Advice - Ordered new, received something clearly used.

[Alumac]

Hi y’all-

I’m a bit flabbergasted.  I ordered a Festool tool that was advertised as new.  Latest sys 3 model according to their listing. What showed up has some issues-

1.  It’s 3 years old.
2.  It was used as a demo unit, or customer loaner (still has the company’s internal inventory sticker on it)
3.  Some of the green buttons on it have seen better days.

Basically something I’d see listed on eBay for nowhere near retail price.

Looking for advice on how to proceed.  Do I deal with festool directly?  Do I deal with the vendor (rather large one)?  Do I have no recourse?

I’m at a loss.  I’ve never received something so completely unlike what was described and paid for. When I picked up the box it came in, I heard rattling and thought ‘that’s not good’ and videoed opening it.

Any input is greatly appreciated.

 

[DeformedTree]

I would contact the vendor, could be a mistake, give them a chance to make things right. It might be as simple as someone grabbed the wrong item.

If they give you issue, then contact festool. I assume you will have proof of purchase, and can take photos of it to send on to Festool.  To work the situation.

There is a massive shortage of all things festool right now. So mistakes can happen as folks dig around through their inventory looking to see if they have something. It also might mean you bought from someone who isn't as "up and up" as others simply because they might have been the only one listing the item.

 

[AlexThePalex]

Contact the vendor of course, that's how you solve these things.

Tell them the item is not as advertised, and say you want what to receive what you paid for.

I am sure they will resolve your problem quickly. If not, there's always the 30 day return policy from Festool.

 

[usernumber1]

im at a loss how you come to this forum before you contact the vendor or festool first

you have 30days to return no questions asked, regardless used or new

 

[semenza]

I probably would have gone straight to the vendor about it. But it never hurts to find all the info you can about dealing with a situation first, and go in to it well informed. Internet is very handy for finding out about everything first.

Seth 

 

[Alumac]

I probably would have gone straight to the vendor about it. But it never hurts to find all the info you can about dealing with a situation first, and go in to it well informed. Internet is very handy for finding out about everything first.

Seth

Exactly.  The vendor isn’t open today, so I thought why not try this community. Given the special relationship festool has with their vendors, I wanted to see if this kind of thing was dealt with differently and if anyone else had experienced this and how it played out.

To further the conversation, when I contact the vendor if it wasn’t a shipping mistake is it normal for festool vendors to sell demo units as new?

 

[Jeff Zanin]

No it is not normal for Festool or their dealers to sell demo units as new. 

There was a "reconditioned" ecosystem but it seems to be out of use right now.

Obviously used items can be sold as such, but usually on a secondary market and not by dealers.

 

[Thompmd]

I would be flabbergasted as well. If it was advertised as new, it should be new.

I would call the vendor directly as already mentioned.

IMO , vendor needs to hop on it, get it to you immediately and make it right. I’ve not heard this before so I have to believe mistake of some kind, it happens.

Let us know what happens

 

[sancho57]

Return it to the dealer you have 30 days to return it no questions axed.

If yer not in the USA dont know if the 30 day window applies thinks its a bit shorter.

If thats the case call Festool.

If you registered it immediately like you should they will have a record of the purchase date.

 

[Alumac]

Resolution-

Called the vendor that Monday to register my complaint.  The response was ‘whoops, we’ll ship you a new version of the correct tool.”

They sent me a shipping label and told me that once I drop off the tool and it’s scanned as received they will ship the new tool without waiting for the old one to get to them. I dropped it off after I got off the phone with them. Later I the day, I get confirmation that a ‘new’ order has been generated and that it will ship that day with an estimated arrival of Wednesday.

Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday come and go.  Friday I check the status on their website, and see it shipped!  Estimated delivery of Saturday. 

So using the carrier tracking number they provided, I check on it for movement on Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday. It seems the shipping label was generated, but the box was not given to the carrier until mid day Monday.

Finally today, Wednesday, it showed up!  I self registered it with festool so I’m good to go. 

I’m pretty convinced now that it was a mistake in their shipping department, as was evidenced by how disorganized the process of sending me what I ordered went. The returns department was pretty sharp.  Regardless, I won’t be ordering from them again, even if I’m in a pinch like I was here. The vendor was not a mom and pop shop, so I’m both surprised and not surprised with how things went. Moral of the story for me is to just buy local from now on. And if local is out of stock, just wait until they get it back in stock. The local festool experience is so much better it’s worth the wait.

 

[Mike Goetzke]

Glad this worked out in the end.

I dislike the way companies send you a tracking # to act like an item was shipped. OK I'm a Lego builder and before Christmas ordered a set that was in high demand. They don't charge until item is shipped, long story short, they sent the tracking number and I didn't get the package until 3-months later! They claimed it was at the warehouse waiting for pickup the whole time. Add insult to injury - the warehouse was about a 10 minute trip from my house.

 

[Jeff Zanin]

Glad to read it worked out, too bad about the shipping shenanigans. 

Your experience highlights the importance of working with good dealers, especially with Festool where the pricing is pretty much the same.  The efforts made (or not) by the dealers in terms of shipping, communication, returns, etc. can make a big difference the the purchasing and support experience.

Here I have Lee Valley which is nearby and they do a great job, Atlas is also local with good service and a huge selection of products and brands.

For Festool I mostly use Ultimate Tools, they are a long way away but they were one of the first retail Festool dealers in Canada, and they consistently demonstrate superior product knowledge, excellent communications and very good shipping.  They also have TSO, Fastcap and other brands that are not that easy to find in Canada, so that is another bonus to doing business with them.

 

[ChuckM]

Though never been a customer of Ultimate Tools, their website is informative as many parts are listed. Yes, I wish my go-to merchant carried more Fastcap items.

 

[peter halle]

...And one thing about Ultimate Tools that many don't know is that it was founded by a FOG member.  Dan Clermont was hugely involved in the forum in the early years and went to the first end-user get together put on by Festool USA.  After that he decided to become a dealer and opened up his own store.  Originally it was Festool only, but it has grown in brands and items carried.

Peter