Free Systainer? Ask Before You Buy

[Daviddubya]

Benjamin - I have been following this thread.  Thanks for changing the title.  I agree with scoffelt - it seems to me that Festool has done nothing wrong, and in fact has set the situation right, even though their offer clearly states the terms.  I cannot help but think that your local Woodcraft is at the heart of this problem, although you seem to feel they have done nothing wrong.  It seems apparent that the Woodcraft folks were uninformed or misinformed, and passed the "blame" to Festool rather than accepting responsibility themselves, and that you accepted their story.  Next time perhaps you should follow your own instincts when you said, "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."  Please be happy that Festool has made it right, regardless of who did what when.

 

[Brice Burrell]

Is it just me or is this how the forum shouldn't work? I don't think members should paint Festool in a negative light on this forum in order to draw attention to their situation (especially when Festool isn't at fault). In this case it's really out of line.

It's great to have Festool employees taking action from issues brought up here and I'd hate to see that ruined because of people not acting/posting responsibly here.   

 

[WarnerConstCo.]

It's not Festool.  It's some of their brick and mortar dealers.  You need to be more informed than the guys there so you can tell them what is going on, some dont have a clue.  It's like pulling teeth to get something ordered at the local woodcraft sometimes.  There are times where I have to have something for a job coming up and I cant always count on them, so I turn to other sources.

Just call Festool, they will answer any question you could think of about ordering from local stores.  The customer service at Festool is the best I have ever dealt with.  Followed closley by Bosch.

 

[Benjamin Miner]

Brice - you're clearly a really talented carpenter, and I have no desire to get into some lame exchange of flaming on this or any other website. But man, Festool isn't some religious clan we've all sworn allegiance to. Honestly, people are behaving like I insulted their mother.

On the other hand, I'm willing to grant that the message board may not be the place to try to resolve problems with the company - though if somebody else reads this thread and is saved some aggravation, maybe there's some value in that?

David - sure, I could just buy from a big distributor, but I really believe in supporting businesses that are nearby. Where I live, there aren't many brick and mortar places to get woodworking tools, so I try to buy from them because if they weren't there it would be a big quality of life issue! Again, while I have the utmost respect for the tools and engineering - and yes, the customer service - I and others have found the company to be strangely rigid to deal with. Somebody at Woodcraft is uninformed or misinformed? Why should it be that hard? "Offer good through July 30th"? Send the drills with 2 boxes until July 30th. That's all I'm saying.

I'm signing off on this thread, as I sincerely don't want to seem like a bitter little brat. Again: I'm a professional who uses this stuff day in and day out. I have lots of it. I love their tools, I really do. Maybe it will help to think of this as a lover's quarrel...

 

[Brice Burrell]

Brice - you're clearly a really talented carpenter, and I have no desire to get into some lame exchange of flaming on this or any other website. But man, Festool isn't some religious clan we've all sworn allegiance to. Honestly, people are behaving like I insulted their mother.

On the other hand, I'm willing to grant that the message board may not be the place to try to resolve problems with the company - though if somebody else reads this thread and is saved some aggravation, maybe there's some value in that?.......

Benjamin, my problem is that you wanted to give Festool a public black eye to get your way, I just don't think that's the right way to handle things. Making matters worse is the fact that they weren't to blame. Put yourself in their shoes, how would you feel if someone said publicly, in front of your customers, that you do business dishonestly when you aren't at any fault.

I don't think anyone would have been upset if you had started with a title like this from the beginning.   

 

[Daviddubya]

..."Offer good through July 30th"? Send the drills with 2 boxes until July 30th. That's all I'm saying....

The promotional offer does say, "T-Drills & EHL 65 offers valid April 1 - July 31".  However, as has been pointed out earlier in this thread, the offer also states, "Special promotions contained herein are valid April 1 through June 30 at participating dealers while supplies last."  It seems pretty obvious that the drill offer is good until July 31 while supplies last.  If Woodcraft ran out of inventory, it sure seems like a Woodcraft problem.  Apparently Festool did not run out of inventory, since they are sending you the free box.

Here's the link to the promotional offer:

http://www.festoolusa.com/media/pdf/fes_promo_03-09_web.pdf

 

[Bob Marino]

 
I have to agree with the others who said you responded innappropriately and to the wrong party. "LIARS" is a very  strong word and to throw it around, simply to get a reaction is simply wrong. Agree with Brice, if the current heading was the original heading, I'd think you were right on.  Enough on that.
  Festool, as usual stepped up to the plate.
Here is the dealeo. Dealers can choose to commit to a certain amount of these promos, dealers don't have to participate if they so choose. Also, if a dealer runs out of their allotment of said promo items (in this case, the free systainer) they can either choose not to honor that promo or pony up (at their own cost) for that systainer.
Me, I am in it until the promo runs out, even if I have to pony up for the promo items.

