Recommendations for woodruff key suppliers?

[Aldon 4,826]

The Internet is a great place but has its pitfalls for sure.

[ztnoo 2,298]

As I've already expressed yesterday, I'm pretty honked off with the whole fiasco with G.L. Huyett over the beating I got on the woodruff keys ordered from them.

The keys finally showed up today via UPS, and if there's anything good to report in this horror story, the keys are the right size and do fit. They just cost about 10 times what they should have.

I was right about the packing......it was a shipping envelope.......one that cost me $10.50. I'm sure USPS would have been cheaper and probably happier to have the business, I might add.

Here's what a $10.50 UPS envelope with its unpacked contents looks like (to the uninitiated).

 

 

left: The Huyett keys; right: The Fastenal key. The Fastenal key is a much higher quality finish, whereas the Huyett keys were pitted. $11.56 1/2 each vs. $1.31 each

 

To top things off I had to make note of, and light of, the headings at the top of Huyett's paperwork. Truer words were never spoken......

I should have known something ugly would happen when I first saw the heading at the top of the homepage of the company......"PURVEYORS OF A WAY OF LIFE"

G.L. Huyett definitely has it own way of life......and doing business. 

 

 

 

Edited March 18, 2016 by ztnoo

[JAinVA 4,619]

ztnoo,

     Thanks for letting us know what crooks these folks are.I don't want to add to your anger but I bought 400 of those envelopes for items I sell on E-bay.Shipped the cost per envelope worked out to .08 cents.If I dealt in the quantity these folks do I could get the cost down to .04 cents or less.If there is any good to this it is that you got the right parts.

Luck,JAinVA

JimAnderson

Gloucester,Va

[ztnoo 2,298]

I wanted to update this situation in fairness to the Huyett outfit because of some changes they instituted regarding my purchase following some extensive communications with the company.

 

I wrote an extensive reply to a Mr. Greg Tabor, VP – Sales Operations & Marketing for Huyett. This was the gentleman that initially responded to my bitching session about obscene shipping and handling charges in relation to the cost of the items I purchased which was sent to the company CEO and a couple of other internal Huyett email addresses.  I'm sure Mr. Tabor was delegated the responsibility of replying to me directly, whether he wanted to or not.

In my message, I stressed the lack of being able to see and view what the final charges would be prior to making the decision to buy and clicking on the "Buy" or "Submit Order" button. I emphasized the extremely rare and unusual situation of not being to view the final costs and charges on the Huyett site prior to making a decision to purchase. I explained I didn't believe I had ever encountered an online ordering system before that didn't deliver the full cost information to the customer prior to the transaction.

 

To emphasize my point of being grossly overcharged, I made the following statement to Mr. Tabor in my response to him:

"All of the pertinent and relevant data relating to the true cost was metered out over several days (5 days to be exact, from the time of the order, until receiving the actual invoice), totally excluding me the purchaser of the option to accept or reject the real bottom line. With the proper software, knowing the weight of an item, the zip code of a potential buyer, and computing shipping rate charges for a given distance, there is no good reason in my mind why a total figure can't be provided to a buyer prior to his making the decision to purchase or not to purchase. Thousands upon thousands of web sellers do this on a daily basis, hundreds if not thousands of times daily.

 

I'm sure my small purchase is and was insignificant to G.L. Huyett.
You may actually have little interest in individual buyers of small items and it is your prerogative to chose what types of sales your company wants to actively encourage, pursue, and service.
I'm sure you have accounts you service that likely yield hundreds of thousands of dollars a year to your company and likely have done so for years.
So, effectively for your bottom line, I am at most, one grain of sand in the Sahara Desert compared with the huge entity which is G.L. Huyett. In realistic terms, I am insignificant as a disgruntled individual.

However, I will say the internet is a place where word of unpleasant and unfair practices, either perceived or real, can quickly spread, and can have enormous impact beyond what one customer has experienced.
You and the rest of the Huyett hierarchy may or may not have considered this factor, but the news, good or bad about a business, can have significant impact within specialized groups and communities.
As an example, I am a member of a very active forum and group of enthusiasts who restore Wheel Horse lawn and garden tractors. These owners are prolific users of hardware, supplies for refinishing, and other mechanical items related to their restorations and hobby. On the surface, your company's prolific offerings might draw great interest and generate purchases to supply their needs. I think that possibility just vanished into thin air within this group.

