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tool sharpening / Service Policies |
turn-around time rejected work sub-contracted work extra work service warrantee freight charges sale of unclaimed goods complaints |
Like most businesses, we attempt to establish guidelines and consistent
practices to keep things flowing smoothly. Having "policies" helps our
staff respond to special situations and lets customers know, in advance, what to
expect in their transactions with us. However... policies cannot be written which
foresee every possible scenario, nor are they, once written, cast in stone. The
Mother of All Policies at our company, is to do right by our customers. Ours is a
service business. We want to give the best possible service and keep customers
coming back. If anything in our policies strikes you as objectionable or unreasonable,
please let us know. Policies can always be revised. Thank you. -Paul Deneen, president |
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Our service department stays quite busy year-round. The usual production backlog is 3-4 days. For our "counter" customers and route service customers, standard turn-around time for most sharpening jobs is 1 week (5 business days). On request, and schedule permitting, we will complete work in less time. For customers beyond the local area (Southern California), who ship service items to us by package carriers like UPS, we make every effort to ship items back within 2 days of receiving them, to help offset the transit time. Certain types of specialized tooling, PCD diamond bits, for example, are sent back to the factory or to other outside shops we sub-contract with for their service. The turn-around time for sub-contracted jobs is considerably longer, as it is subject to round-trip shipping transit times and the service lead-time of the shop providing the service. Estimated completion dates for sub-contracted jobs can be requested in advance. In some circumstances we recommend not repairing items which we receive for sharpening or repair. When service jobs are rejected, it is usually for one of the following reasons:
In some cases we sub-contract service work to the factory which originally produced the item or to other facilities which have special expertise or equipment, or which can perform certain jobs more efficiently than it can be done in-house. In the event that a service job is sub-contracted to an outside party, we notify our customer in advance and the estimated completion date for the job is adjusted to reflect the longer turn-around time required. An examples of work that we subcontract is PCD Diamond router bit sharpening, due to the specialized EDM machining process required. It is sometimes not apparent until a tool has been cleaned and inspected that there is more work needed than what was originally expected. A sawblade, for example, may have one or more cracked or broken tips that need to be replaced, or perhaps a bent shoulder that was causing a rough cut. Some customers instruct us to perform any necessary repairs, under a general guideline for service charges such as "do not exceed 50% of the estimated replacement cost of the tool". Others prefer to be contacted for approval in advance of any extra work being performed. These instructions can be given to the salesperson handling the transaction, or on the work order sent in with service jobs. In the absence of any instructions we will not perform extra work resulting in extra charges without prior authorization. We guarantee that any tool we have serviced will perform satisfactorily in the application for which it was originally designed, provided that all recommended service was performed, and that the item was not damaged in use, handling or storage after it was returned by us. In the event that a tool does not perform to the satisfaction of our customer after being serviced by us, it should be returned for re-inspection and warrantee re-work if necessary. Any defects found that should have been repaired during the original service, or which were the result of poor workmanship during the prior service, will be corrected at no charge. If a defect is found that is unrelated to the prior service, but had been overlooked during the prior service, the customer will be given the option of paying for repair of the defect, or having the tool returned without further work, and the service charge for the prior service refunded. In the event of mis-handling, operator error, machine malfunction or other occurance that results in the destruction or loss of customer tools, we will attempt to replace the item with a reconditioned or serviceable used tool of equal or better quality, at a price equal to the estimated service charges for the item lost. If necessary to replace the lost item with a new tool, the credit for the lost tool may be pro-rated to approximately reflect the age and condition of the lost tool. This kind of unfortunate event is rare, and handled on a case-by case basis. It is our over-riding concern to rectify these situations in a professional manner and to be sure that our customer is satisfied with our response to the problem. Whenever possible, please include a sample cut when returning tools for possible service warrantee problems. Very often the most useful clues as to the nature of the problem show up in the cut surface of the workpiece. Any warrantee related re-work will be expedited as a priority rush job, and returned promptly. Our liability for damages related to defects in tools service by us is limited to the the value of the item itself. Customers should inspect tools prior to use, check the tightness of any fasteners, insure correct installation and use of guards, and make test cuts. We cannot be held responsible for damage to workpieces or machinery from the use of damaged or defective tooling. Service route customers who request items to be shipped prior to the scheduled delivery date will be charged for the actual freight cost. In the event that items must be shipped because they were not ready for delivery on the scheduled date will be shipped at our expense, via least cost ground transportation. Orders received by mail/package carrier will be returned free freight, provided that the actual cost of freight does not exceed 20% of the amount of service charges. In most cases the 20% freight allowance will completely cover the cost of return shipping. Where the freight allowance does not cover the actual cost of the freight, the difference between the actual cost of freight and the freight allowance will be added to the invoice amount as freight charge. Service jobs which are unclaimed after 90 days from completion of the work order will be considered abandoned property and may be sold. We make a good faith effort to contact customers, using the contact information provided by them, to remind them to claim their order. However, it is the responsiblity of the customer to claim his/her goods within 90 days or to make other arrangements with us. Service orders which are mailed/shipped to us, or which are picked up by our route drivers, will always be returned by us upon completion, and our "unclaimed goods" policy does not apply We are interested in hearing about problems you might have had with the website, our service, our employees, or the products we provide. You have a few options for contacting us. Electronic mail is probably the most efficient way to reach the right person. We also still open mail and pick up the telephone when it rings. If you're really ticked, and want to go straight to the top, why not just tell it to the boss. Other ways to contact us and people to reach are listed below: |
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Sales and service: Webmaster: Accounting: Ventura manager: |
sales@carbide.com webmaster@carbide.com accounting@carbide.com paul@carbide.com |
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For store locations see About Us |
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