Free Systainer? Ask Before You Buy

[Benjamin Miner]

SO...my local Woodcraft got me a new LI 10.6 drill. BUT - they called me the morning of the delivery to say that they didn't receive the FREE systainer box that's supposed to come with it until Joly 30th. Said they'd look into it.

Well, Festool unapologetically told them that they were out of them, tough luck. Not "we're out of them, but we'll send more soon".

This is dishonest and unacceptable.

How long is Festool going to screw its customers like this? How long are we going to accept this crap?

SO - I hope somebody from Festool is reading this, because I want them to know that I went into that store thinking I might also buy their jigsaw - I at least wanted to check it out - but after being told this disenchanting bit of news, I was determined not to buy anything more of theirs that I didn't feel was completely essential to my work. As far as I'm concerned, they have dissolved my sense of loyalty.

 

[Bob Marino]

Now hold on a here a minute. I know Festool will have a proper repsonse here quickly. They may be out of stock on the sysytainer for now, but hey will be coming in.

  Bob

 

[Martin Johnson]

Benjamin,

Thank you for chosing the Festool T-12 drill.  You will not be disappointed.  I read your post on the Festool Owners Group and believe that a response is in order.  I understand your frustration but I feel that it may be misdirected.

Our promotional brochure, which can be viewed in PDF format on our website, specifically states that the promotions are available from participating dealers while supplies last.  Given the long lead times required to get inventory from Germany, Festool dealers who elected to participate in the promotions were required to pre-order inventory in advance of the promotional period to ensure that they had enough on hand to satisfy customer demand.  I suspect your local Woodcraft either took a very conservative approach with regards to pre-orders or demand has been higher than they expected.  As a result, they may have exhausted their inventory. 

We have another shipment coming that should satisfy some of the backorder issues.  So, if you can provide me with your address, telephone number and which Woodcraft store you purchased from, I will forward this information to our regional sales manager to resolve.  Again, thank you for choosing Festool.  If this matter is not resolved to your satisfaction, send me an email.

Best regards,

Martin Johnson
Vice President - Brand Marketing
Festool USA

 

[Benjamin Miner]

Bob - I sure hope so. I love the product, but am growing more and more frustrated with the company (much like the guys who make those all-white computers that I like so well...)

The Fes point man who was talking to my guy at Woodcraft said that the promotion ended April 30th! Which is BS, of course. This is so frustrating, because I could have bought it from McFeely's, gotten the freebie (which I want BAD), and saved a drive and the sales tax. BUT, I want to support my store. This just smacks of the pervasive syndrome of big distributors only wanting to deal with each other and not wanting to be bothered with companies that won't buy in enormous volume.

I'll be happy to wait until there are more Systainers, but nobody offered to give me a rain check. The message was more like, you're out of luck and we can't be bothered anyway.

I await a reply from a Festool rep.

 

[Bob Marino]

Bob - I sure hope so. I love the product, but am growing more and more frustrated with the company (much like the guys who make those all-white computers that I like so well...)

The Fes point man who was talking to my guy at Woodcraft said that the promotion ended April 30th! Which is BS, of course. This is so frustrating, because I could have bought it from McFeely's, gotten the freebie (which I want BAD), and saved a drive and the sales tax. BUT, I want to support my store. This just smacks of the pervasive syndrome of big distributors only wanting to deal with each other and not wanting to be bothered with companies that won't buy in enormous volume.

I'll be happy to wait until there are more Systainers, but nobody offered to give me a rain check. The message was more like, you're out of luck and we can't be bothered anyway.

I await a reply from a Festool rep.

Ben,

See Martin Johnson'e reply.

Bob

 

[Benjamin Miner]

Yeah, it came in just as I posted. I'm talking to Martin directly at this point.
Subject line was designed to get a reaction - the squeaky wheel and all that!

 

[Administrator_JSVN]

Unlike some companies, I think you will find that it's not necessary to be a squeaky wheel.  In the future, I would recommend that you contact us directly in an instance that you are dissatisfied with a product, service or dealer.  I take personal pride in working for a company that treats people the way I would want to be treated.

 

[Jimhart]

Yeah, it came in just as I posted. I'm talking to Martin directly at this point.
Subject line was designed to get a reaction - the squeaky wheel and all that!

I can be quite a squeaky wheel myself sometimes, but only after I've given a company ample opportunity to resolve something directly.

This is more like yelling FIRE in a crowded theatre in an effort to get the ushers attention.

It has to be hard some times, even for a company I have found to be 100% customer oriented, to respond positively to some customers. 

 

[dirtydeeds]

benjamin miner

hold your horses son

you arnt dealing with some two bit, third world company here

 

[Frank-Jan]

My guess is you would have gotten plenty attention to your problem without the "squeaking".

