Is Festool arrogant?

[tigger]

Hi Jack

Good to have you post here after all these years of being a member of the FOG forum. Please do not be put off by all the "snarky" remarks regarding your issue. I do understand them though, being a Festool fanatic myself.

We, as Festool users, are very protective over this brand. While I understand your frustration, you need to know your audience here.
Not to knock what you have invested in Festool, but you should know that it is not really that much.

Top 1% - Not even close I'm afraid. My personal purchases in my last country of birth was in excess of $100K. In my current country of residence, I've alread spent $12k this year alone. Not trying to brag, but just put you in the picture of how fanatical some of us are.

Festool does not care how much you spend with them. Good or bad service is totally dependent on who you deal with. Thats the reality of it. I've lived in two countries now and had similar experiences in both. The trick is to find a dealer, thats as passionate about Festool, as you are.

Don't be afraid to speak your mind here. If you love Festool, we love you  [thumbs up]

Cheers

Tigger

 

[tjbnwi]

Since December 11, 2011 my spend for your tools is $3952.50. For individual users this likely puts me in the top 1%.

  Jack Casey, 53696
 

I spent $93.30 more than that between 5/22 and 5/25 2015. I wonder what percentage that puts me in???

Tom

 

[bkharman]

Since December 11, 2011 my spend for your tools is $3952.50. For individual users this likely puts me in the top 1%.

  Jack Casey, 53696
 

I spent $93.30 more than that between 5/22 and 5/25 2015. I wonder what percentage that puts me in???

Tom

You are in a class of your own Tom!!

;^)

Cheers. Bryan.

 

[TelcoRandy]

ahhhhh I cut of 50% of the timber I would never cut it in half that would be wrong...lol

Nothing arbitrary about base 10, unless of course you had a choice in being born with 10 fingers (and toes). You count in a base 10 number system, why can't you measure with it too?

Eventhough I'm living in a metric country, most Canadians like myself still use the imperial system. It's really hard to get away from, I'm more comfortable with imperial measurements. I just wanted to be a smart ass and point out that there's nothing arbitrary about base 10 anything.

 

[Gary in Texas]

Left speechless with the OP's post......  Or to word it differently, best that I keep my comments to myself.  Priceless!

 

[semenza]

This will get sorted out between Festool and the OP as Brent has posted that he is on the case.

No need for a bash fest either way.

Seth

 

[aas]

Left speechless with the OP's post......  Or to word it differently, best that I keep my comments to myself.  Priceless!

This!!! so much I could say, but I've taken on board your comments too Seth! lol

 

[Kev]

Thinking on this post ... the fact that surprises me most is it's a first post after spending a few G's on Festool and registering here 6 years ago! ... the quiet type? [wink] [big grin]

Each to their own I suppose.

 

[aas]

Less than $4k in 6 years is less than $2 a day - not a big spender by any stretch of the imagination!

 

[Michael1960]

Before writing to senior management it would be prudent to raise such matters with appropriate staff such as customer service.  They should be better equipped to resolve end users questions.  Most CFO's and CEO's I know aren't usually product experts (especially the former!!).  If responses aren't  forthcoming from initial requests then follow up with usual escalation processes.

 

[mastercabman]

Since December 11, 2011 my spend for your tools is $3952.50. For individual users this likely puts me in the top 1%.

  Jack Casey, 53696
 

I spent $93.30 more than that between 5/22 and 5/25 2015. I wonder what percentage that puts me in???

Tom

0.9%  at best! [big grin]

 

[Kev]

Since December 11, 2011 my spend for your tools is $3952.50. For individual users this likely puts me in the top 1%.

  Jack Casey, 53696
 

I spent $93.30 more than that between 5/22 and 5/25 2015. I wonder what percentage that puts me in???

Tom

0.9%  at best! [big grin]

Sadly an international rating would have tool spend v's $ spend rating the US Festoolers very differently !!

 

[Gary in Texas]

Anytime you find yourself in such a situation, pick up the phone and speak to a human!

I've said it before, probably will say it again as this theme recurs from time to time.

We rely too much on email and text messages, find a convenient time a make a call if you can, discuss the issue, reach an agreeable resolution, and move on.

 

[wkearney99]

You can get Imperial scales for several tools from [member=18361]rrmccabe[/member] at http://www.iowawebhosting.com/festool/

Ooo, thanks for that link.  Just got one for my OF1010 and some metric charts.

 

[wkearney99]

We rely too much on email and text messages, find a convenient time a make a call if you can, discuss the issue, reach an agreeable resolution, and move on.

Agreed, e-mail gets caught in spam filters, ignored, or lost in a volume of other messages.  Sometimes it's absolutely worth calling someone in person.

