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Ridgid rant

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sander
3K views 19 replies 13 participants last post by  TopamaxSurvivor 
#1 · (Edited by Moderator)
I told them I was going to do this so they shouldn't be surprised.
I have the Ridgid Belt Sander EB444241 Think it is great.
However, customer service leaves a lot to be desired.
The guide on the platen broke. I had one of the older units so it was a one piece item.
The new version has a replaceable guide. I guess it happened more than once.
When I spoke with Ridgid the customer service lady said she was sending out that part. Never got it. I then realized it had been modified and ordered the platen. Paid for it. Got it. Never got the little guide that cost all of $.83. That's eighty-three cents.
I called and asked if they could just forgo the shipping charge as if I had gotten it like promised I would not be ordering it or would have ordered it with the platen. NOPE.
I told them I was going to post this rant. NOPE.
So this $.83 part cost me $8.83 and RIDGID this rant.

Lee
 
#2 ·
You go man! I feel your pain. I bought a Ridgid 5 gal. compressor in '05. It never worked well even with finishing guns. It finally croaked last night in the middle of a project. I will not buy another Ridgid compressor and after your posting I think I will stay away from all of their tools.
 
#4 · (Edited by Moderator)
The sander would have qualified for the Limited Lifetime Service Agreement if the OP bought the sander brand new and registered it into the LLSA Program. If those two conditions were met then taking the sander to a Ridgid service center would have gotten the sander fixed free of charge. Because you choose a different route to have your sander fixed should not make Ridgid the villain here.
 
#5 ·
syenefarmer if you re-read my post you will see that I went to customer service first. They said they would send the part, under warranty. They didn't. Rather than wait for RIDGID to get it's act straight after a month or so I opted to pay for the parts and get them. A tool under warranty that doesn't work because the warranty people don't do what they say they will is useless. I had to pay to make it useful.
 
#6 · (Edited by Moderator)
I'd be miffed too! The customer need not know all the parts forming the new modifcation in order to obtain it. That's the job of the "Service people" handling the call originally. It' pretty obvious that the part would probably fit a padded envelope and go out by mail for under $2.00. It's a cheap price to pay of fumbling a customer request in the first place.
Try getting a replacement customer for $2.00 or $8.00 for that matter.
 
#7 ·
Sawdust2, I did read your original post and understood it. I don't want to get into a pissing match with you but Ridgid telephone Customer Service and an authorized Ridgid Service Center are two different animals. I agree with you that if she promised you something she should live up to that promise and not sending the part after she said she would is wrong. But, warranty complaints are seldom settled over the phone.
 
#8 · (Edited by Moderator)
Syenefarmer:
Are we dealing with semantics here?
Surely both the Customer Service dept and the Rigid service centers should be aware of each other and ready to direct the consumer to the best source of his requirements.
I'm not sure that both are mentioned on the packaging with the tools nor is the function of each explained to the purchaser.
If Warranty settlements are not to be done over the phone then the service people need to apprise the consumer of same, not make him chase his butt around to consummate a deal gone bad.
I'm not picking on you BTW.
I just feel that there is too much buck passing out there by people who should know better.
 
#10 ·
Well, I took it over to the "authorized repair center". They have made three attempts to fix it and have been unsuccessful.
The last word was that Rigid was going to authorize them to replace the entire sanding unit. As they have changed the design they are pretty much going to have to do that.
 
#11 ·
With all due respect: Have you tried the Better Buisness Bereau?

They worked wonders for me, when Delta had its head so far up its arse, that they didnt send out a repair man after it broke for the SECOND TIME a day after it was repaired. I contacted the BBB… got a full refund for the saw… BBB ususally shakes them up a little…
 
#12 ·
A word on warrenites i paid about 75.00 for an extended warrenty on a kobalt compressor it burned up a year after i bought it i called the number on paper got the this line has been disconected machine called lowes they said the compressors were made by a company for koblat who went under a few months berfore and lowes would not honor the warrenty they sold me because the company was no longer operational i never buy the extra warrenty now and its a cold day in you know where when i buy from lowes
 
#13 ·
It would be nice if some of those companies perused this site; maybe they'd work a bit harder at customer service knowing that there are 20000 woodworkers here that read the reviews. Personally, good customer service is a huge incentive to buy from a company, whereas hearing stories like this one would make me think twice before buying.
 
#14 ·
I have had very good service from Rigid. I register my purchases, and the service center pulls it up and fixes whatever is wrong. I have had numerous batteries replaced for free.

I am sure that from site to site things change, I have been quite happy with Rigid and the Home Depot for tool purchases.
 
#15 · (Edited by Moderator)
At least you have a tool that can go wrong!

11 days ago I wrote to Freud, Amana, Bosch, and CMT, asking if there was anywhere in Vienna (whither I go tomorrow), where I could buy their products, eg router bits.

The result…
Amana - nothing
CMT - nothing
Freud - a quick response telling me to write to them in Italy (this from "customerservice@freudtools.com) - where I'm sitting "customer service" would have been to forward it myself. I forwarded it - nothing.
Bosch - quick autoresponse then nothing, until I chased, and they told me to go to the Austrian web site. I wrote a (slightly rude) response saying that they could have done that and forwarded it which they then did. Since then - nothing.

I despair - I just wanted to try and buy these peoples' products - they're spending tens of thousands of dollars/euros on web sites etc etc, but they can't spend that euro to reply to a customer enquiry. Whats is the point in these people having an email address for enquiries if they just ignore them?
 
#16 ·
It is the half vast managers that come out of college management courses. There is the theroy and there is the real world; management is totally disconnected from what people need and want. I really do not understand; aren't they people with expectations of reasonable products and service too?
 
#17 · (Edited by Moderator)
Unfortunately we has vast number of people (without training) working in the service industry that should be working in factories.
There is also a huge number of middle management types that are hired on the strength of their formal schooling and not examined for the abilities to drive the company forward.
It's at the point now where I genuinely dread shopping for anything.

Back to woodworking. The best you can do today is to post on a forum like this and hope your fellow endusers can give you some hand on experience.
 
#19 · (Edited by Moderator)
Mea culpa Billinmich. Used spell checker and it missed the typo. The text in the composition box is a bit weak for my eyes now ( (macluar degeneration) and makes everything a double blur unless I close one eye.

"We have no factories any more…."
My point.
Look back to the Regan years for the drop in forward thinking.
Look at the current government that is more focused on creating imaginary jobs than creating productive work.
p.s. You used to have to be trained to work in a factory.
 
#20 ·
Text in the comp box is definitely a bit weak!! :-(( We definitely have gone backwards. KING5, local NBC TV station has been running an investigative report on sweat shops using (mostly Asian immigrant women) to sew cases making about $1.60 an hour. The corp wholesaling the products denies any knowledge; must be a subcontractor of a subcontractor. Isn't the corporate veil a wonderful thing? That is what wood workers need to learn how to use is a corporate veil to enhance their profit margins and keep the doors open.

BTW, Ridgid has taken case of my troulbe with their 18v sawzall with a blade changer problem, no questin asked. The local repair man was a bit slow in returing it, but that was not a Ridgid problem, a sub problem ;-))
 
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