Complaints/Munro hollower

We thought that everyone and the sheep in New Zealand were all related

- bit like in Wales only you don't need wellington boots to hold the sheep still, although you probably do wear boots in Wellington.

I have your hollowing tools via Phil Irons in the UK and think they are tremendous. Shall I write to Munro and congratulate them on your tools?

Regards

Paul

Hi Paul.

When I read the original post from Ken Port I had the uneasy feeling of a backdoor smear against a competing product. Why would a manufacturer post a note in a public forum citing user complaints and poor performance about another's product under the guise of customer service? If Oneway did this about Stubby lathes I think we'd all view it as underhanded, dirty and questionable. How many customers can there be who are dim enough to confuse two product makers and seek communication with the wrong one?

Whether these complaints have been taken to Woodcut Tools or not is a matter Ken and his support staff should be replying to in private. How long can it take to say, "That's not one of our products, but you can contact the people making the Munro at ..." Or maybe even take it a step further while you got them on the horn or email and offer a 10%, 20% or whatever discount to trade in their Munro on a Proforme.

Like I said, the post just felt suspicious to me, but if true would be better handled, from a public image viewpoint, in a different way.

BTW, this is the first I've ever read of any indication of complaints against the Munro - and I have the Proformes.

Ken wrote:

Maybe he's been reading some of the customer (non)service complaints elsewhere? Hot and heavy, even in the "membership" places.

Well, his post was the first mention of it _here_, AFAICT. Which is immediately highly suspicious, and Ken has a history (here) of making excessively advertorial (of his stuff) and denegritory (to all others) posts here.

His posting behavior has pretty well ensured that Woodcut will get no business from me in the next 40 years or so...

But you believe whatever you want to, George. A look through the google news archives might prove rather educational if you're failing to recall Ken's "fair and balanced" approach to woodturning tools and jigs. I'd find it hard to call him a contributor to the group, based on the content of his posts over time.

You have got to be kidding!

Woodcut tools 2000 Ltd sales wrote:

It is true, not all of them are related! There is the North Island clan and the South Island clan. *G*

-- Tony the Turner

Ken Are you THAT DESPERATE to sell YOUR tools that you invent staff to take invented complaints so that YOU can rubbish What I feel is a far better tool, Yes I have used both.

Just another example of unethical actions from an unethical person.

Ken's silence is deafening!

Barry

I don't want to dump on Ken as I've had good experience with his Proforme tools as well as him offering a good solution to a problem I had with a couple Proforme heads a year ago. BUT... I think his popping in and out of here without followups and participation is only harming his company's image. Perhaps he's too busy to check back or doesn't want to get into a shouting match but then he shouldn't post anything controversial in the first place.

Recently when Ken posts, someone replies with accusations about the Proforme being a design ripoff of someone else's tool innovations - for that alone I think I'd be more likely to keep silent if I were he - or else face them head on and rebut the accusations. Again, him popping in and out without engaging in discussion/conversation/accusations, I feel, hurts Woodcut. Like you noticed, he leaves his silence up to everyone else to interpret and apply to him and Woodcut however they see fit.

For a "sales team" Ken's post seemed an incredibly wrong way to market good products. IMO, our speculations aren't inappropriate dumpings. Rather they are attempts to understand the unbelievable.

In the past some here have tried to temper Ken's often unusual attitudes. NG comments are rife with misunderstandings and we appreciated his sharpening CDs etc. I hope someone, maybe from N.Z., can suggest a justification for Ken's boorish post if he won't. Rcw has always been a forgiving ng for abrasive comments and that includes mine.

Some products are so well made and some skill's are so superior that we often overlook an ex -Messerschmitt maker and drive a BMW or put up with a miserable but skillful neurosurgeon. Woodcut isn't one of these, nor is Sears, Scotty's and other has-beens that didn't mind their PR.

Any company can fail. I think it would be our loss if Woodcut does.

Turn to Safety, Arch Fortiter