Kapex up in smoke and losing faith in festool uk

Hey Dan1210,
That sucks man, with all that's been going wrong with these saws they are clearly not worth the money, I also look after my tools very carefully and am just amazed about the amount of failures occurring with the Kapex. You don't need to look far on fog to see how many people are having problems.
Festool in my opinion have a lot to answer for with regards to these failing parts!
Just on another note, does anyone know if the warranty can be transferred to a new owner?
As it will hopefully be fixed it will have s six month warranty on that work and a further 20 months warranty as I registered it with festool the day I bought it?
Regards,
Louis
 
"antss, you mentioned all the "old" saws are brought back out when a kapex fails, those "old" saws were around before everything was made in China. It will be interesting to see if the likes of recently purchased  makita, dewalt, hitachi will still be cutting true in 10-15 years, if working at all.........."

........and those are the saws you think should be used as a measuring stick against the most expensive saw in the category ? 

Ok, are those saws drawing significant attention anywhere on the net with people claiming motor failures in any amount after 3-4 years to make someone think there might be a trend developing ?  Doesn't mean they aren't failing, but you're going to be hard pressed to find many.  And people are not afraid to write retrospective reviews on amazon, walmart, ebay or other platforms that allow for ratings of products. So I don't think it's because folks don't have an avenue for complaints.

The other thing your post seems to hint at, even if it's not your intent is that FT's engineers aren't as competent as those at U.S. or Japanese miter saw manufacturers.  And if these Chinese made saws do last 10+ years, what does that ultimately saw about the kapex and the product team then ?  [unsure]
 
If those Chinese saws last 5 years that's longer than many kapex. For the record the dewalt has been made in china, Mexico and Taiwan for years.
 
Not sure where my old Dewalt was made -- sold it after I took a Kapex. That old piece -- bought second hand in good condition --  had been in my shop for about 7 years. Understandably, the Dewalt took some abuse, unlike baby Kapex.

I haven't heard anything being a persistent problem with the Dewalt mitre saw. My neighbor has still been using the Dewalt all these years. Of course, other than the motor/durability concerns, the two saws are not in the same class.

 
Turns out this time my Kapex problem was just the brushes, hope Louis and Dan only have the same problem.

Doug
 
So i called festool today regarding my kapex collection, originally they said i was 'on the list' in waiting for a box to be sent to me for carriage of the kapex. I was kind of dumbfounded that they had no idea when the box would be sent as they were currently all allocated!

I always used to run 2 saws, one 12" dewalt and its smaller brother, now i just have the kapex and a smaller Milwaukee, which i cant really rely on for tight accurate mitres. So this puts me in a bit of a spot, cancel jobs until i get the saw back or buy something accurate enough for cornice mitres.
I was actually lost for words on the phone for some time and asked to speak to the manager, they were busy so I requested a call back. Later today I received a call saying my saw would be collected this friday as i had been fast tracked following my complaint.

I love the saw i really do but somethings not right, I recently did a job for a builder who bought my now 13-14 year old dewalt 7--, hes been abusing it for the last 2 years cutting anything and everything and its still going strong! Unlike my kapex which is strictly a trim saw, never forced or abused. Its stored on the ug cart in the van which has a dedicated spot, all my tools are racked etc, im a carpenter which mostly does fitting and trim carpentry, so you can imagine the saw barely ever sees any heavy gauge timber. I moved the dewalt 7-- on for the Milwaukee which has a 2000w motor, thats what i use for framing.
 
How is it possible that all the boxes are allocated if there is no problem with the Kapex?  Without a response from Festool, including support data, I'm led to believe I'm playing Kapex roulette every time I pull the trigger on the saw.

I have a Kapex with UG cart that's over 3 years old.  It's been without issue so far.  I bought the Kapex because I believed it to be the best.  It is not the best if the motor burns out, ever.  Plus, then I've lost the use of my only miter saw while being repaired (really, waiting for a return box?).  For reference, I have around 15 Festool power tools with a boatload of accessories, so I'm a fan of their tools.

