Midi in Canada

JCLP

Member
Joined
Oct 27, 2013
Messages
955
Some of you may have heard me in the past wishing for a MIDI to be released in Canada. I traded my in for a CT26 due to the recall. I love my CT26 but I think someone at Festool should let us know whether or not they plan on releasing a MIDI or similar product in Canada and when. Carrying the CT26 around is quite cumbersome. I know that CSA approval was a concern, but CSA approval only applies to commercial use and not personal use. There are many products sold in Canada for home use that are not CSA approved. We Canadians that live near the US border have spent many dollars on US products that are not CSA approved and use them everyday for personal use. It is common practice and not against the law. If we use them for commercial use, then yes it is against the law. It doesn't void are home insurance and we cannot get arrested. If it's certified to use in the US then it good to go for personal use in Canada. A good example of this is buying electronics such as TV's in the US and using them for personal use here in Canada.
As many of us are loyal Canadian Festool customers and have a large investment in Festool products, I think we deserve a solution to this MIDI problem.
Canadians want one and I think we derseve one sooner rather then later.
Cheers,
JC
 
JC,

Sorry for the frustration.

I think I have posted this before, but I will post it again here. There are currently no imminent plans to reintroduce the CT MINI/MIDI in Canada. What the future holds, or when that might happen, I do not know at this time. Of course, if this changes, I'm sure that it will be communicated here on the forum and elsewhere to let our Canadian customers know.

Shane
 
Hi Shane,

Sorry for being a pain in the butt and bringing this up again. I believe I'm not the only one who feels this way. I have been holding out on buying a competing product such as the Fein Turbo II because I want and enjoy using Festool tools. I know that it is mentioned on the web site that MIDI will not be sold or serviced in Canada, but that goes against the warranty info that is supplied with your tools in Canada. As a layman in legal ease, your warranty is a US/Canada warranty and that any Festool product purchased in US/Canada will be warranted for 3 years and serviced at the nearest service centre. Ours being in just outside Ottawa. That means that I can have one shipped from a US dealer close to me and Festool will have to honour their warranty. Wording on a web page means nothing. What you get on paper when you buy the product is what counts. As I don't really want to do this I really don't want to give Fein my $600.00.

Frustrated,
JC
 
Let me start by saying this is ONLY APPLICABLE IN CANADA. Our customers in the US are not affected.

I'm not a lawyer so I can can't speak to the legal implications, but I believe that a Canadian government mandated recall would supersede our warranty statement.

I would direct you to review our FAQs on the topic, the most notable of which are below for your convenience. If you still have questions, I would have to defer to someone else within the company with a better knowledge of the legal requirements of the recall.

What if I want to keep my affected tool?

While it remains your decision as to whether or not you return the product, it is our responsibility to inform you that without UL/CSA certification, the units in question do not meet the standards of the ESA. As such, we can only recommend that you send us your CT MINI/MIDI in exchange for a fully compliant CT 26, or your RAS 115 for a fully compliant RO 125.

Will spare parts/repairs be available?

Since these products are not certified for sale in Canada, we will not be able to support them with spare parts or repairs.

Will I still be able to purchase accessories and consumables for the affected tools?

Festool will continue to support the CT MINI/MIDI/RAS with accessories and consumables, though it will be at the dealer's discretion whether or not to carry them.

http://www.festoolusa.com/service/ESA/questions/
 
JC, I agree with you- you're definitely not alone- but I don't think this will be resolved in the foreseeable future and there's nothing more we can do about it other than buy one in the US.

I shared your frustration as I really wanted a smaller second vac so I could leave my CT22 with its boom arm in the workshop- such a pain to disassemble- and bought a MIDI in the US for portable use.

Is it the lack of a warranty that is stopping you from buying in the US? It's not something that bothers me. The only hassle for me is making sure I don't run out of bags as I have to get them in the US.
 
RL said:
JC, I agree with you- you're definitely not alone- but I don't think this will be resolved in the foreseeable future and there's nothing more we can do about it other than buy one in the US.

I shared your frustration as I really wanted a smaller second vac so I could leave my CT22 with its boom arm in the workshop- such a pain to disassemble- and bought a MIDI in the US for portable use.

Is it the lack of a warranty that is stopping you from buying in the US? It's not something that bothers me. The only hassle for me is making sure I don't run out of bags as I have to get them in the US.
I think we Canadians should put more pressure on Festool to return this product to Canada. They do pride themselves as providing second to none customer service, and they do, so why not provide us with what we had and was taken away from us because they messed up in the certification process. That error should not have happened in a company like Festool. As for the warranty issue, Festool mentions a few things on their FAQ page for the recall, but words on a web page is not enforceable and a company has to homour their warranty that is written on paper and delivered with their products. If a change is made, every the consumer must be made aware in writing that the warranty has changed. That did not happen with the Festool recall. We were notified that the voluntary exchange for a ct26 was available. I recently just bought a RS 2 and the warranty does not exclude the MIDI, MINI or the RAS, which I hear is coming back to Canada, on the warranty document. So if the RAS is coming back, heard from the rumour mill, where is the MIDI?
I probably will end up buying from the US.
 
