Don't buy Jet tools at WW

[B a r r y B u r k e J r .]

We kept asking the Wallingford employees why they couldn't do this. The Wallingford store had a great location and an excellent staff.

Barry

[B a r r y B u r k e J r .]

Where do you guys live that Sears carries this stuff?

Barry

[keith]

Ron-I guess I should have 'splained myself better-I was attempting to show that JET service is top notch-even on a product that was purchased from WW after bankruptcy.Keith

[Chris]

Unfortunate use of the term "major power tools" on my part. Not being in the market for any MAJOR power tools (such as a cabinet saur or other big iron) I was referring to hand helds and specifically a "lunch box" planer which I AM currently in the market for. My opinion on those stand though. The prices at Sears are a little better than the pre-bankrupt prices at WWW. And lo and behold, in the mail yesterday was a 10% coupon for any item at Sears.

Once the discounts had progressed to the 20-40% range at my local WWW there was not much left. Which again makes me wonder who was buying all of this stuff at 10-15% off with option for returns? I was interested in a DeWalt Planer (floor model), which for only 15% off is not a bargain to me. Can't return it if there is a problem and no box to ship it back to DeWalt if I needed service.

-Chris

[SagDEG]

The only think I've seen in the Sears store is a Jet drill press. I found the Jet Contractor TS at Sears.com. Then I went to the store and had them order it. Had to pay up front, but I got the sale price and discounts. I haven't seen any Jet cabinet saws on their website thought. Just contractor saw and band saw.

SK

[John Grossbohlin]

I bought the saw at WWW... the local Sears sometimes has the contractor's saw in the store along with drill presses and a few other Jet items. However, they never seem to have anything but the entry level Jet tools, e.g,. contractors saw with stamped steel wings and Jet fence vs. the cast iron wings and XACTA Home fence.

BTW, WWW called me this morning and told me they came up with the XACTA II Commercial fence and table for the saw... got that stuff for 50% off. Overall I got about 36% off on the saw and fence combined. I also beat Amazon/Tool Crib by about $460 (with Amazon's free shipping and no tax vs. having to pay tax at WWW taken into account).

I hate to loose that store but I cannot complain about the deals at the end... I found out tonight that two of the guys have been offered jobs at another local store (which they accepted). I'm glad for them as they had provided me with good service for a long time. I wished them well and thanked them for that service several times over the past few weeks.

John

[Terry Sumner]

.

Well, we've been telling our customers about this, so I have to assume it's not a secret. Our former area manager, who would be that "middle manager type", has teamed up with the owner of Western Tool Supply to open up a series of stores out here in the eastern part of the country. He plans on opening at least 11 stores very quickly, with most of them in the same areas if not the actual former locations of the defunct WWW stores. That is of course, if the leases can be worked out to everyone's satisfaction.

One of the first, if not the first to open will be in the Old Saybrook, Conn. location. Also slated for openings are Hyannis, Mass. and Port Chester, New York. There are around 8 others too, but I don't know where they are. These new stores are not connected to WWW in any way, shape or form.

This is why I had asked about what the Western Tool Supply company's stores were like. If I'm going to work there, I was just wondering what the stores were like. It is my understanding that Western carries pretty much the same lines of tools that WWW carried and maybe more.

To me, this is very exciting and I'm really looking forward to working there, even though it's 40 miles from my home! And with my vehicle's gas mileage, that's gonna be a big ouch!

If all goes well and there are no glitches, we could be up and running in the next few weeks. I just hope it really comes to pass and nothing comes up to screw the whole works up!

Terry

[Cape Cod Bob]

From your typing finger to God's ear. Heard that the Auburn, MA store was included.

[Bridger]

ya might want to consider picking up something smaller and more fuel efficient for the commute.... Bridger

[Charlie Self]

Congratulations on finding a new job so quickly.

On the vehicle front, you might want to consider doing what I did some years ago when I was working an extended contract 35 miles from my house: my Dodge D150 got lousy mileage; I parked it and bought a used Geo Metro (no longer made, but still available used) for about $4500. The difference in mileage (the Geo made the trip on about 1-3/4 gallons, the Dodge took 5) paid for the Geo fairly quickly at a savings of about $15 a week at that time.

Charlie Self "Brevity is the soul of lingerie." Dorothy Parker

[B a r r y B u r k e J r .]

A few years back, I had a '78 Lincoln with a 460. I LOVED that car. I ended up with a 35 mile commute. I bought a NEW 1991 Mazda Protege and the payment, insurance, and fuel were less than the monthly fuel bill on the Lincoln

Barry

[Terry Sumner]

I was told that Auburn won't be in the first round of openings. Same with my area, Norwich. He said he does want to open in Auburn and Norwich in the second round of openings. That's why I gotta drive 40 miles to Old Saybrook for a while...maybe a year! :o(

Terry

[Silvan]

Not as cheap, certainly, but if I were buying today, and had money, I'd look at one of the hybrids for this kind of thing.

