Fein tools only for hobbyists?!

[Harvey Miller]

I am confused. Your Fein Vac had a three year warranty
http://www.feinus.com/en_us/service/...antee-t296991/

Isn't that part of the reason you buy them?

[Kevin W Johnson]

I'm betting NOTHING you buy ever lives up to your impossible expectations. You never even contacted the manufacturer to give them the opportunity to fix it, yet you come on here and rant about it. You don't have a valid complaint at all.

It's truely my hope that Keith removes your thread, as there is a rant policy here.

[Rich Engelhardt]

The board was bad. I thought that if I contacted Fein USA with this, the best that they would do was to replace the board, or even the whole vac. How was I to trust that it wouldn't fail again?

Actually - knowing a bit about how boards and electronics work......I can think of a dozen or more reasons why a board could fail that have nothing to do with how it's made or who made it.
& that's just off the top of my head..

Did you ever for a second stop to think that it may not be the product, but the environment?
If it's the former, then the right thing to do would have been to contact Fein first, then rant later if their warranty service wasn't what you expected t should be after paying so much for it.
If it's the latter then you're in all likelihood going to have "hobbyist issues" with whatever you buy - if it has electronics...

According to the specs, the Fein Turbo III "Handles power tools with inputs ranging from 5 - 2,000 watts".
What exactly did you have plugged into it? How much current can the circuit the vac and the tools supply?

You do know that undervoltage can take out electronics just as easily as overvoltage don't you?

[Larry Frank]

I can not believe that with the product still in warranty that you did not contact them to fix it. I think this is a good way to throw money away.

If people want to rant about a product, they should at least contact the company and see what they will do before ranting about how bad it is.

[doug faist]

Mark - I have read this thread several times and have yet to figure out exactly what your point is here. My experience has been that "&%St" happens; products fail. When I contact the company if this happens, 9 of 10 work out a reasonable solution. The one that doesn't, I just don't deal with anymore. It's called "life".

If you expect perfect products that never fail, best to build them yourself or find another hobby. Otherwise, relax and go make sawdust.

Doug

[Peter Kelly]

I am confused. Your Fein Vac had a three year warranty
http://www.feinus.com/en_us/service/...antee-t296991/

Isn't that part of the reason you buy them?

One caveat with Fein and that 3 year warranty is that you must register the tool within 6 weeks of purchase in order to 'qualify' for it. Otherwise they'll stick you with paying for any repair within that period even if you still have a receipt showing when you bought it.

Not a great strategy for building loyalty among customers IMO.

[harry hood]

How do you propose that they track whether something is under warranty if not through registration or, failing that, a receipt with the date of purchase on it?

[Steve Meliza]

How do you propose that they track whether something is under warranty if not through registration or, failing that, a receipt with the date of purchase on it?

Milwaukee uses the manufacture date for their 5 year warranty if no proof of purchase is provided, no registration required either.

[harry hood]

Milwaukee uses the manufacture date for their 5 year warranty if no proof of purchase is provided, no registration required either.

That's interesting. I just looked up the manufacturing date on my sawzall and it was almost 3 years before I bought it so without a receipt I would have had effectively a two year warranty if something went wrong with it and lost the receipt. I guess that's better than nothing but it seems easier to just mail a registration card in.

[Matt Meiser]

You do realize the only reason most manufacturers use warranty registration cards is to get your information so they can sell it to whoever they want, right?

[harry hood]

And get your address for recall notices and warranty. Your mailing address has been bought and sold so many times already a few warranty cards aren't going to matter.