Years ago I enjoyed visiting the store and buying their stuff and gave them a good review. Most of their sales people were well qualified. Lately - not so much.
The recent problem is their recent sales staff product knowledge. Few of them appear to be woodworkers - nor seem interested in learning their product lines. I don't care if their staff are woodworkers - but it is a reasonable expectation for sales people to know their products and inventory. I called them on the phone looking for a Festool Carvex. Festool is one of their main product lines. The sales person on the phone did not even know what a Carvex was, let alone knowing if it was in stock. He asked me what the on line item number was.
I am sorry - but if I am going to spend 500 dollars at a brick and mortar and drive a half hour to get it, and pay higher than on line, I at least expect the store to know their products. If I need to do their homework, I can do it myself and buy on line.
Finally the sales person went to one guy in the store who had to explain what a Carvex was and he went in the back and said no Carvex in stock.
Later I called and asked if they had a Oneway Multi-Gauge in stock - which is on the woodcraft website. Again, the person on the phone had absolutely no idea what a Oneway Multi-Gauge was, nor what it was for, and asked for an item number so she could look it up on line.
This is one reason why the smaller Brick and mortar stores are having problems competing with on line sales - and Woodcraft is no exception. People rely too much on Google, and do not spend time learning their store inventory and learning about their products at their own store. It did not used to be that way in retail. When I was in retail sales in the 1980's it was required that every sales person went into the stock room each morning before the doors were open, and memorized what items we had in stock and also know about each and every product we had in the store - and how to use them - and what products can be special ordered. These days however, you have sales clerks who know little about their company and more about punching in an item number into google and they depend on google to provide all the answers.
Ultimately, the problem lies with the store manager - who does not seem to be interested in sales training and teaching the store clerks their products, how they are used, what they are for, and if they are in stock. It seems that the manager wants to be the know it all and does not care if his coworkers are up to the task. This is a major reason why brick and mortar shops are closing up shop- not because of the internet, but because their sales staff are getting lazy and depending on the internet for everything, and ignoring the stock room and the product literature - and their own company web site.
I predict that Woodcraft within the next five years will be out of business brick and morter wise, and will be solely an internet based store, if they do not do something to make sure every sales person is well trained. Why waste time with Brick and moarter when you can get it shipped to you home within 24 hours?
I hate giving negative reviews - sometimes the only way a business can save themselves is for customers to be brutally honest and hope for change. read more
