First Accurate Mold

[Little Big Oz]

43-240T. Ordered 10/11, arrived 10/17. Already cast first batch.
Fast service, beautiful mould, good looking boolits.
I'll be saving up for another.

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/imagehosting/thum_192844e9e25b94e17a.jpg (http://castboolits.gunloads.com/vbimghost.php?do=displayimg&imgid=2456)

[grubbylabs]

I just got my second one and will be getting a third one as soon as I sell my first one.

Tom has excellent customer service and builds a great mold.

I just got a .460 405B for my 45-70. The tumble is drying on the first batch and the sizer and gas checks are on their way.

[white eagle]

I congratulate you on a wise choice in mold makers
Tom is one of the best
you will find that is the norm with his molds
excellent

[onesonek]

That's a beauty! I also bet it's not your last AM !!

[geargnasher]

I see the secret's out! Lots of posts about Tom's excellent moulds lately, hopefully he'll be around for a long time, especially since BRP ceased operations.

Gear

[grubbylabs]

Ya I still have lots of molds on my wish list. 308, 54 cal, 44, 45, and the list goes on. I am in the process of selling one mold I bought from him so I can buy another from him.

[rmk]

Tom is surely capable of producing a fine mold. I got my first from him recently and thought I had found my mould maker. Finally able to replace/refine 7 Lee moulds. My Lee's have served me well for function but I have always dreamed of replacing them with more refined tools. I ordered another mould in brass as I have never used it and thought I might as well find out what I prefer. Mold arrived plenty quick but the workmanship and quality I expected was lacking in that mould. I e-mailed my disappointment, but only recieved a curt two word response from him. Anyhow...potential for a fine mould, absolutely, customer service if you don't get it, well... not so much. Maybe he was having a bad week or something but I have heard nothing more from him and don't expect to from his lack of concern. Hope your experiences continue to live up to his ability and not to his lack of consistancy or his disrespect for this customer. . Good luck and take care.

[warf73]

I see the secret's out! Lots of posts about Tom's excellent moulds lately, hopefully he'll be around for a long time, especially since BRP ceased operations.

Gear


????

I didn't know this, I have some boolit sampels that might be keepers and was going to have him cut me a mold.

[warf73]

If these boolits I have work out could Tom make a mold for me if I sent him a few boolits?

[onesonek]

If these boolits I have work out could Tom make a mold for me if I sent him a few boolits?

I'm thinking, no reason why not.

[onesonek]

Tom is surely capable of producing a fine mold. I got my first from him recently and thought I had found my mould maker. Finally able to replace/refine 7 Lee moulds. My Lee's have served me well for function but I have always dreamed of replacing them with more refined tools. I ordered another mould in brass as I have never used it and thought I might as well find out what I prefer. Mold arrived plenty quick but the workmanship and quality I expected was lacking in that mould. I e-mailed my disappointment, but only recieved a curt two word response from him. Anyhow...potential for a fine mould, absolutely, customer service if you don't get it, well... not so much. Maybe he was having a bad week or something but I have heard nothing more from him and don't expect to from his lack of concern. Hope your experiences continue to live up to his ability and not to his lack of consistancy or his disrespect for this customer. . Good luck and take care.

In my dealings of 4 moulds, with a 5th in the plans, I have had nothing but kind, if not above and beyond service, and near perfection if not flawless quality in product. I can't help but wonder what issue(s) is/are behind the "rest of the story", as there are always 2 sides. What I read here seems totally out of character from my experience!
I know in my work, I'm more of a phone guy when dealing with customers, whereas Tom tends to stay with e-mail's, but that really don't matter, as it's just personal preference.

[grubbylabs]

I too would like to know the rest of rmk's story. As I too feel this is out of character for Tom. I have had nothing but good service and quality workmanship from him. I wonder if rmk is a new caster like my self and does not quite understand all the workings like my self. When I have had questions Tom has been more that willing to answer them.

[white eagle]

I have gotten countless numbers of molds from Tom
and his excellence has carried through since the first
some like to nit pic
might be the case here not sure without more intell
might be new to casting as well

[TomAM]

Tom is surely capable of producing a fine mold. I got my first from him recently and thought I had found my mould maker. Finally able to replace/refine 7 Lee moulds. My Lee's have served me well for function but I have always dreamed of replacing them with more refined tools. I ordered another mould in brass as I have never used it and thought I might as well find out what I prefer. Mold arrived plenty quick but the workmanship and quality I expected was lacking in that mould. I e-mailed my disappointment, but only recieved a curt two word response from him. Anyhow...potential for a fine mould, absolutely, customer service if you don't get it, well... not so much. Maybe he was having a bad week or something but I have heard nothing more from him and don't expect to from his lack of concern. Hope your experiences continue to live up to his ability and not to his lack of consistancy or his disrespect for this customer. . Good luck and take care.
I have had only one interaction with a customer where my response was close to two words, so I think this is in reference to a complaint I received, quoted below:

“Greetings Tom, I received the brass mold you made for me (order #2407) and as was the case with my first mold from you I appreciate your response and promptness, a great mold by the way. I do however have feedback I would like to pass on. I may well expect more than I am entitled to expect but I have to say that I am very disappointed in the condition of the mold block. It has what appears to be a misdrilled hole ( I am not a machinist so I may be talking out of my wrong end). I can not, by looking, imagine what tool made it. At any rate it really gouged into the block. It may well not effect the utility of the mold and as I say it may be an unreasonable expectation on my part still, I am troubled enough by it that I will not use the mold. I have tried to cast with it but it just bothers me knowing it is there so I have never used it and likely never will. I build custom furniture and it gives me chills to imagine how my customers would react to a similar defect in their project. I assume you quality check your work so it was either missed or considered to be unimportant either one being unacceptable to me. Mistakes we all make, still You are building a fine reputation and I assume it matters to you so I pass it along. I doubt I am the only person who would be put off by such a thing. As I say, every one of my customers would. Thanks for reading my ramblings. I hope you take it the spirit it is offered as feedback.”

My response was these three words:

“What hole? Where?”

Does anyone here think it unreasonable for me to request details before recommending action?

[onesonek]

"Does anyone here think it unreasonable for me to request details before recommending action?"

Not at all Tom.
And had I questioned something in that nature, a pic would have been included in the email. As the adage goes, Sh!t Happens, but I couldn't possibly believe you would send out work that was questionable in any way. Maybe shipping damage???
I will be curious as to his answer and maybe a pic.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

Does anyone here think it unreasonable for me to request details before recommending action?

Tom,
I agree with you 100%
You are great to work with...from my experience.

and here is my experience,
I have gotten one mold from you so far,
if you recall, after I received the mold,
I e-mailed you with concern and a photo of the mold face,
there was a tiny scratch on the mold face near
the tip of one of the cavities (not in a cavity).
it was much smaller than any of the vent lines.

You assured me that wouldn't be a problem,
and if it was, you would make it right.
I've cast with it several times and it surely was no problem.
thanks again,:Fire:
Jon


Communication is a two way street and it appears
to me that the shoe is on rmk's foot to reply with
more precise details...and a photo if you have the capability.
that's my 2¢

:coffee:

[white eagle]

Just as I though
get him a new rope and look what they do
If you won't use the mold send it to me I will use it

[geargnasher]

My first thought reading RMK's first post was "Show us a picture, since you yourself say you're not a machinest and may not realize what it's there for, such as the drilled-through sprue plate stop bolt (which leaves an open hole on the bottom of one of the blocks) or any number of other possiblilities."

