Grizzly Comes Through!

[Jay Albrandt]

This thread started back in January on the Pond and was titled "New Jointer, But No Gloat". It was regarding a new Grizzly 8" jointer that I was having problems with and it generate some interest so I thought I would post the final resolution to the issue.

The History:
The jointer only took a little tweaking to get it dialed in and the test cuts were great! I quickly discovered, however, that when the fence was squared to the table, and then slid to another area of the table, it was no longer square. Come to find out, the "fence support" that bolts to the outfeed table and which holds the entire fence mechanism up was not square. Called Grizzly and after some explaining, they sent me a new piece. New piece arrives but is worse (out of square, with a little warp this time). During assembly of jointer to test the replacement piece, I set the whole fence on my cabinet saw and also discovered the "fence base" was not flat (it rocked). Called Grizzly, and it took some time to get "on the same page" of what was really the issue. They sent replacement parts again, but they were from and "old generation" jointer (different color and dimensions) an one of them wouldn't fit. Called Grizzly and had to go to head technician and customer service manager to get "on the same page".

It took Grizzly three trys to get a good fence support, and two trys for a flat fence base, but finally! Customer service is in a different location than where the parts are, and a parts person had to hand check the piece to make sure it was FLAT prior to shipping. Grizzly does not have the ability to machine anything in the US due to "costs" so you are at the mercy of the production lines overseas

The jointer is up and running perfectly with an "old generation" fence support and a new generation fence base.

Lessons learned:
1. Keep notes of who you talked to, what was said and on
what date
2. Talk to the same technician each time you call

Grizzly went to a lot of expense, time, and effort to make sure this customer was satisfied. I spoke to many that have this jointer and they had no problems with it, so I think my situation is relatively rare. So, if you are thinking about this jointer, it is a great value.

Thank you all for your support, and if you want more specific info, email me directly.

Jay Albrandt

[Ted Calver]

Jay,
IMHO you had to work unnecessarily hard to pry a functional tool out of Grizzly. The fact that their manufacturing operation is offshore does not relieve them of the responsibility to provide a tool that performs as advertised. Somebody is asleep at the Grizzly quality control switch and you shouldn't have to wake them up!!

[Chuck Wintle]

Perseverance paid off and thats what counts for the customer. But was the fault severe enough to ever render the joiner unusable? And how about the fit alignment and finish of the rest of it? I have read on another post about a misalignment of the cutterhead to the infield/outfield tables. The cutter was slightly askew in its saddle.

[Bart Leetch]

I have read of problems with the Delta DJ20 jointer too. To the extent that the shop nick named it Sometingwong. So any manufacture can have problems even one that is considered one of the best.

If it is man made it can be man made wrong.

The important thing is they corrected the problem.

[George@Colonel's Workshop]

Good Afternoon Jay,

I am glad your problem was resolved. I admire your perseverence. I would have thrown in the towel and sent it back to buy another brand. I have a complete show, and have only been really "stung" with a bad tool once. And that was a "gift"horse. I guess eventually we all have a horror story to tell.

[john lawson]

Jay:

congratulations on solving Grizzly's problem for them. It sounds like you had to do all the work. While Grizzly should get some credit for finally fixing the problem (with your help) I would not go overboard praising them, that is their job.

I have been disappointed lately with Grizzly. I had to buy some service parts for a bandsaw ( I have bought three large Grizzly machines over the years). I found their service parts prices to be outrageously high, and then the parts did not fit correctly due to design changes they had made since my machine was new. Mostly though I was disappointed in what I call a lack of respect for the customer. They acted like I should be happy to just get any part at any price. I did tell them they had gotten too big and too sucessful for me to be able to buy from them anymore.