James Biddle
Member
- Joined
- Jan 24, 2007
- Messages
- 162
Many, if not most, of the complaints we're seeing today are issues that have developed over time and were not around back then (aside from that crappy receptacle). When the guide rails first came out, the the cut strips were black and we didn't like that we couldn't see the lines beneath them. Back then, Festool was not the giant you see today and made the change in the cut strips to the clear ones and the adhesion problems occurred after that. We didn't know the Kapex motor issues would occur when it was first released. Festool had no idea of the backlash that would occur when they introduced the imperial scales. (OK, the jigsaw has been average at best from the beginning.) My point is that it's possible that their were fewer known product issues back then and mostly individual problems.
I think Tyler has continued the tradition of helpfulness set back with Christian. And the dealers and the mods. They all really try to help if at all possible, but it is more on an individual level, not a product development or change perspective. I thank you all for your helpfulness.
My issues were, and continue to be, with Festool itself. A post from them saying "we've heard your concerns over the new style DC hoses and while we continue to work towards giving you the best in class dust collection experience, the new style DC hose end is the direction of the future". Yes, it's corporate speak for FU, but at least we're given the impression that our concerns were considered. Or, how about, "we've heard the complaints on the Imperial scale only tools and we will be releasing all US tools in both formats in the future". All done from a Festool Corporate posting.
I don't care if they agree with my complaints or tell me to pound sand, a response is necessary. The argument against doing this is that none of the other companies operate in this manner. My counter would be that none of their lower-cost competitors have positioned themselves as being best-in-class via system, advertising and price point. Instead, competitors continue to release new products or iterations of products to position themselves to best capture market share. Festool's model has mostly been create, design, release, move onto the next. The flaws in that model are obvious, you not only need to create (sorry, radios don't count), you need to improve your original creations to keep ahead of the competition releasing their versions of your creations that include their improvements.
Their appears to be a growing number of Festool owners that are reducing their position in Festool products, myself included. Relying on growing the customer base while not addressing customer retention is a risky model to follow.
I think Tyler has continued the tradition of helpfulness set back with Christian. And the dealers and the mods. They all really try to help if at all possible, but it is more on an individual level, not a product development or change perspective. I thank you all for your helpfulness.
My issues were, and continue to be, with Festool itself. A post from them saying "we've heard your concerns over the new style DC hoses and while we continue to work towards giving you the best in class dust collection experience, the new style DC hose end is the direction of the future". Yes, it's corporate speak for FU, but at least we're given the impression that our concerns were considered. Or, how about, "we've heard the complaints on the Imperial scale only tools and we will be releasing all US tools in both formats in the future". All done from a Festool Corporate posting.
I don't care if they agree with my complaints or tell me to pound sand, a response is necessary. The argument against doing this is that none of the other companies operate in this manner. My counter would be that none of their lower-cost competitors have positioned themselves as being best-in-class via system, advertising and price point. Instead, competitors continue to release new products or iterations of products to position themselves to best capture market share. Festool's model has mostly been create, design, release, move onto the next. The flaws in that model are obvious, you not only need to create (sorry, radios don't count), you need to improve your original creations to keep ahead of the competition releasing their versions of your creations that include their improvements.
Their appears to be a growing number of Festool owners that are reducing their position in Festool products, myself included. Relying on growing the customer base while not addressing customer retention is a risky model to follow.
