Is Jessem still alive?

[Ron Bontz]

I have tried in vein for two days to get in touch with Jessem in regard to their Mite-R-Excel which appears to be an excellent product, btw. The Local number just gives me a recording "unable to accept incoming calls" The toll free number just continues to ring and ring and ring. I sent now two e-mails. Nothing. I actually just sent one of them a bit ago.
Does any know if they are still even there? I was wanting to buy an 18" section of the extruded aluminum to use as a secondary fence that does not extend past the left edge of my Unisaw. I don't want to cut the original off. If nothing else, does anyone know where I can find this particular extruded profile? I am guessing it is custom made for Jessem. Thanks.

[Darius Ferlas]

dunno about the company, but their product is still sold in Canada, if that is something you want to consider:

http://www.elitetools.ca/Commander.aspx?c=24

[Cole Dunlay]

Ron,
I tried to call their direct line also. I didn't get an error message but the phone just rang on and on...

[travis howe]

You know what's weird is that I recently bought the entire jessem router setup from a place here called toolzone. For some reason the other day, I wanted to check on the price of it because someone was asking and I don't see they sell it anymore!

When I get down that way, I'll stop in and ask.

t

[Rod Sheridan]

Jessem are another home grown company that has skipped offshore.

To a place called Tennessee!:eek:

Oh well, at least it's not to China!:D

Regards, Rod.

[Charles Green]

A word of warning. Even if you get through you may have to fight with them for months to get what you want. They make a fantastic product but have very poor customer service.

[glenn bradley]

As discussed here several times in the past; this is Jessem's M.O. Based on other member's tales I have avoided them. Nice stuff but who cares if you can't get anyone to answer the phone?

[Griph0n Brown]

I'd have to echo that, some simple problems and no support. No point getting upset with a receptionist, and there was never a response to the messages I left, or emails. Their router plate just won't sit flat in their table. Every time I attach the router, one end of the plate goes proud of the table and can't be adjusted lower. The fences seemed to need to be shimmed level.

Maybe it's me, maybe it's product, we'll never know.

[Ron Bontz]

I just received a phone call from Patrick Curry and the short answer is they are not going out of business. They are doing some rearranging, downsizing etc. and the phone system is out of wack for the moment. Seems to be a very nice person and hopefully any problems Jessem is having will be resolved soon. I do like how they modified the index system for those 0.5 degree increments.:)

[Scott Rollins]

I've had very good service from Jessem, but I did not know it at the time. I called and left a message and then sent an E-mail about a missing piece for my router fence. I never got a reply, and just as I was about to call again. The part showed up at my door 3 days after I sent the Email. Go figure.

[Don Morris]

Ditto the great product, poor customer service. I had a router lift from them and a question about it once. I almost felt like I was on my own. Finally got through, but it was the "finally" part that's frustrating. I now own a Bench Dog ProLift. I've called their Customer Service several times. They answer!

[Wade Lippman]

Thats my dog's name, so I would appreciate your rephrasing that question!

[Ron Bontz]

Just a foot note. It appears to me based on the conversation I had that Jessem is indeed trying to correct some of the problems they have had. Hopefully it will work out in everyones best interest. Best of luck to Jessem.

[Dewey Torres]

I have the Incra 1000se and other Incra products and I have never been left wanting.

[Mike Cutler]

Thats my dog's name, so I would appreciate your rephrasing that question!

How's JessEm', the dog, doing Wade? ;)

Good to hear that JessEm, the accessories business, is still in business. I have their Mast-R-Slide,and really like it. I haven't needed any customer service, so I guess I've been lucky.

[jim gossage]

I bought a Mastr-lift-xcel table and it was crowned by 0.018" . That may not sound like much, but pieces would wobble on the top as they passed the bit and it was hard to get a good cut. That was within specs according to their tech person, but what good is a lift that is calibrated to 0.001" if the top is off by 0.018". Anyway, I fought for months with them before getting it replaced. The replacement was only a little better. The product is not bad, but for the money there are better products.