FYI:  Governmental laws and mandates trump contractual law because without governmental laws and mandates there wouldn't be the authority for contractual law.

Peter
 
I doubt these vaccums will ever be back in Canada, our market is probably too small to make it worth the certification cost. On top of that these vacs most likely never sold that well in the first place in Canada. I really wanted one for a long time, but a combination having to go to the states to get one and the price vs. value factor of the machine made the division for me. And really in the end I just got fed up with waiting and bought the new fein turbo. Couldn't be happier, super powerful, well designed and durable. After seeing all the pictures of the broken hose garages on the festool vacuums, I'm glad I made the choice I did. Maybe one day they will bring a new small machine to our market, if that happens I'll be happy but in the meantime I needed a small powerful hepa vac and the Fein fits the bill and doesn't kill my back going up and down stairs.
 
jkuisma said:
I doubt these vaccums will ever be back in Canada, our market is probably too small to make it worth the certification cost. On top of that these vacs most likely never sold that well in the first place in Canada. I really wanted one for a long time, but a combination having to go to the states to get one and the price vs. value factor of the machine made the division for me. And really in the end I just got fed up with waiting and bought the new fein turbo. Couldn't be happier, super powerful, well designed and durable. After seeing all the pictures of the broken hose garages on the festool vacuums, I'm glad I made the choice I did. Maybe one day they will bring a new small machine to our market, if that happens I'll be happy but in the meantime I needed a small powerful hepa vac and the Fein fits the bill and doesn't kill my back going up and down stairs.
I was looking at the Fein. Which one did you get? Does it have the ability to vary the suction soI can use it with the DTS400 or ets125?
 
I want to make sure that our Canadian customers understand that we are committed to serving you as well as we serve our US customers. I understand your desire to have a smaller dust extractor, but sometimes things take time to resolve. You are not being ignored and we understand the need to get the problem resolved. I just don't have a time frame that I can currently share. I think there will be a solution in place, but I just don't have the timing. To set clear expectations, it's not something that will be fixed in a month or two.

Shane
 
Shane unfortunately its not  a month or 2, the recall was started over 18 months ago which means Festool knew about the problem long before that.

John
 
GhostFist said:
reviews on the new fein vacs haven't been too positive

GhostFist, which reviews are you talking about? I'm very curious as I can't really find too many serious reviews online outside of a ridiculous Youtube video. I've had mine for the last 7 months and it is significant step up from the older model.

John
 
JCLP said:
jkuisma said:
I doubt these vaccums will ever be back in Canada, our market is probably too small to make it worth the certification cost. On top of that these vacs most likely never sold that well in the first place in Canada. I really wanted one for a long time, but a combination having to go to the states to get one and the price vs. value factor of the machine made the division for me. And really in the end I just got fed up with waiting and bought the new fein turbo. Couldn't be happier, super powerful, well designed and durable. After seeing all the pictures of the broken hose garages on the festool vacuums, I'm glad I made the choice I did. Maybe one day they will bring a new small machine to our market, if that happens I'll be happy but in the meantime I needed a small powerful hepa vac and the Fein fits the bill and doesn't kill my back going up and down stairs.
I was looking at the Fein. Which one did you get? Does it have the ability to vary the suction soI can use it with the DTS400 or ets125?

I picked mine up from Atlas machinery.
Yes you can vary the suction, but it is a mechanical suction unit which is located on the nozzle, while it's a simplistic solution it works very well. I use mine all the time with my Mirka Ceros and a Festool LS130, works great.

Regards
John
 
jkuisma said:
GhostFist said:
reviews on the new fein vacs haven't been too positive

GhostFist, which reviews are you talking about? I'm very curious as I can't really find too many serious reviews online outside of a ridiculous Youtube video. I've had mine for the last 7 months and it is significant step up from the older model.

John
I'm probably talking about the YouTube you mentioned. He's disappointed with cheaper quality materials at a high price point. Beyond that I haven't looked much closer tbh. Metabo has rebranded the starmix ipulse vacs though and they're available in na.
 
I agree its a bummer the midi/mini are no longer available in canada. A ct26 just doesn't fit my needs and is too expensive/cumbersome.

I've had a fein turbo 1 for 6 months, I bought the older model with variable speed. I would likely buy a midi if they are re-introduced. But until then I'm quite happy with the fein.
 
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