Is Lawson Equipment on vacation?

I have made 2 orders from Lawson Equipment recently and did not receive a shipping notice for either. Both arrived within 2 weeks of ordering.

Its that time of year, all of these cottage companies are swamped. Waiting…the price we pay for good gear.

Certainly don't mind waiting. Good to hear they are active. Thanks!

If this sounded like an upset/rant post, that wasnt my intention. Just wanted to know if they are still active since this was my first order placed with them.

I just had a good amt. of email correspondence with Lawson back at the beginning of April. It sounded like business was going well.

Don't know about his personal situation, but half our schools in the area were out last week, and the other half are out this week.

Ordered two items in the last 6 weeks or so, shipping and communication were quite slow for both. Not thrilled about it to be honest.

I have recently been in touch with Lawson. He and his wife have just had a baby, enough said. Let it lie for awhile.

At one time I had 3 kids under the age of two and I still seemed to get my job done. How hard is it to respond to an email?

I received half an order a couple of weeks ago, still waiting on the rest.
Hopefully soon.

"How hard is it to respond to an email?"

That depends on your kids.

I understand the latest generation of kids are born with ten thumbs and will likely text before they learn to talk.

So it seems…

;>D

Gary, thanks for the info on their baby. Good to know.

Gotta remember that he's doing all the work by himself. This isn't Amazon.com.

We've all grown a sense of entitlement and instant gratification has become a norm, but we need to remember that we support courage companies because they're not faceless mega corporations. These are people who are passionate about their product but life happens. Things come up, and they don't have to give us ever little detail about their personal lives. His website says orders are taking longer than normal due to high order volume.

Just because one person thinks they can do just fine running a business with 3 kids doesn't mean another person can/should be able to as well.

Lawson has had a good history of providing great products at low low prices for a while, just let this hiccup pass, be patient and understanding.

And E, failure to communicate to clients one way or another will result in a failure of the business.

Your heading is "Cottage."

Let me explain that I have never not received communication from a Cottage manufacturer after a couple of days and this is even in the early days.

Some say "BOO" because this hiccup as you call it has been going on for months, evidenced from other threads.

A slow down in service and response is understandable for a new father. Lawson may want to shoot out an email to all his current customers letting them know of expected delays and maybe post on his website as well.

Dave,

While I totally agree with you (that it makes non-good business sense to not communicate), as I mentioned earlier I just recently (within 30 days) had very good experience both ordering and communicating with Lawson. I have been ordering from him on & off for at least a year and have never had any issues to speak of.

If he did just have a little one – my sincere congratulations to him and his family. I understand Joe Z also just had a little one not too long ago.

Hmm, maybe I should order something and see how long it takes to hear from him…

> but we need to remember that we support courage companies because they're not faceless mega corporations.

This sentiment doesn't speak for me at all. I support cottage companies when they make a superior product, or when they provide value, or because they are generally more willing to modify a product to suit. Corporations are merely larger in size, they don't become "evil" because they hire more people. People in corporations have faces, too. It takes courage to be an entrepreneur, period, regardless the size your company becomes. Let's not thread drift into yet another corporate bashing screed.

I do not disagree with you Matt – I am still trying to catch up on sleep.

But a quick email to your clients explaining the situation? Easy peasy.

I recently made a small order from Lawson Equipment (free shipping). I got a confirmation of my order quickly, and, although I never received notice that the order shipped, within a few weeks, the item arrived.

People are different — maybe for smaller orders, he doesn't routinely send "Your Order has Shipped" emails. To me, the important thing was that I received the correct item within a reasonable time. Is he the industry's top leader in client communication? Probably not, but I wouldn't hesitate to buy from him again just because he didn't send me a shipping email. YMMV.

Someone just let me know about this forum. Sorry to everyone except Dave U..

My wife was pregnant. She had pre-eclampsia and was in and out of the doctors office and hospital. Then my baby was girl was born and she had to be in NICU for a week. Now that she is home I have been trying to help out around the house so for the entire month I have been dealing with family stuff… That said, I am very sorry about the delays this has caused and have been responding to emails and shipping orders as fast as I can. Basically I am working through the night and not getting any sleep. For all you patient and understanding people thank you so much :)

The one comment I take offence to is Dave U…
"At one time I had 3 kids under the age of two and I still seemed to get my job done. How hard is it to respond to an email?"

>>>It's pretty hard to respond to an email when you don't have the time to check them. If you had your first kid in the NICU and you were checking emails then it just goes to show you the caliper of dad and person you really are.. That said, who are you?? I know you always have a comment on everything but have you ever even ordered anything from me before? Reason I ask is, what is your real name as no Dave U has ever ordered anything from me before. If not, then I doubt you have ever sent me an email.. So unless your using an alias on BPL, then why do you even have a comment on this topic?

Lawson,

I hope your wife and little one are well. You've always provided great gear at fantastic prices. It is much appreciated and will be so going forward.

Best wishes to you and your family.

+1 to what Matthew said.

Party On,

Newton ;-)

Lawson,

I've bought stuff from you on several occasions and have never had a problem. You sell nice stuff at a decent price and I'll continue to support you.
Good luck with the new baby (kids are the coolest thing most of us will ever want or need to do). And ignore Dave, he just likes to be contrary.

Lawson, obviously I had no idea. Of course, neither did those who ordered from you.

Best to your family. Everything will work out.

With respect to who I am, I am a responsible father and business owner. The two are not mutually exclusive.

Congrats on the baby, my son had complications at birth as well so I fully understand the time, energy and emotional commitment that must be given in that kind of situation.

I've only had an order or two from you but they were both fulfilled properly with great service.

As I mentioned before, from a strictly business standpoint it makes sense as a one man show to give your customers a heads up so that confusion like this isn't a problem. Obviously in the heat of the moment isn't the best time to be drafting an email to customers so writing something in advance letting them know of the situation and the expected delays in correspondence and in service will help your customers to be more patient and understanding. A simple banner at the top of the screen on your homepage and an email out to past customers would be plenty.

Again, thank you for your great service and congrats on the baby! I hope baby and mother regain strength and are happy and healthy.

Lawson,

Circumstances were different but I've been in similar "overwhelmed" situations. It felt just awful at the time! Didn't know when I'd get a chance to address my untied shoe let alone read or answer e-mails.

Hang in there. This too will pass.

Daryl