[Julian Nicks]

I bought a Jessem miter excel a few years back, and love it. A few months ago, I had to readjust the guide bar to fit a different tablesaw slot and the screws stripped. I called Jessem, and they sent out a new bar and it was covered under warranty no questions asked. I was surprised to say the least, but it reaffirms my belief that you get what you pay for. You pay for quality, and you get it....

[Jim Eller]

I sent them an e-mail question last week and they responded very quickly.

[Ron Bontz]

Sorry Wade. Perhaps a moderator can do that.

[patrick ramsey]

How did you get them to respond to you? I've beentrying toget in touch with them for a week.

[Wade Lippman]

How's JessEm', the dog, doing Wade? ;)


She's nine now and got some arthritis, but throw a stick and she's a puppy again.

[patrick ramsey]

I think they are dead. I called this morning and both of thier numbers are disconmnected.

[Ron Bontz]

Patrick, try these in Canada.
1-866-436-6799 (toll free)
or this one:)
705-726-8233 (office)

[Bernie Wynia]

I was in a local store the other day and the sales guy was telling me that Jessem is moving its offices back to Canada (I think Barrie again, not sure) but off-shoring their manufacturing to China. This could explain the significant disruptions. If its anything like some of the office moves I've been through in the past it can be a few days before people have their phones, computers etc working properly again (and those were only across town - usually with people who do telecomms for a living).

[Tom Hintz]

I spoke with my contact at JessEm yesterday and the contact informatoin below is current as of today, 4-30-2009. They are having major issues in Canada getting the phone stuff done but hope to ahve all of it handled by this coming Monday.

JessEm Tool Company, LTD
56 Churchill Drive
Barrie, ON L4N 8Z5

705-726-8233 (office-currently active)
705-726-7519 (fax-currently active)
1-866-272-7492 (toll free will be active on Monday)
1-800-436-6799 (toll free will be active on Monday)

[Brent Smith]

Given their CS customer service for the last while, and I don't mean just during this move, and the fact that they are moving manufacturing offshore....................I think it may be a while before I spend any money on their products again.

[sullivan mcgriff]

Could be like our company, gave the old phone company 30 day notice we were switching data & phone over, 17 days later no phone, they said it was an 'error' as their technicians were ahead of schedule, although this never seemed to happen when we needed service though.

[Tom Hintz]

Given their CS customer service for the last while, and I don't mean just during this move, and the fact that they are moving manufacturing offshore....................I think it may be a while before I spend any money on their products again.

See the note below, posted by JessEm on WoodCentral. They moved back to Canada, not off-shore.

Hello,

This is Patrick Curry, VP of Opertions at JessEm Tool Company. Jim Shaver contacted me to let me know the concerns customers are having with contacting JessEm.

I wanted to contact everyone and let them know that we have closed our Tennessee facility and moved all operations including manufacturing back to Barrie, ON Canada. We are currently experiencing phone problems which is the reason it has been difficult to reach anyone at JessEm.

Over the last year we have experienced difficulty in servicing our customers to a respectable level. For this reason, we decided to move all operations back to Canada. I want to apologize for any issue or inconvenience that this has caused.

Now that we are back in Canada, you will see a much improved service level including quality issues.

Please see the new contact information below for JessEm Tool Company:

JessEm Tool Company, LTD
56 Churchill Drive
Barrie, ON L4N 8Z5
705-726-8233 (office - currently active)
705-726-7519 (fax - currently active)
1-866-272-7492 (toll free will be active on Monday)
1-800-436-6799 (toll free will be active on Monday)

Please feel free to contact me directly if you have any question or need any assistance.

Patrick Curry
JessEm Tool Company
847-917-3384 (mobile)
pcurry@jessem.com

Thanks for your suppport of JessEm Tool Company.

Sincerely,

Patrick Curry

[Brent Smith]

Hi Tom,

I'm glad to hear that. I read somewhere earlier today that only the front office was moving back here and that manufacturing was going offshore. It's good to know that either it was mis-stated, or I misread it.