I've never seen so much as a scratch on any of the four AM moulds I have when they arrived. Not that it can't happen, but I seriously doubt he'd let one out the door that way, even if it was just cosmetic.

I see this all the time in my business, I think it's a form of Buyer's Remorse. A certain type of person will spend money for a service, then get it in their head (for whatever reason, previous screwings by other shops is a big one) that something simply MUST be wrong, and often come back with a completely different problem saying "it never did that before you worked on it" or similar tripe. This type is easy to differentiate from the straightforward customer who keeps an open mind, and if has a specific complaint, it is SPECIFIC, not vague like "ever since you.....", and often is accompanied by a detailed description of the perceived problem and a willingness to do whatever they can to help you identify and fix the issue. I had a customer (who has ZERO mechanical understanding or aptitude) e-mail me pictures of a fluid leak on their motorhome from three states away after I'd done a repair, turns out it was NOT the power steering leak I already fixed, but another leak entirely from the left front leveling jack hose, which uses the same red ATF as the power steering system, and was leaking only a couple of feet from where the power steering was. It wasn't leaking when it left the shop, but without pics it would have been hard to tell just what was causing the "puddle of red fluid like before".

I ask you, RMK, why didn't you follow up with pictures, or if you don't have a camera, send the mould back to Tom to have him check it out? You might have been able to talk him into paying the return shipping for you if he found a problem. Tom asked you a question, three words, which puts the ball in YOUR court. Sounds to me that you just let it whiz by you and off into the parking lot, rather than continue the line of communication. NOT Tom's fault. If you have a problem, do your part to get it fixed rather than grousing about it on this forum and making it out like Tom ignored you. You wouldn't want anyone running YOUR business down in public without first having had a chance to address the problem, would you?

As to the line of communication with Tom, as he explains on his website, he's just about deaf from a lifetime of being around machinery, so he uses email exclusively. I've never been more than two days without a response from him.

Just the way I see it based on the information available.

Gear

[ph4570]

The molds Tom has created for me are top-notch.

[onesonek]

Couldn't have said it better Gear!

also
"As to the line of communication with Tom, as he explains on his website, he's just about deaf from a lifetime of being around machinery, so he uses email exclusively. I've never been more than two days without a response from him."

Somehow I missed that, but regardless, I have always found email communication with Tom to be courteous, helpful, informative and seldom very long before replies with the exception of maybe weekends . Just a pleassure to do business with all the way around!!!

[geargnasher]

Dave, it's on the AM "FAQ" page if memory serves.

Gear

[Bardo]

I just ordered my first Accurate Mold end of last week. And Tom replied to my several emails very quick and answered all the questions. He also sent me an e-mail when he received my payment. So my experience so far is very good and has been excellent communication. But I can't comment on quality of work yet because I haven't received it yet. I was planning on it taking 3+ weeks but maybe I will get it sooner.

Bardo

[Dan Cash]

[QUOTE=onesonek;1435939]Couldn't have said it better Gear!

also
"As to the line of communication with Tom, ...... so he uses email exclusively. I've never been more than two days without a response from him."

QUOTE]

I surely like vocal commo with people but with email, there is always a record of who said what; valuable in avoiding missundestandings.

[onesonek]

Thanks Gear, I guess I haven't been to that page,,,,,my only question's to Tom have been something like this.......
"Tom, here's my bore, groove, and throat measurements, I would like it to weigh about this much with this nose profile, and with this alloy,,,,what do you think"?
And a little bit later I have a drawing in my email that looks just like I envisioned it.
It can't get any more simple, unless it's already in his catalog.

[grubbylabs]

While I am not sure he had even started my mold yet but I ordered a mold then had second thoughts on the diameter. I sent him an email after hours and I had a response saying the project was on hold for me. That's as good as it can get for communication and customer service as far as I can see. I tell him what I want and he either adds it to the catalog or points it out in the catalog. again what more could you ask for. Either way for a guy to take the time and tool up to do a one off production every time some one asks is above and beyond what I expect since it seems to be a lot of work.

I don't doubt he may have a hick up once in a while, but I have a hard time believing he would not take care of it. He told me on my first mold that if I was not happy with it when I got it and tried it he would buy it back. Again better than expected customer service.

Keep up the good work Tom.

[rmk]

Wow! I guess I stepped on a lot of peoples toes. I thought the purpose of this community was to share information. I am sorry if some feel I am attacking Tom, I did not and do not. As I said in the e-mail my experience had been perfect till that one transaction as seems to have been the experience of many members. I am glad Tom included the e-mail, I had chosen not to include it in my post as it was a personal communication and I feared my motivation for sharing it unilaterally would be questioned. However I stand by it and feel that it speaks volumes to my point. I did not ask for anything I just offered Tom feedback which I had assumed we all valued. I certainly didn't intend to start a pissing match. If all we want from each other is reinforcement of our assumptions and beliefs then why are we here? I will take some picture and hope that you will be satisfied as to why I found "What Hole? Where?" a response that puts to question the issue of customer service. As I said I will get some picture made and then hopefully there will be an end to this. Give me a couple of days. Mike

[onesonek]

Tom is surely capable of producing a fine mold. I got my first from him recently and thought I had found my mould maker. Finally able to replace/refine 7 Lee moulds. My Lee's have served me well for function but I have always dreamed of replacing them with more refined tools. I ordered another mould in brass as I have never used it and thought I might as well find out what I prefer. Mold arrived plenty quick but the workmanship and quality I expected was lacking in that mould. I e-mailed my disappointment, but only recieved a curt two word response from him. Anyhow...potential for a fine mould, absolutely, customer service if you don't get it, well... not so much. Maybe he was having a bad week or something but I have heard nothing more from him and don't expect to from his lack of concern. Hope your experiences continue to live up to his ability and not to his lack of consistancy or his disrespect for this customer. . Good luck and take care.

As I said, not of his character,,,I see no disrespect in his reply to you. I'm thinking a picture sent to him showing what you were questioning would have been in order.


I have had only one interaction with a customer where my response was close to two words, so I think this is in reference to a complaint I received, quoted below:

“Greetings Tom, I received the brass mold you made for me (order #2407) and as was the case with my first mold from you I appreciate your response and promptness, a great mold by the way. I do however have feedback I would like to pass on. I may well expect more than I am entitled to expect but I have to say that I am very disappointed in the condition of the mold block. It has what appears to be a misdrilled hole ( I am not a machinist so I may be talking out of my wrong end). I can not, by looking, imagine what tool made it. At any rate it really gouged into the block.
Which is it, a hole or a gouge? again, a pic would have kept any controversey at bay.

It may well not effect the utility of the mold and as I say it may be an unreasonable expectation on my part still, I am troubled enough by it that I will not use the mold. I have tried to cast with it but it just bothers me knowing it is there so I have never used it and likely never will.
"not use, tried to cast, never used, never will" ?????? What

I build custom furniture and it gives me chills to imagine how my customers would react to a similar defect in their project. I assume you quality check your work so it was either missed or considered to be unimportant either one being unacceptable to me.
Wow,,,, that's pretty condescending, yet manage to elevate ones own self worth, or values.

Mistakes we all make, still You are building a fine reputation and I assume it matters to you so I pass it along. I doubt I am the only person who would be put off by such a thing. As I say, every one of my customers would. Thanks for reading my ramblings. I hope you take it the spirit it is offered as feedback.”

