Avoid discount_machine Ebay seller

[kd0afk]

Discount_machine is the Ebay Shars store.
I am guilty of giving people too many chances so I bought from this buyer once too many. The other day I bought the Shars 6" 4 jaw independent lathe chuck with 1-1/2-8 tpi threaded back plate. I read the descriptions of the item before I buy them and the description of the chuck was that it came with two part jaws which is great because I can make custom jaw tops for different work. After contacting the seller to find out about it he said "it was a mistake, the chuck comes with two sets of jaws and the ad has been changed" but he changed the ad after I bought the thing This is bait and switch and this seller should be avoided like the plague. He is advertising more expensive items and shipping out the lesser expensive stuff. And he doesn't seem to care. He has offered me a refund but that isn't the point. I ordered a certain thing for a certain price and expect to get what I ordered and what was advertised.
This type of scumbag seller is the reason why consumer protection laws are created. In Ohio, when you misrepresent a car by altering the title and are caught, you have to refund twice the purchase price, pay a fine and the customer gets to keep the car.
And this buyer has been caught many times before.

 

[Paulsv]

kd0afk- I feel your pain. I have had difficulties with orders from Shars and with CDC Machinery, a similar comany.

Is that the 4-jaw chuck they are advertising here?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/6-4-JAW-IND...7?pt=BI_Tool_Work_Holding&hash=item45fc857c09

If so, I'm curious: Is it actually a front-mount chuck, as pictured?

 

[Philjoe5]

I had a bad experience with Shars a few years ago and stopped buying from them. They shipped me someone else's order and my order went to the other guy. OK, this can happen and I accept that. But their solution to this mistake? They told each of us to send the order to the other guy after mailing each of us UPS prepaid mailers. So now I have to wait for some guy in Texas to send me my stuff. Bottom line? 6 weeks delivery time. I can't believe those guys are still in business.

Phil

 

[kd0afk]

kd0afk- I feel your pain. I have had difficulties with orders from Shars and with CDC Machinery, a similar comany.

Is that the 4-jaw chuck they are advertising here?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/6-4-JAW-IND...7?pt=BI_Tool_Work_Holding&hash=item45fc857c09

If so, I'm curious: Is it actually a front-mount chuck, as pictured?

I have no idea what I will be getting but yes that is the correct chuck. It says that I will have to drill the mounting holes but the photos in the ad show the back plate already drilled. So I don't know. They guy that answered my email said that the photo of the chuck is what I'm getting but they use the same photo for all of their chucks; 3", 4", 6", 8", 10" etc.

 

[aonemarine]

I have only purchased from them twice, without incident. But thanks for the heads up. I mostly purchase from cdco machinery. So far they have been great.

 

[kd0afk]

I have only purchased from them twice, without incident. But thanks for the heads up. I mostly purchase from cdco machinery. So far they have been great.

I will be buying from them instead of Shars from now on. I do like tools4cheap though, and there are a couple of others but thanks for the heads up on cdco machinery. I didn't know about them before.

 

[Dave Sohlstrom]

A couple of observations. 1 I have never seen a 4 jaw chuck with 2 piece jaws. 2 I have never seen a 4 jaw chuck with 2 sets of jaws. 1 set can be reversed so no need for 2 sets.
For 129 $ I would not expect much in the quality of this chuck.

I have bought from Shars and received what I ordered.

Dave

 

[n4zou]

I never do business on Ebay. They force you to use Pay-Pal and sell your personal information to anyone that cares to pay for it.

 

[n4zou]

I have no idea what I will be getting but yes that is the correct chuck. It says that I will have to drill the mounting holes but the photos in the ad show the back plate already drilled. So I don't know. They guy that answered my email said that the photo of the chuck is what I'm getting but they use the same photo for all of their chucks; 3", 4", 6", 8", 10" etc.

Even if it comes with 4 drilled and tapped holes don't use them. The proper way to fit the back-plate to the chuck is to first mount the back-plate on the lathe spindle and then step turn it to fit the back of the chuck. It should be machined to a close fit, I.E. a maximum of .001 clearance. A slight press fit is best. Then you can drill and tap for the mounting bolts.

 

[n4zou]

A couple of observations. 1 I have never seen a 4 jaw chuck with 2 piece jaws. 2 I have never seen a 4 jaw chuck with 2 sets of jaws. 1 set can be reversed so no need for 2 sets.
For 129 $ I would not expect much in the quality of this chuck.

I have bought from Shars and received what I ordered.

Dave

Using machinable soft-jaws on a 4-jaw independent chuck makes no sense at all.

