# Northern Tools has incompetent managers



## MarkDavisson (Apr 26, 2009)

I'm trying to remember the last time I tracked a package on usps.com. If I remember right, USPS doesn't include an estimated delivery date, it only shows you where (and when) it has been and where it is currently.

Did the NT rep offer to provide you with the USPS tracking number?


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## Dusty56 (Apr 20, 2008)

I've never seen anything at NT that I couldn't buy elsewhere for less.
Thanks for sharing your grief with us in the Tool Review Forum. 
Would you like to hear about the experience I had with a manager at McDonald's today ?


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## jumbojack (Mar 20, 2011)

normally USPS does not give a date. I know when packages coming here hit the Main PO I get them the next day.


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## Dabcan (Feb 1, 2011)

I've been waiting almost 2 months for a return box from Northern Tool so I can send back some defective products. Apparently UPS is going to deliver it any day now…. About 2 weeks ago they stopped replying to my emails, so now I'll have to phone them, not too impressed.


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## dgage (Apr 8, 2010)

Thanks for the info. I'm looking into purchasing an Ingersoll Rand 2HP 20Gal air compressor and was wondering if I should order it through Sears or Northern Tool. Not that Sears is a huge step up in customer service but at least I have multiple stores to visit if I have issues. Thanks for potentially saving me some frustration.


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## taoist (Jul 31, 2011)

UPS and Fed Ex both have started turning packages over to the USPS I guess because of the package volume this time of year. In my area, once USPS get the package it takes 2-3 days for it to show up at my house. I live about 5 miles from th main post office. All the info I have ever gotten from the postal service is in transit or out for delivery but that's if I'm lucky, usually the is no tracking info at all.


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## 111 (Sep 2, 2013)

I just received a package today from USPS they had given me a tracking # and the day of arrival.

As for the OP, kind of sucks to get treated like that, I don't blame you for being mad.


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## UpstateNYdude (Dec 20, 2012)

I can tell you that my wife ordered something from Amazon using her Prime shipping (2 day) and it got transferred to USPS after 1 day and it didn't get delivered for 3 more and they're all of 10 minutes from my house and it was only a card game. All those government shutdowns on the postal service must be taking its toll because they suck even more now.

Albeit that agent sounds a bit slow not knowing how to enter a tracking number into the USPS site, I find personally most places are hit or miss on CS nowadays with sometimes it's a good experience and sometimes I'd like to reach through the phone and choke whoever is on the other end.

On the upside you didn't have to sit through a 3 hour diagnostics routine on a Dell server today with "Tom" as he "consults his manual for further information" to come to the same conclusion I had for him when I first called up.


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## REL (May 22, 2008)

Mike and Dabcan, I must be from another world. Are you guys kidding me!

I owned my own business and am used to doing things for myself. I always choose the easy way and try not to rely on other people to do what I can do myself.

Mike why would you waste so much time on the phone? Wouldn't it have been easier (and faster) to track the shipment yourself, and let the Northern agent do something more important for another customer? You would have saved a lot of high blood pressure all around.

Dabcan, couldn't you have "found" a box to make the return shipment? Did you really send emails for two months to have Northern ship you a box?


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## REL (May 22, 2008)

By the way, I just ordered something from Northern a couple of weeks ago. Thought I might return an item. Called and quickly received RAN , just in case I was going to return the item.

They were fast and professional as they should be.


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## 280305 (Sep 28, 2008)

As others have said, the USPS tracking system is weak. It is especially bad with packages that arrive at the post office from another carrier, as in this case. Sometimes the package shows up at my house before the tracking is updated on the USPS web site.


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## BinghamtonEd (Nov 30, 2011)

I stopped ordering from NT after I tried ordering an in-stock (according to the website) item, and it took them almost 3 weeks to admit that it was never in stock when I ordered it. Same sh*tty customer service.

Nick, I don't suspect that the government shutdown has anything to do with the delivery status. The USPS is an independent business, is not government owned or run, and does not run off the government's dime (well, that'd be miine or your dime, wouldn't it?).


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## Denco (Jun 2, 2013)

A few years ago, I bought an oil pumping can thing from NT. It failed out of the box (miserably) and wasn't returnable since oil had been put in it, so I made an unfavorable review of it on the NT site to warn other potential buyers (no, not a rant nor foul language or anything crazy like that. I'm more professional than to do that, just stated a review of the item). Surprise, surprise… the review never showed up on their website. Decided that was my first and last purchase from NT. Too many good vendors to buy from without dealing with NT again.


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## UpstateNYdude (Dec 20, 2012)

BinghamtonEd - I was referring more to the fact that they're cutting staff and shutting down Post Offices in general nothing to do with the government shutdown.


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## wormil (Nov 19, 2011)

USPS has significantly upgraded their tracking system this year. Used to be it was next to useless but now it works just like UPS or FedEx with an expected delivery date and current location of the package. To check a tracking # just go to usps.com and enter the tracking# right below the USPS logo in the upper left corner.


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## CharlesA (Jun 24, 2013)

I use package tracking a lot, and I love it. But all this sturm un drang over the fact that they couldn't pinpoint a delivery date when you used the cheapest form of shipping? Not that long ago, it would have been a USPS parcel with no tracking info whatsoever. And one of the reasons the item is so inexpensive is because they hire folks a minimum wage to work the phones (my guess). We can't have it both ways, wanting top flight service and bottom rung pricing.