My response was these three words:

“What hole? Where?”

Did you even contact him after Tom asked ?

Does anyone here think it unreasonable for me to request details before recommending action?


Wow! I guess I stepped on a lot of peoples toes. I thought the purpose of this community was to share information. Yes it is, but your post is rather inflammatory, and without a pic, so in essence, the burden of proof is on you.

I am sorry if some feel I am attacking Tom, I did not and do not. As I said in the e-mail my experience had been perfect till that one transaction as seems to have been the experience of many members. I am glad Tom included the e-mail, I had chosen not to include it in my post as it was a personal communication and I feared my motivation for sharing it unilaterally would be questioned. However I stand by it and feel that it speaks volumes to my point.

I think it speaks volumes in Tom trying to resolve a possible issue. Without a pic of the hole, gouge or whatever, what is he supose to say or where to start

I did not ask for anything I just offered Tom feedback which I had assumed we all valued. I certainly didn't intend to start a pissing match.

No PM, just looking for fairness,,,,, he replied and it appears you dropped it after that, until posting here. If there is a problem, it don't appear that you gave him a chance to correct it. So negative feedback without proof, or an attempt of some sort of resolution, is an attack.

If all we want from each other is reinforcement of our assumptions and beliefs then why are we here? I will take some picture and hope that you will be satisfied as to why I found "What Hole? Where?" a response that puts to question the issue of customer service.
Simple questions to me,,,what more do you expect?
I didn't see anything that would concern me of his service or character there!

As I said I will get some picture made and then hopefully there will be an end to this. Give me a couple of days. Mike

A couple days is a long time to leave someones reputation hanging,,,, takes 2 minutes to take photos and upload them. In the interest of the board community,,,,well it's your call I guess.

[grubbylabs]

Sorry I just don't have any negative feed back for Tom. So I am not sure why you would want me to post some. All we have said is that he has provided us with quality products and customer service.

If you have constructive criticism then by all means provide it. But know that on a forum it is customary to provide photos and other evidence as well as not to come onto a forum where some one obviously has a good reputation and post something inflammatory without said evidence, especially when you are new to the forum.

As others have stated, you probably should have provided a picture or pictures of your concerns or perhaps returned the mold and given Tom a chance to make it right with you. I am not sure how most people do things but if I have a problem with a store or other service provider I try to let them make it right. If they fail to make it right then it is game on and I don't come to a forum like this one and make accusations without providing all necessary details.

I truly do hope that you find us (the forum) helpful and entertaining. I consider my self still new here and I can tell you that there is hardly a better group of people on any forum. I do spend quite a bit of time cruising several different forums and I have yet to run into a group as nice these folks. I have been given free boolits as well as molds from some of the folks here. I hope that you don't think we are attacking you but rather we are trying to figure out what happened and hopefully help you get an issue resolved. I think I speak for every one who has one when I say that his molds are top notch and that you should give the mold a try. You won't be disappointed.

Good luck and don't be a stranger.

Steve.

[odis]

Wow! I guess I stepped on a lot of peoples toes. I thought the purpose of this community was to share information. I am sorry if some feel I am attacking Tom, I did not and do not. As I said in the e-mail my experience had been perfect till that one transaction as seems to have been the experience of many members. I am glad Tom included the e-mail, I had chosen not to include it in my post as it was a personal communication and I feared my motivation for sharing it unilaterally would be questioned. However I stand by it and feel that it speaks volumes to my point. I did not ask for anything I just offered Tom feedback which I had assumed we all valued. I certainly didn't intend to start a pissing match. If all we want from each other is reinforcement of our assumptions and beliefs then why are we here? I will take some picture and hope that you will be satisfied as to why I found "What Hole? Where?" a response that puts to question the issue of customer service. As I said I will get some picture made and then hopefully there will be an end to this. Give me a couple of days. MikeI would think you would send the photos to Tom and ask him about them. I'm brand new to casting but have shot nothing but lead in my handguns for 30 years. The boolits I'm shooting now that I've cast with accurate molds are the best. I own 3 of his molds and will buy more.

[geargnasher]

Wow! I guess I stepped on a lot of peoples toes. [/B]Not mine, but I have an interest in fairness, and you certainly seem to have been unfair to Tom regardless of product defect. [/B]I thought the purpose of this community was to share information. It is, and that's exactly what we're doing. If you have negative information, it can be shared constructively so that all benefit, including the one needing correction. I am sorry if some feel I am attacking Tom, I did not and do not. I don't see how falsely accusing someone of failing to meet your standards, when it appears to me that it was YOU who failed to provide reasonable effort in resolving this, could be seen any other way. As I said in the e-mail my experience had been perfect till that one transaction as seems to have been the experience of many members. I am glad Tom included the e-mail, I had chosen not to include it in my post as it was a personal communication and I feared my motivation for sharing it unilaterally would be questioned. However I stand by it and feel that it speaks volumes to my point. I don't think anyone sees it the way you do. You had a complaint, he asked for specific information because he obviously didn't feel there was anything wrong with the mould, you never pursued it further, now you want to run his reputation for both product and service down. No one who's posted here besides you seems to feel that that's a Just way to go about things. I did not ask for anything I just offered Tom feedback which I had assumed we all valued. We do value feedback, very very much, especially constructive criticizm. Key word "constructive". I certainly didn't intend to start a pissing match. Not a PM, just a bunch of decent fellas questioning what appears to be an unwarranted attack on someone we all take to be a decent fella too. If all we want from each other is reinforcement of our assumptions and beliefs then why are we here? This was never about belief on our parts, only facts. I will take some picture and hope that you will be satisfied as to why I found "What Hole? Where?" a response that puts to question the issue of customer service. Let me ask you a question. In your business, at what point do you think a customer has the right to picket your business? Say someone buys a chair you made, and when they get it home they notice the awful router skip marks on the back support that the light in the shop didn't expose. They email you and inquire about it, you reply "What marks, where?"and you never hear back from them.. A few weeks later you read a letter to the editor in the local paper where this person is sharing their experience and says you might be a fine furniture maker, but THEIR experience was terrible, and you have no interest in addressing quality issues with your product. It's the same thing, how would that make you feel, regardless of whether it was really router marks or just irredescent wood grain pattern?? I said I will get some picture made and then hopefully there will be an end to this. given a chance to.[/I] Give me a couple of days. Mike

I think you owe it to yourself, to Tom, and the rest of us to make haste with this situation. I also fear that we won't be hearing from you again, and I hope that's not true. I hope you get some satisfaction with your complaint, and furthermore stick around to share with this fine group of people. Like a family we don't always see eye-to-eye, and sometimes we bicker and fuss, but in the end we're all on the same team.

Gear

[Beagler]

I just got my first from Tom. Its a 73-770S Full bore 12 gauge. Its really perdy! It cast a really nice lookin projectile. I showed the guys at work one of the slugs and they think I'm nuts for shootin it. They asked what I'm using it for. I told them for shooting different types of CANS.;-)

[onesonek]

I think you owe it to yourself, to Tom, and the rest of us to make haste with this situation. I also fear that we won't be hearing from you again, and I hope that's not true. I hope you get some satisfaction with your complaint, and furthermore stick around to share with this fine group of people. Like a family we don't always see eye-to-eye, and sometimes we bicker and fuss, but in the end we're all on the same team.

Gear

I agree on all points! Thanks Gear, for bringing them up!!

