T18+3 Drill problems

[speirsy82]

I purchased a Festool T18+3 in January from Axminster to replace my C12 cordless which had worked flawlessly over a period of 5 years but as the batteries began to become weak I decided an upgrade was on the cards. The drill arrived on time, first impressions were excellent, great size, weight, balance etc but after 2 weeks of really light duty work the drill began making a strange noise, sounding really rough and although the drill seemed to still work I decided it would be safer to send in to get worked by Festool.

This was a real inconvenience as the whole point in my eyes of purchasing Festool equipment is to minimise tool downtime because you are paying premium prices.

The drill turned out to require a new motor, gearbox and driveshaft!!! Which is basically an entire drill........2 weeks use? The service department said that parts would need to be sent from Germany and my argument that I should receive a new drill fell on deaf ears even though they admitted the drill had been assembled incorrectly. I asked for a temporary replacement, even a T15 would do......nothing available I was told.......great. It is now 11 days later and I am still with out a drill!

It took Axminster, whom I e-mailed with all the details, to get in touch with the service side of Festool uk and miraculously I was told that a new drill would be sent out from Germany!

What a mess....this should have been the case regardless and I wont receive the drill for another 3 days yet, thats 2 weeks with out a drill.

Im so disappointed and all my workmates now seem unimpressed with Festool, and as I seem to be the only user of Festool in the area this really wont lead to any new owners in the future.

This seems to be quite common with the T-15 and it seems standard are dropping and quality control is slipping and as for customer services......well 2 weeks says it all. This may well be the last piece of gear I purchase from Festool Im afraid. The one good thing to come from this is Axminster power tools as the have been great as always with there customer service.

 

[Deansocial]

sounds just like my t15- crock of ...

[ edited for language - Shane Holland ]

 

[speirsy82]

Well said.....u summed it all up in one sentence!

 

[laurentc]

I have a T15+3 hi how I bought to do precision work and for difficult to reach areas.
The attachments were the main reason I chose Festool, they are first class. The problem is with the drill itself. It was used very little for cabinet work. I have very old Makitas and old Milwaukee for hard work in and out.
My problem is it quit and it vas shortly after the 3 years warranty period. Anyone can see by the condition of the drill that it had very little use, never been dropped or abused. My dealer sent the drill to Festool Canada and the verdict is that the motor needs replacing, something about a broken shaft....
I believe a tool of this price and quality should last a lot longer especially. I am not one to abuse my tools. I can see a motor wearing down after many years of use but with my drill, I feel I just started to use it. All I did with it was installed drawers in our kitchen and built a vanity. It quit when I was installing electrical outlet box in a room in need of renovation. I do not believe I charged the batteries more than five times. I am very disappointed, this is not what I expected from my drill.
I also have a track saw with T3 table, track extension, a vacuum and a sander, they all work very well and have been used on many occasions. The drill has been a lemon. I wrote to Festool in Germany, we wil see what they say.