Amana

[Handplanesandmore]

My experience with B&B was that deposit could not be held for future use. At least not per terms & conditions we usually see on the ads.

I try to book places that have a long free cancellation policy, some within a week or two from my expected arrivals. I may pay a little more for comparable accommodation but I look at it as insurance.

Simon

[Tapper]

Question: Do the folks at Benchcrafted sponsor this event?

Doug

[Alan S]

Yes, the guys at benchcrafted organize the Handworks shows. Remember they are free: you pay for your lodging, but not for all the other stuff, and your money doesn’t go to the organizers except indirectly as they charge the vendors (who mostly offer discounts) or if you buy from Benchcrafted. And it’s better than many expensive shows, in my opinion.

The real complaint is those who registered but were not notified of cancellation this year. It sounds like they did send notifications out to some. Maybe they didn’t require an email address for registration since it isn’t much more than a count of expected attendees, so some maybe couldn’t be notified.

I’m disappointed it’s canceled, but this seems plenty of notification and they have every right to do what they want.

[tablesawtom]

Amana is a tourist town. Main Amana is also part of the Colonies, they are often referred to as the Amana Colonies. There is not enough accommodations in the total colonies for everyone that wishes to attend the show to get rooms. But Cedar Rapids, Iowa City, Williamsburg and Marengo are all within 25 miles There is also West liberty and Coralville, which are just as close or closer so there shouldn't be a problem getting rooms. That is unless  Iowa has a home football game on that particular Saturday then you can forget Coralville and Iowa City.

If you want a room within walking distance book now otherwise you shouldn't need to do it more than a week in advance.

Tom

[Tapper]

https://www.lumberjocks.com/topics/317894

https://www.lumberjocks.com/topics/317893


The organizer can do a better job of keeping people informed I suppose.

Simon

I do not frequent "lumberjocks" but if you read the responses in these two links you can easily understand the frustration these people feel from the obvious lack of effective communication from the folks at Benchcrafted. In fact some of them are quite angry, understandably. The availability of rooms in the area is not their complaint, it is the perceived lack of effort of the primary sponsor to keep them informed after they had committed to attend the function. The statement by Benchcrafted that was posted in this thread pretty much confirms their effective communication attempt.

I'll probably take some heat for this and I have no axe to grind with Benchcrafted but was astonished a couple of years ago when I made an inquiry about their tail vise (wagon vise) and discovered they had no facility to communicate via telephone, i.e. they don't post a phone number on their web site.

Here is a statement directly from their web site:

Phone

[font="Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Roboto, Arial, sans-serif]"Some customers will lament that we do not publish a phone number. The reason for this is simple: productivity. We have found in our over 10 years of providing both excellent customer service and the highest quality products that the telephone detracts significantly from both of these. We are extremely prompt in our email responses, most often answering within minutes during a typical business day and often as not even after hours if we happen to be working at odd hours (not unusual for us). That said, we are not totally averse to the telephone, we will use it when email simply won't do the job and we do provide a phone number with every receipt after purchase is made." [/font]

[font="Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Roboto, Arial, sans-serif]This company is obviously very successful from a product development and performance perspective; I would assume from a sales and profitability standpoint also. They s h i p products all over the world as well as domestically. Their products have gotten favorable reviews in WW magazine articles and they are carried by the likes of Lee Valley, Highland Tools, and others. When you begin a statement about your phone philosophy with "Some customers will lament that we do not publish a phone number" what exactly are you saying? You are saying that we would like for you to order a product from our web site but we really don't want to take the time to talk to you about it, IMO. If you want to take the time to write us an e-mail we'll get back to you.[/font]

[font="Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Roboto, Arial, sans-serif]I actually did write and ask them why they didn't post a phone number, being such a high profile company in their field. The above statement basically is the crux of their response. I decided to look around for a competitive product and did find out that they do indeed have competition. I was able to call and talk to the owner/inventor of their competition; he was quite generous with his time. I ordered his product and am glad I did. [/font][font="Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Roboto, Arial, sans-serif]A recent call to him confirmed his business is quite booming, i.e. "we can't seem to keep up with the demand." [/font]

[font="Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Roboto, Arial, sans-serif]I've said it here before and I'll say it again, "people buy from people they like." I have nothing against Benchcrafted I just don't agree with how they've chosen to interact with their prospective buyers. And I'm not advocating that anyone here not do business with them. As an old sales guy I suppose I just expected more. It is no surprise to me that they don't seem to be very effective at communication. You're good at what you place emphasis on and practice a lot. You can easily confirm in written form what you've already discussed verbally if you so choose. It is a very effective way to communicate, again IMO.[/font]

[font="Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Roboto, Arial, sans-serif]Doug[/font]

[Handplanesandmore]

First time I heard of any physical woodworking business that doesn't list a phone #. I came across a few of those only on the internet, and they all smelled fishy, and i have never tried to buy anything from them.

Whatever reason they have for not wanting to talk, it's their model, and they may be right. But on the Handworks event, they sure could've done better in breaking the news. I only found out the postponement after Ron shared the news here. Like I said, I wouldn't book anything more than three months ahead without a reasonable cancellation safeguard. Those who lost their deposits were partially responsible, and shouldn't shift the blame to Benchcrafted.

Simon

[Tapper]

First time I heard of any physical woodworking business that doesn't list a phone #. I came across a few of those only on the internet, and they all smelled fishy, and i have never tried to buy anything from them.

Whatever reason they have for not wanting to talk, it's their model, and they may be right. But on the Handworks event, they sure could've done better in breaking the news. I only found out the postponement after Ron shared the news here. Like I said, I wouldn't book anything more than three months ahead without a reasonable cancellation safeguard. Those who lost their deposits were partially responsible, and shouldn't shift the blame to Benchcrafted.

Simon

Could not disagree with you more.

Doug

[Alan S]

As mentioned above, some registrants were notified by email. Does anyone know whether those who weren’t had left any contact information? If they didn’t, what else should Benchcrafted have done besides posting on the website?

Since it’s a free show, registration is not needed and isn’t the same sort of thing as for most shows, so they might not have required contact info.

[Handplanesandmore]

There are a few things that they could've done such as asking the participating vendors to pass the message where possible. I know some vendors mentioned about the event on fb or their blogs, sharing the news in the 6 or 7 woodworking forums like this one, posting the change on their benhcrafted site and other blogs such as unplugged shop, lost art press, etc. Granted, this might still not make everyone happy, but at least they would've shown a more active way of keeping people informed.

Simon

[Tapper]

Unless there's something I'm missing, this is basically a Benchcrafted show, i.e. they sponsor it, advertise it and encourage vendors to buy booths and individuals to attend. Why would they do that? To promote their product line of course and sell merchandise. Do they have a responsibility after a date and time has been announced to inform vendors and attendees of any change or cancellations to the event? Of course they do.

How would this be done? By having someone in charge of a list of those who signed up to attend and notifying them via e-mail or some other effective means, AND posting any changes to their web site in plenty of time for hotel reservation deposits to be refunded. If they did this, I stand corrected. If those that planned to attend and never signed up but did make reservations and then were stiffed for their deposits, I stand corrected again.

If Benchcrafted failed to notify those who committed to attend and registered with them providing contact information, then it's on Benchcrafted.

Doug