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## NormG (Mar 5, 2010)

My wife also had an order from Amazon, with a guaranteed delivery date. It was also turned over to USPS and finally arrived yesterday evening (2 days late, might as well say 3 since it was after dark). Called Amazon and they advised they have no control over what UPS does with the package after it is picked up.


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## CharlesA (Jun 24, 2013)

A guaranteed delivery date with a UPS/USPS method? That sounds odd to me.


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## carver1942 (Sep 25, 2013)

I also have had problems with the new arrangement that UPS and FedEx has with USPS. Like others have said, I track till the time it reaches USPS and then it sits for 2 or 3 days. On one occasion I met the mail truck at my box, expecting he would have my package, since the post office had it for 3 days. When I asked, what, no package, he said no and drove off. Ticked off I went to my post office 1 mile from my house and told the man that my package had scanned that it was there for 3 days He said, "oh they always scan it in Hartford and it sits there". I said don't give me that bull how can they scan something to show another town, give me my package. His next reply, let me check. Came back and said, "it's on the truck out for delivery". I told him I had met the truck and he had nothing. His reply I have to check on it. I went home and 5 minutes later the mail truck pulled up with the same carrier. When I went to the truck he shoved the package at me and drove off. He had the package on the truck and didn't want to deliver it. On another occasion where my UPS package was 3 days late, I met the truck with a different mailman at my box, and when I said "no package", he said "no" and drove off. He got down about 3 houses and backed up to my house again. He fumbled with stuff on his dashboard awhile and said, "oh here it is". If I hadn't said anything he would not have delivered it. These unreliable delivery practices are the reason I don't buy my heart medicine online. 
I feel that there may be some resentment on the USPS carriers part that they have to deliver packages from UPS and FedEx. UPS and FedEx are taking a lot of business that was once handled by USPS. If a person requests delivery by UPS or FedEx and it's delivery is late they think it is the fault of UPS and FedEx. It's my opinion some USPS employees are stalling UPS and FedEx deliveries to make the competition look bad.
I'm in the process of remodeling a kitchen, and will be building the cabinets. I have been buying a lot of tools and supplies that I'll need on line. When I order now I specify that I don't want my UPS shipment transferred to USPS. If I'm paying for 3-5 day delivery, I don't want it sitting in the post office for 3 days. I call in my orders now and let them know if my order gets transferred to USPS I will not order from them again. One of the very large well known companies I buy from said that I was not the 1st to complain, they had other complaints and they were making UPS aware of the problem. The USPS is struggling to stay afloat. Treating their customers badly will surely sink them. 
regards
Ed


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## wormil (Nov 19, 2011)

Another thing to keep in mind is that ordering through Amazon.com is not the same as buying from Amazon.com. Only orders fulfilled by Amazon are eligible for 2 day shipping, if coming through a 3rd party then it sometimes takes much longer. I recently ordered a bunch of stuff from Amazon with 2 day prime and even though it was sent through UPS, USPS delivered all the Amazon packages within 2 days (they will be sealed with black tape that says Amazon Prime. Stuff I ordered from other vendors through Amazon has taken much longer to arrive. Really though the situation in the review where neither Mike nor Northern Tool can figure out how to track a USPS package doesn't make any sense.


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## funchuck (Jan 11, 2010)

Yup, I am also one of those that hate the arrangement with UPS and USPS. I think UPS calls it Sure Post. I know Woodcraft uses it, but not for all packages. I ordered a WoodRiver #6 and it was delivered UPS within a week. A while later, I ordered a WoodRiver #4, but it was delivered via Sure Post and it took twice as long! My theory is that the smaller packages are probably done via Sure Post while the bigger ones are sent through UPS. But, for this reason, I try to avoid ordering from Woodcraft.


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## SRRieman (May 31, 2012)

UPS or USPS? It really sounds like your problem is with the shipping company and you didn't like the fact that Northern Tool couldn't provide you with a tracking update. Is it really their job to do so? I don't see that way. I do think that they should but let's face it, not all companies are built alike. And maybe they did…she did say it should be there by tomorrow. "Are you sure?" is the question you ask? Seriously man??? I mean come on…it's a shipping service nothing is guaranteed. No matter how close the shipping destination may be. And shipping companies screw stuff up all the time. Just an outside opinion, but you seem to have wanted a the seller to guarantee that a third party shipping company would deliver something by a particular time and you really think it should have been there sooner because you're so close to the seller. You're way off on this one…regardless if how they handled it sucked or not. You hung up on them but you were listening to what they had to say?...right. You're the typical customer that anyone working in retail cannot stand. Give me a supervisor. Ha, what a joke. It's about as funny as you referring to the first employee as a "girl."

Too much.


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## CharlesA (Jun 24, 2013)

Scott makes an important point. Although Fedex and UPS list expected delivery dates, the only guaranteed dates are when pays extra for overnight or 2 day service.

Oh, and us should have been a forum post.


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## Magnum (Feb 5, 2010)

*"I should have just gone to the store to pick it up the day I ordered online even though it is 40 minutes away."*

YEP!! What's 40 Minutes?? ZIP!!


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