Grizzly rant Update

[David Pearson]

I posted about my situation with Grizzly yesterday. I actually posted twice because the first one was closed (http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?162016-Grizzly-rant) and the second one was deleted :eek:. I would update the thread if I could, but I can't, so I am posting a new one here.

I got a phone call from Grizzly today. They said that they saw my post and got an email from a member of SMC alerting them of the post. They apologized for the lack of communication and delay and they are shipping out a new saw today. They were very courteous and apologetic and I am relieved to finally know what is going on.

[Craig Ryder]

That's good news and pretty good service. Hard to give local, brick and mortar service through the mail at discount prices. I think they did pretty good.
Your post is really an "unrant" then!

Hope the new one works out!

Cheers,

[Larry Edgerton]

Its interesting that you can not complain about Grizzly. Were you rude and abrasive. Just curious.

[Bruce Page]

Just an FYI David, the second thread was not deleted it was moved to the moderators forum. As a rule, we DO NOT delete threads.

Based on your first “Rant” thread I had the feeling that Grizzly would take care of you – if you would give them the chance.

[David Pearson]

Hey Bruce, if you read my first thread you'd see that I gave them lots of chances. I didn't post until a week after several attempts to get someone on the phone. I didn't know it was moved to the Moderators forum where everyone can see it. Sorry for that.

[David Pearson]

Its interesting that you can not complain about Grizzly. Were you rude and abrasive. Just curious. I was not rude, or abrasive. Simply stated the facts. It's a touchy subject on here.

[David Pearson]

That's good news and pretty good service. Hard to give local, brick and mortar service through the mail at discount prices. I think they did pretty good.
Your post is really an "unrant" then!

Hope the new one works out!

Cheers,

They did great. They are even letting me keep both of them until I am satisfied and ready to ship one back. Very good service.

[Neil Brooks]

I'm glad they're making it right.

Like I said, originally, they DO tend to go out of their way TO make these things right.

As I've said here, a few times before, for a while ... in a former life ... I had to (my colleague died, and we were in a lurch) run the Quality Control department of a flower company (flowers: they begin to die the minute you cut them. NOT an easy QC role).

I would OFTEN say to customers that ... we DO NOT have control over every single thing in our business model, but we DO have control over how we respond to customer issues.

IME, Grizzly does that well.

Enjoy the new saw :)

[Bruce Page]

I was not rude, or abrasive. Simply stated the facts. It's a touchy subject on here.

An FYI: forum moderation is not up for public debate. If you have an issue or question on moderation take it up using the PM system.

[Peter Quinn]

Glad to hear they did right by you. I wonder what that suspenseful week was about? I sure would like it if I NEVER had to read another post about somebody's stationary tool arriving in non working order and how wonderful it was to get the situation resolved. By this I don't mean I wish all such posts were deleted but that some higher level of QA were established by importers to eliminate major defects either in country of origin or at the receiving end. These posts seem to be a pretty regular thing, though less so now that they are suppressed with some vigor. How long does it take a decent mechanic to check out a TS and verify that its parts are within basic tolerances post assembly? Thirty minutes? And why does this not happen BEFORE shipping? You throw a flat plate in the arbor, check the miter slots with a gauge you have set up because that is what you do daily, check the fence, check for flat, check it at 45, make sure the wheels on the bus go round and round, slather it in grease and ship it. It works or you don't send it. I believe this could be accomplished even at discount prices. Why must a 500# tool arrive in a persons shop, be uncrated, set up and diagnosed by the buyer to detect a problem? Is there no value to the warranty being offered? I still have the 11 point quality inspection ticket that came with my PM66, hand signed by a person whose name was on the ticket, dated, numbers indicating how close to zero each tolerance measured. They checked it, it worked perfectly, still does years later. Nothing short of my minimum expectations.

Perhaps there is a growth market here, an opportunity for discount sellers to offer an upgrade, like airlines do, for a fee. For X, rock bottom price, you get the thing, and if it doesn't work, even though its brand new, you can go through the hassle to re-crate, take it to a terminal or take a day off from work, etc. or get parts sent to you to fix a problem you didn't create. OR, you pay a premium, say $125, and an actual human OPENS the darn thing up, does a few checks, and if it fails, they open another one, and they keep opening them till they get one that works, and they ship you one that works. And if you STILL get a broken machine, they can come and get it them selves! Their dime, their time. Its like part service contract, part insurance policy. A sort of two tiered pricing system, one for the super cheap, and one for guys that want a 100% guarantee that their new tools will arrive in working order and are willing to pay just a bit more for that pleasure. I would gladly pay the premium, but I guess I already did. If this scheme sounds ridiculous its probably because it is.

