I’ve always ordered my whistles from www.thewhistleshop.com. They have the most reasonalble shipping prices of any places I’ve looked. The customer service has also been great and I’ve called the shop before to order and talk with someone about my order.
My question is, has anyone ordered from them lately?
They have taken their shop telephone number off of the site and haven’t responded to an email I sent them asking some questions. I’ve read where the owner has had some serious health issues lately and, from the site, they were behind on orders for a while. I hope the owner gets better soon; he’s always been so helpful. They have a Burke D Narrow-bore on the site for 150, $20 cheaper than anywhere else. Also, the shipping for that whistle and a few other cheaper ones all together is $9.95.
I know that Doc Jones is a great guy and is someone that can be trusted. The shipping, though, is killing me. It looks like it’s calculated on a flat rate. $11 for a expensive whistle like a Burke (not much more that from Burke himself). However, I it looks like it’s $6 for any cheaper whistles. I add a $15 Freeman Sweettone and it adds $6 shipping (40% shipping charge). By the time I’m ordering 4 whistles I’m paying $30 in shipping for a $240 order. Maybe I’m just cheap but that hurts when I could get it for $20 less at the whistle shop.
If thewhistleshop.com is having difficulties right now does anyone know where to order some Freeman whistles and some other inexpensive whistles where I won’t be paying 40% more for shipping and handling?
You could try hobgoblin.com and elderly.com. I’ve ordered from both in the past without any problems. I know Elderly has a few Freeman whistles, but not the full line.
I ordered from Elderly Instruments because they were the only ones to have both whistles I was looking for in stock. They charged more for the Sweetone than the Whistle Shop, but it was far less than paying shipping from the Whistle Shop.
I’m still not overly confidant in the whistle I got as it has two small but obvious dents and a black scratch on it, but I haven’t contacted them about it. They do have a customer satisfaction guarantee that would have replaced it minus shipping. I didn’t have room in the budget to insure and ship a return, and I could just about buy a new one by that time, so I’m determined to make this one work.
Overall, I would recommend them. Especially if low-cost shipping is a priority.
Tayberry has a limited selection but considering they are having a going out of business 40% off sale, the shipping ($2.50 minimum) is not that big of a consideration.
My Whoa monster, previously contained, is on the loose and in full fury again.
But I’m convincing myself that one little ol’ Walton C, shipped for $7.30 is hardly gonna break the bank.
I ordered a Tweaked Clarke from Thom a few weeks ago. I had one years back that I gave to a niece and got to missing it. It arrived without a hitch shortly after the order. Thom is a lovely fellow and I’ve never had anything but good experiences with him.
As to the mess with my shipping calculator…well…it’s a mess. It is still under construction. We hope to have have it finished in the coming days/weeks. It works fine if you’re only buying one thing but if you buy lots of things it still charges shipping for each thing. Eeeek!
For now, if you buy more than one item I’m just refunding the extra shipping via Paypal. Or, better yet if you want more than one thing email me and we’ll just do it the old way.
Sorry for the inconvenience. We’re a work in progress.
I ordered by web site last month. The only problem was that it took over two weeks to get my order in. The shipping date was two days before I received it, so I believe that there was a back order or something. Before he took ill, I had ordered several times with very good results.
