Who is your "Favorite Festool Dealer"?

[Matthew Schenker]

Matthew,
Contrary to popular opinion UL does not control whether you can use/sell without UL listing.  It is the city, local governments,  and the state that control whether you can sell a piece of equipment without UL listing.  Realize that UL was initially set up by insurance companies to certify appliances that did not catch fire or pose an electrical hazard.  Nowadays there are competitors to UL such as ETL, TUV, CE etc.  A local jurisdiction can decide which of these it will accept--stateside UL seems to be the default choice--but that is changing to include more options. I do not work for UL or another safety agency but have dealt with these agencies in my line of work.

I'm really just kidding around.  I don't mean to criticize the UL process, although it is a bit mysterious to me.  Thanks for shedding some additional light on the process!

Matthew

 

[HowardH]

Hey, T!  We know about the damage to your systainer, now how about the damage to your wallet!  You must have a good personal relationship with your banker...   I spread it out a bit.  Wife doesn't notice as much when it comes in bits and pieces...  :

 

[CharlesWilson]

Howard,

How many pieces were you able to get the Domino broken into, to keep the billing under the radar?

Charles

 

[T Sargent]

I have a very understanding wife!

 

[srmumz]

I don't know where you are located in NY, but Jim @ Warren Cutlery in Rhinebeck, NY stocks the TS55 & OF1400 & most of all Festools. I am not sure about the MFT1080, He is a nice guy and treats me very well.

Is Warren still stocking Festool???

Williams Lumber in Rhinebeck has come on board in a BIG way.....I have started feeding them all of my purchases. Sandy has dedicated a whole isle in the tool department to Festool....great display...including two demo tables.

 

[Dixon Peer]

Can Bob arrange for one to try the tools before a purchase, like Force Machinery???  The advantage of the brick and mortar store is that ability, which is not anything one can do over the internet.  Just a thought to ponder.

 

[Bob Marino]

Can Bob arrange for one to try the tools before a purchase, like Force Machinery???  The advantage of the brick and mortar store is that ability, which is not anything one can do over the internet.  Just a thought to ponder.

Dixon,

Good point, but if you mean do I ship tools over the net on a trial basis, the answer is no. Except that all Festool tools have a 30 day money back guarranty. But if the question is can and do I loan out the tools to the "locals" for a quick trial, the answer is not often, but yes I have done that. Do I do demos in my shop or go to other shops? Yes. And hopefully will have my shop back into a real shop/demo area instead of a Domino packaging area shotly.  I do not stock every tool and accessory - just not what I am equiped to do at this point in time. Most of my business is over the net and it's just me - no other staff. You bet there are advantages to the brick and mortar's and Jim's been around for a while and you don't keep brick and mortar's for that long without providing excellent service, which Force has done and continues to do.
  Bob

 

[Dave Rudy]

What is the practical difference between buying a tool and trying it for 30 days, then returning if not satisfactory, and borrowing a tool from brick and mortar store, other than the 30 day period is longer than most stores would let you keep a tool to try it?

 

[Amateur]

Jim @ Warren Cutlery is stocking Festool. He also demo's right @ his shop. Jim has an advantage over the dealer up the street, but you have to visit him to find out what that advantage is.

 

[fcraven]

What is the practical difference between buying a tool and trying it for 30 days, then returning if not satisfactory, and borrowing a tool from brick and mortar store, other than the 30 day period is longer than most stores would let you keep a tool to try it?

None really. I just remembered that almost every high end audio store does allow you to audition equipment in your home. Such and such amplifier, speaker cables, speakers, etc. will sound different in different locations; ergo, take it home and try it. Some of this equipment is very expensive.

But when you borrow it, you do "buy" it, sort of. They actually authorize your credit card (put a hold on the amount) for the purchase amount (keep in mind this could be thousands of dollars). If you want to keep it, all you have to do is not return the item (Unless it's a specific demo unit, and they are going to get you a new not-yet-burned in unit.)

I suppose that with Festool you actually end up paying a "rental" fee in the return shipping but, I've not yet returned a tool so I don't know. At any rate, I like being able to return an item if I decide that it doesn't quite do what I want it to do.

 

[bassman00]

Another vote for Bob here.  All for the same reasons listed above.  I did buy an ETS 150/3 from the Woodcraft/Woodworker's Club near my work.  They were very helpful with a problem I had.  I tested the 150/3 and decided to grab one to compliment my RO 150.

