanese hammer for Euro 120 recently!!)

But (apart from Axminster) I've not found any supplier in UK to match them.

 

[Hardwood66]

One word boycott

Russ

 

[deserter]

OK, my Rutlands story.
Mark

Mark, wouldn't it be easier quicker and more reliable to order from AB Dick in Germany, they have a telephone service with a lovely English speaking lady who knows all about what's in stock and what isn't and they deliver to all of Europe so I would assume Norway is included in that.

They are not the cheapest supplier around 'tho, I'll admit that (They had a Japanese hammer for Euro 120 recently!!)

But (apart from Axminster) I've not found any supplier in UK to match them.

Workshop Heaven and Classic Handtools easily keep up with Axminster if not better, both companies in my experience have fantastic customer service, they sell what they hold in stock (which is most items) that dispatch in a very quick time and package very well. Now niether are the cheapest shops however as said above you get what you pay for, I'd rather pay a little more to have my item on time and in good condition as opposed to getting a bargain 3 months late and damaged.


I must add I am not affiliated with either of the above just a very happy customer of both on multiple occasions.


~Nil carborundum illegitemi~

 

[Tierney]

Plus one for Classic Hand Tools and Axminster, I prefer to call them and get advice and confirmation that an item is in stock - the old fashioned way!

DT

 

[Elapid]

You'd have trouble shopping with them at the moment anyway, it would seem - I went back there Friday evening to see if they were still selling mobile bases as cheaply as they were a little while ago, and none of their product pages seem to actually load!

Thanks I thought it was me. Been trying to buy the Dakota router table they have half price (although I am 99% certain I saw it at the same price there before the offer). Might actually have to pull my finger out and make my own if I can't get it work soon.

 

[deserter]

I have that router table, and would advise against buying it. All in all it's not too bad and definitely workable, but you could make a far better table for the same money at home, the only part I'll be keeping when I get around to it will be the plate, everything else is just designed to a price rather than function.


~Nil carborundum illegitemi~

 

[Elapid]

I have that router table, and would advise against buying it. All in all it's not too bad and definitely workable, but you could make a far better table for the same money at home, the only part I'll be keeping when I get around to it will be the plate, everything else is just designed to a price rather than function.


~Nil carborundum illegitemi~

Thanks for the advice. I'm just being to lazy to make my own but that is probably the push I need unless I spot an amazing deal on a good one in the next week or two.