Lee Valley customer service

[Kevin Jenness]

Another week, another attaboy for a Canadian company. I rarely use my McNaughton coring system and was surprised to pull it out and find the post was too short to use in my Oneway banjo. I realized that I had shortened it to fit in the shallow toolpost socket of my old General. I looked for a replacement post online and got a promise from Craft Supplies to call me if and when they got the next shipment from overseas (with extra tariffs at that point, no doubt). Customer service at Lee Valley put in a "special order" to pull a post from a set on the shelf, which I received in a week. Vendors willing to do that are few and far between. I've always had good dealings with Lee Valley, have a number of their Veritas tools, and will continue to give them my business.

 

[Adrian Wilson]

Another week, another attaboy for a Canadian company. I rarely use my McNaughton coring system and was surprised to pull it out and find the post was too short to use in my Oneway banjo. I realized that I had shortened it to fit in the shallow toolpost socket of my old General. I looked for a replacement post online and got a promise from Craft Supplies to call me if and when they got the next shipment from overseas (with extra tariffs at that point, no doubt). Customer service at Lee Valley put in a "special order" to pull a post from a set on the shelf, which I received in a week. Vendors willing to do that are few and far between. I've always had good dealings with Lee Valley, have a number of their Veritas tools, and will continue to give them my business.

I'm originally from the Ottawa area, home to the HQ, so I have been going there since I was a teenager, 40+ years. A while back, I was looking at a leather carpenter's toolbag I bought there a LOONG time ago. I have a full set from Occidental, but I thought it would be good to have a second belt, and add another bag to the one I had. I sent them an email, asking if there was any chance they knew who made the old one. The email I got back said they had back through YEARS of my orders..... and that s a lot of orders..... trying to find out, but had to admit defeat. Who the heck would even bother these days? I don't regret anything I spent there, and now my daughter is a customer too.

 

[Fred Hargis]

As a mostly flatwork guy (and in the US), I've bought a quite a few of their tools and have never had a complaint about any of them or the CS they offer. But with the traiff stuff going on I'm wondering if any of that will impact their business. I sure hope not, or at least minimally.

 

[Kevin Jenness]

It absolutely will affect their business They sent out a letter on the subject a few days ago.

We live in interesting times.

No doubt you are aware of some of the recent changes in global duty rates. Some changed as recently as today and are probably subject to future changes as well.

With an integrated North American supply chain, we stock and receive goods in both Canada and the USA and may ship from whichever location gets your goods to you the fastest.

Today, the trade climate makes it virtually impossible to determine the real current or future delivered costs of many goods. Prices are unstable and will apparently remain so for some time.

You can be confident that we will continuously work in your interest to keep all costs as low as possible. This may mean some products will become unavailable in the short term, as we do not want to “lock in” high duty rates. At the same time, every business will have to pass on costs as they incur them, and orders placed months ago under different conditions are arriving now. In addition to duty changes, we are receiving significant vendor price increases every day.

It seems that not that long ago we were able to print prices in a catalog and hold them for a full year; today, they age out before the press stops running.

No matter what the future brings, rest assured we always have your interests in mind. Keep hanging in there – the ride has to come to an end sometime!

Cheers,

Robin Lee

 

[Adrian Wilson]

I know I have been looking at a tool, and a book there, and just not hitting 'order'. The book I would have bought a few weeks ago, when I was in a store (rare), but they didn't have it. I am pretty sure it was $89 CDN then. It is now $105. The price for the tool has gone up (I think) about thirty bucks, to 169, in a couple of months. Both sourced from the US. Other things I am looking at sourced elsewhere seem to have styed the same-ish.

I'm mostly a flatwork cabinet/furniture guy, and I regularly buy vintage tools from the US (not at a high volume anymore). The last two things I bought I got clobbered at the border by a Canadian tax, that probably always applied but I have NEVER had it assessed to me before, and on the last one UPS extorted a second customs brokerage fee after I already paid it in the shipping fee upfront ('oh that's not a customs brokerage fee (even though it says 'customs brokerage fee'..... that's a DISBURSEMENT fee'). Anyway, based on those two purchases, I can't afford to buy anything in the US now, the border is just too expensive on top of the exchange rate. So back to the OP, no doubt Lee Valley and everyone else will be recouping that money from customers. Which I understand.

Oh, and UPS has lost a customer forever.

 

[Doug Freeman]

I have 8 of their excellent hand planes, spoke shave kit, and a few other items. I’ve never needed their customer service. I’m sure the tariff stuff is causing a lot of issues, but I suspect that will get sorted in the next few months. Shouldn’t be tariffs either direction.

 

[Kevin Jenness]

I’m sure the tariff stuff is causing a lot of issues, but I suspect that will get sorted in the next few months. Shouldn’t be tariffs either direction.

I look forward to the rapid positive resolution of the global tariff issue.

 

[John Redding]

Agree they have great customer service. I received an email from them just the other day that they are seeing sometimes daily increases from suppliers right now, so warned that prices may have to change rapidly.