PaulD

 

[Toolpig]

I have the "Bosch" version of that router.  They had a problem with some of the switches getting corroded and not working.  I'm told that you can get it replaced for free by sending it to Bosch.

TP

Bob, without question.  I enjoy working with the guys at my local Woodcraft but only one person there knows anything about the Festool product line.  They don't stock much and saving the sales tax with no shipping just makes sense.  My Craftsman/Bosch professional router just quit on me yesterday so it looks like the OF1400 will be on order later this week.  :  oh well...

 

[pteubel]

I'll vote for Bob Marino. Ordered a Domino on Tuesday and it arrived on Wednesday.  Even Amazon Prime can't deliver that fast! Thanks Bob!!

 

[AMC]

A vote for Anthony at Ideal Tools www.idealtools.com.au It was his outstanding service that got me onto the whole Festool addiction in the first place. We exchanged something like 25 emails before I made my first Festool purchase after three months of hedging.  There's been an intermittent flow of email, funds and Festools between us ever since.

 

[ByronBlack]

I can recommend: Miles (Tools and machinery centre) for all us Brits.
http://www.mtmc.co.uk/default.asp

I got superb advice from a friendly and knowledgeable guy and received my MFT, clamps and free sortainers the very next day. I'll definitly be using them again.

 

[Dixon Peer]

What is the practical difference between buying a tool and trying it for 30 days, then returning if not satisfactory, and borrowing a tool from brick and mortar store, other than the 30 day period is longer than most stores would let you keep a tool to try it?

Well, if one lives in Colorado and the distance to the "local" tool supplier is great, then I guess the way to go is buy the tool and if you don't like it, return it within thirty days.  Here in New Jersey the distance from my house to Force Machinery is about eight miles or so.  Therefore, it's easier for me to go there and try out the latest Festool gizmo and see what I think of it.  That's easier for me than having to pack up the tool and get it to the UPS store or post office and pay to ship it back.
That's the "practical" difference to me.

 

[Dave Rudy]

Hi Dixon,

Well, if one lives in Colorado and the distance to the "local" tool supplier is great, then I guess the way to go is buy the tool and if you don't like it, return it within thirty days.  Here in New Jersey the distance from my house to Force Machinery is about eight miles or so.  Therefore, it's easier for me to go there and try out the latest Festool gizmo and see what I think of it.  That's easier for me than having to pack up the tool and get it to the UPS store or post office and pay to ship it back.
That's the "practical" difference to me.

Believe it or not, this one who lives in Colorado is actually closer to the "local" supplier than you are in New Jersey.  But I was inartfully trying to make a different point.  I once lived in San Francisco.  Due to traffic and stop lights, etc., the time it took to get downtown to work or a restaurant was about 20 mins.  After agonizing over the move, I eventually moved the family to Oakland.  It was across the water and across a bridge.  Conceptually, it was a big move.  In point of fact, it took about five minutes LESS to get to downtown from Oakland (barring unusual traffic disasters) than from where I had lived in San Francisco.  Even though it was closer in time it felt much further.  Result -- we pretty much stopped eating at San Francisco restaurants in the evening, except on very rare occasions.

I was wondering how much of the feeling that it's more convenient to try out tools at a local retailer than through the mail/ups is in how it feels vs how it really is.  For one thing, having a tool in my shop for 30 days is far preferable in terms of trying it out than playing with in for 10 minutes at the local store.  (On the other hand, my local store has also allowed me to take Festools home a couple of times and try them on real projects in the shop).

 

[Steve Jones]

My vote goes to Tom Bellemare at Tool Home

www.tool-home.com

Excellent service and very knowledgeable about the tools (he uses them himself).
Most importantly he would rather make a new customer than one more sale.

 

[obdoor]

Try Beaver Tools.
I believe my Festool contact is John,sometimes when I know exactly what I want anybody in sales will do.
I spit my time between Colorado and coastal Carolina and they ship all Festool tools and consumables for FREE and NO SALES TAX as I am out of state. I believe they are in the St Louis area, anyway I get what I need promptly.
obdoor

 

[Dave Ronyak]

My vote goes to Bob Marino, as has most of my business (I buy some some supplies locally).  Always excellent, fast service, and a willingness to dig out information and obtain odd, low volume parts when I need them.  Thanks, Bob!

Dave R.