So I bought a Powermatic Bench top Mortiser (701) from Amazon back in October and it was delivered at the end of November. Great deal at $269 and got a $50 rebate to boot (which I just received.) Of course I have yet to be able to use my machine and here is why:
- When I tried to use the machine the run out was pretty bad. Powermatic tech support said that a new chuck should fix the problem and they sent one out pretty quickly.
- This did not fix the problem and when I called back they said to either send it back to Amazon or bring it in to an authorized service center. I chose the service center as it was less than 10 miles from my house.
- I dropped off the machine on December 18th and they said it should not be later than the 15th of January.
- Needless to say I did not get it back then. Today I finally get a call and they said they have tried everything that Powermatic could think of and that it still does not work correctly. I should pick it back up and send it back to the original point of purchase.
- So right now I have waited 2 months since receiving the machine and it still does not work. I have received my rebate check and now they want me to repack it and deal with Amazon 2 months later.
- I called Powermatic and the first person said well that is what you will have to do as you are within the first 90 days.
- The second person said let me review this and I will get back to you. I am then told that they have a new motor and shaft (as they think the shaft on the motor is out of tolerance) and they can send that out to the service center. I now have to wait and find out if that will happen or not and I am still without the machine 2 months later.
What I cannot understand is that the amount of BS they are wasting on this by not sending out a new machine within all the tolerances and then taking my machine and putting it into their packaging material and either sending it back to Powermatic or they send it back to Amazon and work out the credit between the distribution agent (Amazon) and the MFG. Infact, I offered to have them send me the new one and I will pick up the bad one and ship it back to Amazon although I do not feel that I should have to pay for the shipping.
This poor service and lack of respect for customer time tables has proven to me that it is just not worth the extra money for the Powermatic name. They are supposed be due to the tolerances they supposedly live up to but in this case, they are way off. This is not the first problem with this batch of mortisers from what I have read on the forums.
I was considering the Powermatic 15” planer but that thought just left the my mind after this experience. I know there are a lot of people who really love the Powermatic brand but for me that was not so. I will evaluate the Grizzly, Sunhill, Delta and Woodmaster for my planer and Powermatic can keep theirs.
Sorry for the rant but this has been extremely frustrating.