# Something to avoid



## Greedo (Apr 18, 2010)

sorry to hear about your mispurchase, the price alone on their website tells me the quality can't be great.
you won't find a decent 6 operations combi for under €4000. or for under 2000 you should be able to get a good used combi.
have you tried to see if you can get brands like Kitty or Robland delivered?
i got my Robland 2-part combi a few months ago, i had some issues with it aswell, and the factory inmediately contacted me and offered to send someone. but most of the issues were mistakes from my part and there was no need for help.
what i can say is that when adjusting the height of anything, shaper/router, sawblade or planer table, you must always adjust by raising the height. never adjust by lowering, otherwise chances are that the tool will lower some more once you turn it on.

and the riving knife has to be higher on european machines, it is not allowed to make dado cuts with a tablesaw

that hole around the blade does look dangerously big, is it me, or does that planer table look crooked?


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## Howie (May 25, 2010)

Wow although not available in the US you very well could have saved someones life with this review. Good job.


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## sawdustphill (Jan 13, 2011)

good grief


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## skeeter (Apr 2, 2009)

Value added tax. God I pray that doesn't get implemented here in the usa.


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## Woodwrecker (Aug 11, 2008)

I'm kind of glad that machine isn't readily available here.


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## cjohnson (Oct 27, 2010)

Sorry to hear about your experience. It is terrible to pay good money and find out the product is poor. One thing that struck me about your post is that you stated that you sent an email to the company and threatened legal action. Was this in your first email to them or was this after you attempted to contact them several times.

The reason I ask, at some companies if you bring up legal action then communication stops. One might think that it would bring a speedier response but in reality they are going to proceed with extreme caution and may even consult with their attorney before responding.

Just a thought as to why they may not have responded.


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## KnickKnack (Aug 20, 2008)

…pay good money and find out the product is poor.
Sure is, and that's the way of the world - it's happened to me and after a few tears you move on. The problem in this case isn't that the product is poor (although there are many parts of it that are poor), it's that it simply *does not work*. I was trying to route a 5mm slot with a 10mm router bit in soft pine - my 35 euro hand held says "cool - gimme more" - this machine says "keep trying that and I am gonna hurt you real bad".

you stated that you sent an email to the company and threatened legal action
The legal action I'm taking is against the shop in *Portugal* who sold me the product. I didn't buy it (thankfully) from Lombarte direct. I wrote to them last week because I thought they should know, and I was hoping to find out if the Portuguese shop *had* been hassling them for a resolution. Since they haven't replied I am none the wiser.
All communication with the Portuguese shop stopped one week after I took delivery, and 4 days after I reported the problems. I consulted the legal situation, and found out that they had, by law, 30 days to fix the problems. I wrote 4 times pointing this out to them, but got no response. Following legal advice I wrote in their complaints book, and gave them 10 days to refund my money. I got no response. The consumer rights group here (DECO, excellent people), have written to them. Next step - the courts. I simply don't understand where they're at - they either don't know the law (except I quoted it to them), are stupid (which was what DECO thought), or they don't think I'll take it to court - very very stupid!

that hole around the blade does look dangerously big, is it me, or does that planer table look crooked?
The gap on either side of the blade is about 1cm.
Yep - the planer table *is* crooked.

@Greedo
I did realise that, at this price, it wasn't going to be the "haute couture" of woodworking machinery, but I *did* expect it to actually *work*!
I've been looking into other brands, but, especially given what's happened in this case, I need to either buy it *here* in Portugal, so I get the statutory guarantee, or buy it from somewhere else that will provide some sort of guarantee even though I'm abroad. I go onto UK web sites and I can buy loads of different makes, models etc etc, often at about 75% of the price I'd have to pay here (There's a JET I can buy locally, but it's 550 euros cheaper to buy it from the UK and have it shipped - go figure). I'm currently trying to find out from Axminster if their guarantee would work here, but I suspect not.

Value added tax. God I pray that doesn't get implemented here in the usa
When I had a company trading in the US I recall there was a (different for each state) sales tax - what a headache - isn't that the same kind of thing? At least if you're a business (which I am not) you can reclaim the VAT so, in effect, you don't pay it.


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## cjohnson (Oct 27, 2010)

Sounds like you are taking all the right actions. I hope that you get a resolution that is to your satisfaction!


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## reggiek (Jun 12, 2009)

Probably about the only thing good you can say about the millions of tort attorneys in the USA is that a machine like this would be eviscerated in court….just proves that sometimes there is a bit of gold lining buried in the USA legal system.

Sorry to hear that you have not received any acknowledgment of your correspondence to the company and through your suit against the supplier. I do not know the laws of Portugal on product liability…but I hope they at least will give you some satisfaction for having put up with such a lemon…and LEMON that is…wow….I wonder who engineered that thing? Daffy Duck?

Thank you for your review…..another company on my NO BUY list should they ever try to ship to USA.


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## rbterhune (Jul 31, 2009)

Sorry to hear your troubles.

I do have to say one thing however, regarding combination machines in general. Have you ever heard the saying, "Jack of all trades, Master of none."?


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## KnickKnack (Aug 20, 2008)

I do have to say one thing however, regarding combination machines in general. Have you ever heard the saying, "Jack of all trades, Master of none."?

Surely have, but I have serious space issues so this seemed like a good way to go - one fairly big machine sharing space/motors/table etc amongst the functions, rather than 4 separate machines. I don't think the concept is flawed (there was an interesting thread elsewhere about combi machines), just this manufacturers implementation of it.


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## mcase (Oct 31, 2009)

And people bash Chinese-made woodworking machines! Sounds like Portugal has very decent consumer protection laws. I hope you get your refund!


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## Dustin (Dec 14, 2008)

Holy crap! That is a scary looking machine!


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## rbterhune (Jul 31, 2009)

Dustin…that's what I thought! Scary looking and scary that I wouldn't know where the hell the moving parts were going to be. Also scary to think about making tight miters or something similar on that machine.

KnickKnack…I too am cramped for space. I'm in a one car garage but it sounds like you have significantly less. I think the better way to go might have been a workbench, handtools, and a bandsaw…at least until you get to expand your shop space.


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## KnickKnack (Aug 20, 2008)

Update - April 2012 - 15 months in…

The pace of justice in Portugal is very very slow.

We've been to arbitration (which is a required part of the legal process) - this consisted of me saying I wanted my money back, and them refusing.
Now we await a court date - who knows when that will be.

But - and this might amuse you - their defense is that, when I attempted my very first cut - a 5mm deep slot with a brand new, decent quality, 10mm bit in soft pine - *because* I was using my own fence (a straight piece of MDF well clamped to the machine) instead of the supplied fence (which is made of, wait for it, MDF), I *broke* the router. Yes - that *broke* the router!
Interestingly, my wife wrote to Lombarte about whether it was OK to use a custom fence and they said it was - that was the last time they replied to anything from me or my wife - customer service to die for or what!

In case you're reading just this comment - my verdict - steer clear of anything made by this company.


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## KnickKnack (Aug 20, 2008)

Update: April 23rd, 2015

As I said above, the pace of justice is Portugal can be somewhat slow.
However, even the tortoise gets to the finish line in the end and, yes, my court case has, finally, been concluded with a judgement.

*I won!*

The company who sold me the machine have been ordered by the court to return my money.
It's only been 4 years this machine has been sitting in my "shop", unusable.

Now, I've heard that sometimes people here just ignore court judgements and simply don't pay.
If that happens (I have fingers crossed that it doesn't), then I will start the appropriate court process to make them pay.

Still, as of this minute, all I am thinking, glass of Petit Verdot in hand is, *Finally*!


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