Sawstop ICS Problems and Support

[fred everett]

Alan may be correct based on my experience with a cruise line that refused a refund. I was issued a full refund within a week after my CC co investigated. That's not 1:1 as it was for a service, but there must be a good reason your CC co provided a conditional refund.

[Bryan Hall]

Alan may be correct based on my experience with a cruise line that refused a refund. I was issued a full refund within a week after my CC co investigated. That's not 1:1 as it was for a service, but there must be a good reason your CC co provided a conditional refund.

Sure enough, the funds were back in my account within the day. I really expected a call from the vendor over the last few days but haven't heard a word from them or sawstop. We'll see where it stands at the end of next week?

[fred everett]

Sure enough, the funds were back in my account within the day. I really expected a call from the vendor over the last few days but haven't heard a word from them or sawstop. We'll see where it stands at the end of next week?

Glad to hear this Bryan. Hopefully you'll be able to get your hands on a a new saw quickly.

[Jim Becker]

I'm sure that the chargeback, when it hits them visibly, will get some kind of reaction! I think you did the correct thing there. At the least, it makes for more pressure on the vendor to get SS to either deal with the issue expeditiously or to permit the return of the defective tool.

[Bryan Hall]

Another update:

Still no word from the vendor.

I decided to call in today to figure out what is going on at Sawstop. I asked about the new table that was supposed to have arrived 2 weeks ago and get shipped overnight to me. It never showed up, something about a virus causing shipping delays? Who knew...

Sawstop told me this morning the saw should be completely replaced. It's just too long of a wait for a new table to come in. Then they called me later in the day and let me know that they can't get a replacement saw in stock until mid february, which is when the replacement table is now scheduled to show up. I'm not sure if I'm supposed to be grateful, or irritated. I asked repeatedly about the likelihood of the table showing up on time and was assured repeatedly it would arrive by January 15th at the absolute latest. Now, I'd have to agree to wait several more weeks for items to show up, plus the shipping time, plus down time to replace the saw and/or table, the process seems unreliable.

Credit card investigation is still underway but since the vendor shows nothing about no returns on their website or the receipt it doesn't seem to bode well for them.

[Charles Coolidge]

I asked about the new table that was supposed to have arrived 2 weeks ago and get shipped overnight to me. It never showed up

No ship date is worth the paper its written on right now. My Powermatic bandsaw, drill press, planer all delayed months. Replacement table for the bandsaw supposedly shipped air freight to arrive in a week yeah, months.

Too bad about your Sawstop experience. Sawstop is about 30 miles from my house so my ICS 5hp was all local. I purchased it via a local store Woodcrafters (not to be confused with Woodcraft). Had it in 3 weeks with free delivery from the store. No issues at all. Woodcrafters has stacks of PCS in stock and all manner of every Sawstop accessory but they don't normally stock the ICS. When nobody else had Sawstop stuff in stock, they had piles of it.

[Bryan Hall]

You must be in Portland too then? I didn't get mine from Woodcrafters, but I did buy mine locally. Less than 10 minutes from my front door. I like woodcrafters a lot, but they were telling me 4-6 weeks for the ICS. I ended up snagging one that was 1 week out but now, 3 months later, I wish I had the time to have waited on an order.

[Rod Wolfy]

Another update:

Still no word from the vendor.

I decided to call in today to figure out what is going on at Sawstop. I asked about the new table that was supposed to have arrived 2 weeks ago and get shipped overnight to me. It never showed up, something about a virus causing shipping delays? Who knew...

Sawstop told me this morning the saw should be completely replaced. It's just too long of a wait for a new table to come in. Then they called me later in the day and let me know that they can't get a replacement saw in stock until mid february, which is when the replacement table is now scheduled to show up. I'm not sure if I'm supposed to be grateful, or irritated. I asked repeatedly about the likelihood of the table showing up on time and was assured repeatedly it would arrive by January 15th at the absolute latest. Now, I'd have to agree to wait several more weeks for items to show up, plus the shipping time, plus down time to replace the saw and/or table, the process seems unreliable.

Credit card investigation is still underway but since the vendor shows nothing about no returns on their website or the receipt it doesn't seem to bode well for them.

With all the worldwide delays, I can understand they might not have any in stock. There have been a lot of reports about quality control issues in a lot of industries, too. Workers here this week and out next. My Hammer took over a year to get to me after I paid for the down payment. Sorry about your trouble, Bryan.

