Bob Marino - Festools - dissapointment

[Peter_C]

My experience was different than many others. Some of the email chain below, so no one calls me a newb to the board and a fake with fake news blah blah.

On Mar 17, 2017, at 4:41 PM, Peter wrote:

Hi Bob,

Could you please find out on availability of these parts? They are CT 36 E parts. It is late on Friday and I do not expect an immediate response. In fact you may have to check with the warehouse on Monday to confirm availability. Let me know the answer and we can get you a credit card to place the order.

496255 Filter Holder

494262 Side Clamp CT26/36 (2 Clamps required)

Seems Festool's listing for prices on Ekat differs from dealer pricing? Not the first time I have seen it.

__________
These are standard replacement parts that are also needed.

498994 Hepa Filter

496186 5 pack CT 36 filter bags

Thank you,
Peter

(No reply so I followed up)
On Mar 21, 2017, at 5:46 PM, Peter wrote:

Checking in to see if you had any luck?

Thanks!
Peter

On Mar 22, 2017, at 8:49 AM, Bob Marino wrote:

494262 is not a good number

Quickly pecked out on my iPhone.

On Mar 22, 2017, at 9:46 AM, Peter wrote:
That is because it was a data transmission error. Actual part number is 496262  (2 Required)  #41 on the CT 36 Ekat diagram for the top of the dust collector.

Sorry for that,
Peter

The next email I got was from Bob emailing Festool on someone Else's order that I was CC'ed on?? It was an entire week later and I wanted to get the parts ordered, and should have already had them in my hands. I had tried to give Bob business. One quick email to Toolnut and they told me to order the replacement parts directly from Festool and included a phone number to do so, then said to place the order for the other parts online...That is the info I needed. I routinely buy Festool products from a few vendors and thought I would give Bob a chance. That chance came and went. I get free shipping and no sales tax from Amazon (Hartville Tools), Tool Nut, Acme Tools and other Etailers. No free tee shirts yet though...

Edit: Just checked the order date with Tool Nut, which was on March 29th, so I had waited until March 28th to email The Tool Nut, for which they responded to my request the next day, and I placed the order the same day. Plenty of time was given to Bob.

 

[antss]

To what end was this story dragged up a year after it happened and settled ?

Some one have an axe to grind with Bob ?  [huh]

 

[charley1968]

Errr, it's 2017, antss?
I think it's legit to post criticism even if it's your first post and i think Bob handled it well.
Nuff said

 

[cobbler]

To what end was this story dragged up a year after it happened and settled ?

Some one have an axe to grind with Bob ?  [huh]

I guess that would be my fault. I had done a search and the thread came up and I did not notice the year old date. Since my experience ordering through Bob and conversing with him on PM was much different I felt compelled to make the comment that I appreciated the way he handled the situation and thus earned my business in the process.

My apologies for opening up an old wound.

 

[Bob Marino]

My experience was different than many others. Some of the email chain below, so no one calls me a newb to the board and a fake with fake news blah blah.

On Mar 17, 2017, at 4:41 PM, Peter wrote:

Hi Bob,

Could you please find out on availability of these parts? They are CT 36 E parts. It is late on Friday and I do not expect an immediate response. In fact you may have to check with the warehouse on Monday to confirm availability. Let me know the answer and we can get you a credit card to place the order.

496255 Filter Holder

494262 Side Clamp CT26/36 (2 Clamps required)

Seems Festool's listing for prices on Ekat differs from dealer pricing? Not the first time I have seen it.

__________
These are standard replacement parts that are also needed.

498994 Hepa Filter

496186 5 pack CT 36 filter bags

Thank you,
Peter

(No reply so I followed up)
On Mar 21, 2017, at 5:46 PM, Peter wrote:

Checking in to see if you had any luck?

Thanks!
Peter

On Mar 22, 2017, at 8:49 AM, Bob Marino wrote:

494262 is not a good number

Quickly pecked out on my iPhone.

On Mar 22, 2017, at 9:46 AM, Peter wrote:
That is because it was a data transmission error. Actual part number is 496262  (2 Required)  #41 on the CT 36 Ekat diagram for the top of the dust collector.

Sorry for that,
Peter

The next email I got was from Bob emailing Festool on someone Else's order that I was CC'ed on?? It was an entire week later and I wanted to get the parts ordered, and should have already had them in my hands. I had tried to give Bob business. One quick email to Toolnut and they told me to order the replacement parts directly from Festool and included a phone number to do so, then said to place the order for the other parts online...That is the info I needed. I routinely buy Festool products from a few vendors and thought I would give Bob a chance. That chance came and went. I get free shipping and no sales tax from Amazon (Hartville Tools), Tool Nut, Acme Tools and other Etailers. No free tee shirts yet though...

Edit: Just checked the order date with Tool Nut, which was on March 29th, so I had waited until March 28th to email The Tool Nut, for which they responded to my request the next day, and I placed the order the same day. Plenty of time was given to Bob.

