Anyone heard from Forrest from Wineadors?

[bsmall423]

Emailed him in early January about making drawers for a model he didnt have on his website. Sent him the link he said it was in stock at his home depot and would run over and get measurements for everything he needed once payment was sent over.... Sent over the money, and thats the last I heard from him, been over a month and no responses to any of my emails in the past week.

Anyone else having a similar experience? I found a reddit post with a bunch of people all experiencing the same thing in the past few weeks. I am not demanding my drawers, just wondering if he was able to get dimensions, have any questions, and a shipment ETA since I travel every week for work.

-Disappointed

 

[SurpriseMVP]

Ordered 2 shelves for a new cooler early December. Got an email back from Forrest first week in January saying he's catching up from the holidays and should get to it no problem. Fast forward to now and I still have not heard anything. No doubt I'll get them eventually, but a little customer service would go a long way.


Mike

 

[AdamJoshua]

Forrest does get busy and ... doesn't reply a lot, that about sums it up. Did he give you a time frame for when they would be done if you ordered, usually he's only a couple weeks or months off his estimates LOL

I think I waited an extra month for mine, they are great you just have to be willing to wait, you can try the "sales..." email address he has, I know there are two addresses he usually will answer one of them, also with the way the winter was I don't know how that affects his shop time, remember he's a one man shop basically, I ordered mine in the summer and there were days at a time he said it was too hot to work in the shop for more than a couple hours at a time.

-best of luck!

 

[bsmall423]

I get the "he gets busy" thing but I can tell you right now if i didnt respond to my customers for months at a time.... they wouldnt be customers anymore. Take 30 minutes out of the day at the end of each day and send out a status. People wont care how long it takes, as long as they know you are still keeping track of them. Early December until now for a few coolerdor drawers is absolutely ridiculous. :squinteye

 

[cgraunke]

Communication is definitely not his strong suit, but I think everything usually ends up working out. I've got one set from him and he's currently supposed to be bidding another custom build for me, but it's all a bit of a waiting game... For the impatient, the best route is probably the pre-made sets he sells through airandwater.com (sp?) Only drawback is you get no choice in customization, just the same cookie cutter setup.

 

[cgraunke]

I get the "he gets busy" thing but I can tell you right now if i didnt respond to my customers for months at a time.... they wouldnt be customers anymore. Take 30 minutes out of the day at the end of each day and send out a status. People wont care how long it takes, as long as they know you are still keeping track of them. Early December until now for a few coolerdor drawers is absolutely ridiculous. :squinteye

^^^ Truth!

 

[Hoshneer]

Yeah, I had one drawer made for my wineador, it took months. I finally got it and it didn't even fit my shelving. I tossed a few emails back and forth and just quietly gave up. I didn't want to wait and I knew if I shipped it back in would take forever to fix. I ended up fixing it myself in the end. Good guy I think he just over books himself.

 

[nystogiesmoker22]

I was emailing him earlier this week on a set up for me. He said 6-7 weeks. I'm hopping to hear from him soon. I need draws and shelving ASAP

 

[Jmphotog]

I heard a couple weeks ago too .. He said the same.. 6-7 weeks. He did say he doesn't get great service In his shop.. But I'm sure once your 6 week mark passes you'll be fine... No worries I know it's hard cuz we want it so bad but try at least to wait till 6 weeks lol thing to keep in mind that from I've seen he's the best in the business, and it's well worth the wait.. Once I got confirmation everything is good it's just a waiting game .. But I knew it'll be long going into it.. So if you want the goods gotta wait the time so to speak ..but I know I won't be disappointed

 

[mistaforty]

Just the way he does it man. It's gonna take a while and you may not get the best comm. understand that and you won't be disappointed. If you want continual emails and eta's and top rated service as evaluated by consumer reports, you will be disappointed upset and frustrated. I knew his process going in and just waited and they came. I look at him as more of a craftsman and many craftsman and artists are just that...not business/admin people. I totally get what you're sayin and the timing issue you have because of travel and I would expect that from a business transaction standpoint. But like i said this is just how he does it.

I ordered Black Friday, trays came in A couple weeks ago. They're excellent and I will order more. But I know his process and it is what it is.

 

[Heath]

Is this his full time job or just a side project? If its his Full time job than ya I would expect some kind of reply but if it is a side project I can easily see missing a few emails or not responding just to take a breath and catch up on what he has already. The way I see it if you want them bad enough you'll have to deal with it. As a few other Brothers said he typically always comes through. Good Luck to you.

 

[sofc]

Don't care either way but every few months there is a post lie this.

This is how he seems to work. Everyone knows going into it. Don't think there is a reason to keep complaining about it (full time or pay time job).



Sent from my SM-N900V using Tapatalk

 

[MDSPHOTO]

This came up on another board that he is overwhelmed right now and is cranking out the drawers as fast as possible. A couple people were not happy with quality of their drawers, but to his credit he is addressing their issues.

 

[nystogiesmoker22]

Just the way he does it man. It's gonna take a while and you may not get the best comm. understand that and you won't be disappointed. If you want continual emails and eta's and top rated service as evaluated by consumer reports, you will be disappointed upset and frustrated. I knew his process going in and just waited and they came. I look at him as more of a craftsman and many craftsman and artists are just that...not business/admin people. I totally get what you're sayin and the timing issue you have because of travel and I would expect that from a business transaction standpoint. But like i said this is just how he does it.

