Festool single point service

[woodwreck]

In a thread two lines down here, I asked for information on opening my Kapex to corect what might be a minor problem. Foolishly, I admit, I attempted to do so and had a disaster as described https://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/showthread.php?57194-Kapex-exploded-drawings-and-do-it-yourself-dissasembly&p=538116#post538116here.

As described I shipped machine #1 in the note back to Festool Indiana for repairs. $180 or more shipping each way, plus the repairs, and ultimately 2 - 3 weeks out of service. My issue is why a priemer Company like Festool hasn't discovered that the Western United States were settled in 1870 with the coming of the transcontinental railroad, and has not provided at least regional if not local repair centers for a $1,500 tool?  [bite tongue]

The second Kapex mentioned is not just used, but depended on, every day in the trade and although presenting a serious safety issue, can not be parted with for a similar period of time.

What a disgrace.

 

[peter halle]

Sorry to read about your Kapex issue.  It is my understanding that one of the reasons for Festool relocating from California to Indiana was to improve shipping times for the US.

 

[mouppe]

Nonsense. You won't find many companies of Festool's size with more than repair centre nationally. Canada has one location, the US has one. By your own admission you broke the tool, yet you want somebody else to incur the cost of fixing it.

Just out of interest, I searched for Ridgid service centres for their wet/ dry vacs. One in Ohio..

...and 4 in Mexico.

 

[Administrator_JSVN]

Steve,

I can sense your frustration and can understand. You didn't mention the age of the Kapex, but shipping should be covered back to you if it was under warranty. I haven't seen recent figures, but our service department usually has about 98%+ of repairs done within 48 hours of receipt of a tool.  So, I expect the majority of the time you were without your saw was due to transit. That seems to be the crux of your complaint. I'm guessing 4-5 business days shipping to, 1-2 business days being repaired, 4-5 business days back to you roughly.

Like Peter stated, Festool USA was originally located in Goleta, CA and in 2007 we built our new headquarters just outside of Indianapolis. The goal of choosing that location was to be somewhat centrally located in the country. Due to the recession, the Goleta office was closed. That may be salt in the wound for you though.

Could you contact me via PM or email and send me your contact details? I'd like to see if I can have one of our guys in California possibly help you with the other saw, if you're near one of them. I certainly don't want you to continue using a saw that's not functioning properly.

Apologies for your frustration and the trouble with your saw.

EDIT - The most common cause of a problem with the head of the saw not returning to its top position is because of a build up of sap/resin on the roller for that mechanism. Cleaning it will often correct the issues.

Shane
sho@festoolusa.com

 

[Peter Durand]

Nonsense. You won't find many companies of Festool's size with more than repair centre nationally. Canada has one location, the US has one. By your own admission you broke the tool, yet you want somebody else to incur the cost of fixing it.

Just out of interest, I searched for Ridgid service centres for their wet/ dry vacs. One in Ohio..

...and 4 in Mexico.

Canada has one location

Methinks that Canadian location is simply a transit address for forwarding to the USA. I speak having had a really long time with the track saw recall. USA folks had a  5 day or thereabouts turnaround time. We in Canada had a 2+ week time.

Cheers,

Peter

 

[Administrator_JSVN]

Peter,

That assumption is incorrect. We have a repair center in Canada that is staffed with repair techs. The delays for the recall were because we have fewer repair guys in Canada vs. the USA, plus they have to handle their own shipping whereas we have a warehouse with staff in the US. Apologies that you experienced a longer lead time.

Shane

 

[Kev]

Only one in Oz ... and Oz is a reasonable size! About 80% the size of the US ... and lot's more beaches [cool]

 

[SittingElf]

Like Peter stated, Festool USA was originally located in Goleta, CA and in 2007 we built our new headquarters just outside of Indianapolis. Due to the recession, the Goleta office was closed.

