Festool Canada

[Mark Nowicki]

In the past, at every opportunity, I have expressed my negative opinion about Festool, and specifically their Canadian distributor, Hafele Canada.  I have given up on the idea of  ever purchasing Festool in Canada.

About three weeks ago, following a positive post on a canadian forum I decided to give Hafele Canada another try.

I am happy to say that, as a result of outstanding customer service by Robert Crowe, their Montreal rep.,  I now have my first set of Festool products,  and I will not hesitate to buy more.

Robert went above and beyond what I expected or paid for in service

Before I placed my order, Robert  took the time to demonstrate the tools and their features, and offered a replacement  for the duration of warranty repairs.

After I placed my order, I was told that there would be a two to three week wait for the next shipment to arrive. Robert offered me the use of his own tools for the duration of the wait. When I declined, he said that it was “not your fault  we are out of stock” and  had my order expedited by AIR at NO CHARGE . 

Thank you, Robert
Mark Nowicki

 

[Brice Burrell]

It is always nice the hear about outstanding customer service. So, do tell, what did you buy?

You Canadian guys have, Robert Crowe, (Bob north), we have Bob Marino, (Bob south).

 

[Mark Nowicki]

I got the TS 55EQ, CT22 and the 55" guide.

Mark

 

[Brice Burrell]

Best of luck with the new tools, I know you will enjoy using them, and I see more Festool products in your futrue.

 

[richard.selwyn]

Can Festool please find us a French Bob. 
I've resorted to going to England to buy my Festools.  There's no stock here and no service that I can find.  Maybe we're just too close to Germany but not close enough?  Or maybe it's just the French 35 hour week.  A next day air from the US has taken up to 10 days to get here.  I once made the mistake of ordering direct form Lee Valley and paid 40 dollars to the French government for a 100 dollar order.  One parcel we dispatched to Paris from our local post office (Paris is about 1hour 15mins away) turned up a week later at another local post office who rang to ask what we would like them to do with it......
Sorry, end of rant.

 

[Cannuck]

I've heard alot of bad things about Hafele Canada and their lack of service regarding Festool - so I have to put forward my two cents to the contrary.

My only dealings with Hafele have been since January 2008 - and they've been all positive.  In the past 4-5 months I've purchased some hardware and a number of Festool tools (slippery slope indeed!) from Hafele.  Their rep Shawn, in Burlington, provided expert advice and assistance in purchasing my tools.

Today, I received a surprise visit from one of the local Hafele reps for Eastern Ontario.  He dropped by to check up on how the tools are working for me, and whether there was anything else I needed or that he could help me with.  He also apprised me of the new tool offerings.

Maybe Hafele has been bad in the past, but my experience with them has been terrific.  This is the very picture of good service, if I ever seen it.

Regards,
Rob

 

[Texastutt]

I too have not had any problems with Hafele... I've had an account with them for years though... they are a trade ONLY distributer, so that may be some of the beef. I deal with Sean in Burlington.

 

[mhch]

Can Festool please find us a French Bob. 
I've resorted to going to England to buy my Festools.  There's no stock here and no service that I can find.  Maybe we're just too close to Germany but not close enough?  Or maybe it's just the French 35 hour week.

I ordered my Festool equipment from hmdiffusion. They are one of the biggest Festool dealer in France,
and they stock all items described in their online catalog. In several offices, they even have a large
demo room exhibiting all the woodwork equipment they sell.

They are known to charge  more than other vendors, but for
Festool I did not notice a difference since Festool closely controls its distributors.
They won't be your uncle, but I found them reasonably competent.
They offered me to buy one of their demo MFT when I wanted  one extra because of the
discontinuation.

I saw a shelf shelf loaded with a bunch of Kapex boxes in the main office near Lyon. When I saw it,
I regretted not to have a camera to make a picture to post here 

A next day air from the US has taken up to 10 days to get here.  I once made the mistake of ordering direct form Lee Valley and paid 40 dollars to the French government for a 100 dollar order.

I'm surprised you even tried it.  Next day service for international shipment does not make sense except for things with no
commercial value. Carriers have no control of custom offices they are required to go through.  Lowe value (les than 50 to 80 euros/USD)
go faster.

Plus there is some randomness in how much and how fast a custom investigation is performed.

I always request USPS shipment when ordering from the US (not UPS.
It also takes 8-10 days, but costs much less.

