Issues with americanprintingequipment.com
Has anyone had any issue with them. I recently ordered from American Printing Equipment and currently have had a problem with delayed responses/no responses. This is my second order and its been pending for 12 days. On Jan 9th I ordered 3 items. One of which was no longer available (But still on the site). I was told the following:
“Thank you for your order. Unfortunately we no longer have Drill Ease available. We do have Bees Wax available in it’s place. The Bees Wax comes in a 1-Lb Block for $18.25. You can see the Bees Wax on our website. Please let me know if you are interested.”
Within that day I replied back:
“No thank you. You can ship the other items.
Thanks.”
I got a response back saying “Will do”
Anyways 5 days go by(Jan 15) and I did not received a tracking number. So I emailed again on Jan 19. And did not get a response back till Jan 20 saying:
“Thank you for your order.
We emailed you regarding your order and were waiting for your reply, you must not have received it.
We have discontinued Drill Ease. We have a replacement; Bees Wax. Here is the link to the page”
That same day I wrote back:
Yes, I did write back and did receive a response back that said “Will do Chris. Thanks for your reply.” Please check the email chain to see response back. There was no name in the email so I dont know who wrote back but someone did and confirmed that I did not want the bees wax and to ship the rest.”
Two more days go by and now we are at Jan 21st. with no conclusion on if they have shipped my items or received my emails. I tried calling but now response.
Has anyone had any issues with them and should I do further business with them or give them the benefit of the doubt. Let me know.
Thanks.
In E-mail you may trust, but better sometimes to call live humans for order follow up: (see below).
American Printing Equipment & Supply
Contact us by phone Monday-Friday: 8:30am-5:30pm Eastern Standard Time.
Phone: 516-437-9105
Fax: 516-437-9107
Corporate Headquarters:
American Printing Equipment & Supply Co.
153 Meacham Ave.
Elmont, NY 11003
USA
I’ve done business with them before, didn’t have any issues. As much as I hate talking on the phone (english not being my first language) it is almost always the best way to resolve issues like this.
I called a couple of times. But I guess I can try again.
I had problems with them a couple of years ago. Ordered a type planer and it kept being delayed and delayed and delayed. After a couple of months of calling them, somebody over there finally told me the milling machine they used to make the planers was broken and probably wouldn’t be fixed again. I just canceled the order and bought a used one. I was a bit annoyed. I understand that the equipment may be impossible to repair but if so, why keep advertising something you can’t sell and why string the customer along for months? I think they still list planers on their letterpress page.
—
Michael Hurley
Titivilus Press
Memphis, TN
I doubt they have a milling machine any more. They probably just wanted to get enough orders to warrant paying someone to make what they needed. It seems that a lot of companies are doing business that way these days, but rather than back order an item they ignore customer’s inquiries, or make excuses until they can no longer make it worthwhile.
Paul
Cave pixel
On the subject of drill ease I assume as i know not the brand , that this is for a paper drill punch ? If so then the old crap wax from your candles will do as well to lube the drills as you work . In the past you used cut up paper wrappers that used to be wax lined and just laid a strip beneath the drill every now and then drillng through it till there was nowt to drill through !! Best thing being it was free!
C.P. $18.25 would seem a little expensive, if presumably a mere tablespoonfull would last a long long time.??
Pure Beeswax is not restricted to/from Graphic suppliers,!!! . . I.E. >A, Craft/Hobby shops, B, Furniture restorers/Polishers, and/or surprise, surprise, C, Apiarists/Beekeepers,?? or shed loads of money at $18.25 per pound.
If as it appears that quest is for Beeswax to use on a paper drill, the following may be of use, (possibly??) should part of the problem be drills, that are less than 100% sharp, it is not unusual to touch up/or dress, the OUTSIDE edge back to a presentable cut/drill by hand, and an oil stone/carborundum stone.!!!
The INSIDE/CONCAVE, (tapered bore/hollow spindle to conduct the perfs away ) can be dressed with a GLASS HOLE BORING drill, used in an ordinary hand held electric drill.
Available from ordinary D.I.Y. or Hardware Store, normally in the form of an arbour, (3/16” to 1/4”) with a twin flute Carbide/Tungsten tip, will take the worn cutter back to near original.
Drills normally available, with flutes from 1/8” up to 1/2” of an inch, normally one in the range will match the rake, of the taper of the internal bore of the drill(s).
Unfortunately Mick paper drills are high carbon steel or tungsten and basic sharpening principles dont apply ,you still have a tungsten sharpener for the h/c drills somewhere, the use of plain old candlewax or if really desperate a bar of soap really is all you need !
The Black or dirty grey bits are usually teflon coated to reduce the need for lubrication although all drills must of course be sharp too and even the coated one will burn up if the occasinal rub of candlewax isnt applied .
Take care of a jammed drill bit they explode quite dramatically and the bits travel a fair distance and are deadly sharp.
What’s the problem? APE doesn’t really make anything anymore; they sold off the equipment, and started outsourcing. Even their owned-brand Megill’s is now made by Chinese contractors. You have a few office and warehouse people, a website, against hundreds of Amazon-enthusiast customers who’d really like to see that drone-helicopter delivery system.
Web orders are just not immediate in letterpress supply. You have to list product even if out-of-stock, and who has the labor or system to list all of that? Then nothing new gets made until the break-even point in manufacture is near. When customers bitch about not getting next-day delivery, then say online they found it already on eBay, you start to wonder why you even bother.
Just a warning- the Megills spring tongue gauge pins shown for sale on their site haven’t been in stock for a year and they tell me they may never have them again. The similar generic ones are no longer available either. Same with the C&P Pilot rollers.
They are great at sending out what they have in stock, but they really could work harder to improve correspondence and to have the site up to date so that items which are not available are not being purchased. It is frustrating thinking that something is on its way to you and then when it never comes, to have to chase them down only to be told that they don’t have it to send you and maybe never will.
That having been said, I consider American Printing Equipment an important supplier and, despite their quirks, I order from them almost monthly and will continue to do so.
DGM
I tried working with American Printing Equipment and gave up in the end. I was buying small items like type rulers, Megills laypins, Quoins and keys to find the postage was around $130 US (on items costing $70 US) which is absurd. They wouldnt budge even when i gave examples of what I was paying from elsewhere. Its a shame because they have an Aladdins cave of stuff! I thought they just didnt want the business.