# The Horrible Stories About Laguna Are True



## rhett121 (Oct 22, 2014)

Not to defend Laguna but…

You ordered the saw from Rockler. It is entirely Rockle'rs fault! They should have never asked YOU to call Laguna. Did you know you can call Laguna and order directly from them? So why are you paying a middleman to mark up the price and give you nothing in return? Rockler is the one selling product they do not have in inventory. Rockler is the one who should have given you the refund. Customer service is their job as the retailer. I think your anger is misdirected. I don't forgive Laguna for the lack of communication but it should have been Rockler doing the calling, not you.

I used to own the LT16HD and it is an AWESOME bandsaw!


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## RockneLaw (Feb 28, 2011)

Rhett, I take your point, partially. I should clarify that I'm not angry, as you suggest. I've read so many horror stories online that I was just updating/confirming their accuracy. In some ways, I'm happy they screwed up because I'm sure my Minimax is a far superior saw. Why did I order from Rockler? Because they were a lot cheaper than ordering from Laguna. The aforementioned accesories WERE ordered directly from Laguna, just to substantiate, though I suppose I didn't make that clear in my initial review. I guess shipments coming to the Atlantic (like your HD) are perhaps better than those coming in from the Pacific, like the Asian-manufactured LT14 SUV.

Where I think your point is valid is that with respect to the actual machine that was ordered through Rockler, they should have been the ones running inbetween on my behalf. Next time (should there be one), I'll keep that in mind.


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## descolada (Jun 23, 2013)

I've had a different experience with Laguna. I recently got the LT18HD and love it, and I have one of their large dust collectors as well.

I bought the bandsaw through Rockler (same reason, it was cheaper than through Laguna) and I must have gotten lucky with the shipment in that it came very quickly.

I ordered the base for the saw from a different 3rd party (woodwerks) and that did take a while. Apparently they were having an issue with the manufacturing of the base causing installation issues. I got a call from woodwerks ~2 days after i made the order saying he had been contacted by laguna and filled in the info. I told him i'd like to take the chance and risk a return, so he forwarded the mail to laguna and they shipped it the same day (they were right: the mounting holes weren't perfectly aligned, but they were close enough). I'm guessing in your case it was having Rockler as the middleman that was causing the communication issues.

Last year a I had a problem with my dust collector and they thought it was an electric issue in the control panel, but couldn't be sure exactly what it was when diagnosing it over the phone. So they 2nd day shipped me a replacement for the entire electrical control unit along with detailed replacement instructions. Took about an hour and worked like a charm. This was a heavy unit that, had i needed to buy it myself, would have been $250.


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## Ken90712 (Sep 2, 2009)

I have talked with the owners of Laguna at the Woodworking Show in Vegas. I mentioned to them that the internet has not been kind to them in the Customer Service Dept. They replied, they replaced the whole dept and were fixing the problem. That was yrs ago, Seems it's the same, I almost bought one of there table saw but couldnt get past there customer service problems.

Sorry you had trouble.


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## gtbuzz (Sep 19, 2011)

Sorry to hear about your troubles. Seems like they can't get out of their own way to get what otherwise seems like a top notch product into people's shops.

Have to also agree with rhett121 though - your beef should have been with Rockler just as much as with Laguna. That's the whole point of ordering through a retailer - not like you ordered directly with Grizzly or something (not that I expect them to behave like this). Based on my experience, this actually seems kind of par-for-the-course for them. I ordered my SawStop PCS directly from a store; also ordered with it the ICS base, which requires the purchase of a separate "conversion kit."

When the saw arrived at the store a week later, the conversion kit was missing and basically they told me to just take it up with SawStop. I called SS and while they couldn't disclose any information to me because I technically wasn't the buyer, they really went the extra mile for me. In a nutshell, they found out that while the local store placed the order through Rockler corporate, whoever it was in the corporate department never actually placed the order.

Glad I got to see how good SS customer support was, but in both cases, seems to me that after taking the order, Rockler was very content to just have you deal with someone else at that point.

I still love going to my local Rockler, but I'm also very fortunate to live within a stone's throw of Woodcraft, Peachtree and Highland. As a result of my experience, my large equipment purchases have tended to go elsewhere. Haven't ordered anything big from Woodcraft, but IMO both Peachtree and Highland took better care of me.


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## jakep_82 (Feb 1, 2012)

This should haven't been posted in the reviews section in my opinion. When I saw the title and a picture of smoke I thought the saw caught fire and burned your shop down. Then I wasted my time reading your "review" to find out you never even received the saw. It's fine if you want to complain about Laguna or Rockler, but don't do it in the form of a review for a product you've presumably never used.


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## RockneLaw (Feb 28, 2011)

Sorry you feel that way, Jake. I'll spin it and say there was a review (however cursory it may have been) of the MM16. That should count for something, right? I'll take this opportunity to point out something, though. Everyone who has commented to the contrary of my experience has mentioned that they have a Laguna HD (of one size or another). I'm left to conclude that purchasers of Laguna's Italian saws (which, of course the LT14 and the new black and red model are not) receive better treatment (whether purposeful or not) than the purchasers of their "lower end" $1,600 bandsaws.


