laguna tools
rick pixley
pleasant experience with them and was wondering if any others out there are
in the same boat or is it just bad luck and an isolated incident? This would
be in reference to ordering and follow up experiences as far as customer
service with their line of bandsaws..Just a little nervous.TIA,Rick
robo hippy
I did not document it and waited a few days to report it instead of
doing it right away. There were so many hoops to jump through to get
them to pay for $35 worth of parts, that I just went and ordered the
parts. It took almost 2 months for the parts to get here (a knob to
close the door, and a plastic electric box to go around the on/off
switch. Apparently they have a lot of problems with in transit damage.
They told me that they even switched freight companies. When my saw got
here, only one of the 4 lag bolts that held the saw to the pallet was
still attached. One of the 2 x 4's that it was bolted to was torn loose
from the pallet. On the other hand, it is an excellent saw.
robo hippy
Jerry Hall
returned in a day or so if the tech is busy. I also had a used Robland X31
and still received good service and advice. I think Laguna has done just
fine in recent years, and isn't much different than any other Euro machine
dealer. Aggressive salesmen, and somewhat overloaded but knowledgeable
techs that do their best, which at the end of the day with a reasonable
customer is fine. Sales (ordering) and service (techs) are two seperate
worlds. You should always feel free to escalate if you feel you are getting
the run around, altho I have never felt the need to do that.
"rick pixley" <rpi...@bellsouth.net> wrote in message
news:Mvqae.118425$vL3....@bignews4.bellsouth.net...
Wood Butcher
In article <pv_ae.5946$J12....@newssvr14.news.prodigy.com>,
nos...@nowhere.invalid says...
rick pixley
serious resawing yet but with a 1/2 in blade it tore up 12 in thick maple
like butter.Nothing like the three hp baldor mtr.It took about 1 hour to
unpack and get it running by myself. It was delivered to the garage door and
all I had to do was walk it inside.I like the power and workmanship but you
would expect that for this money.As I told the folks at Laguna it's a good
saw,nothing earth shattering,and if I'd known how long it was going
take(5months) and the salesman's attitude I would have purchased
elsewhere.I'm happy with the saw and glad the buying experience is over.I
have been assured by Laguna mgmt that they intended to make corrections in
the way they do buisness and communicate with the buyer/customer.I sure hope
so..Rick
"rick pixley" <rpi...@bellsouth.net> wrote in message
news:Mvqae.118425$vL3....@bignews4.bellsouth.net...
charlie b
2000 (had to get the space for it and the rest of the shop cleaned
out, walls skinned in 3/4" ply and floor epoxied). Took three
days from the time I called and said "SHIP IT!" to it's arrival.
The shipping arrangement was "On the shop floor" delivery.
Good thing I called the freight company - they were going
to do "curb delivery". A frantic call to LT took care of the
potential problem.
Unpacking the X31, found a dinged jointer fence, badly
scratched shaper rings and a handful of missing parts
for the rip/shaper fence. Took digital photos and e-mailed
them to LT with list of missing stuff. Ten days later I got
the shaper rings and several days later the jointer fence-
the latter once again dinged more than the price tag warranted.
More phone calls, more e-mail photos ... Was nearly three
months before I got what I'd paid for, despite phone calls
and e-mail to Torben, the owner.
I demanded some compensation for all the hassles and got
passed up the line - eventually to the bookkeeper who
offered me a $50 gift certificate ($25 of out of pocket
cost to them - and they don't sell ANYTHING that's $50!)
I went ballistic and ended up being transfered to Jim
Strain - now a honcho at Mini-Max. He offered an LT16SEC,
delivered to my shop floor for $1100 - including tax,
license, registration, custom mats and undercoating. He
said he'd overnight it to me.
Turned out that "over night" was the name of the shipping
company and it took four days to get here. Set it up
and found a nasty twist AND dip in the table.- all screwed
up right at the front of the blade. Another phone call and
e-mail. Three days later UPS delivered a recently ground
flat replacement table and a UPS return shipping tag
for the bad table. Hadn't planned on getting a bandsaw
but find it really handy for all kinds of things.
Now to be fair to LT they
a) were opening the New Jersey East Coast facility
b) chaning their computer system over to a new
system
c) there was a west coast dock strike
d) the New Jersey facility was shut down
e) they moved from Laguna Beach to Irvine
f) their business almost tripled but the
the number of grunts getting stuff
put together, shipped and supported
didn't
g) some of their grunts and sales people
left and started Mini-Max USA in Austin
h) somewhere in there Mad Cow hit Europe
i) Nine Eleven happened
(this all over a two plus year period)
LT also didn't have much competition for the Euro
Prosumer market, Hammer being the more
upscale competitor - and Felder for the obscenely
well to do woodworker. Mini-Max, Rojek and
the like were just starting in the USA market.
Hell, I made a trip to the Robland factory in
Brugge Belgium just to see how they set up
the X31 and wrote my own manual (of a sort
but much better than nothing - since the
Robland "manual" was more of a parts manual
and LT's manual was an embarassing joke)
That trip for those interested
http://home.comcast.net/~charliebcz/RoblandVisit.html
And the Draft Set Up Instructions for any orphan
X31 owners out there (all one line so watch the line
wrap)
http://home.comcast.net/~charliebcz/X31SetUpInstructions/
X31SetUpInstructions1A.html
Back to LT - the stuff they sell to the hobbyist
and small shops is a very small part of their
total business so their support is proportional.
You'll get more techinical support from a Yahoo
Group but that's even true for Felders.
Bottom line, for a tad over $7K, I'd go with
LT for an X31 and LT bandsaw again.
charlie b
san jose, ca
Bob Threlkeld
support. The rep even called me a month after I got the saw and asked
if I had any questions. I did and he answered them on the spot. I
love the saw and finally have something to cut thick, green wood.
Owen Lowe
charlie b <char...@accesscom.com> wrote:
> In late '99 I ordered a Robland X-31 to take delivery in February
> 2000 (had to get the space for it and the rest of the shop cleaned
> out, walls skinned in 3/4" ply and floor epoxied).
SNIP
> Was nearly three months before I got what I'd paid for, despite phone calls
> and e-mail to Torben, the owner.
So wha's the problem charlie... you ordered the X-31 in December
planning to put it to use in February. By my reckoning you were up and
running by March. So they missed your mark by a few weeks - Patience, my
dear fellow, patience.
;)