Lowes Selling Carvewright?

[Deolman]

Late last night I happened to catch a commercial on the DIY channel for the Carvewright. The seller's logo was on there as well. The interesting part was right next to the Ace Hardware and Woodcraft logos was Lowes. I almost didn't believe what I saw but I have a DVR so I did an instant replay. Sure enough, Lowes was there.

[Deolman]

Nobody? Nothing? It almost sounds like I am blowing smoke.

[mtylerfl]

Nobody? Nothing? It almost sounds like I am blowing smoke.

Hello,

I didn't see the ad you mentioned, but I have also heard elsewhere that Lowes may be selling the machines.

[hotpop]

I saw the ad a couple days ago on diy and Lowe's was mentioned as a retailer.

[Kix]

Oh Geez,

Hmmm, Mom works for Lowes. I just plopped down for the full deal from Jason over at Lil Red and I could have gotten it from Mom, and prolly gotten her discount?

OK Jason, time to give you a call and get some of your Vaunted Advice!

HA! You will earn your commission!

Seriously though, buying a Carvewright from Lowe's would be the equivalent of picking up a new car there, good luck with the service dept. Ace too I believe. And, well, Woodcraft. I havent had the opportunity or need to chat up Lil Red much since receiving my CW last week, but I have run through a project or two every day so far and his pre launch advice is holding true.

No retailer is going to have good pre launch advice, just the nature of retail.

Sorry for the rant.

[Audie]

I bought my CW through Woodcraft before I even knew about this forum otherwise I probably would have bought mine through Jason. Having said that, my support comes from LHR and so far I have had great success contacting tech support. No, they are not as readily available....but I have the support of the biggest "guy" out there! Woodcraft? Absolutely clueless about the machine and I don't even try to ask....actually I answer their questions about the CW. As for the rest of my power tools...I always get my support from the manufacturer not the retailer.

The biggest apparent screw up was the "CompuCarve" sold exclusively through Sears with a Sears label and that Sears would repair - ummm, I really don't think that I would want a generic technician at the Sears service center working on my machine for warranty work, I'd rather do it myself.

As soon as I generate the funds for my next CW I will be giving Jason a hollar because I would love to have the extended support!

Peace all and chip away!
Audie

[fwharris]

I would have to agree with Jason about the behind the scenes service with the big box stores. When it was announced that Ace was going to sell the CW I contacted the 3 Ace stores in my town and all 3 said that they would probably NOT have any of them in the store. Their actual first response was "they new nothing about it".

Also talked with people at our Woodcraft store and they did have 1 in their training room but have not used it. It was sent to them from one of the Denver stores. It was marked as a demo machine and not for sale. I did talk to them about helping them with learning the machine and just might have a training job with them.

Bottom line is if you have the opportunity to have a machine with a good support team like Jason why would you do anything different.

PS: I am a CC owner and you know what kind of support their is from that seller.

[mtylerfl]

Regardless of where the machine is purchased, there is an excellent network of support already in place. This Forum, LHR Tech Staff, Little Red Woodshop, CarveBuddy, the monthly newsletters, and so on.

Personally, I have not experienced a lack of support for the CompuCarve/CarveWright at all. I own two machines originally purchased from Sears, and honestly, it never crossed my mind to ever call them for help - always dealt directly with the manufacturer (LHR) or the Forum.

I do the same with other products I purchase - say, a miter saw from Home Depot. If I have a specific question about the product, I don't go to Home Depot for answers - I'll call the manufacturer directly or go to their online forum if they have one.

[liquidguitars]

I like the idea of free enterprise, but over promoting your shops on the forum as the only place to buy a Carvewright or get information is not what this group is all about.

Please keep in mind that it's a free forum and information is the first directive.

LG

[rcdages]

After reading what the LittleRedWoodshop had to say, if that was the only place to get this wonderful machine, I would do with out it.

When I get ready to get my next two machines I am going as I have direct to CW here in Houston.

Every time I have faced any problem they have been on top of it for me or with me.

rcdages

[LittleRedWoodshop]

I have deleted the original Post, on my own, don't want it to be misunderstood anymore. The original statement of "not sure why anyones buys from anyone other than me" was kind of a joke, in jest. Meant to be funny, some of us including me need to lighten up just a bit. Sorry to anyone that I offended by commenting on Lowe's, I wish them all the best. But GOOD CUSTOMER SERVICE CAN ONLY COME FROM KNOWLEDGE OF YOUR PRODUCT.

It was not my intention to offend anyone, but everyone has their own opinion. I was simply stating that I try to offer support when other folks don't answer the phone.

I love the guys at LHR and consider many of them to be friends, but they don't answer the phone on weekends or evenings.

I was not slamming the support of LHR, (I wouldn't be where I am without them) I was commenting on the ability of retailers to communicate logically about the operation of the machine.

The Saddest thing is the fact that I feel the need to apologize.

Show me any person in a retail situation that knows anything about how this machine truly works. Someone that can tell you that the software works based on a conversion of color to 256 shades of grey.

Really, support is lacking on a retail level and I don't see it improving. So to each his or her own. And once again a Apologize to any one that feels offended by the fact that I feel that the retailers of this machine are no more than a place to buy the machine and not a place that can inform the customer (end user) about anything that the machine can, or can't do.

I in no way said anything negative about LHR or either of the Machines. My complaint, wether I be a retailer/reseller, or not is the fact that other retailers don't care enough to educate their employees about the CC/CW.

Rest assured that you are not required to buy from me, not everyone will or can and that is ok. But I feel that if you are going to bring up who is carrying the machine and where it can be purchased then that opens the door to comment. Hence, Public Forum, again Sorry to anyone that was offended by anything that I said.

[wlkjr]

My personal preference would be to buy from someone not only familiar with the machine, but also willing to give technical support. I can also see that selling to too many dummies like me could end up taking all your time giving advice.

[LittleRedWoodshop]

If you have taken the time to do any research you are no Dummie.... this machine is pretty simple to run. The most important thing is to keep it Clean.

And I have plenty of extra time, as this is all that I do. My shop and this.