A Tribute to Grizzly customer service!

[Scott Francis]

Hi all, love the forum. Long time lurker, first time poster.

Based on all the recommendations here for Grizzly cust serv as well as quality improvements, i began in November to outfit my new shop with all Grizzly tools (Muncy store is only 1 hour away). I had a limited budget and needed a jointer, planer and mortiser. G0490 8” jointer has been awesome. Mortiser worked wonders on over 40 mortises for my sons qtr sawn white oak mission bed. Planer has been ok. Clearly not the same quality as the jointer but I knew that going in. I didn’t have the money for the jointer ($1k) and the 15” planer that I wanted so I had to buy the 13” planer ($375) with the idea that asap I would upgrade to the beefier 15” with cast iron everything.

Saturday I was planning some cherry and the gears that run the rollers broke. The planer is less than 3 mths old and less than 150bf have passed thru it to this point. It happens, things break, but here is where I had my problems.

Called CS Saturday and was told that they don’t have the parts in stock and they are on back order. Now the grizzly catalog states that they have 200k parts in stock so you never have to wait for parts. Ok, so if they are on back order how long do I have to wait for my “warrantied” 3 mth old machine to be fixed. I was told that they really couldn’t tell me when the parts would be available. It would take a minimum of 48 hours, possibly more, to…….. LOCATE PARTS!!! Then it would take a few days for them to get them, then a few more to have it repaired, unless I wanted to have them shipped directly to me. How does it take over 2 days to locate parts with a computer or phone?

So I asked to speak with a manager, none were available. I asked if I could just return the machine since this one can’t be fixed in a reasonable amount of time (few days, even a week if I knew it would be fixed). I even offered to return that one and buy the 15” for $1000 but was told I couldn’t return it until I talked with a technician Monday morning.

Called a tech this morning and heard exactly the same story. Can’t return it, don’t have the parts to fix it, will take a few days to find the parts and a 3-5 more to get them if we find them……. Not satisfactory

Called CS back again and asked again to speak to a manager, the manager was not available again. I left my name and two phone numbers. Was told by the CS rep that the manager would call me back today. I explained that I was off from work and could bring the machine to Muncy today (tougher to get there the rest of the week) so please have the manager call me as soon as he/she can. This was early this morning, it is now 5:40 and still no call. Any ideas? Am I being unreasonable wanting to have my machine fixed in a reasonable amount of time. The fact that they can’t even locate the parts for 48+ hours is ridiculous. In the meantime I’m out of operation entirely since the planer isn’t something I can work without.

SHIRAZ, please help.
P.S. help me out here so I can still buy that new Grizzly band saw
Thank You!
Scott Francis

[Scott Francis]

Corporate hq just called me and resolved the issue. I can return the planer for full credit and I'll then get the 15" upgrade. Really happy with this resolution and the speed with which Grizzly/Shiraz/Corp Hq took care of the issue.

Thanks again,

Scott Francis

[M Toupin]

Unbelievable...

Mike

[Cliff Holmes]

Muncy store is only 1 hour away

I'm very glad I don't have this problem ...

[Scott Francis]

I'm not sure I like being this close either. Made several trips already, still payin for a few of them.

Mike, thats exactly what my Dad said. He couldn't believe someone from the corporate headquarters actually called me. The best part is that I didn't post this until about 5:45. I heard from "John" at about 6:30. Thats amazing to me and I couldn't be happier.

Scott

[Scott Francis]

Is it possible to have a moderator change the post title to "a tribute to Grizzly customer service" ?

[David Helm]

You think you've got it bad, I only live ten minutes from HQ.

[Dave Lehnert]

Considering your problem started on a weekend and today is a national holiday I'd say you did good. I would have given them till Tuesday before raising a stink. I enjoy my days off, Sure Grizzly employees are the same.
I am sure thats the reason they said it would take 48hrs to locate parts etc was the weekend\ MLK day.

[M Toupin]

thats exactly what my Dad said. He couldn't believe someone from the corporate headquarters actually called me. The best part is that I didn't post this until about 5:45. I heard from "John" at about 6:30. Thats amazing to me and I couldn't be happier.

Unbelievable... that you actually posted that rant. Unbelievable... that folks now think it's acceptable behavior to take their issue to the court of public opinion at the drop of a hat.

Mike

[Dave Lehnert]

Unbelievable... that you actually posted that rant. Unbelievable... that folks now think it's acceptable behavior to take their issue to the court of public opinion at the drop of a hat.

