RESOLVED: I was trying to avoid posting this - General jointer damaged by ???

[Joe Mioux]

Finally!
Quite the story, but a happy ending, congrats.

btw, don't feel bad about cutting yourself, I used a bunch of band aids, some duct tape and a paper towel or two to stop the bleeding from just cleaning my jointer when I first got it, so least there's two of us who discovered how sharp them blades are...the hard way...


Al

Three.......

[Scotty Redmond]

In regards to all that has transpired with Gary's General Jointer, I would like to respond on behalf of our corporation. Many have asked for Redmond's side of the story. I sent this letter to Gary, and had a brief opportunity to speak with him on the phone. Gary has demonstrated great patience during this whole ordeal, and I apologize once again to him and all of the SMC's. I realize this will cause some to never look our way again, but for those of you who realize that this was an isolated incident that WE (Redmond) allowed to go on too long, and not typical of the positive customer service that we normally provide, I hope to see and have the pleasure of hearing from you again.
Thanks Again for All of the Comments,
Scotty Redmond, Redmond Machinery

Dear Mr. Gary Herrmann,
I would like to personally apologize on behalf of myself and Wm. J. Redmond & Son, Inc. for all of the complications and inconveniences that you have experienced concerning the General 8" jointer that you purchased from us. I am glad to hear that you now have a jointer that meets the standards of what both General and Redmond Machinery are accustomed to providing to our valued customers. Both my salesperson and General's representative have kept me in the loop of the progression of events that have occurred. I have also read a large number of the postings on Saw Mill Creek regarding the issue. I value all of the comments both positive and negative. Negative comments keep you humble, and show that there is always room for improvement, and better ways to serve your customer. The positive comments that I read from customers who have done business with us in the past are also very encouraging because they reflect the postive feedback that we have been accustomed to receiving over the past 60 years in business. I have personally refrained from making any comments concerning the matter until I knew that the situation had been fully resolved. It seems as though every time that it was almost resolved another problem arose and additional comments were posted. I commend you for your patience. With all sincerity, in all my years in this business, I don't believe I have seen this many things go wrong with one shipment. I do want to applaud General for stepping up to the plate and providing a brand new jointer in the box. I have noticed that many of the threads on Saw Mill Creek are wanting to hear Redmond's side of the story.
In regards to Redmond Machinery's side of the story, we owe you an apology. In this particular situation, we sold you 2 New General machines that were showroom floor model machines. We sold these units at below cost and both the General Planer and the jointer were checked out completely before they left our building and they were perfect. The planer showed up fine and the freight company damaged the other. We only had this one jointer in inventory at this cost, if I would have had another in stock, then the solution would have been easy. Have the damaged unit picked up and ship another unit out of inventory. Fortunately, General was able to make this happen. As a matter of normal procedure with the Old Dominion Freight Lines, we had to have a claim filed. When they denied the first claim, this is when we should have put our foot down with them and demanded that they get the machine back to us so as not to inconvenience you anymore. Up until this incident, we have been pleased with ODFL as a freight line. This is now to be questioned. I realize that you are very dissapointed in the way we handled this situation, and I once again sincerely apologize for the long wait, the complications, and the inconveniences of boxing and reboxing machinery, and having to hire movers. This situation got way out of hand, and I will take blame for that and complete responsibility. I hope you can forgive us, and maybe even give us another chance. Our customer satisfaction and loyalty is almost always at 100%. We have never not refunded money or credit card payments on a damaged machine and we have never left a customer stranded without a final solution. This is also the case with your situation, but it sure did take longer than it should have to get to this solution. I believe their is possibly one more issue that has still not been resolved, and this issue may still be a sour point. I understand from your emails and the information that I received from my salesman that you had to pay the movers to move your jointer a first and second time. I would like to also lay this issue to rest. I would like to send you either a $250.00 gift certificate for whatever merchandise you would like that we carry for your shop, or if you would prefer not to purchase from us any longer, then I will gladly forward you a check for $250.00 for your inconveniences. Please let me know what you would like for me to do. Gary, I hope you can now enjoy and make some sawdust with the two pieces that you purchased from us, and I hope to one day hear from you again. Please phone or email me personally if I can be of further service.
Sincerely,
Scotty Redmond
Redmond Machinery

[Mark Rios]

Thanks very much for stepping up and replying here Mr. Redmond. And your offer to Gary is very generous.

WTG Redmond!!! (albeit finally )

[Mark Rios]

Finally!
Quite the story, but a happy ending, congrats.

btw, don't feel bad about cutting yourself, I used a bunch of band aids, some duct tape and a paper towel or two to stop the bleeding from just cleaning my jointer when I first got it, so least there's two of us who discovered how sharp them blades are...the hard way...


Al

That's why I got a jointer with a spiral cutterhead. I"m too much of a bonehead to not get cut while taking hours getting the knives adjusted. A spiral cutterhead is the only way I'll go from now on.

Oh yeah, and it gives a super finish as well.

[Matt Meiser]

Mr. Redmond, thank you for completing the story. I think a lot of this would have been avoided through open communication, especially back in May. It sounds like a lot of lessons were learned and a lot of things will be done differently in the future (by Gary, by Redmond, and by all of us) which is the second most important thing here. Most importantly, things have been made right for Gary.

[Jim O'Dell]

I concur with Mark and Matt. Knowing that Redmond is a Christian based company, this is the response I expected and was so disappointed that it wasn't made. Now that is rectified. I believe that this will go a long way in mending some fences. Jim.

[Gary Herrmann]

Mr. Redmond's offer was a generous one. I emailed him this morning thanking him and will take the opportunity to thank him again here.

[Jim Dunn]

Gary a great resolution all around. My hat is off to Redmond, and in particular, General.

Have em send you an new coffee pot

[Don Bullock]

Thank you Mr. Redmond for giving Gary the apology he deserves.

[Michael Schwartz]

Thank you Mr. Redmond, and General, for resolving this issue.

Thank you for making the generous apology to Gary.

I hope that you would go to these lengths to help any customer in a situation like this, not just ones where public reputation is at stake.

It shouldn't have to take an internet thread with thousands of views to resolve something like this, and I hope that this thread didn't influence the resolution of this situation, as much as I feel it did.

Anyway, Hope you enjoy your new jointer Gary.

[Noel Hegan]

All is well that ends well. Good and decent of Mr Redmond to post here after all that has happened and I'm glad that Gary has finally had matters resolved.

[John Schreiber]

Thank you Mr. Redmond. This was not a situation anybody wanted. I appreciate you're direct response here.

[Gary Herrmann]

I didn't think I'd post to this thread ever again.

If you've read Van's post, you'll know that the main General manufacturing plant will close it's doors this Fall. Their tools and customer service have always been exemplary. This is a great loss.

I'd like to say thanks again to Mr. Frampton in particular and all employees of General in general (ahem) for the great work they've done over the years.

[Jim Underwood]

I spent the morning reading through this thread.... just... Wow.

I don't know you from Adam, but the way it seems that you handled this situation has my deepest respect.... I can only hope I handle a like situation in such a gracious, patient manner. My hat is off to you, sir.

[Rick Fisher]

Kudo's to the OP .. You have the patience of Job.. lol

You got a great machine from a great manufacturer..