Is festool going to have a FOG rep here?

[sancho57]

We used to have Shane, Then Brian, and Tyler.

Phil would show up when he could.

But since Tyler left I havent seen any festool representation here.

Even the dealers aren't participating anymore we used to have Tom B (RIP), Bob and a few others to.

Now i dont see many dealers either.

We do have a good knowledge base here, but what happened to festool and the dealers?

Not complaining, just inquiring

 

[semenza]

Hard to say for sure.

Seth

 

[RJNeal]

Not sure.
But I think we got pretty spoiled with Shane.
R

 

[AlexThePalex]

A complaint is warranted.

It is simply ridiculous that a multinational company with offices in over 20 countries can't appoint one official representative on this forum that generated over 44 million page views this year alone.

Really, the forum took a big hit when Shane left. He was very active here and still is, which is good for the Toolnut but not Festool. Back then the Ask Festool section meant something and Shane would reply to questions in no time. Now the Ask Festool section is a complete dessert.

Since Shane left user participation on the FOG also went down, and quite dramatically. From 73.000 posts in 2015 to a mere 29.000 now in 2019. That's a 60% drop.

I don't understand why Festool completely ignores this site now. You'd think losing 44.000 posts per year might have some influence on sales also.

 

[demographic]

They are likely still a bit sore over Kapexgate.

 

[DeformedTree]

Keep a lookout on the Recon Site, maybe festool will get a rep back in they can refurbish and offer up to the website.

 

[peter halle]

Keep a lookout on the Recon Site, maybe festool will get a rep back in they can refurbish and offer up to the website.

Really?  And then people wonder why participation is down after posts like this?

Peter

 

[tony_sheehan]

What happened to Phil Beckley?

 

[peter halle]

What happened to Phil Beckley?

Phil is now working for Trend in the UK if my knowledge is correct.

Peter

 

[Bob D.]

Having company and dealer reps on here has been a huge plus. One of the reasons I bought Festool in the first place was the direct involvement of Festool on this forum. It's something I have not seen on other tool brand forums.Having access to Shane and his knowledge and quick responses was great.

 

[DeformedTree]

Keep a lookout on the Recon Site, maybe festool will get a rep back in they can refurbish and offer up to the website.

Really?  And then people wonder why participation is down after posts like this?

Peter

A lighthearted way (Festool themed) to say Festool could very well be looking for someone to serve the roll is a problematic thing to say?

Festool very well wants someone to help, but there might just not be people there who want to do it.

 

[RustE]

I kind of remember a comment from Tyler about Festool USA not wanting to make this forum within someone’s job description. Which is sad considering how they went about acquiring this forum.

 

[Bob D.]

Online forums are old school though. Support/interaction with many companies has moved to Social Media.

For example last year I had a problem with my EGO electric mower. The speed control was not working as it should. Sometimes with the speed set to MAX the mower would move at its fastest speed and some times it would crawl in low.

I contacted them by their website (after trying by phone and on hold for over 15 minutes) on a weekday during normal business hours but after two days no answer. But I found them on FB and posted a question about the problem I was having with the mower and had a response in less than a half hour. Called the number they gave me and had a solution that day which was take it to any authorized service center and it will be fixed for free as its under warranty.

Social Media posts get instant action, because everyone sees it in real time so they are forced to resolve the situation ASAP else they take a hit with potential buyers. The only ones seeing a problem posted on an online forum (any not just this one) are the few who frequent it or stumble across it in a search so the damage to the product's reputation is greatly reduced.

Having said all that I prefer an online venue like the FOG.

 

[Bob D.]

I kind of remember a comment from Tyler about Festool USA not wanting to make this forum within someone’s job description. Which is sad considering how they went about acquiring this forum.

Something like this?
https://www.festoolownersgroup.com/ask-festool/about-this-board-7675/

 

[junk731]

We used to have Shane, Then Brian, and Tyler.

Phil would show up when he could.

But since Tyler left I havent seen any festool representation here.

Even the dealers aren't participating anymore we used to have Tom B (RIP), Bob and a few others to.

Now i dont see many dealers either.

We do have a good knowledge base here, but what happened to festool and the dealers?

Not complaining, just inquiring

"Any dealers I know personally say that Festool has hurt their sales badly by letting anyone and his brother have a right to sell the tools. Also just observations but in the 11 years I've been on the forum the other manufactures are catching up to what Festool started as far as dust collection and some have some equal quality tools for less. Most of the dealers are multi lined and its hard to say one is superior to the others."

"Hard for Festool to justify the high wage of a knowledgeable person to monitor a forum that's a fulltime job."

 

[RustE]

Something like this?
https://www.festoolownersgroup.com/ask-festool/about-this-board-7675/

Hmm, not exactly.  More like there wasn’t someone at FestoolUSA assigned to check this forum on a regular basis.  Wouldn’t be a full-time responsibility, at least I wouldn’t think so.  However there should be someone at FestoolUSA with a few hours available each day to come here and say “hi”.

 

[Brian Livingstone]

Really interesting to read the number of posts have dropped from 73K to 29K.

Indicative that this type of forum is being usurped by social media.  I just started using Instagram in the last couple of months.  So much good information/videos/pictures available, including info on Festool.

If you are not using Instagram you should be. 

 

[tony_sheehan]

For me, instagram or facebook don't come remotely close to the information available here.
They're fine if you like looking at pictures (which I do) or like your information dispensed in single sentences.

 

[AlexThePalex]

OK, I have to ask, seriously, WHAT ON EARTH does make you guys think this IS NOT social media??  [doh]

This is a place where everybody can talk to each other, in more detail than anywhere else because you can write 10.000 word posts if you want to.

You should not consider this is a place for direct customer support, though a guy like Shane did absolutely make it to be like that anyway.

OK, you got a response on FB in half an hour. Ever heard of telephone? Gets a response in seconds. I mean, if they're any good and the call center isn't outsourced to Mike in India.

 

[RustE]

...
Indicative that this type of forum is being usurped by social media.  I just started using Instagram in the last couple of months.  So much good information/videos/pictures available, including info on Festool.
...

Arguably forums in general are on a downward trend. The people running them keep selling-out to advertisements and spam bots. There are a few good ones left, like here and Sawmill Creek. Many of the automotive and fishing forums changed for the worse.

Is FestoolUSA putting their tutorials on Instagram instead of YouTube these days?  That might be worth me trying to figure out how to use it.