JessEm??

[Gary Gleave]

Has anyone heard about any financial difficulties of JessEm? I was speaking with a friend today who is employed by General, and he told me there are some negotiations, and talk of take over.
I hope not, I really like JessEm products and would like to see them keep everything in house. I have been thinking about purchasing their sliding table (master slide?).

[Larry Rasmussen]

This has been discussed here more than once. Most often people are wondering about the company due to horrible customer service and response time for communication or assistance.

I had my eye on the MastRSlide and noticed about two mos ago they went on sale at Rockler on line for $399 as part of a close out of Jessem products. I went right down and quizzed the local Rockler store manager about the close out and he stated that Jessem was still doing business as usual and there have been no recent changes in product quality or availability. That said he stated Rockler was just tired of the poor customer service on supply and repair and the chronic late pay on their accounts and decided to stop doing business with Jessem.
This is just gossip of course but does appear consistant with member experiences we read about here.

I picked up the sliding table for $399 at the store and did notice though that at one point it had gone down to $369. Unfortunately I am sidetracked from any lifting due to a hernia repair so it will be still a bit longer before I get it installed. I did check that box and then contents were sealed and all parts there. I feel like if you buy one from a retailer that will stand behind the product and get it in use promptly to make sure all is in order it would be a safe purchase regardless of Jessem's status. I'm going to get some help for the lifting and get mine installed as soon as I can.

Gary I also think they have good products and have really enjoyed using their master fence for the router table. I still am quite exited about finally getting the table saw sliding table.

Regards,
Larry R.

[Robert Chapman]

I'm told that Jessem moved operations from Canada to the US [Tenn. I think] but has now moved back to Canada. I am in the process having some parts replaced for a Jessem MastRslide. Jessem was completely unresponsive to my problem with defective bearings - so I have gone to the retailer and Amazon.com and I now have new parts in the mail - Thanks primarily to Amazon who is holding payment to the retailer until I am happy. This motivates the retailer. Jessem makes fine, heavy duty products but its customer service is abysmal.

[Ron Bontz]

I did not really have any problems with Jessem quality, but wanted an extra part for my miter gauge. Once a communication problem was resolved, they were in the process of moving, they went out of their way to help me out. They do indeed make good products. Right now it's tough for a lot of companies. I hope they do well and hang in there.

[Robert Chapman]

I agree Ron - Jessem products are some of the finest made - but when there is that inevitable problem it seems very difficult to get it resolved by Jessem. The MasterRslide is an extremely well done sliding table. That's why I only want a part replaced - not the whole thing. So far it seems like Toolcorral is making things right by pulling what I need out of a Jessem MasteRslide package that they have since Jessem did not provide the needed part to replace the defective one that I received. So Jessem may not be too customer or dealer friendly. I too hope that they get it together.

[Mark Koury]

JessEm is another company that, I guess, is struggling because of the economy. Too bad, they have well-engineered and useful products.
My experience concerns a Mite-R-Excel (table saw miter gauge) that I purchased from ToolKing (best price) several months ago. This has a lot of good features including an absolute ability to locate, return to and hold 90 degrees. Also a good method of adjusting the bar so it fits the slot well. Overall well engineered. The aluminium fence however was not straight. I called JessEm. They took my information about the crooked fence and confirmed that they were now in Canada. They quickly agreed to send me another fence. They did and it was perfect. So I essentially saw perfect customer service from them. Now interestingly when I go to the JessEm web site I don’t see any mention of the Mite-R-Excel. So, I‘m not really sure that they make the product any more. If not, too bad, it works well. Perhaps this was why they sent me a new fence so readily - who knows?

[Robert Chapman]

Their website shows the MiteRExel as a discontinued product. Too bad - I also have one and it is a great miter gauge.