[Tom Hintz]

Hi Tom,

I'm glad to hear that. I read somewhere earlier today that only the front office was moving back here and that manufacturing was going offshore. It's good to know that either it was mis-stated, or I misread it.

there was quite a bit of "talk" about them sending manufacturing off shore. That's one of the reasons I wanted to spread Patrick's statement. I've already gotten a couple emails saying that Patrick (and I somehow) are lying about all this.... I'm sure that makes sense to somebody, somehow...

[Rod Sheridan]

Hi Tom,

I'm glad to hear that. I read somewhere earlier today that only the front office was moving back here and that manufacturing was going offshore. It's good to know that either it was mis-stated, or I misread it.

Yes good news, I really like the mitre gauge I bought a couple of years ago........Rod.

[Ron Bontz]

And to think all I wanted to know is if Jessem is still in business so I could buy a shorter fence for my miter gauge.

[Mack Cameron]

Jessem are another home grown company that has skipped offshore.

To a place called Tennessee!:eek:

Oh well, at least it's not to China!:D

Regards, Rod.Hi all; Actually Jessem is back in Barrie ON Canada, where they should never have left in the 1st place.

(http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/showthread.php?t=26982&highlight=Jessem)

[Brent Smith]

Hi all; Actually Jessem is back in Barrie ON Canada, where they should never have left in the 1st place.



If you had read this thread, or WC for that matter, you would have seen this is old news :cool:.

[Mack Cameron]

If you had read this thread, or WC for that matter, you would have seen this is old news :cool:.Sorry for butting in Brent!

[jim gossage]

According to their website this morning

"JessEm Tool Company prides itself on its customer service. If you have any concerns regarding any of our products please give us a call or contact us via the online form below."

Of course, I'm not sure how we could call them since the phone number on their website does not appear to be correct according to the numbers posted above. While some people have obviously received good customer support over the years (see above), others (see above), including myself, have not. It would have been helpful to their customers if they had posted a message on their website. It is good that they are moving in order to improve customer services, but a year of "difficulty servicing our customers" is too long a lapse. A company that truly prides itself in customer service ususally finds a way to get the job done, even under adverse circumstances.

[Bill Huber]

Over a 3 month time frame I have sent them 4 request from the contact us page on the web site. I have received one reply and that was "I will turn that question over to the engineering department."

The other 3 times I received no reply at all. Even though I really like my table, lift and fence I am not sure I would buy one from them again. I don't need a lot of customer support but when I do I would like to get it. Even if its just a reply telling me there is nothing that can be done.

[Bob Slater]

Maybe they should manufacture in North America and put the call centre in India just like everybody else. I hear there are Lawyers working in India. I like the sound of that. Will be heading there for my hip replacement when the time comes.

[Ron Bontz]

I just wanted to say thank you to Patrick Curry and the folks at Jessem. This thread took on a whole life of its own which I did not expect. In the end however Jessem came through and many questions were answered. I received that 18" section of aluminum extrusion I desired via UPS. So now I don't have to remember to move, put away my miter fence to keep from running into it with my hip. It's those small things that drive me crazy. Either way the Mite_R-Excel is a nice gauge. Nope, no one gave me a free gauge to say that either. Best wishes to all.:)

[Kent E. Matthew]

I have been thinking about picking up one of their Zip Slot Mortise Mills.

[Bill Huber]

I have been thinking about picking up one of their Zip Slot Mortise Mills.

I think if you have a plunge router I would also take a really good look at the Mortise Pal. I think it would be more versatile then it.

http://www.mortisepal.com/

[Brad Townsend]

I think if you have a plunge router I would also take a really good look at the Mortise Pal. I think it would be more versatile then it.

http://www.mortisepal.com/

I'll 2nd this. The Mortise Pal is a great jig.

I've never seen the JessEm product, but spending that kind of money to do mortises with a hand drill seems kind of odd.