As an example, I would point to a thread I authored entitled, "Recommendations for woodruff key suppliers?"
This was initiated to find some specialized woodruff keys I was seeking for replacement parts for a repair I was making.
This topic was started before I had any knowledge of the existence of G.L. Huyett. My research and inquiries lead to both very positive and very negative outcomes.
I think if you review the link cited below, it will become quickly evident which suppliers were rated as a good experience and which were rated as a negative experience.
It might be enlightening and beneficial for the Huyett executive team to review the impact and reach such commentary and discussions can have within a specialized group.
I suggest you focus your attention closely on pages 2 and 3 of the thread for the pertinent details.
Granted I am only one individual, but what I experienced can, and I'm sure will, have a lasting impact within this forum and its membership.
Food for thought for your executive group.......

http://www.wheelhorseforum.com/topic/61970-recommendations-for-woodruff-key-suppliers/  "

 

My Tabor did openly admit that this glitch was an obvious flaw within the Huyett online ordering site. He did say most of Huyett's business is to bigger customers for larger items and greater volumes of items than what I ordered. He explained often the freight charges frequently can't be determined and computed until all the items in the order are assembled together and actually packed. He inferred their business is mostly to larger customers ordering large volumes of materials, some of which are extremely heavy. He said the reason for the $10.00 handling charge for small orders is to help partially recoup the costs of dealing with small individual orders which are extremely time consuming for the dollar value they add to their bottom line. He said they however do continue to service very small individual items and orders because they feel they must serve everyone who wishes to buy from them, and that be doing so, often it leads to more and larger future orders.

 

Here are Mr. Tabor's comments:

 

"I know what you are saying on freight calculation and as the architect of several websites, I thought the same thing when I developed this site, but UPS charges by both weight and boxes and due to the weight of our products, both can vary significantly.  The bulk of our customers (resellers, several of who were mentioned in the thread you sent me) buy in quantities where a “rough calculation” or “flat rate” would either over or under charge, sometimes significantly.  This is a variable that we are unable to absorb with our typical customers.  If we were primarily a “retailer” we could easily do this as it would be something we could use averages and “expected” packaging. 

 

We actually do not intend to compete with McMaster or Fastenal (and other large distributors) as they:

 

1.      Have the distribution model that can better process and absorb the costs of pulling a $2.00 orders.

2.      Have the volume to charge customers published freight rates and make a hefty amount due to their negotiated freight discount (which helps cover the cost we try to with the $10 Small Ordering fee)

3.      We prefer not to compete with our distributors. 

 

So why do we have a website offering these product?  Well, we do it for 3 reasons:

 

1.      Our site is a resource to many of our customers and their customers alike.  Just like the screen shot in the thread, we spend a tremendous amount of time to get the data, images and specifications correct and we want   that information available to people.

2.      Our distributors usually only have the “common” items and we like to be able to offer those hard to find items.  In those cases, we have bailed quite a few customers out of very tight binds.

3.      When logged in, our customers can see additional information that allows them to find order history, tracking information and per print items.    

 

Steve, I sincerely appreciate your complaint and we will try to prevent this issue happening to future customers, as the $24.00 you spent with GLH was spent on the COG’s, UPS, Packaging and Labor to Pull, Pack and Ship.  These small orders are not profitable for us, but to get the bigger orders we have to support the small ones.  We try to limit the price we have to charge, but we do have to cover some of the costs. 

 

I will provide you credit for the $10.00 small ordering fee as a thank you for the time you have invested in providing me feedback.

 

So this goes to show and prove, that if you have a valid grievance and complaint, and b*t*h loud enough, sometimes your concerns are heard and taken into account, and sometimes things actually get changed or improved for a customer's sake. I can't say the bad taste of my Huyett experience has been completely rinsed from my mouth, but it certainly isn't as sour to the taste buds as it once was.

I also think the information that my negative experience with G.L. Huyett was being distributed and discussed online in a public forum had an influence in the matter. So, I'd like to thank RS and the guys that have read and absorbed this thread.

I've already received confirmation officially from Huyett's bookkeeping department about the refund. Effectively, after this positive gesture, each Huyett woodruff key cost me $6.56 1/2.

 

Steve

Edited March 25, 2016 by ztnoo

[roadapples 6,981]

Thank you for taking the time, and are you for hire? You have a way with words that could come in handy...