Conversely, there's a lot to be said for the multi-tasking benefits of e-mail.  Being able to go back-forth on issues via e-mail is sometimes a lot more productive than sitting on hold, only to end up talking to the wrong person.

 

[teocaf]

Thinking on this post ... the fact that surprises me most is it's a first post after spending a few G's on Festool and registering here 6 years ago! ... the quiet type? [wink] [big grin]

Yeah, I would start getting worried if his second post would be inquiring if anyone on here has detailed schematics of the festool headquarters...

But all kidding aside, I looked again at this thread over my morning coffee and two thoughts came to mind, quite different than my reaction yesterday.

The first is that I think that WE ALL do some form or variation of this thing, where we get so upset at a relatively minor issue and so focused on trying to get some consideration, that we neglect to take a breather and reevaluate our approach and start thinking in a clear way:  what is the most practical way to solve this?  I personally think that I would have been way too lazy to look up contact info for the executives, but I can certainly think of plenty of times where I overreacted on small concerns, human nature being what it is. 
I also think that it's remarkable that so many have set all the craziness of the OP's posting aside and have genuinely reached out to help this fellow get a solution figured out.  I do hope that he gets on here regularly and says something like "hey guys you know I had a senior moment (or perhaps a "senior management" moment), let's talk some more about these tools", or "here's something that I've been working on".  I know he would get very positive support.

The second thing that struck me is that even though my ts75 is my oldest and most used festool, I never bothered with the scale in the front.  For all I care the scale could be in Klingon units.  I always slide the thing off the edge or turn it on its side and approximate my cut depth needed by lowering the blade.  Then I just slide the limit lever to that and pay no attention whatsoever to what the scale says.  But after thinking a bit, I can certainly imagine some uses where you could use that scale to your advantage.  So the larger issue there, is that we all have the same tools but with different ways to use them, exploration of variety is interesting;  it's another reason I hope the OP gets back on here and joins in the various discussions.

 

[jackj]

Gee, thanks to Brent, Tigger, Chris, Shane, Gerry, Seth and Peter for their thoughtful responses.

As for not posting for years bear in mind that it's just me here...no employees...building cabinets, beds, tables for family/friends while youse guys are pros with much more knowledge. So, I read and learn. 

I come from a lifetime of sales management with the world's most influential publishing company...premium pricing for premium product meant our customers had high expectations for product quality along with on-the-spot customer service. We met those needs every day.

I've said enough, don't want to go on and on.  Thanks for looking, Jack Casey

 

[jeh]

  My December 2, 2014 letter to Festool NA senior exes Brian Goldthorpe and Michael Williams:

I have no complaint on tool quality except I never cared about metric indexing for cut depth on the TS 55EQ saw, but still bought it. On November 10 I learned that the new REQ model has an imperial indexing option...and messaged my dealer, Bob Marino, to get this feature, for which I'll pay. No response. So, on November 18 I messaged Festool and got a 'thank you for contacting Festool' but there was no further response.  On November 24 another message to Festool. No response.

Since December 11, 2011 my spend for your tools is $3952.50. For individual users this likely puts me in the top 1%. In marketing terms when I spend on a quality product it follows that I have high expectation for customer response and service. I don't have that now and ask that you fix it.  Sincerely

  I also wrote to CEO Sebastian Reschke in Germany. No response. There's an underlying arrogance with Festool officials; I'll not
  spend another pfennig on their products until I get a proper response to my simple question.

  Jack Casey, 53696
 

I posted a response to Jack a few hours ago that after a second read was out of line. He PM'd me about it and I have regrouped on my original thoughts

Anyway there is no doubt this should have been resolved immediately given the trivial cost to rectify it. I have seen some completely ridiculous demands of Festool on FOG, some of which should have never been accommodated just on principle, but were. I have also had several good experiences with parts replacement and a so-so response with two repairs that were what I saw as design defects resulting in early failures.

In Jack's as I can only hope this was a cultural issue or an employee who was having a less than stellar day because no part of not sending out a decal makes sense and nor will it ever.

The amount of money spent or where he stands as customer was irrelevant to his complaint though.

Jack,

If you still don't have the label I'll make up for the oversight by purchasing one for you. Send me a PM? There is someone selling them on eBay and with your address I'll have it shipped to you.

Imperial Label

 

[sancho57]

[popcorn] [popcorn]

 

[SittingElf]

$3952.50 ??!! ???

I WISH I had only spent that much! [scared]

If that amount puts you in the top 1%, then what the heck does about $60,000 put the percentage at?! [eek]

A chill pill is clearly prescribed here, though you may need an Rx. [big grin]

Festool takes care of her customers, and if the OP will give them some room to take action, I'm absolutely confident that any issues will be resolved!

Cheers,
Frank