One parcel we dispatched to Paris from our local post office (Paris is about 1hour 15mins away) turned up a week later at another local post office who rang to ask what we would like them to do with it......

How big was the parcel ?

I'm surprised to hear that the post office did not know what to do.
Are you sure you did not made a mistake around the delivery address ?

 

[Kapitaldream]

Well getting back to Hafele, I was going to place a $760 order for the linear sander and a bunch of paper for it today when the the Calgary order taker told me that the free freight for orders over $250 has been changed to $1,000 just for Vancouver Island where I live!  I called the general manager for Hafele to no avail. So the next time I go to the States I'll buy down there. I sure hope that Lee Valley gets the franchise.
Steve

 

[Dan Clermont]

Well getting back to Hafele, I was going to place a $760 order for the linear sander and a bunch of paper for it today when the the Calgary order taker told me that the free freight for orders over $250 has been changed to $1,000 just for Vancouver Island where I live!  I called the general manager for Hafele to no avail. So the next time I go to the States I'll buy down there. I sure hope that Lee Valley gets the franchise.
Steve

Hi Steve

They changed the free shipping to pay shipping on May 1st. I ended up with a shipping bill on some slides I had ordered before the May 1st deadline and they were kind enough to credit my card.

Perhaps in Ontario things are different and Sean is truly helpful but I really think we need another option out here on the West Coast!

I have friends who cross the border for gas weekly. If you need a sander I can give you a Washington State address to have it shipped too and I'll either ship it to you on the island or you can pick it up from me next time you are in Vancouver

Cheers
Dan Clermont

 

[Kapitaldream]

Thanks for the offer Dan. I have some customers down in California so when I deliver to them I'll stop in to see Bill at Festool Supply. I've talked to one guy at Hafele who works out of Ontario and he really knew the product line and actually used the tools. He was very helpful. Not so the western bunch.
Steve

 

[ccmviking]

Customer Service usually gets a lot better during the time of a flailing economy.  Once sales are down, the sales people have no choice but to hit the streets looking for buyers.  Hopefully they'll keep it up, but it's not likely.  Anyone over 14 years of age should know how the systems work by now.

Chris...

 

[richard.selwyn]

mhch

Thanks for the reply.  I have used HM diffusion, but they are, as you say, a bit expensive.  There is now a new Festool supplier in Rouen who are on the ball so I can get parts, consumables etc within the week.
Parcels - the Lee order was not next day air - that was a packet of documents for signature from New York.  Worse was trying to return them - the local post office couldn't guarantee a delivery date.
The parcel that ended back at a local post office was a Chronopost containing Stilton and Cheddar for my father in law in Paris - luckily I had vacuum packed them, otherwise they might have had to evacuate the local post office!!
I get the impression you have good experiences with parcel deliveries - maybe I should move down south?
Richard

 

[Mark Nowicki]

I guess  this is a good opportunity for an update of my Festool saga.

First and foremost, all the nice things I said about Hafele and Robert are NULL and VOID.

Actually Robert, for all I know, is still a nice guy, however he no longer works for Hafele. Can't say I blame him for quitting, since the Montreal branch of Hafele is closed. And Hafele is, of course, still Hafele: incompetent, arrogant, and clueless when it comes to Festool.

Personally I blame Festool as much as Hafele, because, unless someone has some embarrassing pictures there is no reason that  Hafele has remained an exclusive distributor in Canada.  I can't believe that Festool is not aware of the Canadian situation, so I can only assume that they approve of Hafeles' "marketing efforts." IMO, Festool  would not know how to market the only blond in a navy town.

If I sound a little angry, understand that I paid $450 more than I had to, for a tool for which I can't get  parts or service, never mind the  replacement I was promised. I did call Hafele asking for a name of the new Montreal rep and they giggled (I kid you not)

There, I feel so much better now.

Mark Nowicki

 

[dirtydeeds]

nowiki

your comments ring true in the uk as well, individuals do their job, i dont think its FESTOOL themseves

i think its the local importers who take the mickey, telling you its germany that cause the problems

the exception seems to be north america, where service / cost is paramount. they seem to understand that premium price means premium service

in the uk, premium price equals the poorest service BAR none

even dewalt do not take a month to deal with warranty claims

 

[Frank Pellow]

I guess  this is a good opportunity for an update of my Festool saga.

First and foremost, all the nice things I said about Hafele and Robert are NULL and VOID.

