Something other than a Dubby

[Mike Holbrook]

I ordered a Dubby Tuesday week from InLine Industries. When it was not here in a week I called back. They could not find the order put me on hold a long time, finally had to call back. They called back and left a message that it would ship tomorrow. I called back and asked what happened since I was told it was shipping a week ago. Finally after talking to a couple people they admitted they miss placed the order and never shipped it. Since I have been holding work waiting on it, I asked if there was anything they could do to speed up my order. I was told that they were busy getting ready for a show and unless I wanted to pay next day.....

Maybe I am to harsh but I did not like how they handled the entire thing. It was not just the order problem it took me over a week of hard work to get anyone who had any idea how the thing worked who could even tell me what the options for a Dubby were. They seemed to have order takers who kept telling me that their, apparently sole "technician" was not in. I called back three times in one day at the times I was told to call back without getting that apparently sole "technician".

I decided that there are too many serious woodworking companies out there who are eager to help (Lee Valley, Eurekazone, Highland Hardware for example) that I would prefer investing my money in. I canceled the order. I appreciate companies that seem to have a genuine interest in what they sell who invest in helping their customers succeed with their products.

So what do I use in place of a Dubby? Seems like home made cut off tables and one of several good mitre gauges is the favored way to go here. I think it is possible to get a sliding table with a Incra Mitre gauge, but I do not remember anyone here mentioning using that set up.

[Roger Fitzsimonds]

Hi Mike,

I use a cut off sled similar to type David Marks uses only mine is pine and mdf not some exotic hardwood. it just about does it for me. I would like to get an Osborn miter gauge for angular cuts but thats a future sneak in the shop purchase. Dubby's look nice and I am sure they are nice but for 10 dollars I have a very accurate cross cut sled.

my dos centavos
Roger

[Jim Becker]

Jointech makes their SmartMiter system which gets good reviews.

BTW, the "sole technician" at Inline Industries is likely the owner, Jerry. He also does all the shows himself. This is not a big company! That's no excuse for poor service, but it does mean that sometimes it's difficult to talk to the person in charge.

[Mike Holbrook]

Hmm I think it was someone else, John maybe. Apparently he has been "busy getting the boss ready for a show".

I am sure most companies have growth problems. I just hate to see so many companies turning their products over to marketing companies who "man" the phones with telephone solicitors who frequently can't even remember what product it is they answered the phone for. The "mass" marketing thing turns me off in a big way, especially with a technical product.

I worked for one of the first companies in Atlanta to offer automated telephone answering systems that routed calls, attempted to answer questions via recordings and claimed to only need telephone marketers to operate. Every company that looked at it had the same response "our customers will not stand for that kind of treatment" wow have times changed.

[RichMagnone]

I do want to throw in a "good" comment re: in-line industries. I saw them at the Chicago show and noticed that they had "spring" guides that attach to their a-line-it jig. The basic model does not come with these. When I called them to order up their alignment video, I inquired about the spring loaded guides. Their "total price" for the guides and video was $20. Thus, they charged me .05 for the guides. They were pleasant to deal with and sent things out immediately. I am pretty sure I spoke with Jerry's wife. Every business can have an off day. I agree that there is no excuse for lying about losing an order (it is always better to come clean, apologize and make it right). I surmise that they are getting bigger and their demand is increasing and they are likely experiencing growing pains. It is unlikely that in the "old days", they would have let a customer get that far gone. When you add employees who don't have as much stake in a growing concern, things can break down (getting employees to care seems to be the key to successful ventures as they get bigger).

[larry merlau]

i too have the dubby and am very pleased with it! as for the owner named jerry he too was very helpful saw himat another show in my area, asked a question in refernce to the wood sacrifical block and he reached down and handed me one as well as answer my question and showed me a couple tricks he had up his sleve. i would vote in his favor, he is a one man and wife show as i know thus far. dont know what happened in your transaction but dont hold it against him. i am but one satisfied customer and i am sure there are more!!

[David LaRue]

Mike,

This is one compnay that it is worth cutting them some slack. I know its frustrating, but I think they have 3 employees including the husband and wife owners. They are guniune folks, and will take care of you after the sale. I'd wait for the order.. my .02

[Richard Wolf]

I like Jerry and the Dubby also. He has been doing shows since the big flood. I almost feel bad with the way so many other manufactures have copied his design, which was one of the first. If you get to see him at a show stop by, his presentation is both educational and good for a few chuckles.

Richard

[Robert Grady]

Yours is not an isolated incident. I ordered a align-it from them about a 2 months ago. After a about 7 days I sent an e-mail inquiring about the order...no response for 2 days. I checked my credit card and had been billed $19.95 ( the price of PALS). Had not ordered PALS. Sent another e-mail that if I did not hear from them I was going to cancel the order and tell my credit card company to cancel payment. They called the next day and seemed totally lost. Thought the problem was corrected but after another week still did not have what I ordered. Sent an e-mail and did not get a response for 2 days. Loosing all patience with this company at this point. Sent another e-mail threatening to cancel the order and they called the next day. Said the align-it had been shipped the previous day. They only respond to threats. Took four weeks to get the order. Had my eye on a Dubby but at this point I do not need the aggravation. I will never do business with them again nor will I ever recomend them to anyone. Like was said earlier, there are too many companies willing to help you and get the sale. Hartville tool comes to mind immediatley. And if they keep performing ( or under performing should I say) they will loose a lot of sales. I asked to speak with the owner and they said he was out. I told them to have him call me and the lady said he would be out for several weeks. The lady said she was second in command and gave me the distinct impression she did not care about my problem. With this info make your own choice about them...I have made mine.