If a new Kapex costs $1,475 and the UG set costs $914 and I can sell it for 70% of new, I should easily be able to clear $1,670 selling my used, but pristine, Kapex unless they really don't hold their value. 

I could then buy a Bosch Glide to use in the shop for $650 and a Makita LS1016LX5 w/stand to use on the road for $730, or $1,380 for the two.  Doesn't really matter which non-Festool brand you lean towards, there is probably a combo out there you can find for under $1,670.  I've got backup in case either break.  And I have to believe the amount of time I'd spend tuning both saws would be less that the time between a motor failure and the time when I had a returned, functioning Kapex.  I know my Kapex will probably never have an issue.  But as a member of FOG reading about the seemingly numerous issues, I need to make decisions in an apparent vacuum.

Of all the Festool tools I have, I like the Trion jigsaw the least, but I trust the Kapex the least.  I wouldn't care if the Trion failed, but the Kapex would hurt.

 
Hey Dan1210,
Maybe you too need to speak to Phil, after I spoke to him on Tuesday morning I had a call from the Festool service centre and I had a box and loan saw the very next day, It didn't have a blade but as I'm heavily invested in festool and the Kapex I have spare sharp blades.
Let's say hypothetically that festool have 5 Kapex boxes at their disposal and they work on next day delivery.
5 boxes ( well Festool are a big company) leave on Monday and arrive at the product users house on Tuesday, same day pickup and back to festool on Wednesday.
These boxes then go out again and the same thing carries on over and over ( just guessing as all boxes are supposedly allocated either out for collection or delivery )
That right there screams problems ! How many more boxes do festool need to keep on top of the issue ?
I'm very grateful for the loan saw, I really am as it's got me earning money again but I feel for those who are still not sorted.
Can anyone tell me a reasonable length of time these Kapex saw should last?
Obviously depending on the type of use, but I'm again guessing that those who can afford the near £1000 price tag are going to look after them?
Consumer rights act 2015 states that you have up to SIX years to make a claim for goods that were bought in a shop and If the goods do not last a reasonable length of time you may be entitled to some money back.
So what is a reasonable length of time ?
Festool guarantee these saws for 36 months from date of purchase, would that be considered a reasonable length of time ?
Thanks again for all the comments and input,
Louis
 
I don't know how many Kapex boxes Festool have but a rep once told me that they leave some boxes with their bigger dealers, I guess like Axminster and FFX so when someone takes a broken saw back to the dealer it saves time because they don't have to ship a box out to them. I guess when Festool are short of boxes themselves they have to start juggling those.

Doug
 
Dan1210 said:
So i called festool today regarding my kapex collection, originally they said i was 'on the list' in waiting for a box to be sent to me for carriage of the kapex. I was kind of dumbfounded that they had no idea when the box would be sent as they were currently all allocated!

I always used to run 2 saws, one 12" dewalt and its smaller brother, now i just have the kapex and a smaller Milwaukee, which i cant really rely on for tight accurate mitres. So this puts me in a bit of a spot, cancel jobs until i get the saw back or buy something accurate enough for cornice mitres.
I was actually lost for words on the phone for some time and asked to speak to the manager, they were busy so I requested a call back. Later today I received a call saying my saw would be collected this friday as i had been fast tracked following my complaint.

I love the saw i really do but somethings not right, I recently did a job for a builder who bought my now 13-14 year old dewalt 7--, hes been abusing it for the last 2 years cutting anything and everything and its still going strong! Unlike my kapex which is strictly a trim saw, never forced or abused. Its stored on the ug cart in the van which has a dedicated spot, all my tools are racked etc, im a carpenter which mostly does fitting and trim carpentry, so you can imagine the saw barely ever sees any heavy gauge timber. I moved the dewalt 7-- on for the Milwaukee which has a 2000w motor, thats what i use for framing.
Click to expand...