 

[aarggh]

I've dealt with them and numerous other similar Chinese dealers on and off Ebay, and I don't believe that in the majority of cases there is any form of malice or intent to deceive, but is instead usually attributed to their "peculiar" and straight forward method of doing business which can be bewildering to many. Generally I find them rediculously cheap for most items, and because of my experience over the years I tend to not expect items to be cosmetically identical as the description when delivered. On the very rare occasions the item has been faulty, or fundamentally different, (not cosmetically different), I've had no real trouble getting them to refund, or replace without fuss or effort on my part. Paypal is instrumental in this aspect.

But, and this is important, in Australia we tend to get absolutely reamed on anything we buy, so as a consequence we tend to be a lot more tolerant of minor or cosmetic differences in products or descriptions than perhaps Americans would be in their own market. We don't have the luxury of dirt cheap shipping and low cost items, everthing we buy locally is "premium" and priced accordingly. Even for me buying simple small things from (a lot) US sellers at times can have additional "P&H" fees that are routinely upwards of 6 times the actual postage cost for a cheap item.

So while they are far from perfect, they are the only avenue of choice for a lot of items for large numbers of people in the world.

cheers, Ian

 

[rleete]

He offered you a refund, what more do you want? It was a wording mistake, probably coppied directly from the (chinese) manufacturer. There isn't a single chinese made chuck that comes with soft jaws, I've looked. Sounds like sour grapes to me. To be disappointed is one thing, to actively try to sabotage him is another. Don't buy from him if you don't like the merchandise.

He has been very good to me, and I will continue to buy from him. He also has the best prices compared to Enco and others. Same stuff, better prices.

 

[kuhncw]

I've had no problem with two Ebay purchases, their 2 inch precision vise, from Discount_Machine. Overall their Ebay feedback is very good considering the volume of sales.

Regards,

Chuck

 

[kd0afk]

I just Googled 4 jaw chuck and found 2 right off the bat.

 

[MachineTom]

I spent a part of my life in retail, so maybe I give all these guys a bit of space for errors. Probably there are a few dozen plus items in my shop from Discount machine, Tools for Cheap and other sellers of chinese products. A few problems with items, I got an XY table instead of a hand tapper, yup I had to repack it, and call UPS, A transformer in a machine light died after a few months Tools for Cheap, sent me a new transformer, Yup I had to install it. As problems go those are pretty small and will not stop me from continuing to buy from them.

The fact that Discount offered to refund your money says everything, the fact that you are demanding what they don't have anyway, says something as well.

 

[cobweb81]

I buy directly form them all the time. I buy alot of carbide end mills that they sell from a USA supplier that are half the cost of the same end mills on ENCO. The cutters are great and cheap. Have they ever made a mistake? Sure but they always make it right. I would recommend them to anyone that asks. Just my experience and my opinion.

 

[kd0afk]

Let's say you order a something made by starrett and they send you something made by shars and they say well, the description was wrong we changed that since you brought it to our attention and the pictures are wrong, oops, but if you want your money back you will have to pay for shipping. Still going to take it in stride? I don't think so.
They have been pulling this for a while now.
Maybe I overreacted a bit but three out of three times getting hosed by a company can't be a mere coincidence.
All companies are really great....until they aren't.

 

[Wagon173]

I haven't ordered from shars but CDCO seems legit. I was a bit nervous about ordering from them at first as their website seems a bit generic but I've placed several orders with them and gotten all my stuff inside of a week. I'm on the west coast and they're in Illinois (I think) so it's pretty good. Granted they aren't awesome tools, they still serve their purpose especially for their price.

 

[Philjoe5]

I've ordered from CDCO for several years without problems. Any minor issues were addressed promptly.

They also carry some stuff that's hard to find like 2MT collet sets and 3C collet sets that are affordable for the hobbyist.

CDCO also exhibits at some of the shows like NAMES, Cabin Fever and the owner is a heck of a nice guy.

Phil

 

[Mosey]

Let's say you order a something made by starrett and they send you something made by shars and they say well, the description was wrong we changed that since you brought it to our attention and the pictures are wrong, oops, but if you want your money back you will have to pay for shipping. Still going to take it in stride? I don't think so.
They have been pulling this for a while now.
Maybe I overreacted a bit but three out of three times getting hosed by a company can't be a mere coincidence.
All companies are really great....until they aren't.

I have been buying from Shars for years with little problem. Their stuff is cheap but servicable, good for the money. When I had a problem, they took care of it fairly. When I buy Starrett, I get Starrett. Your experience is totally inconsistent with my 10 year experience.
Sorry.
Mosey