Called Buston Today About My New Hawk Order 8 Weeks Now

[rjweb]

When Iggy was having trouble with his saw, one of the people from Buston was posting on here, maybe they can shed some light of there business practices, RJ 

[JimErn]

4 hours ago, kmmcrafts said:

Yes the credit card is charged immediately when you order online, I assume the same way when you call the order in.. My opinion is they should say something about a timeline on the web page about whether the saws are in stock or back ordered etc.. but they have a pretty poor website.. They have items on there that have been saying " Pictures coming soon " for the 2-3 years I've been dealing with them.. LOL  

Well that would have me calling the credit card company to cancel the charge for lack of fulfillment.

I just can not see charging the card if it does not ship within 30 days which as I understand it is the standard.  I do know that some CC companies do not allow a vendor to charge the card until the item ships.

I would not want that price adding to interest charges on the card either.

 

[Scruffydog]

Just my opinion...

I advocate for patience and forgiveness in dealing with other people because everyone makes mistakes and every machine breaks. I don't always succeed, but I think it's worth trying. Unless it's a life or death situation, what is really gained be having a negative attitude toward a mom & pop company that is obviously trying to put their cnc machine back together? Cut them some slack folks. They are trying to do something in the US which we all ought to value. Again, just my opinion.

The two greatest needs that I see lacking in today's world are those two virtues. Imagine what kind of world it would be if everyone could just slow down, take more time, be patient, and be forgiving? I know my commute to work would be more pleasant, that's for sure. I for one wouldn't mind buying a Hawk some day. I like that the PS Wood Machines are made in the USA too. And if I save up enough to buy one I will.

A few years ago I met a man who was 75 years old and still making a small machine that our company could have used. In spite of a good demo and traveling hundreds of miles to bring a machine to our plant, the bosses shot him down because he was "too small" and "too old". This guy bent over backward to accommodate us, but they rejected his machine. I was very sad about this and wished him well as he packed his van for the ride home. I have never forgotten the look on his face as he was leaving. I had the feeling that his livelihood depended on making this one sale. I wish I could have helped him, but my hands were tied and I didn't control the purse strings. Anyway, I talked to him on and off after that, but we lost touch when I changed jobs.

I thought about him and how many other people there are that are like him, trying to keep American manufacturing alive. There all small businesses everywhere that can use our support. And when they mess up or have production problems, I just think we ought to cut them some slack. That's all.

Have a good day.

[OCtoolguy]

18 minutes ago, Scruffydog said:

Just my opinion...

I advocate for patience and forgiveness in dealing with other people because everyone makes mistakes and every machine breaks. I don't always succeed, but I think it's worth trying. Unless it's a life or death situation, what is really gained be having a negative attitude toward a mom & pop company that is obviously trying to put their cnc machine back together? Cut them some slack folks. They are trying to do something in the US which we all ought to value. Again, just my opinion.

The two greatest needs that I see lacking in today's world are those two virtues. Imagine what kind of world it would be if everyone could just slow down, take more time, be patient, and be forgiving? I know my commute to work would be more pleasant, that's for sure. I for one wouldn't mind buying a Hawk some day. I like that the PS Wood Machines are made in the USA too. And if I save up enough to buy one I will.

A few years ago I met a man who was 75 years old and still making a small machine that our company could have used. In spite of a good demo and traveling hundreds of miles to bring a machine to our plant, the bosses shot him down because he was "too small" and "too old". This guy bent over backward to accommodate us, but they rejected his machine. I was very sad about this and wished him well as he packed his van for the ride home. I have never forgotten the look on his face as he was leaving. I had the feeling that his livelihood depended on making this one sale. I wish I could have helped him, but my hands were tied and I didn't control the purse strings. Anyway, I talked to him on and off after that, but we lost touch when I changed jobs.

I thought about him and how many other people there are that are like him, trying to keep American manufacturing alive. There all small businesses everywhere that can use our support. And when they mess up or have production problems, I just think we ought to cut them some slack. That's all.

Have a good day.

Thanks for your input. I agree with you but, in this world we live in today, it's almost not workable. I would love to see a return to the old days of true craftsmanship. What I think is needed at Bushton is one person who does nothing but communicate with customers or potential customers. For them to charge up front for something that is not available and then not communicate with the person whose money you took is just not right. Of course, none of us know what the actual operation is like at Bushton. Heck, maybe it's a family of 3 and they are working 12 hour days to keep the farm going. Whatever it is, they should be up-front and keep the lines of communication open. 

 

[kmmcrafts]

42 minutes ago, Scruffydog said:

Just my opinion...

I advocate for patience and forgiveness in dealing with other people because everyone makes mistakes and every machine breaks. I don't always succeed, but I think it's worth trying. Unless it's a life or death situation, what is really gained be having a negative attitude toward a mom & pop company that is obviously trying to put their cnc machine back together? Cut them some slack folks. They are trying to do something in the US which we all ought to value. Again, just my opinion.

The two greatest needs that I see lacking in today's world are those two virtues. Imagine what kind of world it would be if everyone could just slow down, take more time, be patient, and be forgiving? I know my commute to work would be more pleasant, that's for sure. I for one wouldn't mind buying a Hawk some day. I like that the PS Wood Machines are made in the USA too. And if I save up enough to buy one I will.