[Charles Coolidge]

You must be in Portland too then? I didn't get mine from Woodcrafters, but I did buy mine locally. Less than 10 minutes from my front door. I like woodcrafters a lot, but they were telling me 4-6 weeks for the ICS. I ended up snagging one that was 1 week out but now, 3 months later, I wish I had the time to have waited on an order.

Yes purchased mine at Woodcrafters in Portland. They hauled it way up north of Battle Ground, WA to my house for free, that's a 1 hour round trip. I got mine April 30th, 2021. ICS 5hp 36".

[Bryan Hall]

Well, the saga comes to its conclusion.

Sawstop did offer to send their "next available saw" over for a swap, but wanted me to pay for it up front and then I'd get a refund after returning the bad one. This baffled me. I haven't done many warranty claims in my time, but I wouldn't expect to be charged up front for the replacement. That being said, it never made it that far. The credit card company charge back was processed last Thursday and just shy of one week from them sending notification to the vendor I got the call. "Bryan, we just got notified that you filed a dispute over this saw. Why didn't you say anything?" Well, I did... many times... and you told me no returns... only a consignment sale where you keep 25%. "Oh okay well we'll come and get the saw right away."

Crazy.

Timing couldn't have worked out better. I'm building a detached office and then restoring a 1905 ceiling with T&G so I won't need a saw for a few weeks. I'm glad I got the replacement on order, expected to be here end of month.

Thanks for the support to everyone who chimed in! I never would have considered contacting the credit card company. I had no clue how powerful that was when it comes to dealing with problems. Obviously a last resort, but it seemed like an undeniable power play when it happened. Hoping the new saw is problem free!

[Brian Tymchak]

Well, the saga comes to its conclusion.

Sawstop did offer to send their "next available saw" over for a swap, but wanted me to pay for it up front and then I'd get a refund after returning the bad one. This baffled me. I haven't done many warranty claims in my time, but I wouldn't expect to be charged up front for the replacement. That being said, it never made it that far. The credit card company charge back was processed last Thursday and just shy of one week from them sending notification to the vendor I got the call. "Bryan, we just got notified that you filed a dispute over this saw. Why didn't you say anything?" Well, I did... many times... and you told me no returns... only a consignment sale where you keep 25%. "Oh okay well we'll come and get the saw right away."

Good to hear that things are working out. ...I'd be finding a different tool vendor...

[Frederick Skelly]

Good for you! I hope the replacement is everything the original was SUPPOSED to be. Please llet us know.

[Alan Lightstone]

Thrilled that you're getting a replacement. As we said, it's amazing what a dispute with the credit card company will do. Unfortunately I've had to do it a few times, but resolution has been 100% in my favor, from unreasonable merchants.

You will love the SawStop. I love my ICS. Big step up from their contractors saw (which was still quite nice, but... )
Shame it took all this to get one. Please let us know when it arrives and is set up and working.

And yes, find another tool vendor.

[Jim Dwight]

I am glad this got resolved too and that you have been able to carry on without a table saw for months now. I have gone to my credit card company a few times and always been pleased with the result. I get better service from Discover than Master Card so that is what I try to remember to use if I am at all concerned about the supplier. From Master Card the results are the same but they are not quite as nice about it.

For those making "vendor" comments I would suggest you remember that Festool owns SawStop. If you really want away from the vendor you have to drop Festool too.

I am not trying to downplay the significance of a significant breakdown on SawStop's part here but I think this was a bad saw that somehow got out and then some techs trying to deal with it that did not know what to do. It was beyond what they really could handle. Certainly not the customers fault. But I question whether it is a sign that Festool/SawStop is a bad company to do business with. I have issues with the original owner of SawStop and how he chose to "market" his invention but I like my saw and my very limited dealings with this company have been fine. SawStop's support of this customer was clearly unacceptable but I'm willing to hope this type of issue is very rare.

I also hope there is some gesture on SawStop's part to try at least in some small way to "make it right". The OP might want to make them aware there are a bunch of us watching.

[Jim Becker]

'Glad you got this resolved and that the timing for the new saw works out. And a lot of folks tend to overlook the power that credit card issuers have...they make a lot of money from folks using their cards and like them to keep their card vs getting a different one. Backing them up when there's an issue with a product or vendor is one way they do that.