Actually Robert, for all I know, is still a nice guy, however he no longer works for Hafele. Can't say I blame him for quitting, since the Montreal branch of Hafele is closed. And Hafele is, of course, still Hafele: incompetent, arrogant, and clueless when it comes to Festool.

Personally I blame Festool as much as Hafele, because, unless someone has some embarrassing pictures there is no reason that  Hafele has remained an exclusive distributor in Canada.  I can't believe that Festool is not aware of the Canadian situation, so I can only assume that they approve of Hafeles' "marketing efforts." IMO, Festool  would not know how to market the only blond in a navy town.

If I sound a little angry, understand that I paid $450 more than I had to, for a tool for which I can't get  parts or service, never mind the  replacement I was promised. I did call Hafele asking for a name of the new Montreal rep and they giggled (I kid you not)

There, I feel so much better now.

Mark Nowicki

Mark, I am sorry but not at all surprised about your dealings with Hafele. 

I understand that Mark St. Pierre who is located in the Ottawa area is still with Hafele.  Marc visited my shop about a year ago and demonstrated the whole Festool line.  He does know what he is talking about and he is a real woodworker.  I suggest that you contact him to see if he will try to help you.

 

[Frank Pellow]

nowiki

your comments ring true in the uk as well, individuals do their job, i dont think its FESTOOL themseves

i think its the local importers who take the mickey, telling you its germany that cause the problems

the exception seems to be north america, where service / cost is paramount. they seem to understand that premium price means premium service

in the uk, premium price equals the poorest service BAR none

even dewalt do not take a month to deal with warranty claims

I wish that were true for all North American countries, but it only appears to be true for one of them.

 

[Dan Clermont]

I guess  this is a good opportunity for an update of my Festool saga.

First and foremost, all the nice things I said about Hafele and Robert are NULL and VOID.

Actually Robert, for all I know, is still a nice guy, however he no longer works for Hafele. Can't say I blame him for quitting, since the Montreal branch of Hafele is closed. And Hafele is, of course, still Hafele: incompetent, arrogant, and clueless when it comes to Festool.

Personally I blame Festool as much as Hafele, because, unless someone has some embarrassing pictures there is no reason that  Hafele has remained an exclusive distributor in Canada.  I can't believe that Festool is not aware of the Canadian situation, so I can only assume that they approve of Hafeles' "marketing efforts." IMO, Festool  would not know how to market the only blond in a navy town.

If I sound a little angry, understand that I paid $450 more than I had to, for a tool for which I can't get  parts or service, never mind the  replacement I was promised. I did call Hafele asking for a name of the new Montreal rep and they giggled (I kid you not)

There, I feel so much better now.

Mark Nowicki

Hey Mark,

Been there, done that. They never did get my hard earned money!!

I sent an e-mail to an address on the German Festool site mentioning my displeasure way back to make myself feel better.

Got an e-mail over the weekend from another FOG'er who also is pretty unhappy with Hafele and their lack of knowledge and poor customer skills. I've taught him how to buy in the US and have Festool's shipped to a bordertown!!

Sure hope we can get Festool USA selling to us Canadians in the near future!!!

Dan Clermont

 

[HappyCamper]

Thank you Dan for posting your instructions on drop shipments to a U.S. location.  I am keen to try it once I return from my 10-month self imposed exile in France. I must say I was very prepared to order from the Canadian supplier based on some increasingly positive posts.  However, recent updates from the same posters have changed my mind.  And it did occur to me that your instructions would also apply for all those other U.S. suppliers that only ship to U.S. locations.  A whole now world of shopping opportunities....

 

[Cannuck]

It was Marc St. Pierre of Hafele who came to visit me last week, and I am very happy with him and Sean.  I purchased my first Festool from a US online distributor, thinking I would save money.  At the end of the day, after duty and taxes, I didn't save anything over the Hafele price I'd been quoted.

For most tool purchases from Festool, you will not save any money buying from a US retailer over buying from Hafele if you are in Canada.  Even if the net prices are lower in the US, the duty will get you everytime.  I'm not ready to drive to the US (even though I'm only 45 minutes from the border) to pick up items and drive them through customs.  It's not worth the time or money to me.

I have no complaints about Hafele Canada, but I will say this.  Seeing how active many of the US retailers are in the FOG, I would encourage supporting them over Hafele - given the gross price is the same after shipping, duty and taxes.  I see Timmy, Anthony, RW and Bob Marino on this site all the time.  If they are that invested in the community, than they are worth supporting - IMO. 

Rob