Bob

 

[jb883]

I picked up my new T15 yesterday along with my free Systainer from local (Portland ME) Rockler store.  They were great as usual (emailed me as soon as the UPS guy delivered them) let me try out both the 12 and 15 and I came home with my new drill and free systainer.  A good day at my house ;D. 

 

[tbellemare]

Thank you Brice, et al...

Thank you David!

Thank you Bob!

These promotions have been (and others normally are) advertised by Festool as "from participating dealers while supplies last". I don't find that to be an unusual business practice. I think it's inappropriate to make Festool the enemy because "caveat emptor" was not employed.

I'm sorry if I've upset anyone's sensibilities but I think this has gone too far.

Tom

 

[Jimhart]

Benjamin,

You behaved like an enormous twit. No excuse, no explanation acceptable. Woodcraft dropped the ball and failed to deliver on what should have been a no-brainer promotion. You gave Festool no chance to correct this before flaming them on a forum of over 6,000 people.

Move on. Make sawdust. (unless you have a ct). Have fun. Tell us about it.

Jim

 

[longwood89]

I bought a new T15+3 from my local (Germany) hardware store and did not receive a free Systainer, either.  I'm not sure if the offer extended to Germany or not.  Maybe mine was not a participating dealer or was out of supplies.  My loss, not worth the can of worms that Benjamin opened.  Ouch.

The prospect of a free Systainer played no part in my decision to buy the tool.  It's a Festool!

 

[Loz_S]

I bought a new T15+3 from my local (Germany) hardware store and did not receive a free Systainer, either.  I'm not sure if the offer extended to Germany or not.  ...snip...

The discount flyer I was sent in Holland has an offer of a free set of drills (493648) and a storage systainer with 30 bits only if you buy the C12 set. The offer of a set of drills also seems to apply to the T12 and T15 (without systainer offer) but it's not clear. This offer doesn't appear on Festool.de. So it's not so much a free systainer that is offered but the "special" systainer with a storage lid and then only with the C12.

 

[James Watriss]

Here's the deal, and I can tell you this, having worked for said brick and mortar place for a couple of years.

They order before the promo happens, and not every store, or store manager, is smart enough to order what they need. Many of them are still not really on the ball or on board with the Festool thing, either, depending on where you are... I still hear occasional stories about employees recommending porter cable routers over festool because of the cost difference, and the fact that they don't know enough to tell the difference themselves.

When my store manager pre-ordered the domino package, that came with the box of dominoes and bits, I forget how many he ordered, but it was a lot... something like 30 or 40. When the order came in, he got the hairy eyeball from the clueless regional manager. It's not about how festool deals with distributors, it's how smart the distributors are. So if you want to write an inflammatory rant, I suggest you address it to WC.

Bob is a standup guy, this we know, so it doesn't surprise me that he does what he can for his customers. Woodcraft corporate, not so much. They pinch every conceivable penny, and nobody gets freebies. They lean hard on everyone, and if our region was any way to gauge, their regional managers are booger-eating morons who are more political than practical or smart.. and they hire the store managers to suit their own taste.

Next time get your facts straight. You end up looking like a punk otherwise, and you lose points as a result. Trying to delete a thread later as an act of "good will," ends up looking more like a way to cover your tracks on this one. Public record is a pain that way.

 

[Matthew Schenker]

Is it just me or is this how the forum shouldn't work? I don't think members should paint Festool in a negative light on this forum in order to draw attention to their situation (especially when Festool isn't at fault). In this case it's really out of line.

It's great to have Festool employees taking action from issues brought up here and I'd hate to see that ruined because of people not acting/posting responsibly here.

The forum did its job here.  Someone stated what he thought was a problem, and in the end the situation was cleared up and everyone understands what the real issue was.  In particular, members learned something about the Systainer special, and in general (if they follow the whole conversation) gained more respect for Festool.

A healthy forum has a way of getting at the root of something.  If someone makes a strong statement, the ensuing discussion will naturally reveal whether it is a real issue.

It's always been my opinion that everyone is better off having this kind of thing discussed, and resolved, openly.

Thanks,
Matthew

 

[Joe Jensen]

Big lesson for me here in reading the fine print.  I have no issue with Festool having fine print.  But, I didn't read it.  I just assumed it was a Festool deal and not a "participating dealer thing".  I received my T15+3 kit from Bob yesterday.  There as a big colorful sticker on the top of the box talking about the promotion.  It seems very short sighted of woodcraft to not participate, but I don't know how much of the promo cost they bear and how much Festool covers.