jonny round boy
Member
- Joined
- Jul 21, 2007
- Messages
- 3,227
I've just been reading joiner1970's post on the problems he's had with his dealer, so I thought it was time we had a thread on UK dealers!
Personally, I've nearly always used Pickard Hardware in Keighley, West Yorks. They have always provided excellent service, and the guy who dealt with Festool there (Monty) was great - he'd let you try any machine in there, they had a couple of MFT's set up and odd bits of timber to play with. He always offered loan machines to customers if they had tools to send off for repair or service, too. When I was looking to get my first sander, he lent me an RO125 and an ETS150 for the weekend to see which I preferred (and gave me a few sanding disks for each).
Unfortunately, he left a couple of months ago, and I don't know who's taken over. I haven't had chance to go over there since.
When I decided to get a Domino, I stumbled across another local dealer, A One Tools & Fixings in Brighouse. They're even closer to me than Pickards, but I'd never been.
So, I went over there and asked to speak to their Festool expert. They called a guy out from the back, and I asked if I could try out a domino in their hands-on area. "Oh, we don't have a demo machine of that, sorry". They had one on display, and I saw no reason why they couldn't have demo'd that (apart from the fact it was chained to the display!). Not a great start.
I played dumb, and pretended I knew nothing about the domino, and started asking questions about it. It quickly became clear he didn't know much... It took him & the 2 guys on the counter about 5 minutes to figure out how to separate the motor from the fence to change bits. When I asked if they had one in stock, he said he'd have to go upstairs (to where they have their Festool demo room, separate from the main store) to check. Any sales person worth their salt would have invited me up to the demo room at that point, but no.
I have bought some tools (but mainly accessories) from online/eBay stores. I bought the Domino accessory systainer from Toolmonkey on eBay - they don't seem to have Festool on their main website, but on eBay they still list some Festool every now and again. I think they're no longer a Festool dealer, and they're just selling off the last few bits as they always seem really cheap. When the systainer arrived, it was damaged on the corner. I e-mailed them, and they were great - I got a reply back within an hour, saying they'd sort it out with the delivery company. I said I didn't want to return it, and they ended up giving me some money back as a 'goodwill gesture'!
I've also bought quite a bit from Healy's Tools and Axminster - both are quite big companies & I'd expect good service from them, but I've never needed to find out.
So, to all you UK FOGgers - where do you buy your Festool from, and what kind of service did you get???
Personally, I've nearly always used Pickard Hardware in Keighley, West Yorks. They have always provided excellent service, and the guy who dealt with Festool there (Monty) was great - he'd let you try any machine in there, they had a couple of MFT's set up and odd bits of timber to play with. He always offered loan machines to customers if they had tools to send off for repair or service, too. When I was looking to get my first sander, he lent me an RO125 and an ETS150 for the weekend to see which I preferred (and gave me a few sanding disks for each).
Unfortunately, he left a couple of months ago, and I don't know who's taken over. I haven't had chance to go over there since.
When I decided to get a Domino, I stumbled across another local dealer, A One Tools & Fixings in Brighouse. They're even closer to me than Pickards, but I'd never been.
So, I went over there and asked to speak to their Festool expert. They called a guy out from the back, and I asked if I could try out a domino in their hands-on area. "Oh, we don't have a demo machine of that, sorry". They had one on display, and I saw no reason why they couldn't have demo'd that (apart from the fact it was chained to the display!). Not a great start.
I played dumb, and pretended I knew nothing about the domino, and started asking questions about it. It quickly became clear he didn't know much... It took him & the 2 guys on the counter about 5 minutes to figure out how to separate the motor from the fence to change bits. When I asked if they had one in stock, he said he'd have to go upstairs (to where they have their Festool demo room, separate from the main store) to check. Any sales person worth their salt would have invited me up to the demo room at that point, but no.
I have bought some tools (but mainly accessories) from online/eBay stores. I bought the Domino accessory systainer from Toolmonkey on eBay - they don't seem to have Festool on their main website, but on eBay they still list some Festool every now and again. I think they're no longer a Festool dealer, and they're just selling off the last few bits as they always seem really cheap. When the systainer arrived, it was damaged on the corner. I e-mailed them, and they were great - I got a reply back within an hour, saying they'd sort it out with the delivery company. I said I didn't want to return it, and they ended up giving me some money back as a 'goodwill gesture'!
I've also bought quite a bit from Healy's Tools and Axminster - both are quite big companies & I'd expect good service from them, but I've never needed to find out.
So, to all you UK FOGgers - where do you buy your Festool from, and what kind of service did you get???
