Festool Domino Story

[Mike Henderson]

I like my Domino and use it for a lot of my projects. Not too long ago, I was running short of the 8x40 dominos so I ordered some more from Amazon. Today, I was working on a project and went to use some of the dominos I received from Amazon. Surprise! they were 6x40 and not 8x40. I guess I trust Amazon so much that I didn't even look at them closely when I received them.

Luckily, I had JUST enough 8x40 dominos left to finish my project. I didn't notice the problem until after I had cut the mortises so I couldn't change the bit and use the smaller ones - and I couldn't use the bigger dominos because of the size of the wood I was using.

I went and checked my order with Amazon to make sure I hadn't made an ordering error and I had ordered the right size.

I had a really sinking feeling when I discovered that problem. Just wanted to share that story.

Mike

[Derek Cohen]

The worst case scenario is that you can make your own dominos. That's why the thicknesser/planer and the router table were invented! :)

Happy New Year ... and Regards from Perth

Derek

[eugene thomas]

Last time I bought some dominos. Bought from amazon Germany. Even after paying shipping was lot cheaper.

[Michael Handrinos]

I had the same thing happen to my except it was router bits. I ordered a set of Freud adjustables and didn't check to see if I'd gotten the right ones. Well, I ordered the right part number but they sent a different set instead, same type wrong profile. Had them for some time and went to use them this weekend and lo and behold, I had to buy the right set and it's way to late to send them back. from here on out, everything that gets delivered is checked right away.

[Mike Cutler]

Hey, now you'll have enough for the project requiring the 6x40's. :D

My wife does a lot of Amazon shopping, and recently sourced some hardware for a project were working on. Generally Amazon gets it right, but there are times they don't.
Give Amazon a call and I'm certain that they'll make thing right, and you'll probably end up with the 6x40's for no charge.
I think you can still trust them.

[glenn bradley]

I think we have all had those boo-boos where we find the errant component is us :o

[Nick Decker]

Amazon's success, I think, is largely based on being customer-friendly, but here's one way they've gone the other way: I recently ordered a new Bunn coffee maker. After it was shipped, but before it was delivered, I noticed the selling price had gone down by $30. I immediately emailed them and was told sorry, no price adjustment would be made. I had a similar experience a year or so ago and they quickly adjusted my charge to the lower price. So for whatever reason, their policy has changed.

[Jim Becker]

Mistakes do occur, unfortunately. Sad you didn't catch that earlier, but glad you were able to finish up the project with what you have!!

It's important to remember that just because something is bought "on Amazon", it doesn't mean that it's being sold by Amazon. Some third parties use Amazon for fulfillment and others do their own. "Stuff happens". :) And Amazon generally is pretty good at correcting mistakes at their expense, too.

[Mike Henderson]

Hey, now you'll have enough for the project requiring the 6x40's. :D

My wife does a lot of Amazon shopping, and recently sourced some hardware for a project were working on. Generally Amazon gets it right, but there are times they don't.
Give Amazon a call and I'm certain that they'll make thing right, and you'll probably end up with the 6x40's for no charge.
I think you can still trust them.

I received the order in December - I think late December - so there it was still in the return period. I just went to "Orders" and clicked on the "return" button and followed the instructions. They provided free return shipping. They gave me the choice of either getting a refund or a re-shipment - but I had already put in an order for the 8's again. I had done an order for the 6's and the 4's not too long ago so I have a lot of 6's now. I keep them in that extra systainer so there's no room for additional 6's. And knowing me, I'd put them somewhere and then forget where I put them:)

I feel bad that I opened the bag that the dominos came in - they may not be able to re-sell those - but I didn't use any of them.

It's just amazing to me how blind I was. I cut the top off the bag of 6's and put my remaining 8's on top of the 6's and never noticed that they were a different size.

Thanks for the idea of of ordering from Germany, Eugene. I've heard that before but just ordered from Amazon by habit.

Mike

[Nick Decker]

I would guess your returned Dominos will soon be available in Amazon Warehouse deals.

