The BEST & the worst: Glass Suppliers

[Howaco]

Originally Posted by Pat

I ordered from Howaco, iti's been quite a while since I have. It's taken 6 days from order to actual sending out. Order on the 6th, sent out the 11th. Haven't gotten it yet. I think that is too slow.

Hi Pat, I apologize, that is a slow ship. You ordered on Sunday. You had ordered the new CIM colors, as it is exciting for everyone when new colors come in, I received a huge amount of orders from Friday afternoon through the whole weekend. That alone can cause a large backup.

Plus, I put all the CIM colors on sale at 20% off, which I don't know of any other vendor that will put new colors on sale. New colors is easy money for vendors, but I wanted to give folks a break on the new colors as everyone's wallets seem to be hurting lately.

I also did take the time to go vote on Tuesday, to me that is something that is very important, so that did make me lose several hours of work on Tuesday.

Also, not a lot of people realize, I am a one person store. I do not have employees to do everything for me. That is why I can have prices lower then most of the vendors out there. Although sometimes I do from time to time have a helper come into help, but one of the main reasons I prefer to be a single person store is that I have a special needs grandson that I am helping to raise and this allows me to have a flexible schedule.

I apologize that it did take so long to ship, I will refund your shipping cost.

[Pat]

No, not necessary, Jamie. I understand with all that going on. I'm a bit impatient I think.

[carolinesbeads]

I love Howaco!

[Howaco]

Thank you for your understanding Pat. I just sent you a PM.

[GravityGlassStudio]

Personally Mountain Glass is my favorite. They are just an all around amazing company! They care about the environment, and their employees! Plus I love their packing person cards that they put in their boxes!
But from the list I'd choose Frantz.
I've had terrible, terrible experience buying a kiln through Sundance that completely turned me off from them for life! I ordered a Paragon Caldera Digital Kiln and waited and waited for it to ship. 2 weeks later I was calling them everyday and kept getting the same answer, the shipping guy is sick. Finally days later I get ahold of a wonderful employee who heard my story and said wow that isn't right let me find your order and I will get this straightened out. He called me back 10 minutes later and said your order has shipped! I thanked him greatly then got a call from his manager one day later saying that that guy didn't know what he was doing and he didn't charge me enough for shipping. He said I'd have to pay an extra $80 or they would cancel the shipment. I was furious and demanded to speak to his boss and one angry phone call later I didn't have to pay the extra and got my kiln but they unfortunately lost me as a customer. The boss didn't care that I had been waiting for 3 weeks to get this kiln shipped, calling daily to get nowhere, and the fact that he had the nerve to cancel the shipment just really sent me over the edge.

[KJohn]

Sarah, that's nuts! Sorry you had that experience.

[Al Miaco]

i would have to second Sundance being rather poor. My experiences with them resulted in my not using them ever again. I had similar experiences when buying my kiln as Gravity Glass had.

I now order from Frantz. I have little other experience so cannot speak for other suppliers.

[purpleoyster]

Frantz. Without a doubt.

For major equipment, I love D&L's customer service.

[Dankeith]

I recently placed an order with frantz and one with mountain glass. It seems like I got about tree times as much glass from frantz as I did from mountain glass for the same price. I wish Frantz was open at least one day of the weekend so I could go there in person instead of ordering online. I live a half an hour away, but I'm at work when they are open. I was able to make it in one day, and it was great! They are very informative and I really liked the discount glass bin, as a beginner, it was nice to be able to play around with glass really cheap. Now that I've moved into the more expensive borosilicate, I'm happy to have a quality supplier so close!

[Flamework Jewelry Designs]

Nortel Glass is also fantastic, especially for those of us who live in Canada. Jean and Jen can look at any random rod of glass and tell you exactly what colour it is, who manufactures it, and can locate it in their store. They are helpful, very fairly priced, and knowledgeable.

June

[danieljanse]

I realize this thread should exist in a time capsule and had dubious origins, but one of the largest suppliers isn't included in the poll and I didn't notice their ever being mentioned.

Ed Hoy's...is no news good news?

[KJohn]

I've never used Ed Hoy as they are quite expensive to me, at least for what I tend to purchase.
However with their new deal with former CIM Mr. Zhou, that might change. Fingers crossed the new glass is affordable.