...if you still need to call feel free 07525130166. I am travelling tomorrow but will return the call when I can
rg
Phil
 
Louis@Godfreysjoinery said:
Hey Dan1210,
Maybe you too need to speak to Phil, after I spoke to him on Tuesday morning I had a call from the Festool service centre and I had a box and loan saw the very next day, It didn't have a blade but as I'm heavily invested in festool and the Kapex I have spare sharp blades.
Let's say hypothetically that festool have 5 Kapex boxes at their disposal and they work on next day delivery.
5 boxes ( well Festool are a big company) leave on Monday and arrive at the product users house on Tuesday, same day pickup and back to festool on Wednesday.
These boxes then go out again and the same thing carries on over and over ( just guessing as all boxes are supposedly allocated either out for collection or delivery )
That right there screams problems ! How many more boxes do festool need to keep on top of the issue ?
I'm very grateful for the loan saw, I really am as it's got me earning money again but I feel for those who are still not sorted.
Can anyone tell me a reasonable length of time these Kapex saw should last?
Obviously depending on the type of use, but I'm again guessing that those who can afford the near £1000 price tag are going to look after them?
Consumer rights act 2015 states that you have up to SIX years to make a claim for goods that were bought in a shop and If the goods do not last a reasonable length of time you may be entitled to some money back.
So what is a reasonable length of time ?
Festool guarantee these saws for 36 months from date of purchase, would that be considered a reasonable length of time ?
Thanks again for all the comments and input,
Louis
Click to expand...

Hi Louis
Pleased to help on this and let me know when the machine is back with you.
    As for the transport boxes it is the best way to ensure the machines come back in a safe way and also go back to the customer correctly. Admittedly it is a juggling act and sometimes if a box goes awol then it does cause a follow on issue.....service try to cover all eventualities but if the third party lets us down then we take the hit for it, but as you have seen we do try and get all bases covered and working correctly for all customers.
rg
Phil
   
 
Not to hijack the thread, but I've seen multiple references in discussions of Festool UK of them providing loaners for when a tool goes down, but I don't recall ever seeing this mentioned for Festool USA.  Is this standard practice in the UK?
 
Edward A Reno III said:
Not to hijack the thread, but I've seen multiple references in discussions of Festool UK of them providing loaners for when a tool goes down, but I don't recall ever seeing this mentioned for Festool USA.  Is this standard practice in the UK?
Click to expand...

Hi
It is not part of Service all Inclusive. However if it is possible to help a customer out and keep them working and an equivalent machine is available then it can be sent. In the situation above with various factors affecting the customer I did directly request the loan machine to be sent.
Also remember the UK is a little bit smaller than the US so we can do next day delivery - I think the US is just a tiny bit bigger  [wink] and it would not be feasible
rg
Phil
 
Hi eyeryine,
Well my Kapex is back 😀
I would just like to say a massive thankyou to [member=41214]Phil Beckley[/member] for all of his help on this matter, the saw came back full repaired and ready for work in record quick time.
Not only did Phil sort out the issue but got me a loan saw to keep the business going and cash flowing.
Very very pleased and thanks to all of you for your help and comments.
For those of you still affected I hope you all get sorted soon.
Regards,
Louis
 
Louis@Godfreysjoinery said:
Hi eyeryine,
Well my Kapex is back 😀
I would just like to say a massive thankyou to [member=41214]Phil Beckley[/member] for all of his help on this matter, the saw came back full repaired and ready for work in record quick time.
Not only did Phil sort out the issue but got me a loan saw to keep the business going and cash flowing.
Very very pleased and thanks to all of you for your help and comments.
For those of you still affected I hope you all get sorted soon.
Regards,
Louis
Click to expand...

Hey Louis
  Thank you for posting the result of this and I will pass this on to the Service team. All I did was notify the Team leader and the rest went from there..... [smile]
rg
Phil
 
So my saw has been gone since monday and not a peep from festool uk regarding its repair...
 
Dan1210 said:
So my saw has been gone since monday and not a peep from festool uk regarding its repair...
Click to expand...

Hi
Drop me a PM with your details and will pass on to see the position on this
Rg
Phil
 
Hi Dan
Got the message and email has been sent this afternoon....will het back to you tomorrow
Eg
Phil
 
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