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

I am glad Tom included the e-mail, I had chosen not to include it in my post as it was a personal communication and I feared my motivation for sharing it unilaterally would be questioned. However I stand by it and feel that it speaks volumes to my point.
I respectfully disagree.


I did not ask for anything I just offered Tom feedback which I had assumed we all valued ...Mike
If your mold has an errant hole,
I would surely be asking for something if I were you.

I would also think you'd respect the Maker, who truely seems
to have pride in his work, by giving him the chance to make it right.
To do so, you should send him a good clear photo of the issue, or return
the mold if it is so hideous to you, that you can't use it.
And not just end the conversation after being asked a question.

Wouldn't you want the same, if a customer of yours had an issue
with a piece of furnature you made ?
Jon

[nanuk]

Funny how we can all see something in a different light

I think Geargnasher nailed it

Let's say I had bought that chair that Gear had talked about, and was a lurker of the "Custom Furniture Making" forum that you are a regular contributer to.
And you many great dealings with the members there and had many great comments about your workmanship, would YOU accept, without a challenge, my negative comments about ONE issue that I felt cost me $$$$ but had failed to follow up, but just use the opportunity to post said comments?

rmk, the ball is in Your court, Sir, and I look forward to the pics, and Tom's response!

That would be the Fair thing to do

[white eagle]

I doubt very seriously yo will see another post
from him about this matter

[ColColt]

To date I've just got one 44 cal mold from Tom and upon opening the box I looked at it and was happy as a baby in a barrel full of tit*ies. It was beautiful, cast marvelous boolits and the 260 gr RNFP from this mold is the most accurate boolit I have for this caliber...zero problems or complaints-only accolades.

[happyret65]

I have 3 molds from Tom and one of the first to buy his product. All have been outstanding and the service was quick and satisfactory. I remember once Tom told an individual that if the mold wasn't what he thought it should be - keep it. When my first mold arrived I had to call Tom and tell him to cash my check (weeks later). Pictures sure would have been better than trying to step on someone's reputation without proof.

[cajun shooter]

I first had dealings with Tom close to two years ago now. No one on this forum had said a word about him at that time. I was on a forum where one guy told another about a mould maker in Utah.
I contacted Tom and advised him that I was trying to develop an improved design of the original Lyman bullet meant for the 44-40. I also advised Tom that I shot 100% BP in SASS matches.
We talked about mould materials and I told him that in all my years of casting(1970) I had never used brass. He stated that it would be the perfect material for my project.
My first mould arrived and after casting about 50 bullets which were all the same but IIRC they were on the small side. I called and asked Tom if I could send the mould back and have it opened up some. His answer was to not worry about it that he would have another mould on it's way. This was Monday and on Friday I was looking at the new mould. My first drop was perfect and I called Tom to order another just like it.
I find that casting with a two mould system works much better than a single mould.
I asked Tom about paying for the first mould and he said keep it and enjoy yourself.
I wrote up a thread on Tom and his skilled workmanship which I had only seen by one other mould maker. Before you could turn around there were Accolade stories about Tom every day in the forum. I even got a good friend of mine in Pa. to order from Tom and he has done several for John Kort now. My bullet design was the 43-210B for the 44-40 cartridge and it is perfect in both revolver and rifle.
When I read the OP of this thread I knew right away that a large chunk of information was missing. Tom is a man of Honesty, Integrity, and a skilled craftsman and there is no way that he sent out a bad mould, nor would he be crass in his answer about it. I sir think that you are trying to stink up a fine man. Later David

[Heavy lead]

Wow! I guess I stepped on a lot of peoples toes. I thought the purpose of this community was to share information. I am sorry if some feel I am attacking Tom, I did not and do not. As I said in the e-mail my experience had been perfect till that one transaction as seems to have been the experience of many members. I am glad Tom included the e-mail, I had chosen not to include it in my post as it was a personal communication and I feared my motivation for sharing it unilaterally would be questioned. However I stand by it and feel that it speaks volumes to my point. I did not ask for anything I just offered Tom feedback which I had assumed we all valued. I certainly didn't intend to start a pissing match. If all we want from each other is reinforcement of our assumptions and beliefs then why are we here? I will take some picture and hope that you will be satisfied as to why I found "What Hole? Where?" a response that puts to question the issue of customer service. As I said I will get some picture made and then hopefully there will be an end to this. Give me a couple of days. Mike

You are correct, this is a community to share information, my first point is you have shared no information, in fact the most in depth information that was shared was the email that you had sent Tom that indicated more than one troubling comments as to a possible non-issue.
I will admit, I'm a fan, I have three of Tom's moulds and they all cast great, I cannot imagine if I had received a mould that appeared to have a defect on in, still I wouldn't have cast a few with it.
Also I see no issue with his response to your email as well, you allude in your email you want to give constructive critisism, however offer no specific problem, only a general, admittedly ignorant, comment about an extra hole.

I'll buy more of Tom's moulds, in a heartbeat, and I'll betcha if there's a problem he'll take care of it too.

By the way, one of the last moulds I got from him apparantly had "an extra hole", as well, however, I still casted with it, and also figured out what it was for, by golly a set screw was stuffed in the bottom of it, a small design change from the previous two, and absolutely NO problem with it, the mould is a work of art, but more importantly is ugly, stained, and used now (not abused, so don't flame me, just not spit polished anymore) and produces boolits and groups that are worthy of photography, just the way I like it.

[odis]

but only recieved a curt two word response from him I call this dirty pool. My first thought was you received a caps locked obscenity but it turns out it was a 3 word question. I hope I'm wrong but it seems you where trying to stir something up.

[doubledown]

I see the secret's out! Lots of posts about Tom's excellent moulds lately, hopefully he'll be around for a long time, especially since BRP ceased operations.

Gear


Yeah, I just ordered from Tom a couple of days ago, its a three week wait. He is definately a busy man! And I also hope he is around for a long time.

[onesonek]

Yeah, I just ordered from Tom a couple of days ago, its a three week wait. He is definately a busy man! And I also hope he is around for a long time.

It's been couple months or more since I got my last, when Tom had 2 weeks posted. I wouldn't be suprised however, if you see the mold show up before that 3 week date. Not saying that will be the case, just good possibility.
It is good to see him busy, that don't suprise me either. And yes, I hope he is around making molds for sometime to come also. It will be a great loss when Tom decides to retire!

[grubbylabs]

I ordered my last mold less than 3 weeks ago and I already have it. But I only live a few hours north of him so I would guess I was only a day or two in the mail.

[Herb3]

I now have two of Tom's molds and I am very happy with both the molds and his fast service. I have the 45-230L and a 45-260K both in brass and they make beautiful bullets.

[bigboredad]

I find it really odd the first post from rmk is to bring controversy to Tom's great molds and excellent customer service. A couple of days to to take pics? or is it a couple of days to figure out how to clean up a never used mold and make a extra hole. things that make you hmmm

[Bardo]

I just ordered my first Accurate Mold end of last week. And Tom replied to my several emails very quick and answered all the questions. He also sent me an e-mail when he received my payment. So my experience so far is very good and has been excellent communication. But I can't comment on quality of work yet because I haven't received it yet. I was planning on it taking 3+ weeks but maybe I will get it sooner.

Bardo

It came yesterday and I casted some last night. Now I can comment on his quality of work - A+. I got a brass 3 cavity and the boolits cast so smooth I don't even want to shot them, but I did.

Bardo

[geargnasher]

I now have two of Tom's molds and I am very happy with both the molds and his fast service. I have the 45-230L and a 45-260K both in brass and they make beautiful bullets.