[Mike Henderson]

I would guess your returned Dominos will soon be available in Amazon Warehouse deals.

Well, here's a head's up to anyone looking for the 6's. They're all there in the bag. - none used.:)

Mike

[jack duren]

Why wouldn't you keep them? We buy cases of each... I use all the sizes...

[Mike Henderson]

Why wouldn't you keep them? We buy cases of each... I use all the sizes...

As I mentioned above, I just ordered some 6's not too long ago. I have plenty and storage is a problem.

I don't use cases of them. I'm not a commercial woodworker.

Mike

[jack duren]

I Have a storage problem.. All these from work I don't know what to do with.. A bag of Domino's would be welcome...

[eugene thomas]

I love wharehouse deals. Sure that's where you dominos might end up.

[Jim Becker]

Jack, I'd be happy to, um..."store"...some of those clamps for you, long term of course. LOL!

[Mike Henderson]

I had re-ordered the 8x40 Dominos and received the package today. Guess what was shipped to me.

That's right, 6x40 Dominos!
375454

The problem is that they're mismarked. You can see in this picture that they are clearly marked as 6x40 dominos.
375455

But someone put a label on them that says 8x40 dominos. I assume this label is they one they use to choose what to ship.
375453

I haven't decided whether to ship this batch back or not. I still need the 8x40's so maybe I'll try Amazon Germany.

Mike

[Bryan Lisowski]

I would send back. I'm not sure of all the dealers close to CA, but Lee Valley is now selling festool in the US and shipping out of Vegas. Plus they are having free shipping until the 8th, only mention since I think you need $199 for free shipping on festool from them.

[Jim Becker]

Bob Marino (http://www.bobmarinosbesttools.com/) ships for free and is a member here, albeit a quiet one. :)

[Bryan Lisowski]

Bob Marino (http://www.bobmarinosbesttools.com/) ships for free and is a member here, albeit a quiet one. :)

Jim most dealers do free shipping and Bob is great to deal with, but shipping from Vegas may be faster than Ohio.

[Jim Becker]

It may, although Bob does use FedEX and my last order was even delivered on Saturday.

[Mike Henderson]

Bob Marino (http://www.bobmarinosbesttools.com/) ships for free and is a member here, albeit a quiet one. :)

Thanks for your suggestion. I went and ordered from Bob. He also doesn't charge sales tax so he was actually a bit less expensive than Amazon.

I'm sending the 6x40 dominos back to Amazon.

Mike

[Mike Henderson]

Jim most dealers do free shipping and Bob is great to deal with, but shipping from Vegas may be faster than Ohio.

Lee Valley requires an order of $40 or more for free shipping. Bob ships any order for free. And the one pack of dominos is $24.

Mike

[Bryan Lisowski]

Mike, I would almost guarantee you will get the right ones from Bob. As a side note, it will be interesting to see if Lee Valley can be a real option when it comes to festool, especially when accessories or consumables don't reach $199, compared to most dealers who don't charge shipping or tax unless they have a tax nexus.

[Jim Becker]

Mike, I would almost guarantee you will get the right ones from Bob. As a side note, it will be interesting to see if Lee Valley can be a real option when it comes to festool, especially when accessories or consumables don't reach $199, compared to most dealers who don't charge shipping or tax unless they have a tax nexus.

Lee Valley's shipping policy for Festool is free for orders over $40. This is separate from their regular promotional periods where other merchandise can ship for free for orders over $40, such as the one currently in place through next Monday, 8 January.

[Dave Zellers]

Based on a recommendation here on SMC, I recently bought a Festool sander and sandpaper from Bob for the first time and can vouch for the positive experience. Problems are dealt with instantly, and resolved.

[Mike Henderson]

Just to check things out, I went to Amazon Germany and priced the 8x40 dominos. Even though I have Prime, there was a delivery charge and by the time the delivery charge was added, the dominos were the same price as in the US - they were $23.75 (in Euros, 13.99 without VAT plus 5.04 for shipping. Amazon converted that to $23.75 in USD).