Shane
sho@festoolusa.com

C'mon Shane,

You and I both know the real reason you closed the Goleta location was that half your employees were regularly calling in sick on Mondays after hard partying all weekend on Del Playa! (Been there, done that!) [drooling] [big grin]

Party on dude,

Frank

 

[upscale]

Only one in Oz ... and Oz is a reasonable size! About 80% the size of the US ... and lot's more beaches [cool]

Maybe you've got more beaches, but up here in Canada, we've got more maple syrup and back bacon. On second thought, can I trade you a bottle of maple syrup and a pig for one of your beaches?  :

 

[Stephen B]

Only one in Oz ... and Oz is a reasonable size! About 80% the size of the US ... and lot's more beaches [cool]

Maybe you're got more beaches, but up here in Canada, we've got more maple syrup and back bacon. On second thought, can I trade you a bottle of maple syrup and a pig for one of your beaches?  :

[size=11pt]

But not this one!

http://www.theage.com.au/travel/-39nss.html

 

[wow]

Only one in Oz ... and Oz is a reasonable size! About 80% the size of the US ... and lot's more beaches [cool]

Maybe you're got more beaches, but up here in Canada, we've got more maple syrup and back bacon. On second thought, can I trade you a bottle of maple syrup and a pig for one of your beaches?  :

[size=11pt]

But not this one!

http://www.theage.com.au/travel/-39nss.html

And don't give him Balmoral!! I had a great time there one October day...

 

[woodwreck]

..... the US has one. By your own admission you broke the tool,
Yes I did, no question about it.   

...yet you want somebody else to incur the cost of fixing it.
No, I don't expect anyone else to pay for it, just easier, e.g. better, access at less shipping time and expense.

 

[Paul G]

Hard to make everyone in the US happy on this without adding cost to the products or selling a lot more product. My guess for a second location if/when that time comes is Vegas near the training center. The big question I have though from this thread is why on earth Festool would choose to launch NA operations in Goleta?  ???  Did a key person live there already? Sure it's nice weather but talk about isolated.

 

[woodwreck]

Steve,
Thank you for your informative and responive reply. This saw was purchased 12-6-2009. FedEx tracking tells me it is arriving at destination today

... usually has about 98%+ of repairs done within 48 hours of receipt of a tool. 
A call to the repair center told me a 2 - 3 days estimate (unseen), thank you.

So, I expect the majority of the time you were without your saw was due to transit. That seems to be the crux of your complaint.
Indeed yes 

Could you contact me via PM or email and send me your contact details? I'd like to see if I can have one of our guys in California possibly help you with the other saw, if you're near one of them. I certainly don't want you to continue using a saw that's not functioning properly.
Thank you for that enlightening gesture; email to you being sent this morning.

Apologies for your frustration and the trouble with your saw.
Thank you for your prompt and concerned response.

EDIT - The most common cause of a problem with the head of the saw not returning to its top position is because of a build up of sap/resin on the roller for that mechanism. Cleaning it will often correct the issues.

Shane
sho@festoolusa.com

 

[SittingElf]

..... the US has one. By your own admission you broke the tool,
Yes I did, no question about it.   

...yet you want somebody else to incur the cost of fixing it.
No, I don't expect anyone else to pay for it, just easier, e.g. better, access at less shipping time and expense.

Hmmm.....  OK, so Festool, whose market share of the power tool world in the USA is miniscule (but with the BEST tools) is supposed to open multiple service centers to repair a very, VERY small percentage of their products that end up needing repairs?  That doesn't make any economic sense at all. Their turnaround from the single service center beats the pants off of other manufacturers like Bosch, Milwaukee, Rigid, Dewalt, Porter Cable, Ryobi and others who have multiple centers in the USA.

And... if they DID open additional service centers, the cost of the tools would have to reflect their increased costs...and they are ALREADY expensive!

Nope. Respectfully disagree. Festool is doing a bang up job just the way they are. (There are very few service centers in Europe as well).

If it makes you feel any better, I own a number of NAINA Festool products that if they need repair, I have to send to Germany. Now THAT'S expensive and time consuming!

Cheers,

Frank

[ Edited to fix quotes - Shane ]

 

[Administrator_JSVN]

Hard to make everyone in the US happy on this without adding cost to the products or selling a lot more product. My guess for a second location if/when that time comes is Vegas near the training center. The big question I have though from this thread is why on earth Festool would choose to launch NA operations in Goleta?  ???  Did a key person live there already? Sure it's nice weather but talk about isolated.

