My Laguna experience
Some of you folks may have heard that I recently purchased an LT16 from Laguna. What follows is my general experience with that purchase.
(Note: Parts of the following dialogue are copied from a thread I posted on the Laguna forum.)
Space and respect of your valuable time, I won't get into *all* the details, but I'll try to sum it all up. Got the saw, albeit, short of the mobility kit, which I found out was on B/O. This turned out to be a blessing in disguise, plus saved me quite a few $$. At any rate, after setting up the unit, I noted some severe vibration. I thought I had gone by the manual in the setup, but something wasn't right. The next morning, I tried contacting Laguna's Tech Support. They were all busy at the time, but I did receive a call-back later in the day and their man, Jason, gave me instructions on what to check for. Back in the shop, I did as he instructed and saw a significant improvement, though it still wasn't 100%. I figured I could "tweak" the rest of it out later, as I had a couple other projects in the works at the time.
Well, later attempts at resolving the vibration issue proved futile. The vibration appears to be pretty high frequency. I'm no engineer, but to me, that indicates motor or bearings. Some smaller diameter part is what I figured it to be. At any rate, back on the phone to Laguna. Yesterday afternoon, I spent literally several hours doing this, that and the other thing as instructed by Jeff, another one of their Techs. Although I again saw a slight improvement, it just wasn't quite there. I even pulled the motor and ran it by itself. I thought it ran pretty smooth, but that was w/o any load on it. I was especially concerned, because I had read where other Laguna owners could literally get their units to pass the infamous "nickel test". Mine could too, if only I used some CA glue on the nickel!I kept making adjustments and gathering information, while Jeff would call back with more information and collect what findings I had. The last time I spoke to him, he said he'd call back once more. I putzed with the unit until pretty late, never receiving the call-back.
After not receiving a final call-back yesterday, I figured I'd try right away when they opened today. No need. I got a call first thing this morning from the Tech I had been working with. He apologized and admitted that he had simply got caught up with numerous other issues and it slipped his mind. OK, well now what? I explained to him my thoughts of it possibly still being a motor issue, due to the higher frequency type of vibration. We compared some notes and he said he'd call me back with more info.
Well, after about two hours, I had almost given up. I figured that maybe he brain-farted it again. I could not be more wrong! As it happens, I didn't get a call from him, but from Don, the Laguna Customer Service Manager. He extended his sincerest apologies for the troubles I'm having and said the Laguna is absolutely, positively committed to providing the best product and service available. I thought, "Yeah, so are we going to try a new motor or what?" Again, I was wrong. Well yes, I will be getting a new motor. But this one will come with just a few more pieces, as in, a whole new unit!!! Furthermore, Don said he will personally pull a unit, set it up and make sure all is as it should be prior to having it shipped out to me! Holy $#!T! He feels that I've gone above and beyond what it should take to get a unit running properly and now it's his turn to do the same.
I know some of you might be saying that it's the *least* they can do, but I beg to differ. Yes, I paid a lot of $$ for what is supposed to be a quality unit, but that's not what I initially received. Sadly, today this happens more often than it should. Still, there a few vendors who will go to such extremes to make it right. I bought Laguna for the quality, but also expected good Customer Service. With a LOT of real happy Laguna users out there, I still think I made the right decision for the equipment. With the level of CS I have received, I have little doubt in my mind that my decision on both ends of my pre-requisites will have proved positive! Yeah, I still wish the unit would've been good to go right out of the crate, but this isn't a perfect world we live in and things happen. It's good to know that there are companies out there like Laguna who are willing to take care of their customers when things do go bad. My hat's off to Laguna! As they may expect, they've not only gained a customer, but an advocate, as well! Merry Christmas to all! As of this morning, mine will certainly be a bit merrier!
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Originally Posted by Jim Harsha
