Festool service problem

[image132]

Well as you all know I love my Festools but with the addition of my most recent Festool, the RO 125, has come with some bad taste.

Here is what happened. I recently bought that RO 125 and found it great but as the kind members of this forum told me it was the old model. I didn't think much of this since all I was really missing was the Protector but after looking in the Festo Catalogue and seeing that it should be the new model with it and the members telling me how useful it is I sort of felt cheated. Having paid full price for an old machine without all it's pieces I went back to my dealer to have him tell me that there is new management up in Jo'burg which is the HQ of Festool here in SA and that they were shipping out their old models. My dealer was angry himself because he said this is the second time it happened to him that they gave him an old model. He told me that the HQ was not willing to take it back and that he was working on getting me a slight refund but it looks unlikely.

Now I'm not one to complain but this situation has annoyed me and as per the advice of another memeber of this forum I emailed the "service email address" on the German Festool website on Sunday and have got no reply. I did send it from my gmail accont because thats the only email I have and was wondering if maybe it got sent to their spam? I'm worried that my time for something to be done is running out. Should I just shut up and ignore this or send another email and did I send it to the right place?

Any advice would be appreciated.

Chris

P.S I'm unsure if I put this in the right section.

 

[ajones]

Hi I saw your other thread about this,I'm sure Festool will do the right thing I would give them a week to get back to you as there are  bound to be some emails bouncing between the German and south African hq's and having spent some time in Africa I know things take time.
just keep at it.... and keep us posted. I think if it was Festool US it would have been sorted by now...............

 

[image132]

Hi I saw your other thread about this,I'm sure Festool will do the right thing I would give them a week to get back to you as there are  bound to be some emails bouncing between the German and south African hq's and having spent some time in Africa I know things take time.
just keep at it.... and keep us posted. I think if it was Festool US it would have been sorted by now...............

Yeah, service in this country sucks.

 

[ajones]

Hi just a thought do you have the thirty day return policy down there?????

 

[joiner1970]

I did the same thing here in the Uk back in 2007 when I bought my first Festool the TS55 saw. They sold me the old model when it was just changing over, from reading stuff on this forum I spotted what had happened and called Festool, they said its upto the dealer and nothing to do with them so I returned to my dealer. They swapped it off their own back and probably sold my old one to someone less fussy than me.

 

[image132]

I did the same thing here in the Uk back in 2007 when I bought my first Festool the TS55 saw. They sold me the old model when it was just changing over, from reading stuff on this forum I spotted what had happened and called Festool, they said its upto the dealer and nothing to do with them so I returned to my dealer. They swapped it off their own back and probably sold my old one to someone less fussy than me.

Sigh. So it looks like I shouldn't hold my breath.

 

[woodguy7]

Keep at them, don't let it go.  I wouldn't  [popcorn]

Woodguy

 

[ajones]

You should  phone festool in Jo buburg ask for Craig Kallis he is the area sales for cape town 0027-11-390-70 00

 

[image132]

You should  phone festool in Jo buburg ask for Craig Kallis he is the area sales for cape town 0027-11-390-70 00

I won't ask how a guy from the UK knows that and I don't

Well anyway I got a call from my dealer today saying a Systainer had arrived for me free of charge with some polishing pads my dad and I were enquiring about. He told me that he saw the invoice it was over a R1000 worth of stuff. I have never seen this before and my dealer said it was not in his catalogue so i don't know if they custom made it for me, which I doubt since it has a product number, or if it's just really old stock. The latter of which seems more likely.

When I got there to pick it up my dealer said "I guess this is to say sorry". It doesn't exactly solve the problem but it's nice to know they value their customers. I still haven't recieved a reply from Germany so I am going to assume this was from the exploits of my dealer.

Here are some pics:

Whats outside.

What's inside.

What's below.

The product number for the EU is: 493 511

Oh and if anyone wants a review of this just let me know.

 

[jonny round boy]

Chris,

That's a great freebie!

As you say, there's a lot of value in that. I'm not sure if they're exactly the same as yours, but I've seen similar sets before here in the UK, and they occasionally pop up on eBay UK. Your conclusion that it's probably discontinued stock is likely correct.

I'd say that settles the issue of you not being happy with the sander. You said initially that you weren't bothered about the edge protector, and in your last post you said you'd been asking about polishing pads so I guess for you it's very useful and you've come out of this well. I think after this gift it'd be pretty churlish to argue for the newer model...

 

[CharlesWilson]

Now for the good news:

You can buy the housing for the new RO125, which comes with the protector.  Everything else, I believe, is the same as the old model. Here in the US, it only cost a little over $30. (I can't imagine what it will cost you in your country.)

I did the replacement myself. If you decide to do it, my recommendation is to do it in a nice clean area (there are some small parts inside including springs and such) so that you don't lose any parts. The green button thingy that locks the Rotex head for pad removal has a spring holding it back. Careful perusal of the disassembly, and the parts diagram will make your re-assembly relatively uneventful.

Good luck,

Charles

 

[woodguy7]

Chris

That is a nice set.  I have some of the pads, lambswool bonnet & cutting compounds for my RO 150 & they work great.  The advise to me was not to use the lambswool bonnet on your car though, use the microfibre cloth to buff up.

Good luck with it, Woodguy.

 

[image132]

Chris,

That's a great freebie!

As you say, there's a lot of value in that. I'm not sure if they're exactly the same as yours, but I've seen similar sets before here in the UK, and they occasionally pop up on eBay UK. Your conclusion that it's probably discontinued stock is likely correct.

I'd say that settles the issue of you not being happy with the sander. You said initially that you weren't bothered about the edge protector, and in your last post you said you'd been asking about polishing pads so I guess for you it's very useful and you've come out of this well. I think after this gift it'd be pretty churlish to argue for the newer model...

