What is the expected condition of a recon tool?

T

tmbridge

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Joined
Mar 10, 2021
Messages
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Hi all,

I'm new to the forum and planning to start phasing in Festool tools for everything I can in my shop.  Today, I received my first Festool purchase: a 125 REQ PLUS from the recon site.

When I opened the systainer, I can't help but admit I was a bit nervous.  The tool had a thin layer of dust over everything.  The tool itself, the power cord, the warranty card, and the manual.

The warranty card was incorrect (it is for a MIDI HEPA extractor) and there were two manuals (125 REQ and MIDI HEPA).

Photos of tool:https://imgur.com/a/ZbZA1HT

I know it's a used tool and that this is the point of the recon site but, before purchasing from the recon site, I did ample research and _everything_ I read that involved someone buying a tool from the recon site over the last 7 years stated that the tool was in perfect condition and super clean.

I reached out to another group I am a member of, just to validate my research was accurate, and everyone who chimed in had a similar report: super clean tool on delivery from the recon site.

So now I'm a bit concerned:  wrong warranty card + dirty tool = ? 

I'm wondering if this is just the status quo now perhaps due to covid or did the tool I received somehow miss a step or two in the process.  Maybe someone was just having an off day and put the wrong warranty card with the wrong unit (that had originally come in as a pair to the recon process).

I will say that the pad on the tool looks pristine -- so it does look like "some" work was done to it.  I just can't understand why they wouldn't run a moist rag over it, haha. 

I'm going to have to call them tomorrow to work out the warranty card issue, anyway, but I wanted to get the thoughts of you all here who have much more experience with Festool and specifically Festool recon than I do.

Are dusty/dirty tools common through the recon site?

Thanks,
Tim
 
Just call them and forget about other people's experiences.

peter
 
Everything I have bought off recon has been like new. I’m shocked to see it in that condition.
 
Don T said:
Everything I have bought off recon has been like new. I’m shocked to see it in that condition.
Click to expand...

I had to suppress a feeling of discontent when i opened the systainer because all I had read in my research before purchasing was how clean the tools were when purchased from the recon site -- but still figured "eh, it's probably just bad luck of the draw."  Then when I found the wrong warranty card, I decided I needed to reach out to Festool and others just to confirm something isn't wrong here.
 
Call festool. discuss it with them.

But honestly stressing over a warranty card?

Other than the dust ,Does the tool work?

Thats all  care about
 
I agree with Peter that you should call them and ask them to address your concerns. Having said that I will say that the Recon site was almost completely inactive for 8 or 9 months. Since they restarted and especially during that large sell off they were basically selling a years worth of tools in a month or two. It looks to me like a few more little things slipped through the cracks than normal. Just my opinion based on what I have read here and on FB. The good news is that once people that have experienced issues get on the phone and speak directly to them, it almost always appears to result in satisfaction. Just think about what you would like to happen before you call and if they cannot do that then ask them what they can do. I think that chances are, you will be pleasantly surprised.
 
Thanks, all, for the feedback.  I'm going to call them tomorrow.  If they tell me "no, that's normal.  We used to clean all our tools before shipping but now we don't", then all is good.  If they tell me "oh no, it should be clean as a whistle, somethings wrong.", then I'll try to get an exchange.  If they don't know anything at all, then I'll ask them what they can do for me, if anything.

I haven't even plugged in the tool to try it out yet.  If there were something subtle wrong with it, I wouldn't be able to tell since I've never used a Festool sander before.  I wouldn't be able to tell if the tool is working as it should, if that's all the matters.

I'm not "stressing out" per se over the warranty card.  It was just another thing that made me question the recon condition.  As a first time Festool buyer, I've read that the warranty is very valuable -- as a newbie to the domain, I have no idea what the warranty card "does" in the grand scheme of things, but, again, alone I wouldn't even notice it, likely.  But combined with the state of the tool, it was just another thing that indicated to me "hey maybe something's up." -- a general lack of attention to detail that I didn't expect from Festool, even the recon site.

I apologize if I'm coming off hyper-critical here but even a recon tool is an expense for me and, as a first time buyer of Festool who plans to replace the majority of the power tools in my shop with Festool over the next few years, I just prefer to do my due diligence.
 
A lot of recon tools are buyers remorse returns or buy it-use it-return it tools. A good many come from shipping damage to dealers. I bought a 1400 today. First one they brought out was missing collet and had a cracked systainer. Second was good. Dealer said it would be sent back to Festool.

