What happened to my kapex?

Peter Halle said:
I may be wrong but I think that the 5 year warranty in Canada is not on the entire tool - just the motor.  Unfortunately I didn't find anything on the Festool Canada website.  That might just be due to my hasty searching.
Havn't found anything also, would be interested in reading something official from Festool Canada about that.
 
Peter Halle said:
I may be wrong but I think that the 5 year warranty in Canada is not on the entire tool - just the motor. 

You're probably right Peter, this is a cut & paste from the Canadian site:

FESTOOL SHALL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY CONSEQUENTIAL, INCIDENTAL OR SPECIAL DAMAGES REGARDLESS OF THE THEORY OF LAW ON WHICH THE CLAIM IS BASED. ALL WARRANTIES IMPLIED BY STATE LAW, INCLUDING THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE HEREBY LIMITED TO THE DURATION OF THREE YEARS.

SOME STATES IN THE U.S. AND SOME CANADIAN PROVINCES DO NOT ALLOW EXCLUSIONS/LIMITATIONS OF INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES AND/OR LIMITATIONS ON HOW LONG AN IMPLIED WARRANTY LASTS, SO THE ABOVE LIMITATION MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU. THIS WARRANTY GIVES YOU SPECIFIC LEGAL RIGHTS, AND YOU MAY ALSO HAVE OTHER RIGHTS THAT VARY FROM STATE TO STATE IN THE U.S. AND FROM PROVINCE TO PROVINCE IN CANADA.

With the exception of any warranties implied by state or province law as limited above, the foregoing limited warranty is exclusive and in lieu of all other warranties, guarantees, agreements, and similar obligations of Festool. No agent, representative, distributor, dealer, or employee of Festool has the authority to increase or otherwise modify the obligations or limitations of this warranty.

 
Cheese said:
With the exception of any warranties implied by state or province law as limited above, the foregoing limited warranty is exclusive and in lieu of all other warranties, guarantees, agreements, and similar obligations of Festool. No agent, representative, distributor, dealer, or employee of Festool has the authority to increase or otherwise modify the obligations or limitations of this warranty.

Well… there is a online shop over here (in Europe) that offers (for free!) an extended warranty of five years. And they sell a lot of FS, I think.
 
Without a peep from Festool, it's hard to justify even with the warranty.  This is a tool whose life should be measured in decades.  The only justification for keeping it is if it helps you do something no other saw will do and that abililty is worth the price of admission.  That's something you have to weigh.  And even then, if it's out of commission, what impact does that have on you?  If you potentially have to lug around (or keep) a back up saw, maybe it's not worth the hassle?
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I dont know if he did or not but if he would of gone to festool first before posting here, Im sure they would of responded to him.
But once he posted on a public website, they will definately get defensive to protect the brand.

At least thats how I think this played out so far.
 
Previous examples of people posting their Festool problems on this Forum before they contacted Festool did not seem to suggest or result in any negative impact on the service they eventually received. On the contrary, I got the impression that they actually got faster service responses if they voiced their problems in public. My impression might not hold water under close examination, though.
 
I agree it seems rather childish for a company to "punish" their customers because they posted a problem to a public forum instead of contacting them first.
 
I have an Apex out of warranty. The swivel lever has worn to a point that the saw isn't safe to use.  I called Festool for an estimate to repair.  They would not commit to any cost of repair whatsoever.  OK then.  So I purchased a box for $20 to ship the saw back to them.
They told me they would assess the issue and give me an estimate over the phone.  If I chose not to have them repair, they will send the saw back disassembled.

I suspect this particular ailment has happened before.  So a little puzzled, I ordered the part.  I have learned a lot about this saw in the process of disassembling.  And have discovered an underused vocabulary.  Everything is working just fine except the blade guard does not want to retract completely. 

I would happily accept any assistance available.

Otherwise, I will continue to noodle about trying to find my mistake.
 
Festool lives from trust into their brand, this allows them to charge premium. As everyone else they need an influx of fresh customers to replace the ones that die of natural causes. Poisoning the perceived quality of their brand (both on the 'net and mouth to mouth) is diametral to attracting new customers.
 
I had contacted Festool regarding the warranty, and received the normal corporate response letter, which was expected.  I had asked about the 5 year warranty in Canada, and I was informed that was not the case.  Same 3 year warranty as the rest of the world. 
 
I posted a question the other day. Cannot find it.  Anyway, I figured out the issue, bought the part and fixed the Kapex myself.  I don't think I will continue to purchase Festool products with a service department such as theirs. This was a pretty expensive saw compared to the rest of the marketplace.  Loyalty to customers is just as important as loyalty to brand.
 
DVA12 said:
I posted a question the other day. Cannot find it.  Anyway, I figured out the issue, bought the part and fixed the Kapex myself.  I don't think I will continue to purchase Festool products with a service department such as theirs. This was a pretty expensive saw compared to the rest of the marketplace.  Loyalty to customers is just as important as loyalty to brand.

Your question is a little earlier in this thread.  Giving estimates for a repair over the phone without even seeing the tool is pretty risky.  Receiving a tool that isn't working properly from a customer, taking it apart to diagnose the exact issue, then reassembling and sending it back to the customer un-repaired is a liability issue and risk management comes into play.

Peter

 
I have come across two types of service models. My car dealership charges me for diagnosing a problem and then charges separately for repairs (if approved by me). The diagnostic fee includes putting things back to their original configurations.

On furnace company I deal with also charges me for diagnosis, but will apply that fee towards the final repair bill as an offset if I approve the repair service. After paying the diagnostic fee (and they will put everything back together if I decide not to approve the repair), I am free to find someone else to fix the problem as identified by them.
 
Peter Halle said:
Receiving a tool that isn't working properly from a customer, taking it apart to diagnose the exact issue, then reassembling and sending it back to the customer un-repaired is a liability issue and risk management comes into play.

Peter

Shouldn't that risk part be easily dealt with by some standard clause of disclaimer that must be accepted by a customer before his or her tool is looked at?

I may be wrong, but I think my car dealership also has provisions that say if my car is considered unsafe to drive, the disassembled parts will not be installed, and I would need a towing service to get my car to where I want.
 
Corey P. said:
I had contacted Festool regarding the warranty, and received the normal corporate response letter, which was expected.  I had asked about the 5 year warranty in Canada, and I was informed that was not the case.  Same 3 year warranty as the rest of the world.

You probably need to be more specific in asking the question.  My understanding from reading posts on the FOG is the saw does have the same 3 year warranty in Canada, but the motor is covered for 5 years.  That's not part of Festool's all inclusive warranty policy, it's a separate legal requirement in Canada I believe, so they may have parrotted the Festool policy without adding that additional tidbit. 
 
Well, turns out my saw was a year outside of warranty. (My dad had it longer then I thought before me.  So $75.44 for an out of warranty repair with shipping is reasonable and they didnt charge me for the motor parts, so thats good.

I still think its ridiculous that a $1500 saw burned up with only light use after 4 years when the Chinese harbor freight chop saw I bought 6 years ago for only $100 is still going strong...
 

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WOW

This is the first time that I have seen Festool cover the repairs of an out of warranty Kapex! 

Did something change, or is the OP just 'special'?
 
The motor on the kapex has a warranty of 5 years in Canada and I was lucky enough for them to pay for shipping both ways.
 
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