Rockler Woodworking and Hardware Reviews 158

Placed an order on Oct 6, 2023 for Garden Bench plans with MDF Templates - website said "In Stock and Ready to Ship". They charged my credit card. On Nov 17th I got a back order notification. Their website still said "In Stock and Ready to Ship". I called today Dec 11th to cancel my order. Their website still said "In Stock and Ready to Ship". The customer service rep said the back order is now (maybe) expected Dec 27, 2023. We'll see how long it takes them to process the refund. I'm NOT confident! Unfortunately (for me) I was planning on building these benches for Christmas presents. Guess I'm SOL.

I ordered a Surface Mount Lock and Latch, had to pay a ridiculous shipping charge and never received my order over a month ago. No reply from Rockler too when I requested a refund. Never Again!!!!!

I have bought many things from this company but no more. Similar to another rater, they charged me for shipping when I had signed up for free shipping on orders over $49- Didn't even give me a chance to see the change as it originally showed the free shipping then changed when I clicked on the pay button. The timing and process of them adding the charge tells me this was not accidental! Also no response to my inquiry about the issue. They will not get any more of my money.

Really terrible customer service and website. They cancelled my order with no explanation and no response to queries. Avoid if you value customer service.

purchased a XL 2 row cribbage board template. Made 6 holes and the drill bit holder/depth set flew apart, no idea how many pieces as it was a single piece when started. Now let the fun begin, called Rockler customer service Gary talked a great game and told me a replacement would be sent out right away. Fast forward 3 weeks, no replacement yet, my client has gone elsewhere and the poor word of mouth has begun. Call customer service again and this time Ann tells me that is ridiculous and a replacement will be sent right out. That was 5 weeks ago. Now closing my business. Their uncaring about the small guy is incredible.

They short you on orders and do not reply to questions! Most equipment is ok- but if you have order issues - consider the money gone and throw the item away - you just got screwed! You will only get do not reply emails!

Bought a Dewalt Track Saw from Rockler. ($950.00+). They offered me “free shipping” on orders over $39. When the order totaled up, I was charged $73 for shipping. Called customer service to find out that what I ordered did not apply for free shipping and the misunderstanding was all my fault. Nothing like making a “promotional offer” then take it back and telling me that it doesn’t apply to me. Like I mentioned, my latest purchase was for $950. About a year ago I bought a CNC Router from Rockler for $5.5k. I hope they enjoy the $73 they screwed me out of for shipping. This is the last purchase I ever intend to make with this company and their useless customer service dept. I’m Done.

Think twice if you buy from Rockler, seems service and common sense is not their forte.
I spent $1,085 on a Rockler table router system that included a dust bucket kit that included "...clamps..." and the picture (on line) shows 2 clamps. The system arrived with only 1 clamp. Called Rockler and was told we only get one clamp and yet the dust bucket kit needs 2 clamps to operate. The Rockler service person said they would send this problem to management.
Are Rockler service people not able to solve simple problems; that this is a 'management' situation! Have not heard back from Rockler. (requires CEO???)

Rockler is horrible with customer service. I ordered an item that was back ordered for over 4 1/2 months with no notice from Rockler. The staff who handle their customer service are both arrogant and un helping. I really never want to deal with Rockler again. They are expensive and unhelpful.

I purchased a Rockler product fulfilled by Amazon via the Rockler storefront on Amazon. The product needed an adaptor to be functional at all, this information was listed on the box and in the manual, but not on the product website. The adaptor needed was only available directly from Rockler. I contacted Rockler customer service through Amazon to alert them to the omission in the Amazon product description and got a really dismissive form response back. Upon contacting their company directly my concerns were brushed off completely and they blamed Amazon. I was told that if I was unhappy about having an unusable product I could pay for expedited shipping on the required adapter. The product itself is a neat piece of kit, but working with Rockler was absolutely miserable. I’d advise Rockler to recognize that regardless of the quality of your product, if customer service is hot garbage, customers won’t return.

I purchased a brand new SawStop table saw on April 16,2023 through Rockler for just under $4,000.00. The item was shipped 4/20/2023 via YRC freight directly to my home. Upon delivery, some of the boxes had dents / crushing (the box with the fence rails was torn and did show some scratching at the end); however, the overall condition of the packaging was not out of the ordinary for a cardboard box shipped via freight. The damage was noted on the delivery receipt, which I kept and send to Rockler.

Upon unboxing the equipment and assembling the saw to identify any additional damage, I found the cast iron top was scratched, the front and back fence rails were bent in the middle, the fence tube was bent in the middle, and the motor for the saw would not power on. I contacted Rockler via phone and was told they would take care of the situation and send out any replacement parts as needed. I was also told to contact their DropShip department to share the evidence and all documentation in writing, which I did.

After submitting all documentation and paperwork, it took their DropShip team 8 days to contact me, and over 2 weeks to come to the conclusion that they will not refund my purchase nor will SawStop provide replacement parts to make the saw functional. Their justification was that I did not write on the freight delivery ticket "possible concealed damage" and the item is out of the box. Keep in mind, the damage was noted on the delivery receipt, and the item needed to be unboxed to discover the additional damaged items.

