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View Full Version : My experience with a Tormek. PLEASE READ



Marty Baucom
04-26-2006, 6:27 PM
I purchased a Tormek and several jigs from Hartville Tool when they had all the special offers going on. When I received the Tormek I went through all the setup routines and proceeded to sharpen a plane iron. Well no matter how hard I tried I could never get it to grind a square edge. I noticed that the leather wheel and the sharpening wheel had an enormous amount of up and down side to side movement not like what you would find in a bearing or bushing shaft. After further inspection I found that the bushing on the leather wheel side was shattered at the flange and had fallen out of the mount. Well as suspected I wasn’t very happy, I already had to wait to receive my Tormek as Hartville Tool was out of stock at the time of my order. Well I sent a not very nice e-mail that I shouldn't have to Hartville Tool and the only other address I had which was Tormek in Sweden. Well Hartville Tool was no help. On Monday, after sending this e-mail on the Thursday before Easter Friday I received an e-mail from Torgny Jansson, the founder and owner of Tormek. He was very apologetic and directed me to whom to contact at Sharptoolsusa, the USA warranty support, for the replacement parts. I called and spoke to Paul at Sharptoolsusa and without any question or delay he had my info and sent me out 2 new bushings and a replacement drive shaft. I was so pleased with the service I went online and ordered the small tool jig, the diamond truing tool and Sharptoolsusa’s great instructional DVD. The parts arrived and my Tormek was up and running as new. They also sent me a self addressed and stamped envelope for me to put the defective parts in to send back to Tormek. Well for some reason the post office postmarked the postage where it was purchased and the envelope was of no use. I sent an e-mail to Torgny at Tormek and Sharptoolsusa about the envelope and the next day Torgny sent me an e-mail apologizing and said that for my trouble he would ship me a jig of my choice at no charge. I had already purchased all the jigs I thought I would ever need so I asked about the planer/jointer knife jig. I said that I understood this was a very expensive jig and that I didn’t want this if it’s value was too much. I received a call from Jeff at Sharptoolsusa the next day and offered me the planer/jointer knife jig at half price which I bought. Sorry for being so long winded but I want people to know when a company like Tormek and Sharptoolsusa go out of their way to please a customer. We are all too quick to condemn when we receive bad service but I think we as consumers should praise when we receive exceptional service. I can say all my sharpening needs will be supplied with Tormek products purchased at Sharptoolsusa. Thanks for listening to me ramble

Jim DeLaney
04-26-2006, 6:49 PM
As a Tormek owner for about the past five years, I'm not surprised at the level of service you got from SharpToolsUSA. Jeff and Nancy Farris are great people to deal with, and are two of the most 'customer service' oriented people I've ever known.

I am surprised that Hartville Tool & Hardware didn't respond, though. As a rule, their customer service is also pretty good.

I've never had to resort to calling/emailing Sweden. Jeff & Nancy have taken care of any 'needs' I've had regarding the Tormek.

So far, nothing on mine has broken. The wheel is at least half an inch less in diameter than when new, though. The only parts I've needed so far have been replacement plastic/nylon bushings in the plane/chisel jig. Mine have worn oval from excessive use. I've replaced them twice so far...

Ken Belisle
04-26-2006, 7:03 PM
It's great to hear something positive relative to customer service for a change. Usually, the only comments you get on this subject are negative ones. I guess that old addage about "you get what you pay for" is still true for Tormek.

Cliff Rohrabacher
04-26-2006, 7:31 PM
Gee They gave me my $$ back and I got to keep a scratched tool.

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Not really, I don't own one.

Allen Bookout
04-26-2006, 10:11 PM
I purchased my Tormek from SharpToolsUSA about six months ago and I could not believe what happened. One hour and fourty six minutes after I placed the order it was shipped. Not only that but before I placed the order I called them and was able to talk to a REAL person that actually knew all about the product. Very impressive.

Steve Speiser
04-27-2006, 1:46 AM
I also recently ordered a Tormek from Hartville. It arrived quickly & fine except for a squashed tube of sharpening compound that had "oozed" all over the place. No problem, just messy. Even though the problem was Tormek's packaging, not Hartville, I dropped them an email and told them what happened. They responded politely within 24 hours and sent me a free replacement tube. This was my 3rd order from Hartville, and so far I'm very happy with their service, price & customer service.
Steve

Marty Baucom
04-27-2006, 6:40 AM
I need to clarify that I didn't receive any negative customer service from Hartville Tool it was they did not have the parts needed to fix my problem. I too have received good service from Hartville Tool as well.

Stu Ablett in Tokyo Japan
04-27-2006, 7:09 AM
...... Sorry for being so long winded but I want people to know when a company like Tormek and Sharptoolsusa go out of their way to please a customer. We are all too quick to condemn when we receive bad service but I think we as consumers should praise when we receive exceptional service. .......

Boy is this ever true, thanks Marty for posting this.

We all know that mistakes happen, heck I've even been known to make "few" :rolleyes: but what counts is what is done after the mistake is made, what the person or company does to fix it.

I'm very happy to hear your positive story, thanks for sharing it.

Cheers!

Brian Jarnell
04-27-2006, 7:35 AM
My Tormek has never missed a beat,so nothing to report there.
I have bought stuff off Lee Valley and had a problem,their response was brilliant,great when you get such good service.

Bob Noles
04-27-2006, 8:36 AM
Marty,

I have purchased from both Hartville and SharptoolsUSA. Outstanding service from both has been my experience.