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## MrRon (Jul 9, 2009)

For the obvious reasons, I don't make large purchases on line. I prefer driving 500 miles and seeing it first hand; then hauling it home. After paying freight and dealing with returns, driving is a better alternative. No one can ever be so busy that they can't find time to pick up a new toy.


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## Fettler (Dec 6, 2012)

The HD models are made in italy IIRC. The SUV line and 3000 series are made in .tw. Completely different levels of quality.


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## Dusty56 (Apr 20, 2008)

I have to agree with *jakep_82*. This is NOT a review of the saw, but rather your poor experiences with both Rockler and Laguna. Rating the saw in your "review" at 1 star when you never even used the thing is just ridiculous and downgrades the saw itself for no logical reason. 
There are plenty of other forums here at LJ to post your disappointment with CS on without having the quality of the saw itself suffer in your non-review of it. 
*Buy it, use it, own it for a reasonable length of time *and then you might be qualified to post an actual review of the product itself, which is what TOOL reviews are all about.


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## Bill729 (Dec 18, 2009)

In my opinion, a buyer's buying experience definitely may be relevant as part of a review. It just depends. Future buyers may learn to avoid certain distribution channels to improve their experience involving the product. If you were writing a restaurant review, wouldn't you rate the service along with the taste of the food? This is absolutely no different.


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## ellen35 (Jan 1, 2009)

Maybe this should be a review of either Rockler's or Laguna's customer service. Now that WOULD be helpful to anyone thinking about purchasing through them. Reviewing something you have not used is disingenuous at best.


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## RockneLaw (Feb 28, 2011)

In order to post a review, one has to select the manufacturer and then a machine. My review covers more than just Laguna's customer service (or lack thereof). I would think that the container stoppage and/or fire damage would be VERY interesting for purchasers (past and future) to know about.


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## smoker54 (Mar 24, 2014)

I personally find it quite comical that people are reviewing the reviewers reviews! I'm just saying.


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## ScottStewart (Jul 24, 2012)

Negative reviews are just as important as positive ones. Failure to deliver a sold product in a a reasonable time frame is just as bad if not worse than a problem with initial quality defects.


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## Grandpa (Jan 28, 2011)

Yup, your problem was with Rockler….not Laguna. While Laguna seemed to step up to the plate and admit they had a problem, you real issue should have been resolved when you called Rockler. You ordered from them and they were to get paid to order your saw. Make them own up and do their job.


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## a1Jim (Aug 9, 2008)

Laguna has been doing this same stuff for years ,when things don't happen on time,it's a fire,a train wreck,or and eclipse of the moon.There's always some story of the day.

They have also used the"we have turned everything around" 
routine before a couple of times to try and overcome there bad reviews for products and super poor customer service.

The only thing I see wrong with Rockler is doing business with Laguna in the first place. I have told my story about my own experiences with Laguna's misrepresentation of products, poor engineering,damaged products the would not take care of and more. I've always said if your buying their products be prepared for all of the things I just mentioned.


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## georgiaken (Sep 11, 2013)

I ordered the 1412 from Woodwerks. My order was delayed…Woodwerks contacted Laguna and Laguna contacted me. They found me a saw and shipped it immediately.

Within a year, I had a problem.

A ceramic guide came loose…then another. The two guides dulled the Resaw King I purchased, to the point that it smoked in use and was no longer viable…completely dull.

I called Laguna…they sent me a new Resaw King and two new ceramic inserts.

Note to other Laguna owners…your ceramic guides are basically held in place with crazy glue…check them now and again…they do come loose…


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## rantingrich (Sep 19, 2014)

I for the most part getMORE information from the NEGATIVE reviews on just about everything


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## philba (Aug 23, 2014)

Frankly, I find this kind of review more valuable than a review of the equipment. Y'all can complain that it's not a review but I'd hate to see this kind of feedback lost because of that. Give this review and other reports I've seen, I will probably never buy a Laguna product.


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## ncdon (Jul 11, 2010)

Negative reviews are just as important as positive ones. Failure to deliver a sold product in a a reasonable time frame is just as bad if not worse than a problem with initial quality defects.
Scott, I could not agree more. If anything failure to communicate delivery problems frustrates me as much if not more than mechanical QA issues.


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## KayBee (Jul 6, 2009)

Thanks for the review. To me, how a business treats their customers is just as important as what they sell. It's not the first review of a company's customer service instead of a physical product.


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## Nates02gt (Nov 20, 2012)

Sounds like a very bad experience. I purchased both the 14/12 bandsaw and the Fusion table saw from Laguna earlier this year. I bought them through a different company than you did, though the process was pretty much the same. I had zero complaints about the vendor or Laguna. The shipping company on the other hand was a total mess. When I received the saws, the fence guide bar had some minor rust on it. I called Laguna and they shipped me a new one and told me not to bother sending the other one back. I had the new bar in a matter of a few days. A few months later, I was trying to adjust the ride height not the table saw fence and one of the nylon bolts was stuck and would not budge. I called Laguna again and they promptly sent two new bolts out, telling me that they wanted me to have an extra one just in case. Like you, I had read many stories about bad CS with Laguna prior to making my purchase. I have been very happy with their service thus far though.


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## cbehnke (Mar 28, 2011)

i don't mind the guy reviewing the customer service and lack of getting a machine, good to know about problems and how companies resolve them. As long as it's an honest, non-exaggerated account of the experience, i'm okay with it.


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