If I had money, I'd already own a hybrid. Perfect for me. I'd do much of my running on the batteries. Cut my gas bill down from $20 per six weeks to maybe $20 a year. :)

[Jane & David]

I have been a customer at Western Tool in Portland for several years. They are good stores - among the very best for people needing supplies for serious work. I am just a cash customer with a home shop and I assume those with accounts get better prices, but I still think the prices are really good. The prices are similar to their web site prices, but often vary by a bit. The web site isn't that great - searching, for example, is often frustrating, but I've never been frustrated by anything in the stores. I drive a bit extra to go to them.

The service is friendly but not phoney and everyone seems to know their stuff. They will leave me alone or follow me around answering questions. Special orders are easy, they load things for me, dig through catalogs or open boxes to answer questions, etc.

The first time I went into their store, it didn't look like they had a lot of stock. But what I realized was that they have nearly everything I need, it's just that the stores aren't half full of trinkets that promote impulse buying. And they only stock good quality items. There are many choices in some areas (e.g lots of cordless drills)and few in others (e.g. only Olson band saw blades, only Whiteside router bits), but the mix seems right to me. Everything (except for sometimes a very few cheap doo-dads at the counter) is the quality level I can rely on to work well for a long time.

Western Tool is also a place where I can send a friend, knowing that they will likely get good advice and that since the store isn't half full of crap, they will leave with something that will do the job at a good price. I can't over-emphasize how nice it is to send someone to a store that only sells good stuff.

There's no guarantee that their policies will extend to other stores as they expand, but odds are in your favor. There is that nasty pattern of local companies that have been successful at a small scale, grown until they got some national attention, and then been bought out by a major organization with wildly different ideas about customer service and no local understanding. Hope that doesn't happen to them (you!).

Too late to make a long story short, I guess; but Western Tool is a place I wouldn't mind working, and I think of them first when I need something. Good luck.

David

[Mark & Juanita]

Unless I read something wrong, that $15/week gas savings per week require 300 weeks of commuting to reach break-even; that's 5 years, 9 months. Then, you need to add in 6 years of registration for the additional vehicle, even if the registration for the older car was only $30 per year, that's another 12 weeks, which puts you well into the 7'th year of ownership. I tried your gas numbers at $1.45/gallon, then the savings pay for themselves after only 190 weeks, or 3 years, 8 months -- still seems like a long payback period, especially when having to consider repair and maintenance on two, rather than one vehicle.

[Luigi Zanasi]

On Wed, 07 Jan 2004 11:38:26 -0500, Silvan scribbled:

Hybrids are great in stop and go city driving, but hardly save anything on highway driving. This has been the experience of people at the Yukon Energy Solutions Centre, where they bought one a year ago and have been testing it out. I tried it out, but I was constantly distracted by the display that shows how much energy is generated or used.

Luigi Replace "no" with "yk" for real email address

[Cape Cod Bob]

Isn't that kind of stuff that makes window shopping in a tool store fun when you don;t REALLY need to buy a real tool?

[B a r r y B u r k e J r .]

My inlaws have a 2002 Prius. Great car, but the above is true, it's better in city and suburban driving. What a great car!

Barry

[Michelle Vadeboncoeur]

You can turn the displays off if you like...

"Hybrids hardly save anything on the highway", compared to what?

The currently available hybrids in the US for purchase:

2004 Honda Civic Hybrid, CVT, 47 MPG city, 48 MPG highway Honda Civic Hybrid, manual, 45 MPG city, 51 MPG highway Honda Insight, CVT, 57 MPG city, 56 MPG highway Honda Insight, manual, 60 MPG city, 66 MPG highway Toyota Prius, eCVT, 60 MPG city, 51 MPG highway 's a brief description of how the EPA fuel economy estimates are obtained (their definitions of city or highway driving certainly do not match my driving style...):

[Silvan]

It would save on highway driving too, which is very much stop and go at rush hour. :) That's what I had in mind when I said that anyway.

I want one because I drive an average of 24 miles a week, and I haven't been on the Interstate in years. (In my car, I mean. I get paid for all my driving.)

Maintenance seems like the big issue. Batteries are expensive, and all those electrowhatzits and flumgummies are almost certainly not shade tree mechanic friendly. Hell I can't even fix the electrowhatzit that's been broken on my 1987 model since 1989.

Seems you'd be married to dealer service, and dealer service is for rich people. Plus I'm not sure how it would fare with so little use. Typically my most expensive maintenance is having to replace dry rotted tires that still have 90% of their tread life left every 10 years. I like it that way. I'm a cheap bastard.