Brand New Grizzly G0563 Oscillating Edge Sander Table To Platen Not Square Issue

[Ben Rivel]

Continuing the story. A couple days ago I randomly received a UPS Freight shipping label from Grizzly via email with nothing more describing what it was for. I was going to call them but had been pretty busy the last couple days and instead received a call from the CSR Robert that has been handling this case. He asked me if I had received the shipping label, I told him I did but had no idea what it was for. He explained to me that they issued it since they now want to bring my sander back and inspect it. That was all he said they wrote in the notes.

I was driving so I didnt think to ask: wait I thought we had decided we were waiting for a new one to come in or at least replacement parts. And then there was the issue with crating it and they were going to consider cross shipping me a new one so I could use the crating material to send back the old one. Guess that all went out the window and now they say that since its a "woodworking" machine it doesnt need to be that precise and they cant tell how out of square it is from my pictures so they want to inspect it in person now.

So now I guess Im forced to rent a cherry picker to lift this machine back onto a pallet I have to find from somewhere and then go buy boards to build a crate around it to have it shipped back. I almost convinced they are just going to send me the same unit back "repaired" or "checked to be perfect" like the replacement non-flat cast iron table they sent me. I have half a mind to just tell them to keep it and issue me a refund once they get it back, but then Im back to square one with figuring out what sander to get.

Sigh... Only big tool I've ever had any issues with and it happened to be the first and only Grizzly product I tried.

[Jim Andrew]

Having straightened my machine, think it would be to easy to fix to go through the hassle you are going through. Just clamp a 2x4 onto the thing and spring it a little in the direction it needs to go. Try not to bend it too far. Think taking it apart is not necessary.

[glenn bradley]

Sigh... Only big tool I've ever had any issues with and it happened to be the first and only Grizzly product I tried.

Experiences like this can make you swear of a brand. I have returned Powermatics and Jets as well. Each brand seems to have something they do extra well. I have yet to try another Powermatic but, I do have a Jet sander that does fine, a couple Delta machines and a few Grizzly's.

[Van Huskey]

My problem would not be the defect (all companies that make a widget have them) it is the time to resolution. It was an initial defect that has now drug out to 25% of the warranty period. Hopefully the resolution is just around the corner and it reminds us that it is good practice not to do away with machine packing materials until we are 100% satisfied with the machine, though I don't think I have ever done that.

BTW seeing your name Ben reminds me I owe you a PM, will get to it soon!

[Ben Rivel]

Having straightened my machine, think it would be to easy to fix to go through the hassle you are going through. Just clamp a 2x4 onto the thing and spring it a little in the direction it needs to go. Try not to bend it too far. Think taking it apart is not necessary.

A couple of folks have suggested I attempt to fix it myself, and while I dont think its a bad idea nor do I think it wouldnt be possible, I wonder, if you were in this situation and just spent almost $1900 on this tool would you be happy fixing it yourself? And even if you could bend the platen straight, what about the not flat cast iron table that you could do nothing about? You'd just keep that?

My problem would not be the defect (all companies that make a widget have them) it is the time to resolution. It was an initial defect that has now drug out to 25% of the warranty period. Hopefully the resolution is just around the corner and it reminds us that it is good practice not to do away with machine packing materials until we are 100% satisfied with the machine, though I don't think I have ever done that.

BTW seeing your name Ben reminds me I owe you a PM, will get to it soon!

Thanks Van, still looking forward to hearing your story!

[Chris Merriam]

If you have a Sunbelt Rentals in your area, they rent hoists. i think I paid $40? for mine. The nice thing is they are knock-down, so all the pieces break down to long bar-shaped sizes. The longest are maybe 5-6 ft long, so technically would fit in a car with folding seats (I used my truck)

[Ben Rivel]

If you have a Sunbelt Rentals in your area, they rent hoists. i think I paid $40? for mine. The nice thing is they are knock-down, so all the pieces break down to long bar-shaped sizes. The longest are maybe 5-6 ft long, so technically would fit in a car with folding seats (I used my truck)

Thanks for that suggestion. Not sure if I do but I do have a Hertz Equipment rental not too far and they have hoists I believe. A collapsible option would definitely be good though, I didnt know they did that.

Anyone know if the cheap Harbor Freight one everyone seems to have collapses down? I might just buy one to keep around if its cheap enough and can be broken down.

[Van Huskey]

Anyone know if the cheap Harbor Freight one everyone seems to have collapses down? I might just buy one to keep around if its cheap enough and can be broken down.

Yes, both the 1 ton and 2 ton engine hoists they sell fold up.

[Chris Merriam]

They fold up, but they don't break down into separate pieces

[Ben Rivel]

So I just got a call from a new Grizzly technical service rep named Justin and this one was really the first to make me feel a lot better about getting this situation taken care of properly. When I asked why he happened to call me today he just said that he had noticed the ticket and how long it had been open and thought he'd see if he could help.

We talked for a bit about quite a few things, went over a couple previously discussed issues and a couple new ones and long story short, as I understand it, we now have a hashed out plan for dealing with this. They are going to ship me a new replacement unit which he has stated he will look over with a straight edge and square personally before it gets shipped out to me. The new units coming in are still on schedule for delivery on Jan. 19th. They are willing to ship the replacement first so I can reuse the crating material to package up the old one. I might have to actually pay for the new one to get it shipped first but they will refund me the money as soon as the shipping company picks it up. Im okay with that as long as the whole thing doesnt take more than 30 days and my credit card charges me interest. And he said he will look into some store credit or compensation for all the hassle this situation has been.

We also discussed moving this machine safely both off and on the pallet and he warned against using an engine hoist due to there not being a good place to bear all the weight of the machine and instead suggested if I cant get enough people to lift and move it perhaps unbolting the top half of the machine and moving the two parts separately. I still have to take a look at it and figure out how best to do that, but it another option I suppose to consider.

Hopefully all of this will happen as planned, but at least Im feeling a little better about it. Thats worth something right? He said he'll give me a call tomorrow to finalize a few more details. Ill update when Ive got something.

[Ben Rivel]

They fold up, but they don't break down into separate pieces

That'd be fine, as long as it gets smaller for storage. That said Im not sure Im going to go that route now as Grizzly is recommending against it for that particular machine.

[Ben Rivel]

Time for an update. Had a few minor conversations back and forth with Grizzly over the last couple weeks. Still working with the new guy Justin that got involved and so far things seem to be moving along better. Just got the email saying the replacement unit has shipped and they were able to send it first so that I could use the crating material to re-crate the old one and send it back. I have been given 30 days to send it back or my credit card will be automatically charged for the second one and then Ill have to get a refund when it does ship back. Shouldnt be an issue as I'll only need a weekend to get it re-crated and sent back. He said they had someone look this one over and check flatness of the table and squareness of the platen to table before it shipped. We'll see. He also mentioned some sort of compensation in the form of store credit but the details of that havent been given to me yet. I imagine they are waiting until this whole thing is over. Ill post back when it gets here.

[Mike Manning]

What a story...so far. I hope the new one is better than the previous.

[Ben Rivel]

What a story...so far. I hope the new one is better than the previous.

Thanks Mike, we shall see.

[Josh Molaver]

@Ben - was wondering if there was an update here - how did you make out getting the replacement G0563?

Am looking at the G0564...