Festool Open House with Nothing to Sell????
Ok, so I know it's a LOT of money, but I'm one who believes the adage, "You get what you pay for." As I've been getting more involved in my woodworking, I'm quickly realizing that some of the "Big Box" tools that I have just don't cut it. (Yes, pun intended) So, as the money allows, I've been upgrading.
I was pretty excited when I found the openhouse section of the Festool website and that there was one coming up near me. So, I made the treck to Ann Arbor.
As a quick side note for those of you who aren't familiar with February weather in the midwest, we get some snow here!
On this particular day, we got enough snow that the state police had to close Interstate 94. I'll say this again; they CLOSED INTERSTATE 94. But not, of course, until I was already in Ann Arbor. I will also add, for the record, that I did have other business in Ann Arbor that day. So, no, I did not make this trip just for Festool, but it was the biggest reason.
Anyway, once I finally made it to the store, they had almost nothing! I couldn't believe it. Not a single Festool router in the store. Not one in a box, not even a demo model on the display. The rep mentioned that he usually has a OF 1400 in his car, but he had taken it out the night before to use at home and "forgot" to put it back. What good does that do me? And I wasn't the only one. There were two other guys there with cash in hand ready to buy a domino. After a rather long sales pitch they were told the same thing I was, "we could probably have it for you in 3 or 4 days." 3 or 4 days? Is this an openhouse or a website? If I wanted it in 3 or 4 days I could have stayed in the comfort of my warm living room and logged on to any one of a dozen different web sites and saved the sales tax!
So, after all my ranting, the moral for todays story: Always call first.
FYI: Once I finally got home I jumped on to Festool Junkie and bought a 1400 and a CT22. Should be here tomorrow.
I still think the tools are great, but they need a bit of help with their marketing!
Ok, so I know it's a LOT of money, but I'm one who believes the adage, "You get what you pay for." As I've been getting more involved in my woodworking, I'm quickly realizing that some of the "Big Box" tools that I have just don't cut it. (Yes, pun intended) So, as the money allows, I've been upgrading.
I was pretty excited when I found the openhouse section of the Festool website and that there was one coming up near me. So, I made the treck to Ann Arbor.
As a quick side note for those of you who aren't familiar with February weather in the midwest, we get some snow here!
On this particular day, we got enough snow that the state police had to close Interstate 94. I'll say this again; they CLOSED INTERSTATE 94. But not, of course, until I was already in Ann Arbor. I will also add, for the record, that I did have other business in Ann Arbor that day. So, no, I did not make this trip just for Festool, but it was the biggest reason.
Anyway, once I finally made it to the store, they had almost nothing! I couldn't believe it. Not a single Festool router in the store. Not one in a box, not even a demo model on the display. The rep mentioned that he usually has a OF 1400 in his car, but he had taken it out the night before to use at home and "forgot" to put it back. What good does that do me? And I wasn't the only one. There were two other guys there with cash in hand ready to buy a domino. After a rather long sales pitch they were told the same thing I was, "we could probably have it for you in 3 or 4 days." 3 or 4 days? Is this an openhouse or a website? If I wanted it in 3 or 4 days I could have stayed in the comfort of my warm living room and logged on to any one of a dozen different web sites and saved the sales tax!
So, after all my ranting, the moral for todays story: Always call first.
FYI: Once I finally got home I jumped on to Festool Junkie and bought a 1400 and a CT22. Should be here tomorrow.
I still think the tools are great, but they need a bit of help with their marketing!