Paul,

While it was long before Festool was even a glimmer in my eye, here's my brief understanding of how it all went down.

Festool often will begin in a new country / geographic region by working with an import partner rather than opening up a Festool owned and operated office. That import partner was operated by some brothers, one of whom was David McGibbon who was a Festool employee until he recently retired. They were located in the Goleta area. Once the potential grew to a certain point, Festool negotiated taking over the operations in the US. Similarly, Hafele was the import partner in Canada for many years.

Bob Marino may have more to share since he was around in the early years of Festool USA. I think he became a dealer around 2002. Festool USA was established in the late 1990s, I believe. I began working for a Festool online dealer in 2005. That company was sold in mid-2007 and I opted not to move on with the company, which was relocated to another state. That's when I came on with Festool USA.

Shane

 

[Paul G]

Hard to make everyone in the US happy on this without adding cost to the products or selling a lot more product. My guess for a second location if/when that time comes is Vegas near the training center. The big question I have though from this thread is why on earth Festool would choose to launch NA operations in Goleta?   ???  Did a key person live there already? Sure it's nice weather but talk about isolated.

Paul,

While it was long before Festool was even a glimmer in my eye, here's my brief understanding of how it all went down.

Festool often will begin in a new country / geographic region by working with an import partner rather than opening up a Festool owned and operated office. That import partner was operated by some brothers, one of whom was David McGibbon who was a Festool employee until he recently retired. They were located in the Goleta area. Once the potential grew to a certain point, Festool negotiated taking over the operations in the US. Similarly, Hafele was the import partner in Canada for many years.

Bob Marino may have more to share since he was around in the early years of Festool USA. I think he became a dealer around 2002. Festool USA was established in the late 1990s, I believe.

Shane

I can see the benefits of that business model to start, and the benefits of moving operations from Goleta.

FWIW my limited experience with Festool service has been pretty good, not the usual foot dragging as when dealing with many other manufacturers.

 

[semenza]

    Just going by what I have read here on FOG and my own experience, woodwrecks Kapex repair sounds like the exception rather than the rule for Festool repair/shipping turnaround time.  I live in NY State and have sent things in twice. Both times I had them back in a week to the day.

    My experience with other power tool companies was not remotely the same. A couple times  that I had repair work done on other brands the turn around was much slower and that was with local repair centers (45 minute drive).  In one case I had to bypass the local center because, after a week in their hands, they told me there was nothing wrong with the tool.  ??? Had to send the tool and write a letter (pre-internet  : ) directly to the company. I ended up with a good result, but what a hassle. Of course that was mainly due to a bad local repair center. This was a long time ago now and I don't know how other companies are handling things currently.

    I have always thought that Festool's one service center arrangement was designed to make it efficient. No middle men, or a bunch of places to manage and keep on track for good service. No local repair waiting for parts to be shipped, etc.

    Just my anecdotal evidence, but I think maybe woodwreck just got a bit unlucky with the out of service time.

    Although I read the link to the Kapex problem in the first post , so maybe it was all those other parts that had to be put back in.  [big grin]  Ooops  [eek]

Seth

 

[mouppe]

...yet you want somebody else to incur the cost of fixing it.
No, I don't expect anyone else to pay for it, just easier, e.g. better, access at less shipping time and expense.

I was trying to make a wider point about the cost of repair. The cost of fixing the tool is not just what you pay directly to the company for the repair. Who do you think is going to pay for the cost of opening and running these extra service locations? You with your $60 fee for parts?

One service centre is probably the most cost effective way of servicing tools for Festool, and so they can charge less to you for repairing it. What if they had two centres, one of which was in Nevada, but they had to charge you $120 for the same repair to cover their overhead?

And I'll bet the true cost of the repair to Festool is much much higher than what they charge you, but they swallow most of the cost themselves. The difference between the cost to the company and the cost to you of the repair is part of the company's goodwill, and Festool's goodwill when it comes to repairs is far greater than most other companies I have encountered.

 

[Sparktrician]

I began working for a Festool online dealer in 2005. That company was sold in mid-2007 and I opted not to move on with the company, which was relocated to another state. That's when I came on with Festool USA.

Shane

That had to be the best move you'd ever made.  [big grin]  Hard to top that, for sure.