The 45-230L is my baby, had Tom work it up for me primarily with my Kimber .45 in mind. That pistol tends to go to premature slide lock with boolits of the "ball" profile (Lyman 452374 comes to mind). I based the design on the Lee TL452-230-2R but got rid of the bevel-base and the weak microbands that were always giving me trouble. All my .45s gobble them up like candy, how's it working for you?

Gear

[Herb3]

The 45-230L is my baby, had Tom work it up for me primarily with my Kimber .45 in mind. That pistol tends to go to premature slide lock with boolits of the "ball" profile (Lyman 452374 comes to mind). I based the design on the Lee TL452-230-2R but got rid of the bevel-base and the weak microbands that were always giving me trouble. All my .45s gobble them up like candy, how's it working for you?

Gear

Gear I picked that mold after reading one of your posts about it here and it has been fantastic in my Springfield GI 45 and a buddy's PT1911. Very accurate and no feed issues at all.

[geargnasher]

Thanks for the feedback Herb3, glad it's working as well for you as it is for my guns. I don't know how you lube yours, but I like to plug all the holes in my H die except for one plane (four on the same level) and line them up with the middle land. The holes are larger than the land, so it fills both grooves with one set of holes and no leakage on the base or above the top band.

Gear

[Herb3]

Thanks for the feedback Herb3, glad it's working as well for you as it is for my guns. I don't know how you lube yours, but I like to plug all the holes in my H die except for one plane (four on the same level) and line them up with the middle land. The holes are larger than the land, so it fills both grooves with one set of holes and no leakage on the base or above the top band.

Gear

I don't have a Lube-sizer yet so pan lubing them here for now but it looks like I might be getting an almost new LAM II if things work out

[fishnbob]

I was scouting around for a mold for my .35 Rem. and e-mailed Tom when I did not see anything close to what I wanted. The next day I got an email stating "I added the 36-175R to the catalog for you sir." I looked at it, filled out the order form and sat back to wait the three weeks. In two weeks I had what looks to be a perfect Accurate Mold. Under a lighted magnifying glass it looks perfect. I haven't gotten around to using it yet, other unfinished projects are in the way, but I am perfectly satisfied with my mold and the handling of the order.

[ColColt]

That pistol tends to go to premature slide lock with boolits of the "ball" profile (Lyman 452374 comes to mind).

Gear

Gear-Could it be the inside part of the slide lock shows brass marks indicating it may need to be filed or stoned a bit? I had a similar problem with a boolit once-can't recall which as it's been long ago, because the ogive was hitting the slide stop too soon.

[geargnasher]

ColColt, filing would indeed fix it, replacing it with a Wilson Combat extended slide release fixes it too, and maintaining top-quality magazines with snug followers and tight lips that control the position of the top cartridge better and prevent it from walking forward into the slide stop lever helped. The problem can exist on many guns, and after playing with this issue and several Kimbers for a while I determined that I'd like the rebated nose base anyway, plus it cuts cleaner holes in the paper.

Gear

I also figured this design would help prevent the slide lock issue for people who had no interest in modifying their guns.

[ColColt]

The one time I had a problem similar was with a S&W 457 and stock magazines. I have never(knock on wood) had any problem with Wilson 47D, ETM or Tripp mags in the 1911 format with any shape boolit. My mainstay is the 200 gr SWC, however. I figure if any pistol will feed those it's likely to feed anything else. The aforementioned 457 had problems with the Ranger T 230 gr for some reason.

[turbo1889]

No-one can provide 100% customer satisfaction 100% of the time and still make a living when running their own small business. I would even go so far to say that even if you remove the "still make a living" qualifier 100% customer satisfaction 100% of the time is an un-achievable goal.

That said, Tom @ Accurate Molds comes pretty darn close. I personally in my own business dealings have found it beneficial to strive to maintain 95+% customer satisfaction and the other 5% or so are split in half where I take a loss to keep one half of them fairly happy and the other half I try to make sure they know better then to do business with me again because I don't want them back and would not even wish them upon most of my direct competition and then rely upon the other 97.5% giving me enough PR capital to cover me when I do have to get rid of the 2.5% or so of the customer base that I wouldn't wish upon most of my direct competitors.

Long story short, I have gotten nothing but A+ service from Tom in all of my dealings with him and even if the worst that could be though to be was true and he did deliberately drive off one particular customer I am willing to accept that as an act of self defense and personal preservation (both financially and in terms of his own sanity) on his part.

[onesonek]

No-one can provide 100% customer satisfaction 100% of the time and still make a living when running their own small business. I would even go so far to say that even if you remove the "still make a living" qualifier 100% customer satisfaction 100% of the time is an un-achievable goal.

I agree with that totally.

That said, Tom @ Accurate Molds comes pretty darn close. I personally in my own business dealings have found it beneficial to strive to maintain 95+% customer satisfaction and the other 5% or so are split in half where I take a loss to keep one half of them fairly happy and the other half I try to make sure they know better then to do business with me again because I don't want them back and would not even wish them upon most of my direct competition and then rely upon the other 97.5% giving me enough PR capital to cover me when I do have to get rid of the 2.5% or so of the customer base that I wouldn't wish upon most of my direct competitors.

And I also agree with that.

Long story short, I have gotten nothing but A+ service from Tom in all of my dealings with him and even if the worst that could be though to be was true and he did deliberately drive off one particular customer I am willing to accept that as an act of self defense and personal preservation (both financially and in terms of his own sanity) on his part.

A+ service is what I have received as well. But I don't think the other part was the case here. I'm not sure Tom would do something deliberately like that.
Clearly, as I see it anyhow,,, Tom was taken aback by the email, and just simply asked what and where. Some how, rmk took offense to the short response, and chose not to persue it further. That is, until he made the post here,,of which, I don't think hurt Tom one darn bit, imho!!!! I do have my suspicion's as to what rmk was refering, but simply did not understand the reasoning or function. Had he persued it, and answered Tom's questions, all would have been resolved without issue, or incident.
He certainly could have helped himself here somewhat, but evidently decided against that too, as he was on yesterday, and chose not to settle something he started on an open forum. Evidently his ego and arrogance, is prohibiting him from following up on something he said he would do,,,,,,where's the photo? My guess is, he figured it out, and isn't man enough to apologize.

[GLL]

I ordered two more brass molds from Tom on Wed 10/19. They arrived here in Pasadena,CA on Monday 10/24 !!! AMAZING service ! AMAZING quality !!! :) :)

One of the Group Buys I honchoed through LEE Precision took OVER one year !! :(

Now that Bruce has closed down BRP Tom gets all of my custom mold work !

Jerry

[onesonek]

I was fortunate enough to get one of Bruce's moulds, before he shut down BRP. An excellent mould, that came with excellent service as well. That one won't ever leave my possesion either.

[JPinMI]

I'm still a beginner casting. I've only purchased one mould so far and it was from Tom @ AM. The biggest reason for that purchase was his service prior to the sale. I received straightforward, and what I determined to be knowledgable answers from a person who had a lot of pride in his work. My mould arrived in perfect condition and actually a little sooner than what I was quoted. I' ready to purchase a 9mm mold for my S&W 9c and will be contacting Tom shortly to get his expert reccomendations.

[Rick N Bama]

43-240T. Ordered 10/11, arrived 10/17. Already cast first batch.
Fast service, beautiful mould, good looking boolits.
I'll be saving up for another.