Peter,

Nope, no fake news here.  Sorry for the lack of followup on your request and for the very poor customer experience. It's as painful for a dealer to read this as it is frustrating for the customer to have such an experience, especially on an initial order. There is an old saying - "you only get one chance to make an initial impression" and yours was not good. No excuses and its on me.

For a few months, while Festool was doing their warehouse updating, they were not able to process credit cards, so  customers were asked by Festool to contact individual dealers. Very few dealers were set up and/or chose not to take "parts" orders as this pretty much had to be done in a different manner then web orders. This was something I needed to commit to 100% -  not 90% - either you are in for all parts orders or simply don't offer that service.  Many parts orders were placed, but a few were either mishandled - incorrect address, duplicate shipments or worse - missed. Again, no excuses, more of an organization issue than not, but a lesson learned.

Thankfully, Festool has recently began accepting parts orders as this makes it a very smooth process for customers - no middleman dealers.

 

[Bob Marino]

To what end was this story dragged up a year after it happened and settled ?

Some one have an axe to grind with Bob ?  [huh]

I guess that would be my fault. I had done a search and the thread came up and I did not notice the year old date. Since my experience ordering through Bob and conversing with him on PM was much different I felt compelled to make the comment that I appreciated the way he handled the situation and thus earned my business in the process.

My apologies for opening up an old wound.

Nope, it is not your fault, it's mine - since I dropped that ball, not you. The FOG and other such forums serve a genuine service to both potential customers and existing customers. In an ideal world there would be no mistakes made, no miscommunication, no shipping damages, no UPS delays or mis-deliveries, etc. and dealers would only get perfect reviews and kudos.  It's never pleasant to read about a customer complaint on the forums - or even in a PM, but that customer has every right to do so - and in fact though painful to read, it does serve as a reminder to shoot for that 100% customer satisfaction.

 

[Tinker]

Bob is still a class act.

 

[antss]

[member=23615]charley1968[/member] - nothing wrong with calling out Bob or anyone else.  What I found bizarre was that [member=64718]cobbler[/member] resurrected a year old thread to seemingly make a drive by comment on how he thought the OP appropriate complaining.  I didn't see anything leading me to believe [member=64718]cobbler[/member] had a bad experience - prompting the post.

Only then did [member=62526]Peter C[/member] tell us of his experience - a 2017 experience.  Maybe I'm missing the obvious; are cobbler and Peter C the same people ?

I could have seen the continuity if Peter C had brought this back to life, or cobbler had shared details of his issue to begin with.  In the end, though, I think it was good that these issues were brought to light and that Bob came on to explain what happened.

I do find it rather ironic that both of these issues seem to stem from Bob trying to go the xtra mile.  If he'd have decline to participate in the parts ordering program or decided to not include printed supplemental manuals like pretty much everyone else - we wouldn't even be having this conversation.  He has though; and that's his burden to bear.  All the major players have problems at some point or another.

 

[cobbler]

[member=23615]charley1968[/member] - nothing wrong with calling out Bob or anyone else.  What I found bizarre was that [member=64718]cobbler[/member] resurrected a year old thread to seemingly make a drive by comment on how he thought the OP appropriate complaining.  I didn't see anything leading me to believe [member=64718]cobbler[/member] had a bad experience - prompting the post.

Only then did [member=62526]Peter C[/member] tell us of his experience - a 2017 experience.  Maybe I'm missing the obvious; are cobbler and Peter C the same people ?

I could have seen the continuity if Peter C had brought this back to life, or cobbler had shared details of his issue to begin with.  In the end, though, I think it was good that these issues were brought to light and that Bob came on to explain what happened.

I do find it rather ironic that both of these issues seem to stem from Bob trying to go the xtra mile.  If he'd have decline to participate in the parts ordering program or decided to not include printed supplemental manuals like pretty much everyone else - we wouldn't even be having this conversation.  He has though; and that's his burden to bear.  All the major players have problems at some point or another.

No I am not the same person as Peter C. This has al been a huge misunderstanding and just the opposite of a complaint from my perspective. Let me explain.

I was researching some Festool products and looking for a retailer to purchase from. I had heard Bobs name come up on several forums where he is well respected. I did a quick search here and this thread popped up. I absolutely did not realize it was a year old and I sincerely apologize for resurrecting it with my comment.

With regards to my original comment, after reading the thread (which I thought was current) I was impressed with the way Bob handled the issue at hand and the way he acknowledged the original OP's venting as legitimate and accepted all responsibility. I like that in a retailer. You know, the age old "customer is always right" thing. I found his humility and honesty to be refreshing, especially so in todays world and it resulted in me becoming a customer of his.

I most certainly did not intend to resurrect or create a platform for more complaints. In fact, it was just the opposite.

My apologies to everyone for the confusion and foolishness to not realize this was a year old thread.

