laguna chances

[mike johnston]

Already having buyers remorse, as I ordered a bx 18 bandsaw. Even after talking to folk here and explaining my present bandsaw set up. Have read all the terrible customer service reviews, and the new saw problems. But I jumped in anyway. anyone want to take a guess, as to me getting a good saw out of the box. Was supposed to take 4 days, its been 2 weeks. I bought it through my local woodcraft hoping to have some support.

thanks

[Doug Dawson]

Already having buyers remorse, as I ordered a bx 18 bandsaw. Even after talking to folk here and explaining my present bandsaw set up. Have read all the terrible customer service reviews, and the new saw problems. But I jumped in anyway. anyone want to take a guess, as to me getting a good saw out of the box. Was supposed to take 4 days, its been 2 weeks. I bought it through my local woodcraft hoping to have some support.


Your ship will come in eventually. It always does. Woodcraft appears to have no control over when things will appear from them. (Yes, this happened to me too, a few years ago.) The saw was perfect.

[Tom Bender]

At this point, optimism is the best plan. Don't borrow trouble.

[Brian Tymchak]

I just ordered and finally received a new drill press from Woodcraft. I was told 7-10 days when I bought the machine. 12 days later I call and hear that the machine had to ship from the Nova USA, and would take another week or so. I did get the machine the following week.

[Barry McFadden]

I bought a Laguna lathe last year... ordered it from a company called Markham Industrial in Toronto. It was shipping from California and said it would be a week. It arrived within that week and any minor issues I had were handled by Brian Bennett in Laguna customer service promptly without exception. Love the lathe and the customer service...

[Bill Dufour]

I just ordered and finally received a new drill press from Woodcraft. I was told 7-10 days when I bought the machine. 12 days later I call and hear that the machine had to ship from the Nova USA, and would take another week or so. I did get the machine the following week.


Nova scotia?

[Bill Dufour]

to the OP: Shipping outside the USA is always a gamble. How often does the cargo ship make it to your location?
Bill D.

[Brian Tymchak]

to the OP: Shipping outside the USA is always a gamble. How often does the cargo ship make it to your location?
Bill D.

Sorry, that really was confusing wasn't it? I should have been a lot more clear on that. Nova is the brand name for the Teknatool Drill Press and lathes. I should have said Teknatool USA, which is the business that handles sales for Teknatool which is based in New Zealand.

[mike johnston]

Thanks everyone. I know Woodcraft has no control over shipping, Laguna claimed it was shipped 2weeks go from Carolina. Base and diftmaster fence shipped same day from Cali. Not as worried about shipping as the saw being square out of the box. And customer service if not. Not even sure were I will put it When it arrives. Anyone want to buy a 20" model 81 Powermatic great shape 3 new blades?

[Casey Carr]

If it makes you feel any better Mike, I ordered mine on Cyber Monday from Woodcraft and it showed up today. I'd expect you to be getting yours shortly. I am in California though, not sure where you're at. Let me know how your setup goes as I've never set one of these up before. See if there's anything I need to be looking for.

[mike johnston]

Woodcraft called yesterday, saw has arrived, (that's the good news) was misplaced in UPS warehouse in KC for a week. It seems there are several holes poked in the box by a forklift, not once, but twice. Total of 4 holes. I would like them to unpack it at woodcraft, and inspect it there, as I live 40 miles away. Also still waiting on mobile base. Really don't want to take it without base. Woodcraft does not want to unpack it at there store. They did send me pics of the holes, they are not superficial. Thoughts.
There was also another Laguna box strapped to the top of my box, it is completely destroyed

[Doug Dawson]

Woodcraft called yesterday, saw has arrived, (that's the good news) was misplaced in UPS warehouse in KC for a week. It seems there are several holes poked in the box by a forklift, not once, but twice. Total of 4 holes. I would like them to unpack it at woodcraft, and inspect it there, as I live 40 miles away. Also still waiting on mobile base. Really don't want to take it without base. Woodcraft does not want to unpack it at there store. They did send me pics of the holes, they are not superficial. Thoughts.
There was also another Laguna box strapped to the top of my box, it is completely destroyed

My 18BX was really well packed, styrofoam etc. My local Woodcraft was really good about stepping up to the plate and taking care of any damage that might have occurred in shipping. The unit wasn't drop-shipped, it was delivered to their store, and they delivered it to me, with the intermediate step that they were able to inspect the box before final delivery. You should be able to peer into the holes with a pen light and see if the machine itself was damaged (at the store, that is.)

That's why I bought it from them. If they didn't have any such value-added proposition, they certainly would be unable to compete with the better online vendors.

The mobile base is very easy to add later. It's just a matter of tipping the machine up a few inches and putting a 2x4 under each end, front or back, and sticking the wheels on the ends.

[John TenEyck]

Go inspect it at the store. You won't have to completely remove the crate to see if there is major damage. Look through the holes, open them up, whatever, to get a good look at the inside. I would not let it come to my house if I knew there was potential damage. If you find damage then Woodcraft will be motivated to deal with it. They should be doing this on your behalf in the first place.

John

[Frederick Skelly]

Go inspect it at the store. You won't have to completely remove the crate to see if there is major damage. Look through the holes, open them up, whatever, to get a good look at the inside. I would not let it come to my house if I knew there was potential damage. If you find damage then Woodcraft will be motivated to deal with it. They should be doing this on your behalf in the first place.

John

John has it right. Until you accept delivery, it is Woodcraft's problem. Afterward, it will end up being yours and UPS' problem ...... and good luck with that, IMO.

Fingers crossed, hoping this goes well for you.
Fred

[Mark Bolton]

There is no doubt Laguna established a reputation at one point that they have paid a heavy price for and may never live down. Sadly, even though Grizzly has the margins to ship endless parts, never have some machines "right" and if they are they are made right at the buyers expense of time, but thats unfortunately what that price point is. Even on a high end bandsaw.

Large retailers hitching their carts to Laguna says a lot.

We had a rough experience with Laguna and while a spread sheet would show that I lost my shirt beyond belief... my take away from it was in the end they did all they could, and they more than made it right. That said, the hours and the downtime would not be in their favor. We made a decision on a tool that we could have doubled our budget on and likely would have had a plug and play option.

To play devils advocate, I feel for any tool maker/rebrander that deals in the hobby market as their expectations on so many levels can be completely out of whack with the pricepoint they are buying at. That says nothing for missing a delivery date, but the hobby market seems to be a brutal place to park your cart. Thankfully there are still carts available.

[Jacob Mac]

If it was a good company, I would take the practical approach and see if there were any problems you can see.

But Laguna is all over the map on customer service. You're definitely accepting more risk by accepting the saw. You can't expect them to fix any issues in a competent timely manner. They might, or you might be bringing home a perpetual headache.

[Dave Sabo]

Your best avenue is just REFUSE delivery because there is VISIBLE DAMAGE. You will get cajoled , coerced, and browbeat to accept delivery - " they'll work it out " I'm sure. You will end up doing the work, so stand firm.

If you are going to potentially accept that one , you MUST uncrate it for inspection BEFORE you sign , accepting it. A peek-a-boo in some holes probably won't be adequate. If sign , then discover something later , you're in for a tough slog.

Don't disregard the advice this time thinking you'll get lucky!