Surpising unpleasant Sawstop buying experience - Jobsite saw.

[Keith Hankins]

Well first let me say I’ve had a 5hp ICS for several years now and the few experiences when I did call CS it was a top notch experience.

Now for this experience. My son is in the military. He is a bomb tech with the EOD group at Ft. Stewart GA. He is 26 and in the past year took an interest in woodworking. I decided for his birthday I would get him a TS.

He lives in base housing with his wife, and size/voltage would be key. I decided to buy him the jobsite sawstop for him. The safety and past experience drove that decision.

I ordered it online form acme tool and had it shipped to him. It tood 4 days to get to him and he was exstatic. I told him to carefully look at the box and if damaged do not accept.
it was not damaged, however when he removed it from the box a plastic tab fell out. He later deterined it was part of the built in tool box. He also noticed that the fence was a couple thou out and I told him he could adjust that. Now for some problems. The table is not flat, nor the blade square to the miter slots. While the square to miter slot can be fixed, the table flatness that in one area is low and another area high.

I thought no big deal, and told him to call sawstop and they will make it right. Well he got the run around. Was told that “its a job site diy saw” and 10 thou is tolerennce. My son said well he understands that but expects that when you cut from the right side of the blade you get a square cut and when you cut on the left side of the blade you get the same plumb cut. (perpendicular blade to table) it does not.

He called me and I said call back ask to speak to supervisor its over 30 thou out and they should fix it. He called back did as i said and spoke to a lady and she would follow up.
He gets a call back from the same dude and basically starts the call with just send it back.

I’m ticked because Its going to cost me a lot to ship it back, and I’m probable going to get hit with a restock fee on top of it.

My son was apologizing, I’m pissed because its ruined a great birthday and I’m surprised at the response. He’s a Soldier serving his country and this is the last thing he needs. So its going back next week and I’ll have to come up with a diff present. Probably will end up being a couple hundred $$ learning experience.

Anyway, I’m going to deal with it on Monday, but what a cluster.

[Nick Stokes]

I'm not invested in this, so it's not personal to me. But from the sound of it, the first phone call didn't go well, maybe he wasn't explaining the situation well enough? Or maybe it wasn't a good service rep that he got ahold of. The second phone call, he had more info, and they offered to take it back; what else should they do?

[Frederick Skelly]

Sorry Keith, Im not following you. Why doesnt the saw cut square on either side of the blade? Was he unable to adjust the blade to make it parallel to the miter slot, after all? (Can you adjust that on Sawstop? I can, on my Delta CS., though it isn't fun.)

[Keith Hankins]

I'm not invested in this, so it's not personal to me. But from the sound of it, the first phone call didn't go well, maybe he wasn't explaining the situation well enough? Or maybe it wasn't a good service rep that he got ahold of. The second phone call, he had more info, and they offered to take it back; what else should they do?

The point is they started the call with "its a jobsite saw". Sorry I expect a 1300$ saw to cut strait on both sides of the blade, but thats just me. Key Learning danger of big tool purchase online not local mistake.

Second, I'm more surprised from response from sawstop. I still love my ICS.

[Martin Wasner]

It's not a $1300 saw though. It's a $600 jobsite saw with a $700 widget bolted to it.

I'm not saying you're wrong about what to expect, but it is a jobsite saw. They aren't awesome. They're cheap, light and light duty.

[Keith Hankins]

Sorry Keith, Im not following you. Why doesnt the saw cut square on either side of the blade? Was he unable to adjust the blade to make it parallel to the miter slot, after all? (Can you adjust that on Sawstop? I can, on my Delta CS., though it isn't fun.)

I found another issue is they were sending communications via email to me instead of him. I've fwd on and they are talking about shimming the table top. So I'm thinking just return it. I should have had him go to a local vendor thats my bad. I wanted to surprise him. It will be Monday before I can reach out to the online vendor. They may be really good. If so, I'll update here as well.

Main point of the post was surprise and disapointment in the CS response, and they are just known for (and personal) over the top cs. Starting the conversation with "it's a diy say" like acceptance of it being out and the impression was "what do you expect" This one fell short. I still love my ICS. May be the answer is that level saw it's just expected.

[john lawson]

Have him go to a Woodcraft store and buy it onsite. He can try it out and if it needs adjusting they can do it there.

[glenn bradley]

Was told that “its a job site diy saw” and 10 thou is tolerennce.

