Hand-Tools.com review: awful customer service

Note that this parent company (Two Point Enterprises) operates several retail websites: hand-tools.com, gerber-tools.com, kershaw-knives.net, and sog-knives.net.

I placed an order with this company and received no email confirmation or email of any kind. A week or so later, having received no notice of my order or of shipping, I emailed to request a cancellation. I was informed by a representative (who curtly insisted that they HAD sent me an order confirmation) that it was too late to cancel the order as "it has already shipped." Days later I received an email stating that the shipping label had just been created and the order was about to be shipped out - the rep had simply lied about the shipment.

I contacted them again and voiced my dissatisfaction, as they could have canceled my order as it had not even shipped (as the representative had falsely claimed). The same rep then rudely and dismissively gave me a vague spiel about how they can't cancel orders due to their shipping policies. She even flatly stated that it takes up to 11 days (!) to ship out orders. On what planet is this acceptable?

It's clear that this company is a drop-shipping operation - they do not keep much of their inventory on hand and ship it from elsewhere. This results in long shipping times, miscommunication, and poor service in general, as was displayed here. The rude customer "service" rep also informed me that if I wished to make a return, they have a 20% restocking fee. Not only is this wildly excessive, but I can tell you (having run an online business for years myself) that "restocking fees" are nonsense. It costs nothing to accept returns - it's a tactic to pressure customers into NOT making returns. "Restocking fees" are a practice you most often see with shady ebay sellers.

TL;DR: Four strikes: 1) It took almost two weeks for my initial order to even ship out (with no confirmation email). 2) Despite this, they curtly refused to cancel my order days before it shipped. 3) RUDE and dismissive customer service. 4) Extortive 20% "restocking fee." Take your money to a professional business who actually cares, there are plenty out there. This amateur hour company's service is abysmal on every level, all the way down. Avoid.