Mike

[Mike Henderson]

Update on my attempt to order some 8 by 40 Dominos:

I ordered the Dominoes from Bob Marino on January 4th but haven't heard anything back from him so I called him today (January 11th). He's checking on the status of my order but it appears that it has not been shipped yet. If the status is different than that, I'll update my post.

I should have gone to Woodcraft and bought some that I could put my hands on. Good thing I haven't had a project where I need 8x40 dominos.

Mike

[Ted Derryberry]

I always check everything I receive the day I get it or the next day at the latest. I've ordered a thousand 15mm cross dowels and received 16mm, #1 x 2" square drive bits and received #0 x 1", a 3' Woodpecker ruler and received a 2'.

Last month I got a Felder saw/shaper I ordered with a 30mm spindle. It came from the factory with a 1.25" spindle so the warehouse swapped it out at no charge. When I unpacked everything I found a box with a shaper spindle in it. I started to set it aside when I realized I had seen a spindle already installed in the machine. I checked and both were 30mm. Apparently someone swapped the spindles in the machine and someone else added a boxed spindle to the crate. I sent it back.

Occasionally I buy tools for "back up" when I find them on sale. Stuff like routers and ROSs that I know I'll need eventually when I wear one out. I always unpack them to check them over and plug them in and give them a test run before boxing them back up and putting them on the shelf.

As for Amazon Warehouse Deals, not for me. I ordered a set of Fisch WaveCutter Forstner bits that were supposedly an "open box" suitable to give as a gift. They were under $300 and the going price seems to be about $450. When they arrived the wooden box was pretty well trashed, which isn't a big deal to me, but three bits were missing from the set. I sent them back and gave them a piece of my mind about their description. A few weeks later I think they were back on there at a lower price with a vague "missing parts" description. Knowing the bits that were missing and the cost to replace them it wasn't that good a deal. In fact, by the time I replaced the three bits it would have cost more than the original deal price.

Check out camelcamelcamel.com for an Amazon price tracker. It gives you price history with highs, lows, averages, etc. You can have it e-mail you when an item drops below a price you set. As for the $30 drop on the coffee maker, I'd have sent it back and reordered it. Screw them if they want to be stubborn, it will cost them more in shipping than just giving you the better price. I get so sick of their pricing games.

[Victor Robinson]

Just to check things out, I went to Amazon Germany and priced the 8x40 dominos. Even though I have Prime, there was a delivery charge and by the time the delivery charge was added, the dominos were the same price as in the US - they were $23.75 (in Euros, 13.99 without VAT plus 5.04 for shipping. Amazon converted that to $23.75 in USD).

Mike

But did you try the bulk packs.

[Nick Decker]

Update on my attempt to order some 8 by 40 Dominos:

I ordered the Dominoes from Bob Marino on January 4th but haven't heard anything back from him so I called him today (January 11th). He's checking on the status of my order but it appears that it has not been shipped yet. If the status is different than that, I'll update my post.

I should have gone to Woodcraft and bought some that I could put my hands on. Good thing I haven't had a project where I need 8x40 dominos.

Mike

Mike, FYI, I had a shaky experience with Bob on a sander recently. Placed the order and got a confirmation email a couple of days later saying that the sander was backordered. I emailed Bob and told him to cancel the order, that his web site had listed it as in stock.

He called me a little later and apologized, said he was having problems with his new warehouse, which recently moved from Ohio to Kentucky (?) Basically, he uses a fulfillment company to ship the orders and keep the web site updated, and it's not going well.

[Mike Henderson]

But did you try the bulk packs.

No, I didn't. I didn't even know about them. I'll go look again. Or can you give me a link?

[Update] If I found what you call "bulk packs" it's too many dominos for me (780). I store them in the systaniner and for the 8x40 dominos, 130 is about all that will fit into one section. I don't use them that fast.

