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[irockhound]

I will admit I am not a fan of the new Highland Park Lapidary since they have taken other companies designs to produce overseas.  Lortone has stopped selling their saws in part due to Highland selling a knockoff cheaper.  But I needed a saw and now Highland is that market since Lortone stopped. But before you order BEWARE.

I know some members here got the phone calls trying to drum up sales.  I got one too, I needed a 2nd saw and a backup for my Lortone 10" and 12" so I bit.  I ordered the 12 and 10 from Highland.  I was told their prices were going to increase first week of May so they sent me a quote.  I ordered through their online store and paid the required deposit for the 12" 124.50 for the 1245.00 saw and 110.00 for the 1095.00 10" saw.  !0% of the cost.  I even got a receipt from the store showing the deposit and the balance due.  Of course the saws were on backorder so I had to wait.

I get a message that the saws are in and they want me to pay my balance.  I give them the credit card info and they charge me 2559.50.  I said wait that was too much but they already processed it.  I tell them I bought them before the increase.  They tell me that their online shopify account didn't transfer the sale to them till after the increase.  I tell them I don't care.  I placed the order 4/29 and I have a receipt showing my saw cost and the deposits paid.  The guy gives me grief and I say Not gonna happen, I am not going to play that game either give the saws at the price I was told at sale point or cancel the order.  Mark says he needs to talk with a manager.  The manager Liselle tells me the same thing that my order wasn't transferred by shopify in time (I placed the order DAYS before the price change)  I finally get her to agree to honor the price but they would have to do it in another transaction since my card was already billed.  Now it has been a couple weeks and my saws showed up but of course no credit to my card.  Looks like the gloves come off now.   John and his company are snakes, don't trust them, don't buy from them.  They require that you use the shopify to place the order so it is not anyone else's issue if they don't process their orders promptly.  I have a receipt from them showing the date of my order and the price of the saws and my deposit paid.  Every time I have gone near them I have regretted it.  don't make my mistake.

[55fossil]

    I am having a smaller problem with HP. I  upgraded my 18 inch Frantom saw to their new style clamp with replaceable brass inserts "dogs". which only they sell. They have been back ordered forever.....  Well, gave them the 10% deposit and have been waiting for the boat to come in, literally. They say they have no idea which container on which boat will have my parts on it. Of course they offered to sell me the whole assembly again for a few hundred bucks. It was not the covid that caused this problem............. 

[vitzitziltecpatl]

Thanks for keeping everyone up-to-date on these issues with HP.

I guess the value of vintage equipment will keep going up given the "quality" and "customer service" available these days.

[irockhound]

    I am having a smaller problem with HP. I  upgraded my 18 inch Frantom saw to their new style clamp with replaceable brass inserts "dogs". which only they sell. They have been back ordered forever.....  Well, gave them the 10% deposit and have been waiting for the boat to come in, literally. They say they have no idea which container on which boat will have my parts on it. Of course they offered to sell me the whole assembly again for a few hundred bucks. It was not the covid that caused this problem.............

Yes, I agree.  When I bought my 18 from them years ago I actually thought it was still the original highland park.  I had the same problems when my dog inserts went bad.  I took about 4 months to get them.  I was thinking at the time how it sucked that one of the smallest and also the thing that would wear out the fastest wouldn't be kept in stock.  When that part goes you can't cut for 4 months?  I read a post about people brazing the feed bushings and then re-drilling and tapping.  I have saved my old ones just in case.  Also when I bought my saw at Quartzsite I asked them to sell me All the parts that will wear out so I have a backup.  They sold me 2 rod bushings but not a set of feed rod bushings for the dogs.

On the overcharged order, I just talked with Mark in sales and Liselle and they said "we are committed to working with you" and that there was some reason the credit didn't go through but then also stated that she needed to look at my invoice to see what should be credited, lol.  Either you have already tried to credit an amount you have determined or not.  They overcharged me $519.35.  I told them if they don't credit it I will call my credit card company and file a fraud complaint.  She told me not to call my credit card company since that will just complicate and delay things.

[irockhound]

Follow up.  After giving them weeks to issue the credit and calling back today to threaten them with action through my card company they have issued the credit on the overcharge.

[kent]

Thanks for all the information Steve.

CigarBoxRock is looking better and better as a source for a quality saw...