The recon discount is for warranty and the fact that you are buying a used tool
 
...and regarding the warranty card, it might not have been included whereas a recon tool does not have the three year warranty.
 
I bought two HKC55, Domino 500, CT MINI, TSC55 and two T18E from the recon site in the last two months. The first three came literally brand new. TSC was old model and used, but in great shape. One of the T18 was in better shape than the other, but both work as new. If the tool works, I wouldn't worry about it. I would say they should have dusted it off though. As far as I know, Festool tracks the warranty of the reconditioned tools, so the warranty card is useless.
 
Just got off the phone with Festool and wanted to come back here to close the loop for anyone who may read this thread in the future looking for similar info.

I spoke with Nathan from the recon side of things and he was extremely helpful.  He explained that sometimes things do get missed and they'd be more than welcome to return it (and pay for the shipping cost for the return), however, they had no more in stock to be able to do an exchange.  If they DID have any available for exchange in stock, that option would be on the table, too (again, shipping costs covered by Festool).

Overall, he echoed the sentiment of most of the other posters in this thread: if it feels weird, even after 11-1/2 months of usage, give them a call back and we can use the Warranty to work something out.

That all said, I opted to keep the tool considering I haven't even plugged it in yet to try it out + the pad seems new compared to the rest of the tool so that seems to be evidence that the tool _did_ go through some level of reconditioning.  I'll be keeping hyper aware of how it's working and, I suppose, the bottom line is: if it gets the job done for me, there's no need to execute the warranty.

I was super impressed with Nathan and the Customer Service and will be buying more Festool soon, perhaps from the recon site, and hopefully they'll arrive clean -- I'll just need to run a damp rag over this one _myself_! :D
 
I am very glad that you got a professional response that you appear to be satisfied with! If you want to check one more thing you can easily remove the pad and take a look underneath. If the sander is clean as a whistle under the pad that might tell you that this sander was gone through and then probably left out in an open Systainer all year until this sale. You can also look carefully at the id plate on the sander and that will tell you when the sander was manufactured which might also shed some light. Remember that a lot of the tools that end up in a Recon sale were perfectly good and just returned during the thirty period because the buyer decided, for whatever reason, to return them, which often has little to do with anything at all being wrong with the tool.
 
tmbridge said:
Just got off the phone with Festool and wanted to come back here to close the loop for anyone who may read this thread in the future looking for similar info.

I spoke with Nathan from the recon side of things and he was extremely helpful.  He explained that sometimes things do get missed and they'd be more than welcome to return it (and pay for the shipping cost for the return), however, they had no more in stock to be able to do an exchange.  If they DID have any available for exchange in stock, that option would be on the table, too (again, shipping costs covered by Festool).

Overall, he echoed the sentiment of most of the other posters in this thread: if it feels weird, even after 11-1/2 months of usage, give them a call back and we can use the Warranty to work something out.

That all said, I opted to keep the tool considering I haven't even plugged it in yet to try it out + the pad seems new compared to the rest of the tool so that seems to be evidence that the tool _did_ go through some level of reconditioning.  I'll be keeping hyper aware of how it's working and, I suppose, the bottom line is: if it gets the job done for me, there's no need to execute the warranty.

I was super impressed with Nathan and the Customer Service and will be buying more Festool soon, perhaps from the recon site, and hopefully they'll arrive clean -- I'll just need to run a damp rag over this one _myself_! :D
Click to expand...

[member=71429]DerickC[/member]
 
I have had the pleasure to deal with Nathan, and he is indeed a ROCKSTAR.  Many years ago I expressed my thoughts about another Rockstar at Festool named Minnie and just let me say that I smile often thinking back to that post and what came out of that and all of her hard work.  My post didn't do it, she did.  But sometimes the dog toy gets stuck under the coffee table and no one recognizes its importance unless an outsider points it out so to speak.

ROCK on Nathan!
 
Hey all,

I finally got into the shop today to put the ETS 125 REQ through it's paces.  It's amazing, the weight, the balance, the feel.  Loving it.

It seems to be working well enough in that it's removing material and it _seems_ to be working faster than my DeWalt ROS that I'm coming from but, as I was afraid of after seeing the condition upon arrival, I'm second guessing some stuff.

The RPM at max speed seems slow to me when compared to the DeWalt.  I was wondering if anyone could just take a look at this video and tell me "looks normal" or "that should be moving faster at speed 6". =youtu.be

It's oddly difficult to find videos online of a close up enough shot to really compare RPM.

Thanks again for all the help!
 
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