Craig

 

[Michael Kellough]

I vote in favor of deleting this thread.

 

[cobbler]

Me too!!!! Please!!!!!  [smile]

*looking for a rock to hide under*

 

[semenza]

    It seems that the follow up posts from those involved make the thread fairly clear.  And everyone is being pretty upfront about what happened, etc.  Which is nice to see.

  cobbler, no real need to hide under anything, but if you do hide it is supposed to be under a Systainer.  [tongue]

Seth

 

[Bob Marino]

I vote in favor of deleting this thread.

[Me too!!!! Please!!!!!  [smile]

*looking for a rock to hide under* ]

  Michael and Craig,

While I thank you for your noble sentiments - this thread should not and must not be deleted. Your responses came with the best of intentions and I very much appreciate that, but I feel strongly enough about this when I read them to get out of the gym and post a response.

My thoughts. This is an open and honest forum, where people can post what they want to - within common sense guidelines. They post the good (mostly and thankfully) but they have to be free to post the errors and missteps or else this risks turning into a fan-boy club and customers will only see the rosy side of the coin. This does not rise to the occasion of the Pentagon Papers, but none the less, it would be censorship. And what type of an appreciation for posting an honest (though negative) experience would those posters feel if this were deleted? Favoritism? Whitewash - only post positive threads?

There is a whole section on the FOG about posting Festool problems. The same must apply to dealers.  Was the OP and the most current complaint tough to read? You bet it was, it really was but there was no claim of dishonestly or trickery either, which rises to a whole nother level, rather than dropping the ball. Mistakes happen, hopefully we can all learn from them.

 

[semenza]

I vote in favor of deleting this thread.

[Me too!!!! Please!!!!!  [smile]

*looking for a rock to hide under* ]

  Michael and Craig,

While I thank you for your noble sentiments - this thread should not and must not be deleted. Your responses came with the best of intentions and I very much appreciate that, but I feel strongly enough about this when I read them to get out of the gym and post a response.

My thoughts. This is an open and honest forum, where people can post what they want to - within common sense guidelines. They post the good (mostly and thankfully) but they have to be free to post the errors and missteps or else this risks turning into a fan-boy club and customers will only see the rosy side of the coin. This does not rise to the occasion of the Pentagon Papers, but none the less, it would be censorship. And what type of an appreciation for posting an honest (though negative) experience would those posters feel if this were deleted? Favoritism? Whitewash - only post positive threads?

There is a whole section on the FOG about posting Festool problems. The same must apply to dealers.  Was the OP and the most current complaint tough to read? You bet it was, it really was but there was no claim of dishonestly or trickery either, which rises to a whole nother level, rather than dropping the ball. Mistakes happen, hopefully we can all learn from them.

Hear, hear!    [thumbs up]

Seth

 

[Bob Marino]

I vote in favor of deleting this thread.

[Me too!!!! Please!!!!!  [smile]

*looking for a rock to hide under* ]

  Michael and Craig,

While I thank you for your noble sentiments - this thread should not and must not be deleted. Your responses came with the best of intentions and I very much appreciate that, but I feel strongly enough about this when I read them to get out of the gym and post a response.

My thoughts. This is an open and honest forum, where people can post what they want to - within common sense guidelines. They post the good (mostly and thankfully) but they have to be free to post the errors and missteps or else this risks turning into a fan-boy club and customers will only see the rosy side of the coin. This does not rise to the occasion of the Pentagon Papers, but none the less, it would be censorship. And what type of an appreciation for posting an honest (though negative) experience would those posters feel if this were deleted? Favoritism? Whitewash - only post positive threads?

There is a whole section on the FOG about posting Festool problems. The same must apply to dealers.  Was the OP and the most current complaint tough to read? You bet it was, it really was but there was no claim of dishonestly or trickery either, which rises to a whole nother level, rather than dropping the ball. Mistakes happen, hopefully we can all learn from them.

Hear, hear!    [thumbs up]

Seth

Phew, now back to the gym.

 

[jeh]

Bob Marino is a great person who has gone the extra mile for me rather than just accepting the order and hoping it was as intended (it was not) and being concerned the delivery date might be an issue (it was Christmas, but it was not an issue). Attacking someone by posting it here before giving it time to be resolved is not the way to handle things. It makes no sense whatsoever to slander Bob, or anyone for that matter, unless they have truly wronged or defrauded you.

 

[charley1968]

Wow, this is getting convoluted: [member=727]antss[/member] : i was going off half cocked, cuz i haven't read the date of the very first post, so i thought you were referring to Peters post as being a year old!
Talking about opening a can of worms..Have a shrimp, everyone

 

[semenza]

Lets all get back to the gym.

Seth

 

[charley1968]

Nope. Not me. I wanna be fat.

 

[antss]

Lets all get back to the gym.

Seth

Back to the gym  - doesn't anybody work for a living anymore ?
[tongue] [tongue] [smile]