Grizzly - Problem Resolved

[Cody Colston]

I'm posting this here because I know Shiraz Balolia frequents this forum and I'd like for him to see this.

I have a GO513 Grizzly band saw, a GO586 Jointer and a 1023SLX table saw. They all perform well when working but...

Twice I've had to tighten the little allen-head jam bolts that keep the belt pully on the shaft of the GO586 jointer. I know at least one other owner who has had to do the same. No big deal, I thought, could happen to any tool.

Then, a month ago, the blade height mechanism quit working on my table saw. Turns out the gear teeth on the Gear Bearing Shaft had disentegrated. The saw is just over one year old.

I ordered the part only to find out that it is back ordered until September. So, I wait without a table saw and right in the middle of building a large entertainment center.

No worries, I'll use my band saw for other projects until the part arrives. BTW, the "band saw centric" shop concept absolutely does not work for me. It's great for cutting curves but I'll keep my tablesaw for ripping, thank you very much.

Anyway, I did a couple of small projects using the band saw and jointer then, oops, the tires need replacing. The upper one won't stay on any longer. So, I place an on-line order to Grizzly Sunday evening and check the status this morning. You guessed it, back-ordered until August 31 at which time I'll be back offshore at work for two more weeks. grrrr.

The point of this post...Grizzly should stock expendable items like band saw tires and faulty parts. It's bad enough having to wait on a failed part much less wait for something as ordinary as band saw tires.

Also, I was beginning to think seriously about their 15" planer. I'm re-thinking that thinking now. :mad:

Ticked off in Tyler

[Shiraz Balolia]

Cody - your parts were actually being picked in the parts warehouse when I inquired about them. The trunnion was in stock and the tires came in yesterday.They are going out today.
As far as the small screws that keep the pulley tightened to the shaft, check to make sure that there are two screws in the small hole. The top one needs to removed completely before tightening the inner one.
We apologize for the inconvenience.

[Cody Colston]

Update to my post.

Evidently other Grizzly personnel also monitor this site. I just came back in from outside and had a message from the parts manager at Grizzly. They are shipping my parts today. It's amazing what a little unfavorable PR on a busy w.w. forum will accomplish.

I don't think the parts arrived from overseas, but they are pulling the tablesaw part and band saw tires from machines that are in stock. Cool beans.

That doesn't make up for the fact that I've already waited over a month for the tablesaw part, but it does say something about Grizzly customer service. They do try to satisfy the customer and that fact is duly noted.

Now, if they could only kick-start those Asian factories. ;)

[Andrew Williams]

Still I question the motivation. Excellent customer service should spring from a desire to please, not from a desire to avoid punishment. If it were possible to send you parts today then they should have sent them when you asked for them, not when you publicly announced what happened. Glad it worked out for you though.

Added: I just noticed the second post in the thread after composing mine. Perhaps I was hasty in my judgement, but I feel it is still possible so I will leave it as is.

[Steve Clardy]

What little service/parts I've needed from Grizzly, they have always been prompt and polite. ;)

[Al Killian]

Cody, Did you call Grizzly when you found out the parts where on back order? This could have saved you time and hassle. I have always found them willing to do what it takes to help there costumers out.

[Bill White]

And my .02.
I emailed a question yesterday. Got the response w/in 1 hr. Can't get any better than that.
Thanks Grizz. The green machine rocks.
Bill

[Shiraz Balolia]

Still I question the motivation. Excellent customer service should spring from a desire to please, not from a desire to avoid punishment. If it were possible to send you parts today then they should have sent them when you asked for them, not when you publicly announced what happened.

In a perfect world every part would be in stock and every part would go out the same day!

We try hard and sometimes things are beyond our control for delivery. The rubber tires have been on order for months and this is an item that the bandsaw factory sources from another factory that deals in rubber products. Sometimes that facory has problems so everyone down the line suffers. Sometimes we have machinery delays because a sub-contractor did not deliver a part on time, or A part was rejected during QC. As it turns out our whole back order for the tires was ready to be shipped by sea from the factory and we got some air freighted to take care of some customer orders. That air package arrived yesterday.
When you are dealing with millions of parts and over 250,000 different parts for various machines, you can bet that this is no easy task and we have several people working in this department making sure that parts are in stock not only for warranty, but also for previously purchased machines. We have over 30,000 square feet dedicated strictly for parts as we know the importance of avoiding downtime. 99.9 % of in stock parts are shipped the same day!
It is easy for someone sitting at a computer somewhere to second guess or speculate what we should be doing, but we feel that we go above and beyond at times to take care of issues.