From what I've read on this forum festool usa, and most dealers handle problems in a way that goes above "the call of duty"

Not that it's the same, but I had a pleasant surprise from my dealer in the Netherlands last year when I bought a rotex150 I needed urgently at the time. I bought the last one they had in the store (it was on display, but not for demonstration purposes); and I would order more consumables after I figured out which ones I would need. 2 days later I got a phonecall saying festool send an abrassives systainer with an assortment of paper because it was a special deal at the time I bought it.

 

[Benjamin Miner]

OK - for the record...

This issue is being worked on. I've been assured that one way or another, I won't be shortchanged on this here deal. Of course, blame is being assigned to my local Woodcraft store, which I'm not too down with, but whatever. It doesn't fill one with confidence when the person Woodcraft is dealing with is completely unwilling to go to bat for the customer.

I appreciate that Festool makes an outstanding product - I wouldn't put down $525.00 on a drill if every other tool I bought from them (saws, routers, work tables, sanders, domino...yes, those are plural...) hadn't immediately proven to be worth it. But the company culture can be damned rigid. Without going into bloody detail, my quick aggravation over this matter isn't out of the blue or based on a lack of prior experience. To their credit, they called me up within a couple hours of posting this admittedly inflammatory rant.

I'm psyched to try out the new drill, breaking it in tomorrow on a cabinetry installation. Can't wait to shoot screws where no screw has been driven before.

 

[honeydoman]

I guarantee you ben...  that no other tool company would have responed this quick to a problem... straight answers and problem solved, you will get your systainer.  in fact probably 99% of all companies would not respond this quick and from top management.

FESTOOL STILL RANKS tops in my book as far as customer service, great value tools etc.  they back it up.

good luck screwing tomorrow!!!

 

[AlexThePalex]

Every time I've seen an advertisement of Festool with special offers, they make it very clear that it's a temporary thing until they're out of stock. Ben, you could have saved yourself a lot of frustration of you just asked your dealer about it BEFORE you bought anything. I know I do.

 

[Administrator_JSVN]

Just to add a little levity to the thread now that I hope we have a happy customer.  I think it can be best summed up with the following...

Festool makes sure that its fasteners, and not our customers, that are at the business end of the T+3 

 

[Benjamin Miner]

Alex - yeah, I did ask ahead of time! That's what provoked me, Woodcraft was as shocked as me!

Shane - funny. By the way, I tried to change the thread name earlier today (as a goodwill gesture...), but the site wouldn't let me. Matt Schenker, please feel free to kill this thread.

 

[Matthew Schenker]

Hello,
I'm glad this got resolved, and I think this discussion can be a good message to other members with similar questions.  It shows how well Festool responds to customer concerns, and how the forum members and the company can connect.  It also shows how other members can come in with constructive feedback on a post.

... I tried to change the thread name earlier today (as a goodwill gesture...), but the site wouldn't let me.

What would you like to change the name to?

Thanks,
Matthew

 

[scoffelt]

Maybe your beef should be with your dealer (Woodcraft), and not Festool.  I read the flyer, it clearly stated while supplies last as all of their specials.  They are a special not a constant deal, I'd expect nothing less than what it states.  So I read this as your dealer doesn't know or did know and is trying to cover their butt for lack of communicating this in the first place.  My suggestion is find a more informed dealer.... like Bob M.

I deals in the paper all the time stating while supplies last, heck just look at the Black Friday sales.  Should I raise hell with the stores cause I didn't get up at 2AM and stand in line, but instead showed up lates and expected to get the deal?  I don't think so. My guess is this is a very popular offer for them.

 

[Matthew Schenker]

Good Morning,
As requested by Benjamin, I've changed the title of this discussion to "Free Systainer? Ask Before You Buy" in order to make it more in line with the true intent of the topic.
Thanks,
Matthew

 

[PeterK]

I think what all should take from this posting is that Festool actively monitors this site. I have been contacted directly by Festool staff from postings I have made here with very helpful info. While they may not actively post new threads or contribute to ongoing discussions, they definitely are watching and being active behind the scene. This is a truly nice feature of this site as Festool sure does take seriously the issues raised here and tries very hard to answer questions or resolve issues. Don't know if Festool does this on other forums.

So - a BIG thank you to the Festool staff that visit here . Know you are appreciated.
Pete

 

[Benjamin Miner]

Peter K - well said. I was hoping it was that way when I started this thread.

My reading of the offer was that it was good through July 30th. Given that I asked Woodcraft to order this for me in advance of the day it went on sale, (surely the equivalent in this case of getting in line at 2 AM), it should be reasonable to expect to get in on the offer. If it's that easy for a dealer to get it wrong, maybe Festool needs to be clearer about what they are offering and what the deal it. Surely they know their obsessive customers will be bent on getting anything they can for free?  ;D

ANYhow, I am almost as excited to play with this new tool as I will be when Festool starts making cool phasers like in the Star Trek movie.