I appreciate that this has been disappointing and frustrating but, I have to admit that "its a job-site saw" was my initial reaction as well. It is for lopping off 2x4's and even though it is a Saw Stop, it will not be anything like your ICS. I think this is a case of incorrect product selection and I'm glad they took it back. I am not glad to hear that your son got an unhelpful person with a "whadda ya expect?" type of response. Certainly not what I would have expected from Saw Stop. They could have politely explained that their job site saw competes with the other job site saws but, with the added Saw Stop technology, nothing more. JMHO.

[Carroll Courtney]

I'm with you Keith,did it say in the information page of the saw that top will not be flat or adjustments will be needed?The price of the saw varies with all the mistakes???Oh its only a jobsite saw,there's another price deduction,well heck who knows what went on at the factory.But the box was not damage so it was package with those issues.Myself if I buy something new I expect to be adjusted and tested,now if its one of those scratch/dent sales that would be different.You know like what Griz does sometimes,then you kinda expect those issues,but shipping it back there is still no guarantee your going to get one better.Its a roll of the dice over the internet.Good luck sir,thank your son for his services from SMC----Carroll
PS: Yrs ago I purchase a Delta Contractors saw,not their Unisaw and it was fantastic

[Sean Tracey]

There's no way I would send the saw back at my expense if the blade to miter slot is adjustable and then the fence is adjustable. I would align the saw to my own precision because that's what you do with a table saw. Especially after it's been shipped to you. In fact, precision alignment of all my tools is the first thing that's done. 90 and 45 degree stops for miter saws, circular saws and other items are all checked and finely adjusted. Test cuts are made. After all that is done, the tool is ready for use. Quality hand tools such as planes and chisels are purchased from Lie-Nielsen. But the blades still get honed before use.

I wouldn't even waste my time dealing with support and returning it because by the time I did that, the saw would be tuned to perfection instead of me waiting for another saw that I would end up aligning to perfection anyway.

[David Kumm]

I've lost track. Can the non flat table be shimmed and adjusted back to flat? A table that just needs some shims is different from one either manufactured with a flaw, or a table out of flat due to the weight of the internals bolted and hanging from it. The latter are design flaws and should be handled accordingly. The first should just be fixed by the buyer. I've never had a machine that didn't need some adjustment, including the high end stuff. Dave

[mreza Salav]

It's very likely that even if saw was adjusted at the factory it has lost some of it during shipping/handling. I've heard that Sawstops (the cabinet saws) arrive with very little to no adjustment needed. Also, that 0.010" top flatness is indeed within their tolerances even for the bigger cabinet saws I think. If you think adjustments by yourself would fix the alignment issues that's not extra ordinary to be done by the end user (in fact the manual does say how to do those step by step). I think you have to let the weekend go by to let your frustration ware a bit and come back to it.

[Carpenter Mark]

It's not a $1300 saw though. It's a $600 jobsite saw with a $700 widget bolted to it

Exactly.

Despite who's name is on it and their claims to exceptional quality, it is a Chinese machine, made with common parts used in other brands. And ,unfortunately, their claims to allowable tolerances (for the point of manufacture) are correct. Caveat emptor.

[Ken Combs]

I appreciate that this has been disappointing and frustrating but, I have to admit that "its a job-site saw" was my initial reaction as well. It is for lopping off 2x4's and even though it is a Saw Stop, it will not be anything like your ICS. I think this is a case of incorrect product selection and I'm glad they took it back. I am not glad to hear that your son got an unhelpful person with a "whadda ya expect?" type of response. Certainly not what I would have expected from Saw Stop. They could have politely explained that their job site saw competes with the other job site saws but, with the added Saw Stop technology, nothing more. JMHO.

Just so you know: A lot of onsite trim work is done with a job site saw. Built-ins, closet shelves, wainscot etc. And it is expected to look as good as stuff built in the shop!

I've seen some confusion in the thread though. There has been mention of a .010 tolerance, but the OP said the table was out of flat by .030. Big difference!

I don't think he was really concerned with the adjustable things, just the apparent manufacturing flaws, not assembly issues.

And, If agree that the rep should not have dismissed a customer as curtly as it seems from this telling. Quality is one issue, attitude is another!

edit: I meant to add, the difference, at least IMHO in saws is not the ability to make accurate cuts, it is in the ease of them. Like ripping sheet goods to size. It can be done in a lot of ways, but the right tool for the job just makes it easier, and requires less skill of the user.

All saws should be expected to cut straight in all planes, and all the job site saws I've tried can do that, Bosch, Ridgid etc.

[larry senen]

I have to tell you a fence that is parallel will hàve the back of the blade tearing up the wood. Though 30 thou is a little much.

Wait till the motor on your bosch job site saw burns out. You'll get a real lesson in engineering.