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/imagehosting/thum_192844e9e25b94e17a.jpg (http://castboolits.gunloads.com/vbimghost.php?do=displayimg&imgid=2456)

Nice looking mold! If ya don't mind, cast up a bunch & keep with your shooting gear. I'll pick them up the next time we meet up at Swan Creek:)

Rick

[Little Big Oz]

Rick,

Good to hear from you. Surprised I haven't run into you and your sidekick the last few weeks. Rest assured, I'll have a few of these on hand next time I see you.

David

[turbo1889]

. . . I'm not sure Tom would do something deliberately like that. . .

That is precisely why I used the phrase "even if the worst that could be though to be was true" in my previous post. I'm not saying that is what he did; what I am saying is that even in the worst case scenario I would be willing to trust that Tom had his reasons.

[onesonek]

That is precisely why I used the phrase "even if the worst that could be though to be was true" in my previous post. I'm not saying that is what he did; what I am saying is that even in the worst case scenario I would be willing to trust that Tom had his reasons.



Yeah I know,,,and I didn't think it wrong for you to post as such.

[geargnasher]

I see RMK has logged on this evening, but still no pics after quite a few days. I think we can put this one to rest. Interesting thread, though.

Gear

[white eagle]

you were maybe thinking otherwise ?

[geargnasher]

Some part of me still wants to expect that people will do what they say, or if they open their mouth they will be prepared to back it up with facts. It's a character flaw of mine.

Gear

[grubbylabs]

Apparently you expect too much. I guess we were all to just take his word that Tom gave him a bad product and then told him to shine on.

I had some questions about my mold and Tom went above and beyond (as usual) to answer all my questions. But then again I am willing to communicate with him and not blame him.

[cajun shooter]

His problem may be that for what ever reason those that speak from the lower area of the body have not figured out how to answer a mistake with it also. Later David CC

[onesonek]

Some part of me still wants to expect that people will do what they say, or if they open their mouth they will be prepared to back it up with facts. It's a character flaw of mine.

Gear

Yeah, me too.
And even moreso, that he brought in his own personal business, I expected more.
If he wants, he can still redeem himself here, and would be thought more highly of in doing so. Evidently he don't think so, or he thinks he above and beyond such matters. As he has let at least 2 oppritunities go by. In doing so, his credibility is akin to the Titanic. I would like to give him some benefit of the doubt, as of yet. But soon to reach bottom, his chances of staying afloat are getting less, each time he logs in. But I think you're right Gear, this is history for the most part.

[Suo Gan]

You know I have read several of you badmouth Lee, Lyman, Saeco, RCBS many, many times. Many of the molds were replaced immediately by their makers in a very satisfactory way. Still, the question was raised about the integrity, quality control, and companies themselves in general.

Can you imagine if someone told us the tale of dealing with Lyman, and they brought forth an email from Lyman saying "What hole? Where?" Lyman would be burned at the stake!

One of these guys is wrong, either the mold is messed up or it ain't. Why drag your good company name through the dirt over one lousy mold? Tom could sell that mold here in seconds if it is perfect. Why not just take it back? It is exactly what you would expect of Lee, Lyman, or RCBS RIGHT?

I guess that is one of the reasons I am sticking with NOE. They have a 100% no questions money back guarantee. All of them have been perfect so far, but who knows? I would hate to get some kind of snarky comment from Al if I thought a mold was not up to snuff. He would never do that anyway, and I think it speaks volumes.

This is a BAD business move IMO.

I am glad to know this because just yesterday I was perusing the Accurate Mold catalog and picked out four designs I want. I even dropped out of an NOE buy so I could order one.

I will say it again, it is BAD business.

I am taking notes.

[white eagle]

Take it for what it is worth
RMK admittedly not a machinist
probably mistook a sprue hole for a bad cav
I have gotten plenty of Toms molds and being a machinist and a Q/C inspector
know good machine work when I see it
If Tom sold Junk I would not buy it
RMK is obviously new to casting and the use of good molds
the fact he shows no photo's speaks volumes
so if the jerk fits

[bigboredad]

You know I have read several of you badmouth Lee, Lyman, Saeco, RCBS many, many times. Many of the molds were replaced immediately by their makers in a very satisfactory way. Still, the question was raised about the integrity, quality control, and companies themselves in general.

Can you imagine if someone told us the tale of dealing with Lyman, and they brought forth an email from Lyman saying "What hole? Where?" Lyman would be burned at the stake!

One of these guys is wrong, either the mold is messed up or it ain't. Why drag your good company name through the dirt over one lousy mold? Tom could sell that mold here in seconds if it is perfect. Why not just take it back? It is exactly what you would expect of Lee, Lyman, or RCBS RIGHT?

I guess that is one of the reasons I am sticking with NOE. They have a 100% no questions money back guarantee. All of them have been perfect so far, but who knows? I would hate to get some kind of snarky comment from Al if I thought a mold was not up to snuff. He would never do that anyway, and I think it speaks volumes.

This is a BAD business move IMO.

I am glad to know this because just yesterday I was perusing the Accurate Mold catalog and picked out four designs I want. I even dropped out of an NOE buy so I could order one.

I will say it again, it is BAD business.

I am taking notes.


You obviously know nothing about Tom and have never done business. Taking the word of some one who has 3 posts over a well respected business man not only on this site but several others ok I'm taking notes as well. Thank you for letting us know where you stand

[Suo Gan]

Yeah, me too.
And even moreso, that he brought in his own personal business, I expected more.
If he wants, he can still redeem himself here, and would be thought more highly of in doing so. Evidently he don't think so, or he thinks he above and beyond such matters. As he has let at least 2 oppritunities go by. In doing so, his credibility is akin to the Titanic. I would like to give him some benefit of the doubt, as of yet. But soon to reach bottom, his chances of staying afloat are getting less, each time he logs in. But I think you're right Gear, this is history for the most part.

Put the shoe on the other foot. What if this was happening to you? Just because you guys say jump, does not mean someone else will say how high. Some folks just dig their heels in and say stuff it! RMK does not have to make anything right by any of you. I am sticking up for him because I do not think he is getting a fair shake in this deal at all.

[geargnasher]

Bad business move to ask a simple clarifying question? I'm taking notes, too, and it looks like you might be in that 2-1/2% category that Tom doesn't need for a customer, but that would be a shame.

That's not the sort of Email Lyman sends, their Emails go something like this: Mould is within specifications with Linotype alloy. (with the implied "have a nice life" afterward.)

Gear

[Suo Gan]

You obviously know nothing about Tom and have never done business. Taking the word of some one who has 3 posts over a well respected business man not only on this site but several others ok I'm taking notes as well. Thank you for letting us know where you stand

Look, I would not be questioning anyone if this was handled correctly. People make mistakes. This was a minor problem, that should have been dealt with in a more kindly manner. "Please send me pics" or "Oh my, please send it back so I can take a look at it" NOT "What hole? Where" That is something I would expect a used car salesman to come up with.

I do not have to do business with someone in order to make a direct judgement call on how they deal with things. It is called common sense.

I always try to stand on the side of what is right.

[geargnasher]

Put the shoe on the other foot. What if this was happening to you? Just because you guys say jump, does not mean someone else will say how high. Some folks just dig their heels in and say stuff it! RMK does not have to make anything right by any of you. I am sticking up for him because I do not think he is getting a fair shake in this deal at all.

