"After all, it's just money people."
If you do not mind spending $500 per year on replacing a miter saw, then good for you. However, many people cannot afford to do that.
People who use their tools to make a living should expect that a company like Festool, which pushes the idea of top quality, will make a tool that lasts at least as long as the lower priced competition.
I have also not seen the reply on the warranty issue. If a Kapex motor burns out at 4 years, how long does the motor replacement warranty last? If a person is paying $100s for a further one year warranty, then it can still get very expensive if the motor burns out again at 18 months.
There are two issues involved here, economics and trust. People are often not rational when dealing with economic matters, but most people in business know when they are not making a sound investment. Tools that break down far sooner than the time to take full depreciation are probably not a good investment. Festool pushes hard their professional appeal and certainly seems determined to push sales in that market. Most professionals expect expensive tools to have a longer than three year life span.
In regard to trust, when people pay top price for an item, most of them expect that the company will stand behind their product. This is why this issue could be critical for Festool. If customers start to believe that Festool is not producing top quality or that Festool does not care about customer satisfaction, their reputation for quality could suffer greatly. For items such as drills and routers, quality as much as features may greatly influence a buying decision. If Festool loses their reputation for quality, sales will probably suffer considerably.
If you do not mind spending $500 per year on replacing a miter saw, then good for you. However, many people cannot afford to do that.
People who use their tools to make a living should expect that a company like Festool, which pushes the idea of top quality, will make a tool that lasts at least as long as the lower priced competition.
I have also not seen the reply on the warranty issue. If a Kapex motor burns out at 4 years, how long does the motor replacement warranty last? If a person is paying $100s for a further one year warranty, then it can still get very expensive if the motor burns out again at 18 months.
There are two issues involved here, economics and trust. People are often not rational when dealing with economic matters, but most people in business know when they are not making a sound investment. Tools that break down far sooner than the time to take full depreciation are probably not a good investment. Festool pushes hard their professional appeal and certainly seems determined to push sales in that market. Most professionals expect expensive tools to have a longer than three year life span.
In regard to trust, when people pay top price for an item, most of them expect that the company will stand behind their product. This is why this issue could be critical for Festool. If customers start to believe that Festool is not producing top quality or that Festool does not care about customer satisfaction, their reputation for quality could suffer greatly. For items such as drills and routers, quality as much as features may greatly influence a buying decision. If Festool loses their reputation for quality, sales will probably suffer considerably.
