OK...Beat This Customer Service...

[Derek Arita]

I was on the Mini Max website about an hour ago and posted a problem with my J/P tables. About 20 minutes later, the phone rings. It's Dave from MM! I HAVEN'T EVEN CALLED THESE GUYS YET! Dave says not to worry, someone has been alerted to the problem and will call me first thing Monday morning. Only reason he wasn't on the phone with me right now is because it was past business hours on Friday. How's that for CU! That's what I'm talk'in bout!

[Travis Lanman]

I was on the Mini Max website about an hour ago and posted a problem with my J/P tables. About 20 minutes later, the phone rings. It's Dave from MM! I HAVEN'T EVEN CALLED THESE GUYS YET! Dave says not to worry, someone has been alerted to the problem and will call me first thing Monday morning. Only reason he wasn't on the phone with me right now is because it was past business hours on Friday. How's that for CU! That's what I'm talk'in bout!

Now that is what I call service. I wish others would follow their example. Delta's poor customer service cost them consideration for any more of my machines.
Travis

[Terre Hooks]

Now that is what I call service. I wish others would follow their example. Delta's poor customer service cost them consideration for any more of my machines.
Travis

Yeah, but Delta sells 3 or 4 more machines a year than MiniMax does. I've have excellent customer service from Delta. Quit buying tools at HD, Lowes, Amazon, International tool, etc., if you would like Delta to answer your question in 15 seconds. Hard to provide that kind of customer service when your profit is squeezed to pennies a product versus dollars.

[mike malone]

Yeah, but Delta sells 3 or 4 more machines a year than MiniMax does. I've have excellent customer service from Delta. Quit buying tools at HD, Lowes, Amazon, International tool, etc., if you would like Delta to answer your question in 15 seconds. Hard to provide that kind of customer service when your profit is squeezed to pennies a product versus dollars.

you hit the nail on the proverbial head, Terry!!
mike

[Dave Arbuckle]

Quit buying tools at HD, Lowes, Amazon, International tool, etc., if you would like Delta to answer your question in 15 seconds. Hard to provide that kind of customer service when your profit is squeezed to pennies a product versus dollars.

Delta makes the same amount whether the product is purchased for 3 cents markup on-line, or 300 dollars at a trendy woodworking boutique.

If that were a rant against Borg service you would be right on, but as a rant against the manufacturer's customer service, it misses the mark.

Dave

[Jim Becker]

Derek, I had exactly the same experience with MM right after I received my MM-16 and posted a question on the 'board...Dain called me on a Saturday night (!), discussed the issue and had things taken care of first thing Monday morning. And he wasn't the one who made the original sale, either. This kind of personal service and responsibility sets some vendors apart from others...and I'll gladly do business with a vendor who treats me right over and over.

[Terre Hooks]

Delta makes the same amount whether the product is purchased for 3 cents markup on-line, or 300 dollars at a trendy woodworking boutique.

If that were a rant against Borg service you would be right on, but as a rant against the manufacturer's customer service, it misses the mark.

Dave

Nope, my point was that HD, Lowes, etc., is/are (dang, which one is it?) making these manufacturers cut their price to where they are making $.50 on each item they get sold in these stores. Sure, I like the best price on a product, but everybody needs to make money. If they (Delta, Bosch, etc.) could make a little more money, they might be able to hire more customer service folks.

I might be wrong, but I bet my theory does have a little to do with the situation. Reckon what a MM18 bandsaw would sell for at HD? ('tween me and you, I'm bettin' that it would be ALOT less that what old man Zajicek paid fer his)

[John Miliunas]

I was on the Mini Max website about an hour ago and posted a problem with my J/P tables. About 20 minutes later, the phone rings. It's Dave from MM! I HAVEN'T EVEN CALLED THESE GUYS YET! Dave says not to worry, someone has been alerted to the problem and will call me first thing Monday morning. Only reason he wasn't on the phone with me right now is because it was past business hours on Friday. How's that for CU! That's what I'm talk'in bout!

Yup, that's pretty dern good, awright! Although MM doesn't have the market cornered for good CS (there's also Festool, LV, Wilke Machinery, etc...), there are far too many that don't! 'Course, on the other hand, it's like I've said before: If *ALL* of the vendors had such excellent CS, it would make our tool-buying decisions all that much harder!

[Richard McComas]

I was on the Mini Max website about an hour ago and posted a problem with my J/P tables. About 20 minutes later, the phone rings. It's Dave from MM! I HAVEN'T EVEN CALLED THESE GUYS YET! Dave says not to worry, someone has been alerted to the problem and will call me first thing Monday morning. Only reason he wasn't on the phone with me right now is because it was past business hours on Friday. How's that for CU! That's what I'm talk'in bout!

It's good to here Mini-Max has such good after sales service. I've have experienced the same level of service from Felder. I've had to call Delta a time or two over the years and have not had problems but I doubt they will give the level of service you get from companies like Mini-Max and felder.

Felder has an on-line forum which is monitored by Felder, it's not uncommon to see one of Felder's Technician jump in when someone post a problem.

I bought a used Felder AD-741 16" jointer/planer combo for a good price. When I had trouble with the tables Felder twice flew a technician from Sacramento Calif. to Eagle River Alaska to work on my problem. After the second trip to my shop the jointer/planer has worked flawlessly for the last 3 years. All this at no cost to me.


Rich

[Dale Thompson]

Derek,

I bought the Delta 14" BS a couple of years ago. It had all of the "goodies" like the 6" riser, soft blocks, light, etc. Anyway, a FULL package! About three days later, I had a problem with smoke leaking out of the motor. I wasn't fast enough to catch it all and pack in back in the motor within the required time. The saw still worked but I was concerned. I called the Delta number and was told by the rep that it should not be a problem. If I noticed a SIGNIFICANT loss of power, I should call them back.

I called my dealer, Woodworker's Depot in Green Bay. Larry, the parts guru, told me to settle down and he would take care of the problem. "Trust me", were his exact words. This was 3:00 PM. At 10:00 AM the next morning, Fed Ex delivered a very heavy package from Tennessee. I live in northern Wisconsin. It was my new motor!! I know what "Overnight" costs and I'm sure that they paid more for the postage than the motor was worth.

The point is; Your dealer is probably a MUCH better arbitrator than you are when it comes to product problems.

Anyway, that's MY "Great Service" story. It's always nice to be able to say something GOOD about folks in our hobby.

Dale T.

[Mark Bachler]

Jim Strain from Mini Max called me up Thursday evening just to see how things with machines were going. So Far So Good. I'll know more of course after I get the power to them. Pics to follow soon.