From reading another review submitted 5/13/2023, it appears that Rockler DropShip department nor SawStop (appears to be run by a woman named Brittany) does not stand by any of their items shipped via freight nor supports their customer base. Given the horrendous customer service and complete disregard to making this situation right, I have reached out to various consumer protection agencies to assert my legal rights.

In addition to the above, I also ordered a new dust collector, which I had asked to cancel due to a delay. They agreed to a full refund nearly 10 days ago! It's been over a week, and I haven't seen any refund!

From my experience, Rockler doesn't care about their customers and simply expects their customers to accept damaged and defective goods. Their actions are borderline theft, and I urge consumers to avoid my experience and shop elsewhere.

First of all I'm not a big fan of rockler...but I will have to say..that I bought the 24 inch clamp that is on sale now and it was when I bought it... well it broke...nothing that I did...but when I called rockler and told them this they send me another clamp to replace it....and honestly I thought they would tell me to take a hike....but to my surprise they sent me a new clamp....it's nice to know that they have integrity to their customers...and I do know the reviews don't say this....don't believe all these reviews....I will buy again from rockler...

Ignores emails and Paypal emails. Order over $700 worth of tools a week ago and still hasn't shipped. Three days ago I tried canceling this order and they have been MIA to email and Paypal requests to cancel this order. I need the tools to complete a project and this has caused a week of delay until I caved in a purchased elsewhere that is already schedule to deliver in a prompt amount of time, hoping my order with Rockler gets canceled before shipping.

On March 26, I ordered a $1000+ saw for an upcoming job, with an estimated ship date of April 6th. When it didn’t ship, I called and asked why, and they said they revised the ship date to April 11th - ok fine, frustrating, but fine. When it didn’t ship then, I called and they told me they couldn’t provide an updated ship date and I just needed to wait (indefinitely, I guess) - this is where it went from a minor inconvenience to a horrendous experience with a company that claims to pride itself on customer service. I started calling every couple of days to see if there was any updated shipping information. They were just completely unable to tell me anything. They said they would contact the vendor, and when I called back they hadn’t even sent an email. They then assured me they would send an email, and would get back to me when they heard, which would be 24-48 hours. Nope. A week went by, and no one got back to me, no updated information, nothing. I called and they said they had reached out but couldn’t get any information, and it was up to the vendor at this point, not them. What? A company is just unable to figure out where a 2-week late shipment is or when it might ship, if ever?

I contacted the vendor directly (Sawstop) and they said there were no backorders, no delays with shipping, and that things were shipping immediately upon being ordered. They also said they were very responsive to supplier contacts, so it would be totally out of the ordinary for them not to respond to an inquiry from Rockler.

My livelihood depends on my tools and me being able to get work done. I ordered this tool well ahead of time for a scheduled job, and with Sawstop telling me there should be no shipping delays, I ordered from Home Depot so I could keep the schedule for the customer, and then called and cancelled my order through Rockler. Home Depot shipped the saw right away, no problem.

Here’s where it gets downright infuriating - Rockler appears to be holding me hostage over this. Knowing that Rockler customer service seem incapable of doing what they tell me they’re going to do and incapable of calling or emailing me back, I followed up to see if they had cancelled it. The woman on the phone told me that instead of cancelling, they had inquired about the order status! She said she would try to cancel it, but I would need to wait 24-48 hours to see if it was possible. What?! I had already tried to cancel more than 24 hours prior to that call, and every time they’ve told me they would do anything, they never get back to me. I have heard NOTHING from Rockler about my order despite it being 2+ weeks late, and now they tell me they don’t even know if they can cancel it? So they can’t get me my order, they can’t follow up with me about a new delivery estimate, and now they can’t cancel it?? They are holding more that $1,000+ of my money hostage. Am I just supposed to wait forever, at a cost to my business, and let them keep my money while they don’t send me what I purchased and refuse to cancel my order and give my money back?

It appears I may have to dispute this with my credit card and get the transaction cancelled. I shouldn’t have to, but what else am I going to do? Rockler can’t deliver on time, can’t even provide any information about when they will be delivered or order status, can’t be bothered to get back to me, and can’t even cancel my order. What am I supposed to do - I have to work!

Truly one of the worst experiences I’ve had ordering something online in my entire life.

Shocking that a national company that prides itself on customer service is either 1) actively holding my payment hostage despite not being able to deliver the goods, or 2) so inept that they can’t even communicate with the vendors who are supposed to be supplying them. I don’t know which is worse.

I will obviously never purchase anything through Rockler again, and I would advise anyone else to steer clear.

