Busy Bee Tools Canada

Well, I finally pulled the trigger and bought a CX706 lathe from the Pickering Busy Bee. A month later I bought a CX600 milling machine from the same store. Both buying experiences were great, I even got some warranty parts for the lathe. I dealt with Ken, very approachable and seems to know his way around the machines, but only works there part time. Have also ordered some warranty parts from the head office. We'll see how long that takes.
 
Interesting thread.... I was recently at the Mississauga store myself (for the first time). I can't say I ran into any rudeness, but that is maybe because I really didn't speak to anyone in particular (just came to browse lathes). The woman on the phone to the store had a New Yorkish accent, which does come across as rude to many Canadians, but I believe it's more of a dialect/accent issue, and is due to culture differences, not that she was particularly rude or anything. So I just wanted to make that clear. She did answer my two questions about the store promptly and we had no issues.

So... I came very close to picking up the CX mini-lathe at Busy Bee, but instead went with the 07x12 KING, due to having hardend-bedways and a 5.5 amp vs the lesser amp of the CX. In fact, I already had the KING in the trunk of my car (having just picked it up in Hamilton that morning). But it was nice to stop by so I could actually SEE and touch the array of Craftex's they had.

I suppose I could have asked the two salesmen who came up to me questions, but I highly doubt they would have known the answers to anything I had to ask. It is not so easy for people to have full product knowledge on everything in store, and if they did, usually they wouldn't be working as a salesperson in the first place. Ok, maybe you can argue that...

When/if I upscale my lathe in the future, I may still look into BusyBee down the road.
 
I have to give an update... The buyer for BB seems to lack understanding that if you buy a carbide tool from them, then they should stock the carbide inserts for at least a few years so replacements can be bought. They have very poor coverage for tooling, and it is getting worse. I don't do much woodworking these days, so my WW needs are low. For metalworking, I'm now steering clear, even for expendables. Just not worth it. Since January, they are stocking less and less, and deleting SKUs for too many necessary things. Now that Shars has their shipping stuff worked out, much of my business has gone there - and to Accusize in Toronto. I shop Grizzly in person every time I'm in Bellingham.

For a rank beginner, there is some stuff you can get there. After that, you are on your own.

Sorry BB, the the love affair is over.
 
Dabbler said:
I have to give an update... The buyer for BB seems to lack understanding that if you buy a carbide tool from them, then they should stock the carbide inserts for at least a few years so replacements can be bought. They have very poor coverage for tooling, and it is getting worse. I don't do much woodworking these days, so my WW needs are low. For metalworking, I'm now steering clear, even for expendables. Just not worth it. Since January, they are stocking less and less, and deleting SKUs for too many necessary things. Now that Shars has their shipping stuff worked out, much of my business has gone there - and to Accusize in Toronto. I shop Grizzly in person every time I'm in Bellingham.

For a rank beginner, there is some stuff you can get there. After that, you are on your own.

Sorry BB, the the love affair is over.
Click to expand...

Can you clarify what you mean by "Shars has their shipping stuff worked out?" I've wanted to buy stuff from Shars or their ebay store (discount_machines, I think it was) and shipping was always exorbitant to the point of not really making it worthwhile.
 
Sure... I talked to their technical guy. If I order over the phone they will ship via truck (assuming that what you are shipping is heavy, which mine was). Since I live across the border I will not allow any UPS shipments, which is their normal preferred shipper. (long story)

The price to ship a 6 jaw 6" chuck with backing plate was cut to about 1/3 or the UPS price, and made it very attractive.

BTW I've found that most of the BusyBee stuff is either exactly the same as, or directy from, Bangood.com - and Bangood will ship to Canada at minimal cost. I'm going to give them a try in the mext month or so.
 
Thanks for that update. It's good to know. Yeah, UPS is such a pain and I'm pretty sure that all of us Canadians have long stories about getting robbed. :)
 
Because I've purchased a bit of tooling from the Calgary Busy Bee tool store for a bit, I've read every single post within this thread. I did not know of KMS tools also in Calgary. I feel compeled to post my assessment of both stores. It all came about searching for a DRO for my lathe. I came upon the iGaging site and figured that their Absolute DRO would fit my needs. The iGaging websites names both Busy Bee and KMS as approved dealers. As such, I proceeded to call both to enquire about a purchase. Needless to say, my first call was to Busy Bee. The response was alike to all that I've had in the past. Very little product knowledge. In fact, the folks there don't even seem to care. Heck, if if don't even give a darn, you could at least fake it. Now, off to KMS I go. After asking the clerk about my needs, he sheepishly admits to not knowing anything about what I'm speaking off. So, he calls in the manager. Buddy takes me into his office, goes on the confuser and searches his iGaging database. Yup, we can bring in the Absolute DRO for you in whatever scale length you need. Invites my to come across his desk and allows me to view the specifications on his confuser screen in order to make the right choice. Needless to say, KMS has my order and Busy Bee will not likely see my rear end walk through their doors again. The manager at KMS also informed me that the poor service at Busy Bee was their best advertising. No kidding eh?
 
There are definitely a lot of things I don't much like about Busy Bee and the general lack of knowledge by their staff is one of them. That being said, the staff at the Concord store are at least friendly. What irks me about Busy Bee, though, is their e-commerce is pretty terrible and store stock is always a hit and miss. If there wasn't a Busy Bee here in Toronto, there would definitely be one less source of choice which would be a bad thing. There is no KMS here and shipping from KMS usually kills most deals. KBC isn't too far away but their prices are pretty high (though, in truth, the stuff they sell seems to be better quality in general). We lack so much as Canadians in terms of choice. I bought some end mills from ebay and noticed that they're shipping out of North Bay yet there doesn't seem to be any savings to be realized from the fact that they're in the same province. You want machinery? For home hobbyists, you basically have...Craftex or King Canada and that's it. You can order from Grizzly (I have quite a few woodworking machines from them) but choice is definitely anemic compared to our counterparts down south.

HRgx, do you follow AvE what with the confuser and all. :)
 
bangood.com? I have had zero luck getting that site to come up. Is it still active?
 
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