Terrible Powermatic Customer Service

[andy bessette]

The OP said that there's no one within 100 miles who rebuilds single phase motors. So maybe he could find someone who he could ship the motor to to have it rebuilt. He'd have to pay the shipping both ways, and the cost of rebuilding. My experience with motor rebuilders is that they're not exactly quick, especially for small jobs with non-repeat customers. So he'd be out the motor for another month or so.

Then, he'd have to collect the cost from Powermatic. Again, my experience is that once you pay for something, it always a chore to get the company to pay for everything, here to include the cost of packing and shipping. They often say, "We only allow $xxx for packing and shipping."

Hopefully, when he got the motor back from the rebuilders it would work, but I've received motors that did not work for long after rebuilding. If that happens, who's responsible? Does he have to go chase the rebuilders, or is Powermatic going to stand behind the problem because they told him to go get it rebuilt?

So I agree with him - the motor went bad during the warranty period. It's the responsibility of Powermatic to get the saw fixed.

Mike

As Powermatic sent him a replacement motor these are moot points, but you have certainly made a lot of wild assumptions to support them.

If he had sent the motor out for rebuilding, all he'd need to do would be to send Powermatic the bill, as they already said they'd reimburse him. And whenever you return an item for warranty work I would presume you'd have to ship it anyway. That he could not find a motor rebuilder right next door is meaningless.

Now he is complaining about having to r&r the motor cowl (what is it, 2 screws?). Come on! You can agree with him all you want. I don't. Let him sell all his PM machines and see if he gets better service from some other Asian import.

[Matt Day]

It’s hard to complain about a dinged fan cover, when you have a perfectly good replacement in your shop.

[Mike Henderson]

As Powermatic sent him a replacement motor these are moot points, but you have certainly made a lot of wild assumptions to support them.

Actually, not wild assumptions but experiences I've had in the past. I always hope for the best and prepare for the worst.

Mike

[Brice Rogers]

In 2013, Powermatic was sold and the buyer became JPW. Now, after only 4 years, it is being sold again.

It is my personal experience, that when a company is trying to be sold, it takes steps to reduce costs and make the bottom line improve so that they can sell the company for more $. When a new buyer takes over, they are trying to improve profits and limit additional capital investments (at least until the bottom line looks better). The quickest way to improve the bottom line is to simply cut costs. So this sometimes turns into a downward spiral where the lifeblood of the company is squeezed out.

Here is the article on the newest sale of Powermatic. https://www.woodworkingnetwork.com/n...te-equity-firm

[Frederick Skelly]

The OP said that there's no one within 100 miles who rebuilds single phase motors. So maybe he could find someone who he could ship the motor to to have it rebuilt. He'd have to pay the shipping both ways, and the cost of rebuilding.

Mike's experience matches my observations. I usually read the warranty on things as part of making purchase decisions. I find this clause (customer pays shipping for warranty service) more and more.

[Randy Heinemann]

I have been advised never to buy a Grizzly machine because Grizzly's policy is to never send out a service tech to provide warranty service. The buyer is on their own with regard to service onsite no mater how large the machine. If Grizzly factory service is desired, it is the customer's responsibility to send the machine to Grizzly for service or accept the responsibility to install the parts themselves no matter what they are or what is involved in installation.

I don't know why the Northern Illinois area is handled differently by JPW than other parts of the country, but I was completely satisfied with the JPW response under warranty.

Maybe the lesson is that, before buying any machine, it's worth the effort to make contact with the manufacturer and get clarification on what will actually be provided under warranty.

[Matt Winterowd]

This all sounds an awful lot like what happened to Delta a few years ago. As the mostly happy owner of a Powermatic PM2000 table saw, I decided a number of years ago that I didn't really get much for the $1000 to $1500 more I paid over the price of a Grizzly or even a Jet. And the $500-$800 I saved over the Sawstop definitely wasn't worth it. I have to admit that I'm not sure that there's a real value proposition for the sort of mid-market level machinery at this point.

[Curt Harms]

This all sounds an awful lot like what happened to Delta a few years ago. As the mostly happy owner of a Powermatic PM2000 table saw, I decided a number of years ago that I didn't really get much for the $1000 to $1500 more I paid over the price of a Grizzly or even a Jet. And the $500-$800 I saved over the Sawstop definitely wasn't worth it. I have to admit that I'm not sure that there's a real value proposition for the sort of mid-market level machinery at this point.

The parallel to Delta a few years ago came to my mind as well. I guess investment firms figure the reputation they're buying (but have no intention of maintaining) is worth quite a bit.