Laguna lathe compared to Jet?

[Alan Tolchinsky]

Have you seen the Laguna lathe either online or in person? It looks like a pretty good value compared to the Jet 1642 2 HP. Look at the specs and tell me what you think. http://www.lagunatools.com/lathe.platinum18.aspx

[Jim Kountz]

Im a Jet owner and I looked hard at the Laguna. After reading some not so good reviews here and other websites, I chose the Jet. That and the fact my local dealer just happened to have on in stock the day I went it to ask about them.
The Lagunas do look really nice for the money and right now they are offering free shipping which was the real deal breaker for me. It was going to cost close to $400 to have it shipped to me.

[John Shuk]

The Laguna lathe might be ok but customer service wise there is NO comparison between the two companies. I have dealt with both and Jet was quick to help and make the issue better than right with one cAll. Laguna took multiple calls and never made things right.

[Gordon Seto]

Do a Google search on "Laguna lathe problem".
Or do a search on "Laguna lathe" in SMC.
Please read pass the first couple paid links.
A lathe is not consumable like sand paper. No matter how good it is, you will need service down the road.

[Joseph M Lary]

I emailed Laguna to nail down a price w/shipping and never got a email. I found some things about there service that was not up to my standards.

[Alan Tolchinsky]

This might be a decent lathe but it looks like the same old story about service. How can a company continue to not get it?

[Bernie Weishapl]

I wouldn't even touch that lathe due to customer service. It took one gentleman I believe around 3 to 6 months to get his money back. Wouldn't return e-mails or calls.

[alex carey]

There has been a lot of bad publicity around that lathe, there are satisfies customers but if you want a sure thing, piece of mind, and a 5 year warranty jet is the way to go.

You get what you pay for.

[Gary Max]

Buy the Jet and get better service.

[Dick Strauss]

Alan,
Jet +1
A friend needed new switches for his PM3520. I contacted PM (same parent company as Jet) on his behalf. After talking with the friendly guy for a few minutes, he agreed to ship the switches at no charge as a mater of good customer service!

Laguna would not be on my list based on the way they treated one man who purchased their 1847 lathe!

Here's the story IIRC... a guy bought a Laguna 1847 lathe and immediately had issues with it. The guy went through all the right channels to get his issues fixed but still didn't have the functional lathe he thought he was buying. After patiently problem solving for some time, he decided to inquire about a return. Laguna initially told him they wouldn't accept a return. After quite some haggling over many weeks/months, Laguna finally agreed to accept the return under certain conditions. In exchange for his return, Laguna wanted him to delete all of his posts about their quality and service issues.

Any company that doesn't allow me to speak the truth (as I see it) is not a company I'd buy from in the future! If the company wants to refute a posting, I don't have a problem with hearing both sides of a story. A company would gain more points if it admitted the mistake and explained how it was working to correct the problems (like Grizzly does).