A few years ago I met a man who was 75 years old and still making a small machine that our company could have used. In spite of a good demo and traveling hundreds of miles to bring a machine to our plant, the bosses shot him down because he was "too small" and "too old". This guy bent over backward to accommodate us, but they rejected his machine. I was very sad about this and wished him well as he packed his van for the ride home. I have never forgotten the look on his face as he was leaving. I had the feeling that his livelihood depended on making this one sale. I wish I could have helped him, but my hands were tied and I didn't control the purse strings. Anyway, I talked to him on and off after that, but we lost touch when I changed jobs.

I thought about him and how many other people there are that are like him, trying to keep American manufacturing alive. There all small businesses everywhere that can use our support. And when they mess up or have production problems, I just think we ought to cut them some slack. That's all.

Have a good day.

A lot of these reasons is exactly why I bought the Hawk in the first place.. and.. why I haven't canceled out my order.. I've run a few different business's and many times the struggle is real... I do wish they could communicate a little better than they do.. but.. that said.. they are always there to answer the phone with any questions one has.. not something you typically get with Excalibur or most any other brands. Typically calling Dewalt you'll get a recording to press 1 for English or... you get the idea there.. When you call Bushton you get a person.. and that person is part owner.. 

I might have a bigger attitude about this if I was in dire need of the saw.. I primarily went with a Hawk because they are small business... They do make a great saw... They are made in the USA.. while not very part is USA but they are a USA company trying to make it in this tough world.. I have the New Excalibur and with the price of the Hawk.. I could have bought 2 more of those..  But I was also trying to do my small part to make America Great Again, LOL... Now... it's up to Hawk to do their part and deliver on a awesome saw that'll put a smile on my face... We'll see how it all pans out in the end..

When I talked to Nicole.. the she said they was all pulling their hair out just trying to deliver on a " precision" scroll saw that the customers have ordered..They have the parts that they could have used and sent out the saw.. but they are .003 off and caused the saw to vibrate a little more than it should.. they decided to hold off sending them out to deliver a quality saw.. At least it seems like they are not trying to push off a less than perfect saw.. Those other companies would probably saw send them out.. they work.. and we'll deal with it later as we need our production numbers for our bonus, LOL

Just my .02  and why I decided to wait yet another 3 weeks or so and see where that lands me..  

[hotshot]

As far as being financially unable to stock parts in advance, I would just add that there were folks reporting delays before they bought yet another business:  http://www.advancedautographics.com.  They had just acquired this business back when I was working with them on some parts for my BM26, which luckily they did have in stock.

At the end of the day, family business or not, many of their potential customers are looking for a stable, reliable, responsive company to back their > $1200 purchase.  If someone doesn't mind waiting out what ever crisis happens to be happening, then that is great, but many folks want to have a certain comfort level with a company before they lay out that kind of money.

 

Edited February 22, 2019 by hotshot

[kmmcrafts]

10 minutes ago, hotshot said:

As far as being financially unable to stock parts in advance, I would just add that there were delays before they bought yet another business:  http://www.advancedautographics.com.  I think they seem scattered because they are.

Yeah they seem to have their hands in a lot of different things.. How do you find this stuff out? They also do machining to make aluminum valve covers for engines etc if I remember correctly?

Edit: that's what that page you link to was.. I thought it was stickers..

Edited February 22, 2019 by kmmcrafts

[hotshot]

20 minutes ago, kmmcrafts said:

.......How do you find this stuff out? ......

I was calling them for something, and either Nicole or the girl that covering for her during her pregnancy was excited about their new business.  If they were trying to market their other business, it worked as I had to go check it out, and admire the work.  Not sure how responsive they are on their other business, but the pictures of those covers sure look good.

Also, notice that they set the expectation of custom CNC covers to be about 10 days, because they understand their customers are concerned about timeliness.

Edited February 22, 2019 by hotshot

[kmmcrafts]

3 minutes ago, hotshot said:

I was calling them for something, and either Nicole or the girl that covering for her during her pregnancy was excited about their new business.  If they were trying to market their other business, it worked as I had to go check it out, and admire the work.  Not sure how responsive they are on their other business, but the pictures of those covers sure look good.

By looking at the website and reading it over, I'd say they are pushing the engraving business more than the RBI side of things.. Turn around time on engraved parts says 10 days.. at least they care enough to put that info in there.. Another thing, the website looks much more professional and kept updated as opposed to the woodworking site where they have been saying pictures coming soon for 2-3 years now, LOL.. 

I'm guessing the woodworking business is slow for them.. so they picked up the other two business's.. They also have a pop corn popper business.  

[JTTHECLOCKMAN]

Again this is NOT a new saw. They have been making this saw for years now. They are in the business to make products that require precision then do so. If this is all new to them and they want to make excuses I guess it is up to you if you want to believe this. I am in the position I will never be buying another saw but if I were buying a Hawk i think I would look at older models and buy on craigs list. If they are having vibration problems now what will they be when shipped and on the market for a year. 3 months to get a scrollsaw. unheard of. I wish you all the best when you do get it and hope it is all you expected.