[John Miliunas]

Jointech SmartMiter here! Awesome! Great accuracy and repeatability. Quality design, engineering and assembly throughout. If anything happened to mine, I'd have a new one on order in an instant!:) :cool:

[Bob Reeve]

Ditto on the Jointech Smartmiter. Have it, love it, would buy it again.

[Mike Holbrook]

Sounds to me like the growth thing is causing them some problems. The ladies I have been getting on the phone most of the time do not seem to have a clue what I am talking about, I don't see how I could have been talking to Jerry's wife. I am guessing the "technical" guy is new too. They must be working shows very hard. I will give them a call and ask for Jerry or send him an email, maybe he does not know what is happening when he is at shows.

[Tom Peterson]

John, if you have too many miles on that Smart Miter, send it my way and then you could buy one that is brand new. I almost bought one at the show in Milwaukee. It was just too crowded and I was near overspent on my allowance. Perhaps next year.

[Mike Holbrook]

Hmm that bad boy looks like it has some advantages over the Dubby, thanks for the link.

[John Miliunas]

John, if you have too many miles on that Smart Miter, send it my way and then you could buy one that is brand new. I almost bought one at the show in Milwaukee. It was just too crowded and I was near overspent on my allowance. Perhaps next year.
LOL....I have a few miles on it, but it's barely broke in! I wouldn't wait until the next show to get one, though! I've looked at a lot of different types/brands and decided this one would be extremely tough to beat!:) :cool:

[JayStPeter]

I like the SmartMiter also. I chose it over the Dubby at the show. Honestly, I can't really remember all the reasons. But, it seemed like it would be easier to set back to the proper settings to make a nearly exact duplicate of a part. At the show I actually stood at the saws during the demos and made the adjustments on each. My impressions of each were good but I felt like the SmartMiter was a better device. It seemed like the SmartMiter could've been the "new improved" version of the Dubby. But, it's been a few years and any details about how the Dubby actually worked are faded.

I have no experience with In-Line service, so I can't comment there. I suspect they are a small outfit and just have some manpower problems during the show season. I enjoyed talking with the guy at the show and really didn't get any sort of negative feeling about them. I actually sort of wanted to like the Dubby better if that makes any sense.

I do have experience with the customer service from Jointech (on my cabinet makers system) and have nothing but good things to say. They responded quickly and took good care of me. I had the replacement part I needed within a couple days. I also received some of the parts I ordered that weren't stocked at the shows within the week after the show.

Jay

[Ellen Benkin]

I'm sorry to hear about bad service from the Dubby people. I suspect they need to spend more time at home taking care of business and maybe hire a "demo" guy to go on the road. I ordered a Dubby at a show -- it arrived and didn't fit my saw -- I made several calls before I got someone who knew anything -- in the end they replaced the wrong sled and paid all the postage but it took much longer than it should have. The sled works great, but I'm not sure I shouldn't have made one myself.

[mike lucas]

I purchased the Dubby in 1987 or there abouts, and to this day, it still does the job it was designed to do. The Dubby is the first manufactured miterboard, and still is as good as any others. For the price, you will not come close with anyother one on the market.

The Jointech one is nice, I have used it. The problem with it, is if you need to make a cut where the detents are off just a hair, you have a harder time getting the cut correct. With others like the Dubby, you just tap it slightly one way or the other, and you are set for the exact cut. Not only that, but the Jointech cost about 2 1/2 times as much.

I don't use the miterboard much any more, because I have a good ole DeWalt radial arm saw that is just as accurate, quicker, it is always setup and ready in an instant for any cut..

[Hal Flynt]

Another happy Smartmiter user.

[Dave Richards]

Mike, I too had a less than satisfactory experience ordering from In-Line Industries. I placed my order for the PALS on their online store. They didn't ship the order until after I contacted them a week later. I sent them an e-mail indicating my frustration and suggested that if they couldn't handle getting orders out from their online store, they should abandon it and remove it from their website.

they never did respond to my e-mail so I felt as if my complaint fell on deaf ears. Why not? They already had my money.

On the brightside, the thing finally showed and the product looks like it is well made.

As far as a sled goes, I have the Incra Miter5000. I've had it for several years. It is excellent. Accurate, well designed, etc.

I just won a second one which arrived yesterday. I noticed they've improved the hold down and now supply the main table section drilled for left tilt saws as well as right tilt.

The miter5000 can be disassembled and turned into a miter3000 which is basically their high end miter gauge without the sled.

[JayStPeter]

Not only that, but the Jointech cost about 2 1/2 times as much.

If that was true, I would have a Dubby. Jointech is somewhere around 30% more ($180 vs $260). I did go back and forth over the two. The Jointech was the winner in my head, but I wasn't sure if it was worth the extra cash as the Dubby is clearly a good product.

Jay

[David Fried]

If that was true, I would have a Dubby. Jointech is somewhere around 30% more ($180 vs $260). I did go back and forth over the two. The Jointech was the winner in my head, but I wasn't sure if it was worth the extra cash as the Dubby is clearly a good product.

Jay

That looks more like 45% more, still a far cry from 2.5 times as much.

[Aaron Heck]

I've seen the Dubby and the Jointech at the Wood shows and they both look impressive. I'm eventually going to buy a sled. I came across the Woodhaven Deluxe sled a while back. It looks pretty interesting, and also has a nice taper attachment. I think that's what I'll probably end up getting.

http://www.woodhaven.com/Images/4954K%20lg.jpg

[JayStPeter]

That looks more like 45% more, still a far cry from 2.5 times as much.

Oops, you're right, I guess the Dubby is 30% less than the Jointech.

Jay

[Ken Salisbury]

http://www.oldrebelworkshop.com/mickeyok.gif


LOVE MY JOINTECH ! !