Agreed. I am happy with the outcome. I don't plan on being selfish and asking for more. Even if Germany offered something in their response I'm more than happy with this.

Now for the good news:

You can buy the housing for the new RO125, which comes with the protector.  Everything else, I believe, is the same as the old model. Here in the US, it only cost a little over $30. (I can't imagine what it will cost you in your country.)

I did the replacement myself. If you decide to do it, my recommendation is to do it in a nice clean area (there are some small parts inside including springs and such) so that you don't lose any parts. The green button thingy that locks the Rotex head for pad removal has a spring holding it back. Careful perusal of the disassembly, and the parts diagram will make your re-assembly relatively uneventful.

Good luck,

Charles

Really? Awesome. Next time I go to my dealer I will ask about it although I wouldn't be surprised if it isn't done here since if it is one would think that when I asked my dealer to investigate this whole situation he would have offered it. That would be awesome though and a rough conversion in my head from $30 is about R210 at R7 = 1$ last time I checked anyway :/ Which is not bad at all. Thanks for all the help guys.

 

[AlexThePalex]

Really? Awesome. Next time I go to my dealer I will ask about it although I wouldn't be surprised if it isn't done here since if it is one would think that when I asked my dealer to investigate this whole situation he would have offered it. That would be awesome though and a rough conversion in my head from $30 is about R210 at R7 = 1$ last time I checked anyway :/ Which is not bad at all. Thanks for all the help guys.

You should have read some posts with more care. I already suggested this as a solution in the thread of your review.

But that systainer is a great gift. You said it is over R1000. I think it is a LOT over R1000. R1000 is 105 euros. Only the systainer and the black pad together already cost 105 euro here, and then add all the foam pads and the polishing liquid.

After this gift I wouldn't push it, exactly like you also said, but would just shell out the 30-40 dollar for the parts and convert the sander myself.

 

[image132]

Really? Awesome. Next time I go to my dealer I will ask about it although I wouldn't be surprised if it isn't done here since if it is one would think that when I asked my dealer to investigate this whole situation he would have offered it. That would be awesome though and a rough conversion in my head from $30 is about R210 at R7 = 1$ last time I checked anyway :/ Which is not bad at all. Thanks for all the help guys.

You should have read some posts with more care. I already suggested this as a solution in the thread of your review.

But that systainer is a great gift. You said it is over R1000. I think it is a LOT over R1000. R1000 is 105 euros. Only the systainer and the black pad together already cost 105 euro here, and then add all the foam pads and the polishing liquid.

After this gift I wouldn't push it, exactly like you also said, but would just shell out the 30-40 dollar for the parts and convert the sander myself.

Now that you mention it I do remeber you telling me that. Sorry.

 

[Brice Burrell]

I think you'll need to be careful about replacing the housing on the sander yourself. You have to open up the sander and that in theory, will void your warranty. Well, that is the case here in the States.

 

[ajones]

In my opinion this is not a good outcome at all,

Chris thumbed the brochure decided on a purchase and went to the dealer and was sold a discontinued product and not the one he was expecting, or paid for.

when he returned to the dealer, the dealer blames the SA HQ. Why?...... Why does the dealer not accept responsibility and replase the sander for the correct model
and does he not know what he is selling........I find that imposable to believe. OH THEY SENT ME THE WRONG MODEL DOES NOT WASH WITH ME.

Chris is 19 years old and has never had to complain to a manufacturer before. and it it a credit to him that he is buying tools of this quality and cost at his age.
He has may many years of tool purchases in front of him.BRAND LOYALTY????

he has not received a direct response from festool regarding  the issues with his purchase. Why is that ? did someone at the festool HQ say oh we will not address his concerns/complaint or ask what he wants we will just send him some accessory's. that will do, we will not even bother putting in a comp slip with any sort of explanation

SO TO SUM UP
No communication from festool at all

still has the model without the protector

has a box of items that would be usefull to someone in the motor trade.

 

[Deansocial]

i have also emailed them about a problem i had and they never got back to me. Pretty pathetic service really if you ask me. I also had a repair to a tool and it took a few weeks to get back, also unacceptable!

 

[image132]

In my opinion this is not a good outcome at all,

Chris thumbed the brochure decided on a purchase and went to the dealer and was sold a discontinued product and not the one he was expecting, or paid for.

when he returned to the dealer, the dealer blames the SA HQ. Why?...... Why does the dealer not accept responsibility and replase the sander for the correct model
and does he not know what he is selling........I find that imposable to believe. OH THEY SENT ME THE WRONG MODEL DOES NOT WASH WITH ME.

Chris is 19 years old and has never had to complain to a manufacturer before. and it it a credit to him that he is buying tools of this quality and cost at his age.
He has may many years of tool purchases in front of him.BRAND LOYALTY????

he has not received a direct response from festool regarding  the issues with his purchase. Why is that ? did someone at the festool HQ say oh we will not address his concerns/complaint or ask what he wants we will just send him some accessory's. that will do, we will not even bother putting in a comp slip with any sort of explanation

SO TO SUM UP
No communication from festool at all

still has the model without the protector

has a box of items that would be usefull to someone in the motor trade.

Yeah you are right. It's like they sold me an old model car without aircon that they said had air con and was new. However in terms of service you are comparing it to a first world country, the UK, over here the fact that I actually got something even though it was old shows they care. Compared the usual service of SA this is amazing, most of the time they would have said "Does it work? Then it's your problem" and that would be the end of it. Ya it might be a bit of a cop out since they didn't solve anything but at least they cared enough to send something....

It just means I've learnt the hard way to check what I buy with the catalogue.

 

[ajones]

It does not matter what business you are in communication is crucial no, or poor comms is totaly unaccepable.