Canadian Shopper Needs Your Help!

[Red Lion]

I'm debating if its worth it for me to cross the border and purchase some Festool equipment. I have called and emailed Hafele and they have not returned my messages. Unfortunatley they are the only Festool distributors in Canada so I gotta do what I gotta do. I'm driving three hours to Rochester to buy some power tools ... jeez.

Is Woodcraft a reputable dealer? Would I be able to just go to their location in Rochester and pick up the products or do they have an order process? Anybody have some advice?

And yes I'll be paying a hefty tax upon return but Hafele apparently ups their prices by 15% which is comparable anyways. Oh and not to mention they aren't open on the weekends.

Thanks for reading people - any advice is much appreciated.

 

[nickao]

Well if you are asking if it is worth it to cross the border to get Festools in your hand I say, HECK YES!

If you want another idea for purchasing Festools from a Canadian there are a few here that may be able to help.

Woodcraft is fine to purchase from though in some stores the counter help may be lacking.

Nickao

 

[adm291]

I've purchased quite a number of Festool products across the border, long before we had Hafele take over the Canadian distribution and subsequently 'bunged it up' for the rest of us. It was really worth it to get your tools shipped to a US postal box when the Canadian buck was near par, but over the last couple of monthes all the savings have been lost.  I just received shipment of the domino from Hafele, and I must say that they did a decent job of it. The only extra cost was GST since it was shipped to me out of Calgary. No shipping costs either. The final tally on the domino, the assortment pack, and 1 box of sipo's, was $100 less than the US price even though I had to pay for the sipo box (not included as a freebie in Canada) - it also showed up at my door with Purolator. The US price is obviously better initially, but add 20% exchange, state sales tax (I use Bob Marino since he has none though), and duty/applicable taxes at the border and you are now paying more.

The guy from Hafele Canada threw in one of the accessories in the package price, so that affected the price. Up to recently, if you contacted Hafele and talked to one of their calltakers/secretaries they would rudely say that they don't know what product you are referring to, and that they don't carry that product. This time I talked to a guy named Dan at their 1800 number and he was pretty helpful. Even though at the end of it all, I just ended up getting something from them that I had asked the guy to cancel the order on.

 

[mwhafner]

If you are looking for specific items, it may make sense to have Woodcraft order your items before you make the drive.  I travel extensively, and have visited many Woodcraft stores.  Because they are franchised, the selection can vary greatly from store to store.