Simple situation. RMK buys a custom mould, thinks there is something wrong with it (none of us have any idea whether that is true or not, but by his own admission he doesn't know enough about casting, machine work, or boolit moulds to tell for sure), inquires of the manufacturer vaguely as to the problem, manufacturer asks for clarification, doesn't get it, then customer proceeds to publicly badmouth the moulds, manufacturer, and his service. HOW IS THAT A FAIR SHAKE TO TOM?

If you go running your mouth about a product in public you automatically owe it to your audience (in this case, the forum members) to prove your point. If it were a private matter between RMK and Tom and they had an open line of communication going (which WAS the case until RMK dropped off the face of the earth) toward resolution, then RMK owes us nothing.

Gear

[Suo Gan]

Bad business move to ask a simple clarifying question? I'm taking notes, too, and it looks like you might be in that 2-1/2% category that Tom doesn't need for a customer, but that would be a shame.

That's not the sort of Email Lyman sends, their Emails go something like this: Mould is within specifications with Linotype alloy. (with the implied "have a nice life" afterward.)

Gear

You have badmouthed Lyman repeatedly. I have never got a bad Lyman mold. So are you a liar? Should you have to prove that each statement you have made about the quality control of Lyman molds?

PUT THE SHOE ON THE OTHER FOOT. YOU ARE BIASED IN THIS INSTANCE.

[geargnasher]

Look, I would not be questioning anyone if this was handled correctly. People make mistakes. This was a minor problem, that should have been dealt with in a more kindly manner. "Please send me pics" or "Oh my, please send it back so I can take a look at it" NOT "What hole? Where" That is something I would expect a used car salesman to come up with.

I do not have to do business with someone in order to make a direct judgement call on how they deal with things. It is called common sense.

I always try to stand on the side of what is right.

I don't think you know enough about the situation, or Accurate Molds to have even one leg to stand on the side of what you think is "right". If you make snap judgments about an entire business over the way a question was phrased, you won't ever be happy with anything.

I'm thinking you've never done business with Veral Smith. I can tell you right now, don't bother.

Gear

[bigboredad]

Look, I would not be questioning anyone if this was handled correctly. People make mistakes. This was a minor problem, that should have been dealt with in a more kindly manner. "Please send me pics" or "Oh my, please send it back so I can take a look at it" NOT "What hole? Where" That is something I would expect a used car salesman to come up with.

I do not have to do business with someone in order to make a direct judgement call on how they deal with things. It is called common sense.

I always try to stand on the side of what is right.

since you are taking notes I asked NOE what I thought was a legitimate question about shipping. The answer I get I felt was short rude and very condescending. How ever I put on mt big boy pants and reread what I sent and put myself in his shoes and could see how what I sent could be read the same way. I didn't come on here and bad mouth Al or his business. I bought the mold I was looking for and moved on. Again Just taking notes

[TomAM]

Here is the situation. RMK owns one of my 1st generation molds. He likes it.
He recently purchased a new mold, which is my current, 3rd generation. This improved design uses set screws with the sprew plate hardware instead of bottomed out shoulder screws. I use the biggest, longest set screws possible, because I want my customers to be able to put some torque on them.
It appears to me that RMK was taken aback when he encountered one of the new set screw holes. I simply asked for details so that I could save the time and expense of shipping, and instead just explain the need and use for the new hole.
My response was neither rude nor curt. I did not want to inconvenience him with a request for a pic, since a simple location description would have been adequate.
When I never heard back from him, and still have not, I assumed that he figured out what the hole was for and was too embarrassed to reply. It has become obvious that this is the case.
A bullet mold is a tool, not a piece of furniture, and utility, durability, strength and function are far greater priorities than appearance.
I make one of a kind custom molds, and I give free replacement or refund if the mold is out of spec, or defective in any other way.
I will never refund or replace just because someone feels it’s not pretty enough.

[Rick N Bama]

Rick,

Good to hear from you. Surprised I haven't run into you and your sidekick the last few weeks. Rest assured, I'll have a few of these on hand next time I see you.

David

We've not been able to get back recently. My "Sidekick" is getting used to shooting his Mossberg with some Turkey loads his Dad bought him a couple weeks ago. So far I think he's fired all of 2:)

Guys my Sidekick is my 11YO Grandson who pleased the crowd that day with his handling of an AK47:)

Rick

[Suo Gan]

I'm thinking you've never done business with Veral Smith. I can tell you right now, don't bother.

Gear

I have dealt with Veral many times, plan on doing more in the future. What did Veral do to you that you are bringing him up now?

[geargnasher]

Veral didn't do anything to me. But based on what you think of Tom after having zero personal experience with him or his products, I would predict that you and Veral would have some personality conflicts.

I noticed you make no comment to Tom's response above, does the situation make more sense to you now? I have one of his latest moulds and I did a split-second WTH? when I unwrapped the left block and saw the new setscrew hole on the inside, too. But I quickly realized what it was, and I think it's a stellar idea. LOTS of threads for the screw to grab in the soft aluminum.

Gear

[Suo Gan]

[QUOTE=geargnasher;1443878]Veral didn't do anything to me. But based on what you think of Tom after having zero personal experience with him or his products, I would predict that you and Veral would have some personality conflicts.

I noticed you make no comment to Tom's response above, does the situation make more sense to you now? I have one of his latest moulds and I did a split-second WTH? when I unwrapped the left block and saw the new setscrew hole on the inside, too. But I quickly realized what it was, and I think it's a stellar idea. LOTS of threads for the screw to grab in the soft aluminum.

Gear[/QUOTE

Sometimes you need to jump under the bus before your customer and take a hit and look silly so that your customer saves face. I would have expected an apology and a comittment to excellence by asking the man to return the mold. INSTEAD Tom pretty much said the man was stupid or ignorant.

I will keep my money, thanks. Call me one of the 2 1/2% ers...the number may be growing. Great business model!

[onesonek]

Here is the situation. RMK owns one of my 1st generation molds. He likes it.
He recently purchased a new mold, which is my current, 3rd generation. This improved design uses set screws with the sprew plate hardware instead of bottomed out shoulder screws. I use the biggest, longest set screws possible, because I want my customers to be able to put some torque on them.
It appears to me that RMK was taken aback when he encountered one of the new set screw holes.

This what my suspicions were, after I got to remembering some had requested such a set screw.

I simply asked for details so that I could save the time and expense of shipping, and instead just explain the need and use for the new hole.
My response was neither rude nor curt. I did not want to inconvenience him with a request for a pic, since a simple location description would have been adequate.

I seen nothing wrong, with your response. However if someone wants to criticize you for being breif and to the point,,,, I supose there are those that need more attention. For whatever reason, I hate to guess.

When I never heard back from him, and still have not, I assumed that he figured out what the hole was for and was too embarrassed to reply. It has become obvious that this is the case.

My thoughts too. Kind of a shame alos, probabaly an alright guy for the most part. Following through with your simple question, would have had a simple resolution.

A bullet mold is a tool, not a piece of furniture, and utility, durability, strength and function are far greater priorities than appearance.

True!
I make one of a kind custom molds, and I give free replacement or refund if the mold is out of spec, or defective in any other way.

I will never refund or replace just because someone feels it’s not pretty enough.

I don't think you have much in the way of customer service to worry about Tom!
I still contend your character, your service, and the quality of your work is second to none! Or at the very least, as good as the best, of all the other's.


Keep up the good work, and hopefully for years to come!

[oneokie]

This thread is getting close to being locked.

