Grizzly Jointer Problems/Outcome
I have been lurking on SMC for several months now, but have never posted until now. I have enjoyed reading many of your posts, gained knowledge about various techniques, gained insight from various tool reviews, etc.
Most woodworkers put significant effort and research into making tool purchase decisions and want to get the best value possible (particularly the hobbyist). I’ve appreciated the reviews and comments I’ve read at SMC. Accordingly, I wanted to pass along my recent experience with Grizzly so that you can use the information in formulating your future tool purchases. It’s just one more piece of data to consider. I indicated to Grizzly in my e-mails to them, that I would post the outcome of my experience, good or bad, on the woodworking forums I frequent. As a man of my word, that is what I am doing today.
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WARNING: THIS MESSAGE IS LONG. The remainder of it outlines the problems I had with Grizzly and the final outcome.
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My recent experience is related to the purchase of a Grizzly G0500 8” x 75” jointer. I placed my order before Thanksgiving with plans to work on a couple of furniture projects I’d been wanting to tackle for some time. The jointer arrived from Grizzly in a timely fashion, but I had to wait 2 plus hours beyond the scheduled delivery time window (which was four hours to begin with) for the carrier, Overnite. The packaging around the jointer was damaged, and I inspected the jointer very carefully before accepting it, as a result. There was a scratch on the jointer base, but nothing to be concerned about.
I assembled the jointer and made all of the adjustments necessary (e.g. setting knives, fences stops, etc.) per the owner’s manual. When I had completed all of the adjustments and was prepared to make my first test cut, I noticed something very wrong with the unit (that I had not noticed before). While standing at the end of the infeed table of the jointer and looking toward the end of the outfeed table, it was apparent that the outfeed table was severely skewed to the left (i.e., the tables were not aligned). Furthermore, the fence was not parallel to the outfeed table, either. The jointer fence was nearly 3/8” off from being parallel to the rabetting groove on the outfeed table.
I sent the jointer back to Grizzly via Overnite, and a replacement jointer was subsequently sent to me (also via Overnite). The entire process with Overnite was a fiasco. It was so bad that it was almost funny “if you know what I mean.” As a case in point, Overnite called me to set up a delivery time for the replacement jointer on a Saturday. I scheduled it for the following Tuesday. I called Overnite on Monday just to confirm the delivery date and time, and everything was still as scheduled. So, I went home from work on Tuesday, to wait for the delivery in the four-hour window given by Overnite. Three hours into the wait, I decided to call Overnite to check on the status of the delivery. I told them I was expecting the delivery of my Grizzly jointer, which I had confirmed the day before. They put me in touch with the dispatcher, and after about 10 minutes, the dispatcher informed me that the jointer had not yet arrived in Houston (I live in Katy, a suburb west of Houston). It was somewhere between Tulsa and Dallas at that time. Unbelievable! Overnite called me to set up delivery, and subsequently confirmed the delivery, for something they didn’t even yet have in a ZIP code even remotely close to the desired destination. I’ll spare you the gory details of the other problems I had with Overnite (both before and after the incident I relayed), but suffice it to say that I finally got the second jointer delivered to my home (although I began to doubt whether it would ever happen). I passed along my complaints to Grizzly (via the telephone and a detailed chronicle of the events via e-mail) based on all the problems I had with Overnite. They agreed to refund the delivery charges, which was definitely the right thing to do. As I communicated to Grizzly, I believe this addressed the transportation/delivery issue of my experience.
However, this refund did not address the unusable machine that I was originally sent from Grizzly. There was a total lack of effective QA/QC on the particular unit that I received. I sent a detailed explanation of the problems with the jointer including digital photographs showing the gross lack of alignment. The fact that a unit this far out of acceptable tolerance could be sent to a customer really caused me to have serious doubts about Grizzly and a lack of confidence in the company’s QA/QC program. I did not hear anything more from Customer Service or Technical Support. However, at about that time, I ran across a SMC thread from earlier in 2003 in which a customer (SMC’r, Jay Albrandt) had a problem with Grizzly. In that thread, Terry Hatfield mentioned Bill Crofutt, Grizzly’s Quality Control Manager (thanks Terry). So, I e-mailed Mr. Crofutt, and he responded to my e-mail the same day. The next day, I talked with him on the telephone. Regarding the outfeed table problem, Mr. Crofutt speculated that the outfeed table may have been clamped in the CNC machine unlevel/out of alignment when it was ground; he could think of no other way that it could have been off as much as it was. Mr. Crofutt, expressed his apologies for the problems I had, and in the end offered me a $50 gift certificate for my troubles.
Any time one has problems with a tool via mail order, the waiting, etc. is not pleasant. I understood that inherent risk when I placed my order, just as I do anytime a mail order is made. However, in the end it was approximately 6 weeks from the time I placed my order for the G0500 until I had a properly functioning machine in my shop. In general, this is unacceptable to any customer without extenuating circumstances. As such, I believe the customer is entitled to some compensation, if the company desires to keep that individual as a customer. I expressed this to Grizzly Customer Service and to Mr. Crofutt.
Mr. Crofutt was forthright with me and understands that it’s impossible to make 100% of their customers happy, but he offered me compensation that is reasonably commensurate with the problems I encountered. “It was the right thing to do.”
If I hadn’t got in touch with Mr. Crofutt, it is unlikely that I would have received any compensation for the QA/QC problem (though Customer Service, e.g.) and I, therefore, likely would not be a Grizzly customer in the future. I have a G1023S table saw (which I am very happy with, by the way). I now have the G0500, also. I appreciate Grizzly’s understanding and their ultimate response to my problems. As we all know talk is cheap; actions speak louder than words. Grizzly came through in the end! Mr. Crofutt, if you see this post, thanks again for your candor and assistance!
Mike
Pick it up at the terminal next time....
Freight lines are commercial delivery services and not really geared for the avg residential customer. The freight is available for pickup almost around the clock and you will avoid the residential surcharge.
Congrats on successfully acquiring and setting up your new jointer.
Can't wait to see the pictures of the peices you will make with your new tool. I'm sure they will be very dramatic with lots of flare.
