Laguna Customer Service - ++

[jerry cousins]

In February, 2010 I bought a 1” resaw blade from Laguna – it was their special for $90. I have a mm16 and use it primarily for resawing veneers – somewhere between 30 & 40 hours I’m guessing. A few weeks ago it broke in 2 places. When I looked at it closely I found lots of stress/metal fatigue fractures, which start from the back side of the blade. I emailed Laguna and xplained the situation. They quickly called and asked that I send the blade down to them for their inspection. The next call was from Tim (Laguna Tool guy) and it was kind of a negotiation. After he asked some questions about my use of the blade and then asked what I would like. I suggested they replace the blade. He was fearful if they sent me another of the same blade the same thing would happen – it was old stock- therefore the sale I guess. (But they had advertised it to run on my saw.) He offered me a new stock 1” blade at their cost. The new ones would not have the same problem – thinner kerf & more malleable metal. Just wanted to share a good customer service story.
Jerry

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Jerry,

I am glad to hear you recieved good treatment from Laguna!

[Phil Thien]

I didn't realize the blade's life was supposed to extend beyond 30 or 40 hours of sawing. I would have thought that is about all any blade would withstand.

How long are blades supposed to last? Or, how long have they lasted for others?

[Peter Quinn]

Glad to hear you had a good experience. I think it takes two reasonable people to come to a mutually agreeable arrangement, so kudos to both yourself and Laguna for this. I understand they are making a genuine effort to improve their customer service and it seems to be working.

[Stephen Cherry]

I didn't realize the blade's life was supposed to extend beyond 30 or 40 hours of sawing. I would have thought that is about all any blade would withstand.

How long are blades supposed to last? Or, how long have they lasted for others?

Dosn't seem too unreasonable to me either, especially if the blade is run at high tension. My opinion is that if I got reasonable use out of a blade, particularly with a 1 inch resaw blade on a 16 wheel, I would have moved on.

[John Myers]

They did the right thing. I bought their LT18 bandsaw a few years ago. After about a year the switch went bad. After determining that it was the switch and not the motor I called them and they sent me a new replacement switch at no charge. No problems.

It's satisfying when you encounter good customer service. You remember those situations and you're more apt to be a return customer. Just the same as you apt to remember poor customer service and NOT want to be a return customer.

[Stephen Cherry]

They did the right thing. I bought their LT18 bandsaw a few years ago. After about a year the switch went bad. After determining that it was the switch and not the motor I called them and they sent me a new replacement switch at no charge. No problems.

It's satisfying when you encounter good customer service. You remember those situations and you're more apt to be a return customer. Just the same as you apt to remember poor customer service and NOT want to be a return customer.

The difference is that a switch is generally supposed to last the life of a machine in normal use. A bandsaw blade, particularly when the application is stretched to use a blade on a lower radius wheel, is a consumable tool. It lasts for a while, and then is replaced. If manufacturers are going to be held to guarantee a bandsaw blade for life, the only thing to expect is much higher cost for blades. There is no free lunch.

I think that Lennox is 90 days warranty, which is a generous amount of time to determine a manufactures defect.

All just my opinions though.

[Peter Aeschliman]

You may be right Stephen. And if you are, that just means Laguna was being extra generous.

I recently had an incredible experience with Laguna. I had the motor on my jointer/planer combo machine go bad, as well as a few other small problems with the machine. I was pretty frustrated and on the edge of becoming a Laguna hater... Their CS turned it around for me completely. Sent a replacement machine with liftgate service BEFORE I sent the old one back (so that I had crating materials). Their CS manager even took the new machine out of the crate, checked all of the adjustments, and ran boards through it to make sure it checked out before sending it.

I was pretty much blown away. So far so good on the replacement machine.

To John's point, I went from being somebody who was actively going to tell people to stay away from Laguna to somebody who will buy another machine from them in the future (bandsaw probably, but it'll have to be a few years!).

[Van Huskey]

I think Laguna is going above and beyond here. That is a decent amount of resaw time for a carbide blade on small wheels. The current backer should last significantly longer which is very nice since the blades can be sharpened.