[Jim O'Dell]

Parts issues have always been a problem. Doesn't matter what brand machine or what type of machine. We have BO issues all the time at the car dealership I work at. I just got an air bag in for an SUV that took 2 months! Cat convertors, don't get me started. One vehicle here for 5 weeks, wouldn't run, cats clogged up. None in the US, Supplier out of business, new supplier not up yet. Finally had a set custom made in Calif for the guy. Talk about expensive. And this was warranty!!
So tread lightly and remember some things are just not controllable. It is unusual that so many machines needed parts that were BO at the same time. Glad they have parts on their way to you to get you back up and running. Jim.

No I don't own any green machines at this time. :D

[Jim Podsedly]

I think this incident is an exception to the rule for Grizzly. Needless to say it is no less painfull for Cody.

I have always had great dealings with Grizzly. (Sales and support)

Jim

[Scott Donley]

Hey, no big deal, I am still waiting for my 2006 and 2007 catalogs, any day now :D

[Stan Welborn]

Hey, no big deal, I am still waiting for my 2006 and 2007 catalogs, any day now :D

Got mine. Sucker is expensive!. Fixin to cost me over a grand.:rolleyes:

[scott spencer]

Sorry to hear about the headaches you've incurred, but I think it's pretty cool that the top dog of a fairly large company has publicly weighed in on the issue. That level of commitment is rare enough with smaller companies, and darn near non-existent in larger companies.

[Cody Colston]

Sorry to hear about the headaches you've incurred, but I think it's pretty cool that the top dog of a fairly large company has publicly weighed in on the issue. That level of commitment is rare enough with smaller companies, and darn near non-existent in larger companies.

I agree, Scott. That's why I posted here because I've seen Shiraz sort other problems here before.

As for calling Grizzly, yes, the tablesaw part was ordered by their CS representative after I called with the part number needed. She is the one who told me it would be September before the part arrived. I also had some help from their techs finding the source of the initial problem.

I have had great service from Grizzly in the past on my tool orders and on a band saw part damaged in shipping. I've lauded their service and value on this and other forums.

This latest problem was unusual but none the less frustrating, therefore my rant.

Thanks Shiraz for the help. I'll put the 15" planer back in my thinking. ;)

[Don Bullock]

Cody, having just bought my first Grizzly machine, the G0490 Jointer, I'm glad to hear that your parts issue has been resolved. My recent buying experience with Grizzly was excellent, from the the answers to my email questions to the actual delivery, was fantastic. It's good to know if i have any problems that they take care of their customers. I'm very impressed that Mr. Balolia actually takes an interest in his customers and is a contributer to Sawmill Creek.

[Craig D Peltier]

More and more stuf in general I think is backordered. Alot of orders I have placed lately for items overseas have been delayed.Not with Griz but Amazon and I have been waiting for a Metzler Motorcycle Tire for 2 months now.Just happens.

[Andrew Williams]

Thanks for the explanation Shiraz. Sorry for the hasty judgement.


Andrew





In a perfect world every part would be in stock and every part would go out the same day!

We try hard and sometimes things are beyond our control for delivery. The rubber tires have been on order for months and this is an item that the bandsaw factory sources from another factory that deals in rubber products. Sometimes that facory has problems so everyone down the line suffers. Sometimes we have machinery delays because a sub-contractor did not deliver a part on time, or A part was rejected during QC. As it turns out our whole back order for the tires was ready to be shipped by sea from the factory and we got some air freighted to take care of some customer orders. That air package arrived yesterday.
When you are dealing with millions of parts and over 250,000 different parts for various machines, you can bet that this is no easy task and we have several people working in this department making sure that parts are in stock not only for warranty, but also for previously purchased machines. We have over 30,000 square feet dedicated strictly for parts as we know the importance of avoiding downtime. 99.9 % of in stock parts are shipped the same day!
It is easy for someone sitting at a computer somewhere to second guess or speculate what we should be doing, but we feel that we go above and beyond at times to take care of issues.