Bravo - Grizzly technical support

[Richard Link]

Hi Creekers. Just thought I'd relay a brief story of excellent customer service from big green. Bought a Grizzly G0527 18" wide belt sander which has a pneumatic belt tensioning and oscillating system. At first use, I noticed a hissing noise from the unit and my compressor was working overtime. Clearly a leak somewhere....

A couple of emails back and forth with Grizzly, all very rapidly responded to. Very easy instructions to dissassemble various parts and diagnose the problem. Narrowed the problem down to the air cylinder. Spoke with a tech on the phone, no waiting on hold, no hassle. Very knowledgeable guy who answered my questions and clearly understood the inner workings of the machine. He said a new air cylinder would be on the way from their parts department. Box arrived from Grizzly in less than 24 hours containing a new air cylinder. Fixed, no problem.

This is how customer service should be run. I didn't wait on hold or have to leave a voicemail once during this entire process. No arguing with techs who don't know the machine. No resistance to replacing a defective part. No waiting for weeks to get the part. Bravo!

The machine now works flawlessly and I'm very happy with it. That's two machines I've bought from Grizzly (had an 8" jointer as well) and so far I couldn't be happier with my experience.

Rick

[Rick Moyer]

I think THE very best thing is "no waiting on hold" and "didn't have to leave a voicemail", to which I would add "didn't have to waste several minutes selecting from phone menu options"!!!
Thank you Shiraz for this!

[Rod Sheridan]

You guys crack me up.

A defective machine, and you're impressed because you got phone support for you to diagnose and repair a new machine.

When I had a problem with a new green machine (General) the answer was "What time would be convenient to have the service technician come to your house Sir?"

Now that's customer service.

Regards, Rod.

[John Shuk]

Yes but with 50 large states that would be quite difficult. Grizzly also tends to keep the price reasonable so if a person doesn't mind doing a little leg work it seems to work out well.

[Richard Link]

I realize what you are saying. On the other hand, these kind of defects will occasionally slip through the net. I don't feel that I can always expect perfection from the manufacturing and shipping process. Particularly not with the price/performance ratio that Grizzly seems to be offering. On the other hand, if there IS a problem, I want it fixed pronto, without much hassle and without a lot of argument from the company responsible. I felt like I got that service this time around. To be honest, I think I wasted less time and had less hassle fixing it myself with the company's guidance than I would have wasted waiting for a technician to arrive (from Canada...). Maybe if there had been a bigger problem, the technician option would have been better....

Now, I also have a Felder combo machine on order which hasn't arrived yet. If that custom-built Austrian Monster has defects, I will be serious perturbed. For those prices, I expect the St. Pauli girl to arrive at my house and serve me a beer while she's fixing the machine....

We shall see. For now, I just wanted to give some kudos to Shiraz for the way his company handled this one.

Rick

[John Shuk]

If the St. Pauli girl shows up let me know. I'll need to buy a plane ticket to Houston.

[fRED mCnEILL]

"You guys crack me up.

A defective machine, and you're impressed because you got phone support for you to diagnose and repair a new machine.

When I had a problem with a new green machine (General) the answer was "What time would be convenient to have the service technician come to your house Sir?"

Now that's customer service.

Regards, Rod."

Hey Rod, I agree with you. I own a General table saw. Wonderful machine. I'm sure General would send someone out to fix it. And well they should. The saw costs 2 or 3 times as much as the equivalent saw from Grizzly.

Fred Mc.

[Richard Link]

No worries. Now that would be a gloat worthy of pictures.....

R

[Cliff Holmes]

I'd rather put up with the occasional minor defect and do a simple repair myself than spend thousands of dollars more for a marginally better machine with a slightly better chance of arriving perfect.

[Sean lennon]

You guys crack me up.

A defective machine, and you're impressed because you got phone support for you to diagnose and repair a new machine....

Regards, Rod.


I think you are missing the point here,
To get a real person on the line and 24 hr turnaround on a replacement part is doing pretty good. we sell $200K production equipment and would have a hard time doing much better.

The real kicker here is; the quality of support for the price point of the machine. as someone pointed out above, yes, the other guy will send someone to fix the machine but you also paid 2-3 times as much.

I have a soft spot for old iron and probably won't be buying a Grizzly any time soon but I have to hand it to their customer support.


sean

[glenn bradley]

When I had a problem with a new green machine (General) the answer was "What time would be convenient to have the service technician come to your house Sir?" Now that's customer service.
Regards, Rod.

If the Griz tools cost what the Generals do, they could dispatch technicians too :D. Now, Deltas cost too much and you get poor service . . . who wouldn't want that? :rolleyes:

P.s. I think General makes some great tools. I have gotten to look them over well at the shows and they are very well made. :)

[Cary Falk]

I'd rather put up with the occasional minor defect and do a simple repair myself than spend thousands of dollars more for a marginally better machine with a slightly better chance of arriving perfect.


+1 billion.

I have seen complaints about a lot of different companies over the years. It shows that nobody is immune. The one that sticks out in my mind was a complaint about rusted bandsaw guides on what I think was a MiniMax(it could have been an Aggie) I was shocked by several responces that said that their bandsaw arrived like that also, but not to bother with replacing them because it didn't hurt the performance. WHAT!!! Are you kidding me?

The minute a thread appears about a Grizzly problem, the haters comes out of the woodwork saying you get what you pay for. I will gladly pay 1/3 the price for 10X the customer service if I need it. Middle man mark-up, and personal repairs are options I don't see waisting my money on. I can turn my own wrench. I would have to if I bought used or post warranty anyways. I have found it quicker with less disruption if I do it myself.

[Rod Sheridan]

I think you are missing the point here,
To get a real person on the line and 24 hr turnaround on a replacement part is doing pretty good. we sell $200K production equipment and would have a hard time doing much better.

The real kicker here is; the quality of support for the price point of the machine. as someone pointed out above, yes, the other guy will send someone to fix the machine but you also paid 2-3 times as much.

I have a soft spot for old iron and probably won't be buying a Grizzly any time soon but I have to hand it to their customer support.


sean

Sean, thanks for the reply.

I did understand that the original poster was impressed with the rapid response, and on that issue, I am as well.

I just have to laugh though when someone fixes there own machine under warranty, I expect the manufacturer to do that....Regards, Rod.