Mike

I have to agree. This forum has become the Grizzly complaint department.
Why? Shiraz has been very generous with his time here solving problems. Everyone knows that so when they have an issue, The H with CS just get on Sawmill and complain to the boss. Shiraz is a great asset to sawmill and its members. but if he has to go though this all the time, he won't be here for long.

[Ed Hazel]

Am I being unreasonable wanting to have my machine fixed in a reasonable amount of time. The fact that they can’t even locate the parts for 48+ hours is ridiculous. In the meantime I’m out of operation entirely since the planer isn’t something I can work without.

Scott Francis

YES
So you called them on Saturday and they are closed on Sunday, 48 hours would be Monday. I think that is reasonable, if they located the parts on Monday the post office was closed anyways. The replacement parts may have been at your door Thursday or Friday. What where they supposed to do, send out a repairman Saturday afternoon!
I have purchase many machines from different companies and Grizzly is at the top of my list for CS anytime I have needed a warranted part it was sent no questions asked.
It took me 4 weeks to get my Mill 6950-20 fixed under warrantee.
You bought a $375 planer and you act like you spent 100k and your whole business is shut down.
Sorry my Rant

[Dustin Cranford]

Have decided not to post what I was going to say.

[Scott Francis]

Ed,
I originally spoke to cs on Saturday. Aware it was a holiday i waited until Monday to speak to a technician. I spoke to the Technician Monday morning at 8:30. He was working, and not off for the holiday. He told me they would have to locate parts which would take a MINIMUM of 48 hours. After that he wasn't able to tell me when he might get them or give me even a general idea when I could get my planer fixed. This was what I had a problem with.

Why does it matter how much I paid for the planer, should the parts be harder to locate with a computer and a telephone?


Thanks again to Grizzly for taking care of me and this matter. Though it was not a big ticket item I appreciate the matter being well taken care of.

I apologize for using the forum to get help with this matter. I didn't know where else to turn considering all my purchases were due to the great cs Grizzly has shown to Sawmill members. As you can see (join date)vI've been following this site since November and learned an awful lot about tools and woodworking.

Thank you,

Scott Francis

[dan sherman]

He told me they would have to locate parts which would take a MINIMUM of 48 hours. After that he wasn't able to tell me when he might get them or give me even a general idea when I could get my planer fixed. This was what I had a problem with.

I can think of a few reasons why it might take 48 hours to find parts.

1. The tech doesn't work in the warehouse, and thus he would need to call someone to go check. let's say 1 to 4 hours wasted, depending on whats going on in the warehouse.
2. Even if the computer says they are in stock, someone is still going to go do a visual verification, because "the system" is usually off when it comes to odd ball small stuff. another few hours wasted.
3. 48 hours is company policy

The reason why he couldn't tell you, is probably because he honestly doesn't have a clue. The parts you need, could have been in the warehouse, on a ship in the middle in the ocean, or even out of stock at the manufactures location. If the manufacture was out of stock it could have been months before you got your parts, because you would have to wait until they ran another batch.

[Shawn Christ]

... Any ideas? Am I being unreasonable wanting to have my machine fixed in a reasonable amount of time. The fact that they can’t even locate the parts for 48+ hours is ridiculous. In the meantime I’m out of operation entirely since the planer isn’t something I can work without.

SHIRAZ, please help.
P.S. help me out here so I can still buy that new Grizzly band saw
Thank You!
Scott Francis

Scott, I'm glad your issue was resolved.

In Scott's defense, he's a relatively new member and this is his first post. Heck, I was nervous on my first post, wondering what/what not to say. Add to that a broken planer and high emotions, I can see why he would rant here. I suspect he thought it through as best he could before he posted. Let's not be too hard on him.

There are lessons to learn here, as others have mentioned. I'm not the world's most patient person, but I don't think 48 hours would have set me off like that. I would have been disappointed but I think reasonable enough to give customer service a chance to take care of things.

I agree entirely with Dave, if we want the President of Grizzly to stick around, we can't continue to do this. It's not his job and it's bad publicity even after he makes the customer happy. Problems happen, and these things need to happen behind the scenes. There is little we can do to help.

My other suggestion to Scott would have been if you absolutely needed a planer without any downtime, you had the option of going to your local retailer and charging or buying another one, and then decide which one to sell later. That is common practice for contractors. If your time is that valuable then you could justify a minimal loss on reselling the spare planer.

I heard a saying once that goes something like this: "An emergency on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part".

My two cents...