[bilquest]

Bad customer service always sucks, and seems to be in plentiful supply these days.  I bought a new feed carriage and rails for my ancient LS-12 from HP a couple years ago.  I did wait about 3 months for the parts, but ultimately was thrilled to bolt in new life to my old saw.  They were also very up-front about the delay mentioning the unknown product that would arrive on the boat each month.

FWIW, I will cut HP some slack because they seem to be the only lapidary equipment providers who are doing any active R&D.  If you watch their videos describing their products you'll discover that they have taken tried and proven designs and added their own thoughtful engineering to make each machine even better.  Furthermore, they have tried to price their products quite reasonably.

I know it's frustrating, but in a seemingly dead industry I, for one, want them to succeed.  Let's hope they can iron out their business practices, it would be a shame to lose such a great product line for something so correctable as poor customer service.

[irockhound]

I think the problem is taking tried and proven designs without the permission of the people that came up with those designs in the first place and then becoming that companies main competitor by using their own design with some improvements against them.  I agree that change is sometimes needed and I for one hate having to contort my arm under the frame to tighten the arbor on a lortone 12" but that doesn't justify taking their design without compensation and not everything is an improvement. Removing the view window from the side of the Lortone 12" wasn't an improvement but a way to reduce cost to sell cheaper.

[55fossil]

    Let's be honest, HP provides a service we need. There are often problems when there is only one vendor for parts. That is better than no vendor....  Everyone I contacted said they would be happy to custom make new parts for me but the cost was more than buying the whole new assembly with new dogs in it from HP. Also, at least HP will talk to you. Yes, it could be better but... I am glad HP is there and now I know to buy two sets of dogs at a time.
   As an example I just got an e-mail from a seller we all know. He is saying FedEx is breaking all his USPS flat rate boxes. While it may be true, it is a fact that nobody else ships heavy rocks cheap enough for us to stay in business!!!!  When you take low bid as it were, you have to figure they need to cut some corners. That does not give them a right to damage anything needlessly but you have to figure there is a reason they are the cheapest price. I have gone as far as putting wood inserts in Large Flat rate boxes to insure survival.... It is what it is.
   Back to having fun in the shop and cut some new cabochons......  enjoy the summer

[catmandewe]

   
   As an example I just got an e-mail from a seller we all know. He is saying FedEx is breaking all his USPS flat rate boxes. While it may be true, it is a fact that nobody else ships heavy rocks cheap enough for us to stay in business!!!!  When you take low bid as it were, you have to figure they need to cut some corners. That does not give them a right to damage anything needlessly but you have to figure there is a reason they are the cheapest price. I have gone as far as putting wood inserts in Large Flat rate boxes to insure survival.... It is what it is.
   Back to having fun in the shop and cut some new cabochons......  enjoy the summer

Why is he using free USPS boxes to ship Fedex? the boxes are stamped right on them that they are to be used for USPS shipping only. Its hard to beat USPS flat rate shipping, if packaged properly they are pretty tough.

Tony

[irockhound]

I see a lot of Ebay sellers use the flat rate boxes and wrap them in brown paper to ship, hiding the USPS labels.  I always get the eye when I grab a few boxes at the usps but I actually use the flat rate since it is affordable unless you ship  a lot thru the other companies to get price breaks.

[55fossil]

Clarify:   He ships using USPS large flat rate priority shipping. The USPS contracts with Fed Ex for some shipping. He says that his boxes are damaged after Fed Ex takes over delivery from the USPS. It was a lengthy and detailed e-mail which I will not post as I cannot verify a lot of the things he says in it. If true it is really bad... but I would not like to piss off certain big companies. The point is, USPS ships the cheapest. I have been very pleased overall but yes, I have received numerous broken boxes when I ship heavy rocks in them. Still, the USPS is the best game in town. You can live with it or pay the Boys in Brown a lot more money and see how that works out. We do have the right to complain, this is America.  Yep, I am a veteran, 8 years, USAF.

[catmandewe]

I use USPS all the time to ship heavy rock boxes and havent had very few problems.
The boys in brown have come up with a new flat rate shipping program, they emailed and called me trying to get me to switch over but I havent ventured over that way as I have had a few problems shipping with them before and very few problems with USPS, UPS will take the big boxes that USPS wont take though, so they both are needed.

Anyways, didnt mean to drag this thread off topic.......................Tony