[onesonek]

Put the shoe on the other foot. What if this was happening to you? Just because you guys say jump, does not mean someone else will say how high. Some folks just dig their heels in and say stuff it! RMK does not have to make anything right by any of you. I am sticking up for him because I do not think he is getting a fair shake in this deal at all.

Personally I wouldn't have dropped the ball to begin with. Even had I not liked Tom's reply, I would have answered it. (Which I didn't find "snarky" at all)
And I certainly would not have, gone on an open forum with the issue until all chances of resolution had been attempted.
RMK laid claims without backing them up. Tom backed up far more, with RMK's own email. It was clear,RMK really didn't understand what he seen. Would you have gone on the forum in that regard ? I doubt it! Had he not been quite so obtrusive in his first post, things would have been different I'm sure. Even a pic saying, whats this, I hadn't seen it on my other AM mold?,,,, would have gotten far better results 4-3 pages ago,,,don't you agree?

And for the record, I got more than a few years under the belt, with shoe's on either foot.
It's your prerogative to back him, but more than just I don't feel he gave Tom a fair shake. Fairness is all we/I were looking for from the start.

[white eagle]

I will keep my money, thanks. Call me one of the 2 1/2% ers...the number may be growing. Great business model!

I doubt that very much
you don't need to hold everyones hand business

[MikeS]

I gotta say, why do folks get all upset because somebody sent a quick email asking for more info using only 3 words? By saying "What hole? Where?" rather than saying " Hi I'm sorry that you're not totally happy with your new mold. What hole do you feel is drilled wrong, and where is it?" does it make the questions any less relevant? There's nothing wrong with being clear and concise and using as few words as possible. Now if Tom had said "The mold is fine, that's how it's supposed to be." without knowing more, I would find THAT more disturbing than asking for more info.

And as for comparing Accurate Molds with Lyman is an unfair comparison. Lyman is a company that's been in business for around 100 years. And the machinist that cut the mould isn't the same person answering emails, so the person answering emails has more time to do that, as it's a primary part of their job (I would assume Lyman has a customer service dept) but Tom does most everything at his company, and like any small business owner, time is something I'm sure he is short of, so not taking a whole lot of time to phrase an email in a 'pleasing' manner is to be understood. And now that I've had my question regarding brass moulds answered (although not the answer I was hoping for) I will be ordering a mould once I have the money for it put aside. I would rather have a 3 hole brass mould than a 4 (or 5) hole aluminum one, even tho I've had good results with NOE and NEI aluminum moulds, I still prefer brass!

[onesonek]

Well said Mike! I would hate to guess the number of emails he likely deals with on a daily basis. Being to the point, short and concise, is a non issue in my books.

[turbo1889]

Sometimes you need to jump under the bus before your customer and take a hit and look silly so that your customer saves face. . . .

Been there . . . Done that . . . lost a five digit figure in the process that almost put things belly up and took half a season to recover from . . . never again. . . and I'm doing just fine without a certain class of customer . . . better then ever in fact.

Tom has posted and that should have cleared up the bouncing theories about what happened on his end including those by myself. From his post it is pretty clear in my mind that there wasn't any 2.5% situation going on.

That said there is a time and a place to exercise the "We reserve the right to refuse service to any individual" clause. There is such a thing as a vulture customer in the business world and there are other critters worse still running around. The term coming from "Best Buy" who has a "vulture list" of customers that are no longer allowed to even enter their store. Other companies have similar but that one is fairly well known since the story was a fairly big deal a few years back.

Heck, this forum has those kinds of policies in effect. Ever check the "dead beat" threads? How about being banned from the forum? Wonder if anyone has ever been kicked out of the group buy system; I would almost be willing to bet money at least someone has. Last I checked this forum is doing pretty good and part of the reason is because certain "customers" get weeded out and the forum would suffer if they didn't.

Good Grief, I almost sound like my woman putting up an argumentative post like this but I'm willing to risk it on this point. Not many hills I'm willing to fight for but this is one of the few.

[onesonek]

I will keep my money, thanks. Call me one of the 2 1/2% ers...the number may be growing. Great business model!

I doubt that very much
you don't need to hold everyones hand business

In Turbo's defense, I can see where he's comming from.
First off, As meantion before, I can understand Tom's need/want for emails. And for the most part his ordering system is so straight forward, that is all that is necessary. Minor changes from catalog can be made on the comments of his order form. New designs, may need moree direct email communication. This I know you and others are aware of. In my dealings his response to my design request as mentioned, are breif in most instances,,,, "how's this",,my responce is just about as short, "that works,,Thanks Tom"
Ok, now for me and the Holsters, I require far more information, mostly for special needs or wants. And I like to get a read on the customer. That is why I request at least one phone conversation, prior to ordering. If can't build something they aren't going to be happy with, I want to know it up front. If I can't, do my best ot guide them to someone that may be can. While that don't happen often, it has happened.
Early on, I had built a rig for a customer, that insisted strictly communicating by email. I didn't fair well. While my rigs are highly user friendly, and simple, he couldn't understand the adjustments. Even with the aid of pictures, I couldn't get him to understand. Yet he wouldn't call where I might better walk him through it. Anyhow, I had him send it back, and made a new one with alterations at his request,,,,, the alterations made were miminal, and really changed nothing. But he had satistfaction with his design changes and was happy. That was my goal,,his happiness. Still that all could have been explained and or decided on, had we talked prior to ordering. I go through all the details on how they setup and and just right then there, even as simple as they are. If they have idea's, we talk it over, and I try my best to accomodate,,,if I can.
But what it taught me in my case, is not to deal strictly with emails. It wasn't so much the money I lost, but the head ache and time loss that came with it. 5-10 mins. up front on the phone, would have saved me at least 4 hrs., to work on someone else's rig.
So now, I explain in our intial email contact, that I need to talk with prior to ordering, explaining everything, otherwise I can't help them. In my case 99.8% understand and appreciate that, and I appreciate it moreso. In ways it's the best part of my business, as once the holster part is done, we often take time just to bs about hunting and what not. I enjoy that!!!
So I'm not at 2.5%, but rather .2 or maybe .25% that I won't deal with. But then I'm not dealing with the dollars per transaction that Turbo is. Different protocal, same game plan however. That's business,,,you bend until one can bend no more.
It's self preservation, Turbo's practices, aren't any different than your local business owner for banning a customer for shoplifting in many respects.
To consider yourself part of the 2.5% without knowing what his business is, is being just a bit shortsighted, maybe a bit naive, if not pompous. Everybody knows you can't please everybody all the time. Some aren't even worth trying. Think of it as arguing with a PETA person, or vegan on the benifits of hunting and eating meat of which you provided for youself.

[nanuk]

I think too many folks are reading too much into what is being posted

RMK offered some feedback, that appeared vague.

Tom replied with what I thought were very reasonable questions.

RMK offered nothing in return, but chose to downgrade the mould and Tom's service.

When I give feedback, I expect to back it up if called on it.....

[grubbylabs]

Well said Mike! I would hate to guess the number of emails he likely deals with on a daily basis. Being to the point, short and concise, is a non issue in my books.

I honestly don't think Tom has any thing to worry about. It is plain to see from the mas quantities of pictures on this forum that he makes a quality product.

I doubt that he is the only one that makes a good mold, however I am comfortable with how he works, I like the short to the pint emails, and he answers them way faster than any corporation.

When you have a custom mold in a matter of days, and email responses within a few hours on a Sunday night, I don't need a flowery response to tell me he wants me to be happy with his product.