You are right, their product is the best, I never hear anyone complain about it. Service could improve. We are in an "online/just in time" world. I realize HT is a small biz and has some unique circumstances, but their "service" is less than what people expect from most any company, especially when considering they are pushing you to online ordering. I think it is reasonable to expect a company to ship small orders same day if product is in stock and the order is received by early afternoon. I think everyone is OK with waiting for a custom order.
One option is to be a "manufacturer" only and pass off the orders to stocking distributors/dealers (providing better and more local/regional service). Personally, I only order HT from my local dealer (always has it in stock).
If someone places an online order with my company (wholesale only) during business hours it is packed, shipped and tracking number emailed within the hour (we are mostly phone sales).... our problem is they call back to change the order and it is already done. Our same day "cut-off" is 5PM. Even with all of that "service" we still get customers that bitch about our shipping.