I ordered Black Friday, trays came in A couple weeks ago. They're excellent and I will order more. But I know his process and it is what it is.

Well said forty. Great way of looking at it.

 

[Tag9485]

Don't care either way but every few months there is a post lie this.

This is how he seems to work. Everyone knows going into it. Don't think there is a reason to keep complaining about it (full time or pay time job).



Sent from my SM-N900V using Tapatalk

I would typically agree with you, but it deserves a bump in the original thread at least. I use tapatalk a lot and the search function sucks so it's kinda hard to find out if anyone has post about it before. I orders drawers from Forrest knowing full well that he has terrible customer service but an amazing product. At this point, even if it is his side project, he is getting swamped bc he is THE name in the shelving game. I love my dewars and Forrest has mostly done quality work, but you'd think that with this level of work he could hire a helper or two. At the very least, if you don't think helpers could do the quality you like, hire someone to hits field customer emails and enquiries.

 

[sofc]

Don't care either way but every few months there is a post lie this.

This is how he seems to work. Everyone knows going into it. Don't think there is a reason to keep complaining about it (full time or pay time job).



Sent from my SM-N900V using Tapatalk

I would typically agree with you, but it deserves a bump in the original thread at least. I use tapatalk a lot and the search function sucks so it's kinda hard to find out if anyone has post about it before. I orders drawers from Forrest knowing full well that he has terrible customer service but an amazing product. At this point, even if it is his side project, he is getting swamped bc he is THE name in the shelving game. I love my dewars and Forrest has mostly done quality work, but you'd think that with this level of work he could hire a helper or two. At the very least, if you don't think helpers could do the quality you like, hire someone to hits field customer emails and enquiries.

Why? People are still going and ordering.

It's rarely "I'm not ordering", it's "I ordered but didn't get response."

If it's not affecting his bottom line, why cut into it by passing someone? Like you said, he's the only game (or at least he seems to be.)

Sent from my SM-N900V using Tapatalk

 

[Tag9485]

Don't care either way but every few months there is a post lie this.

This is how he seems to work. Everyone knows going into it. Don't think there is a reason to keep complaining about it (full time or pay time job).



Sent from my SM-N900V using Tapatalk

I would typically agree with you, but it deserves a bump in the original thread at least. I use tapatalk a lot and the search function sucks so it's kinda hard to find out if anyone has post about it before. I orders drawers from Forrest knowing full well that he has terrible customer service but an amazing product. At this point, even if it is his side project, he is getting swamped bc he is THE name in the shelving game. I love my dewars and Forrest has mostly done quality work, but you'd think that with this level of work he could hire a helper or two. At the very least, if you don't think helpers could do the quality you like, hire someone to hits field customer emails and enquiries.

Why? People are still going and ordering.

It's rarely "I'm not ordering", it's "I ordered but didn't get response."

If it's not affecting his bottom line, why cut into it by passing someone? Like you said, he's the only game (or at least he seems to be.)

Sent from my SM-N900V using Tapatalk

Yea I guess your right....I just hate shitty customer service. Forrest will be fine until someone comes along and starts doing it faster, with better customer service and equal quality. Until then......

 

[StogieNinja]

He actually does hire help when someone pays the $60 extra for a rush.

Personally if I were him, I'd increase the cost by about 50%, and slow the pipeline while making the same amount of profit. But that's just me, I'm a bit more selfish. Forrest is a true BOTL who wants to give a quality product at the best possible price for everyone. He knows he could raise prices and make the same amount on fewer customers, and still have guaranteed business, but he doesn't.

Forrest is THE only name in the game right now, and his prices are pretty darn cheap for what he does. Ask any quality woodworker to make a similar item and I guarantee it'll be a lot more expensive. You'll pay more for the speed and customer service. Guys like me are cheap, and we're willing to deal with lack of communication and a longer-than-promised wait time if we can same some cash, and we're a dime a dozen! So Forrest has a locked-in, guaranteed customer base. And he's not trying to jerk guys around, he just gets busy and communication isn't his strong suit. He's a hobbyist who found out he could me a decent amount of money doing something he loves, but the demand just overwhelms the supply. Not trying to justify his lack of communication, just explain it.

Also, he has had real-life stuff come up that's caused delays, and his wife got pretty badly injured helping him in the shop in late December from what I recall. So, he's a bit overwhelmed.

 

[bsmall423]

Maybe I'm not making myself clear. I understand the time it takes. I understand he has been telling everyone 6-7 weeks and its taking longer. What I don't understand is how he can respond to sales emails every week, even if he is backed up 12+ weeks. I sent money, and I never heard back, not a "received payment, contact you when shipping" nothing. Was he able to find my wine fridge at home depot? Get measurements?

 

[StogieNinja]

Im kind of surprised by everyone is backing him up on it. "No reason to keep complaining about it" Really? What if it was a trade on here and I took 10+ weeks to respond after receiving your end? No emails, no responses, no nothing... All the while Im making trades with everyone else.

Well, as I said, I'm not justifying anything, just explaining it.

However, to address your hypothetical, there's a huge difference between Forrest and you: you've been here for a month and have one positive feedback, whereas Forrest has been doing this for years across multiple cigar forums, for hundreds of BOTLs, and has never, ever stolen anyone's money. Taking a while and being to busy to respond to e-mails is par for the course and always has been. With someone who's new and untested, we're really worried about the "if." With Forrest, it's not a question of "if", just "when."