Mike

[Mike Henderson]

Mike, FYI, I had a shaky experience with Bob on a sander recently. Placed the order and got a confirmation email a couple of days later saying that the sander was backordered. I emailed Bob and told him to cancel the order, that his web site had listed it as in stock.

He called me a little later and apologized, said he was having problems with his new warehouse, which recently moved from Ohio to Kentucky (?) Basically, he uses a fulfillment company to ship the orders and keep the web site updated, and it's not going well.

I wish I had known that before I ordered. I probably would have just gone to Woodcraft or Rockler. May still have to.

Mike

[Simon MacGowen]

The worst case scenario is that you can make your own dominos. That's why the thicknesser/planer and the router table were invented! :)

Happy New Year ... and Regards from Perth

Derek

That certainly would work for some as well as during emergency (e.g. you needed 3 or 4 more to finish a job).

In all other cases, it totally defeats the reasons of owning and using a Domino Joiner, namely using ready-made loose tenons for quick mortising and for efficiency, as far as I am concerned. In fact, why would I want to spend $1000 and more for a system that would also take my precious shop time away for making the consumables. I can turn to any router to do the loose tenon joint. It is false economy in my shop and dominoes are cheap -- dirt cheap when I look the time it will take me to make them and the other costs of a project.

It has been so unfortunate and frustrating that the OP has had so many hurdles to overcome in just getting some dominoes!

Simon

[Victor Robinson]

No, I didn't. I didn't even know about them. I'll go look again. Or can you give me a link?

[Update] If I found what you call "bulk packs" it's too many dominos for me (780). I store them in the systaniner and for the 8x40 dominos, 130 is about all that will fit into one section. I don't use them that fast.

Mike

Yes, they are simply a box of 6 individual packages of 130. Much more economical in the long run, but only if you have a place to store them (and will ultimately actually use them). Sorry, I would have normally provided a link but I was posting on the run!

[Jim Becker]

It has been so unfortunate and frustrating that the OP has had so many hurdles to overcome in just getting some dominoes!



I do not believe this to be a normal situation.. I think this is a "stars aligned in an unfortunate way" thing that unfortunately piled up one thing on top of another. Clearly, the Amazon seller totally screwed up marking the merchandise. Bob's situation is being dealt with...and real soon. (I just communicated with him)

I thought about making Dominos once my supply gets low, but given the non-abundance of metric cutters, that may not happen as I'm too anal, even about hidden things. LOL

[Mike Henderson]

Bob sent me a message that the dominos will ship today. I asked for the tracking number and he promised to send it to me. I'll report back.

Mike

[Jim Becker]

Bob sent me a message that the dominos will ship today. I asked for the tracking number and he promised to send it to me. I'll report back.

Mike
He will make good with you, Mike.

[Mike Henderson]

I received a FedEx tracking number from Bob yesterday. The dominos are scheduled for delivery on the 18th and they shipped from Independence KY. So Nick's comment in post #31 appears to be correct - that Bob is moving his warehouse to Kentucky.

Mike

[Nick Decker]

What Bob told me on the phone was that the company he hired to run the warehouse in Kentucky seems to have a problem with attention to detail. Not keeping track of inventory is what led me to order the sander that was listed as "in stock" when it was, in fact, backordered. He also told me that a guy ordered a router and the warehouse sent him two. Lucky for Bob, the guy was honest and sent one back.

I hope he gets it straightened out, because I like him. He called me, on his own, to apologize and explain the problem.

[Jim Becker]

That's correct, Nick. And Bob's a stand-up guy and always has been. He will get this fixed and without going into detail, he has a plan in place.

[Mike Henderson]

Just to complete the story, I received the dominos today from Bob. It's been a long process to get those but now I'm set for a while.

And just to cover the "no pictures, didn't happen" here's a couple of pictures of the package.
376867 376866

Mike

[Jim Becker]

I also got a doo-dad today I had ordered that the warehouse mysteriously forgot to ship. Bob had it drop shipped directly from the mother-ship.