P.S. I see in another review with a similar issue that the COO responded, saying something about a technology platform change that was causing problems - I don’t know if that’s just an excuse or if that’s the reality, but that doesn’t change the situation. Malfunctions on Rockler’s end aren’t the customer’s fault or problem - if Rockler can’t hold up their end (to deliver the items they sell and take your money for…) then they shouldn’t sell them, or at the very least should quickly help customers cancel their orders when the software doesn’t work and things aren’t shipped.

I bought an item for my father before Christmas. The item was given on Christmas Day. The following day he left the country for 3 months to visit family overseas. When he returned in early March, we had the opportunity to discuss the item. He said that it would not work for him. I spoke with customer service @ Rockler. The first few people could only read from the script…”more then 90 days, pound sand.” Finally I talked to Lexi In customer service. She agreed to a refund less a 25% restocking fee. The refund was also in the form of store credit only. I agreed to that but then the bombshell was dropped. I have to pay $115 return shipping. So for a $406 item that I’m returning SEALED AND UNOPENED in its shipping container, I’m getting a net refund of $255. Seems pretty shady for a company to do this and then sell the item at full price again.

I do agree that I am outside the all holy 90 mark but circumstances prevented that. There is no comparison, there is no understanding. Your company is too black and white. I have worked in retail for more then 30 years. I have been in management for 20 of those 30 years. I values my members that walk through my door. I would have taken care of them especially since the item has never been opened. This was the first time I bought online from Rockler. I have shopped in the stores and have been very pleased.

This whole experience has turned me off to your company. I know that this will fall on deaf ears and I expect no response. I’m just a number, a quick buck. I’m sorry I won’t make this mistake again.

Overall product is good for old farts like me.

Ordered Spoil board kit, no why to track as their site claims to be drop shipper. Tried to contact sales and support with no response.

Order showed 10 days after ordered. between the sell and UPS this is a problem when you need an item fast. even when listed as free shipping understand they build it into the price and thats ok but no excuss for poor service.

I bought a dust collection adapter that didn't fit my system so I brought it back a week later. I didn't have the receipt, but since I've been giving them my phone number during every purchase for 10 years I thought they had a system to track purchases. They charged a restocking fee and I got back $7 and change for a part that I paid almost $11 for the previous week. I will never shop there again.

I was thinking about purchasing a product from Rockler.com, but I wanted to see what it would end up costing in Canadian dollars. Initially I was impressed at their notice to Canadian customers about the new tax/duty rules. Unfortunately I was NOT impressed for long! The website indicated that the duty and taxes would be an additional $34.40. According to their website the product I was interested in, was on sale for 119.99US. However, when I went to the checkout page the subtotal in Canadian was $170.72. Considering this was without the $34.40 duty & taxes it seemed much too high. When I checked the conversion rate from US to Canadian on several different sites, I confirmed that they were over charging customers. on this day the conversation rate was 1.33, which means the subtotal should have only been $159.80. Not only would customers be over charged $10.00, but it would also result in inappropriate duty and tax amounts as well. I wanted to see if this was a isolated incident with 1 item, so I checked a separate unrelated item. The cost was $124.99US, which should have been $166 Canadian. However, Rockler.com once again showed a inaccurate inflated subtotal of $177.84. There website even states that the additional $35.31 for duty & taxes is based on this inaccurate amount of $177.84. This is even more of an over charge then the previous item. With today’s technology, there is absolutely no reason for this to occur. Conversation rates do change, but the rates are set for the entire day. So you are supposed to pay the rate for the day you purchased the item(s). A company does NOT get to decide what rate or amount they charge This is something I take very seriously, because I believe it is an indication of a company’s business practices and ethics. I started to wonder if their pop up message about the new tax/duty rules and duty calculator is an attempt to gaslight and hide these inaccurate amounts. JMO. Customers should be very careful and if they do decide to purchase anything, they should do their own calculations to make sure everything is correct!

Has anyone recently tried to purchase quality birch plywood at Rockler? They used to stock quality 7-9 ply birch plywood in 3/4, 1/2, and 1/4 inch dimensions but just yesterday I visited my local store to find that Rockler is no longer selling quality ply but cheap, warped, 3 -4 ply items that are full of voids and generally as crappy as the stuff we can get at Big Box stores. BUT the price is the same premium price they have always charged. I asked what happened and was told that Rockler has decided to "teach Putin and Russia a lesson and stop selling quality Baltic Birch plywood. What bunk!!!!! I'm sure the lettering Russian economy will totally collapse because a midWestern speciality woodworking store stopped selling Baltic Birch. Like much of the junky "innovations" they sell, this is the latest money grab to it's customers. The ply at Lowes, Home Depot, and Menards is 100000% better than the costly crap Ann and Steve are slinging to us.

I bought one of the I-semble X legs for a coffee table. There is a design flaw in it as the legs screw tight to the table top, rather than have slots to allow for seasonal expansion and contraction of the wood and my top just split apart as the wood contracted in dry winter weather. When I wrote up a review, they put the picture of the split top on the website but didn't let my review appear. I have lost trust in Rockler's website and reviews as it appears they only put up favorable reviews, not ones pointing out design flaws.