Not everything I make is perfect, and I have been out to a few locations on call backs to fix problems. But I have never offered to send a customer a hinge or drawer slide that they could install themselves to fix a problem, and I have certainly never asked anyone to remove an installed cabinet or door and return it to me for repair, even though these things are all lighter than my cabinet saw! I guess that if you bought self build prefab cabs and they were defective you would face that burden, but it would be clear to you that that was the situation.

[Glenn Vaughn]

Just an FYI David, the second thread was not deleted it was moved to the moderators forum. As a rule, we DO NOT delete threads.
.

Moving a thread to the moderators forum is effectively deleting it from public view. The efect is the same if deleted or moved there.

[david brum]

There is a WW store in my region which sells Shop Fox machines (Grizzly machines rebadged to sell at retailers). They actually assemble and adjust each machine before they sell it, thereby eliminating the gamble of having a crated machine delivered to your house. I don't think they even charge for the extra service. It seems like a great way to establish customer good will.

[Bruce Page]

Moving a thread to the moderators forum is effectively deleting it from public view. The efect is the same if deleted or moved there.
Glenn, that is true. My only point was to say that we do not delete posts. There have been occasions when we reinsert a thread based on the circumstances.

[Dave Zellers]

What happened to my post I just made? Did you delete it?

I posted it less than 5 minutes ago, saw it in this thread and now it's gone.

[Bruce Page]

Dave, yes I removed it. See post #9

[Dave Zellers]

Dave, yes I removed it. See post #9

I see. So I agreed with post #11 and you removed it.

[Brian Weick]

I had a feeling they would do something once they read your thread.... its good that they were able to read it before it got yanked....

when are you supposed to recieve your saw>? I bet your relieved...

Cheers.

B,

[mreza Salav]

It's good to have it solved eventually, but if it takes taking the case to media before it grabs attention I don't if it's called good customer service or not.

[Dave MacArthur]

Unbelievable... some folks will complain about anything. Who cares how a companies customer service triggers to do good things and succeed (and of course you really don't know either), David got a new saw and that's top notch customer service. Are you SERIOUS? First contact with Grizzly was 7 Mar, and 16 Mar, 9 days later, he's getting a new saw, and folks on here are saying "bad customer service"? My gosh, I have deals for $200,000 fall through routinely because some customer service person can't be bothered to push some papers for 9 days!

This expectation of perfection for a 1% profit margin is unbelievable to start with, and then still finding something to complain about when a company comes through 100% with a new machine in...9 days after contact... is seriously unbelievable to me.

I say Kudos to Grizzly, and kudos to the mods for stopping counter-productive gripe-festing for long enough for a company to have a chance to make good in 9 days before being crucified.
Very glad to hear the outcome of your story, David.

[David Weaver]

My response to that is how much of your own personal time are you supposed to spend getting satisfaction on a budget saw?

I had a similar situation with another company with a planer that arrived broken / cracked up, but they never did anything, and never contacted me after I blew off steam (a month later after a month of trying to get resolution - I did wait quite a while) on another forum in a very public way. For a month, I had to leave it sitting in the garage "on/in the remaining part of the box" as I had opened it because each time they called "we're arranging someone to come look at it to file a claim, so don't move it - we'll call you back and let you know when they're coming".

Dave P - Saw Sales and Machinery in Gibsonia, PA is where I have gone for stationary power tools ever since I got a partial order via freight from amazon (who is not who I'm referring to above) with the entire bill attached to the partial order, and the customer service line that I wouldn't get any money back unless I had the entire order to ship back. Difficult thing to do when they send you a partial order.

Last time I got a large item was the BS from Saw Sales. I went and looked at it, decided I wanted it, and they dropped it off in my garage (even helped unload) literally a half hour later. Good price, too.

[Maik Tobin]

I am glad this turned out well for the OP. In the past year, I have bought a cabinet saw, a 17 inch bandsaw and a 15 inch planer from Grizzly. The cabinet saw purchase was flawless, but both the bandsaw and planer were damaged in shipment. In both cases, Grizzly CS was very proactive in getting a replacement out quickly and keeping me informed at all times. I could not be happier with the machines or customer service.

[Bruce Page]

The machine issue has been rectified by the supplier.
This thread has run its course, I am closing it.