Here at Toolmonger we tend to order products and tools from many outlets instead of the all-eggs-in-one-basket approach. This leads us to discover roads to project success that we might’ve otherwise overlooked. We had hopes that the Furniture Knowledge site would be one of those sweet finds — but that unfortunately may not be the case.
I needed some alcohol-based wood stain to tint a can of clear shellac. A little searching found a good deal on the Furniture Knowledge site for a pint of Dark Red Mahogany stain. I sent the order, pleased that I’d scored exactly what I wanted — and even in the right amount.
Soon after, the trouble started. The phone buzzed with a rep from Furniture Knowledge on the other end, telling me they were out of the pint and I’d have to change the color or bump the order to a quart size. It was a little over $6 more on a small order, and tons more than I’d ever need to tint shellac, but I wanted the color. They “put in the change” and said it would ship the next day. Annoying; however, we understand these things happen.
If only that were the last difficulty in the process.
A week goes by: no wood stain. I sent a gentle reminder asking in polite terms where my order was. I got a very polite response email saying that they were very sorry but they forgot to send it. More nerves twinged at the base of my brain.
Another five days passed and I received a small, leaking, brown and red box on the front porch. I knew it must be either the wood stain or that severed human hand I ordered. After picking the box up and getting a good look at the freshly-stained brick and mortar of my porch beneath it, I knew it had to be the stain (mostly because years of childhood play have taught me blood comes off brick with a good lashing of the garden hose). I left the now custom-colored porch and headed for the shop to see what the damage in the box looked like.
In short, it wasn’t a pretty scene. The bag that wrapped the stain had about three inches of standing, blood-colored stain in it and had obviously not held all the leaking liquid from the “sealed” container. Fun times.
To put it mildly, I am annoyed. I’m sure all their transactions don’t turn out like this — but honestly, trying to better my average with them is not high on my list right now.
Furniture Knowledge [Website]