From: john@westford.ccur.com (John Cooper)
Subject: Re: Grizzly Combination sander G1014
Organization: Concurrent Computer Corp. Westford MA.
Date: Thu, 23 Jul 1992 13:38:10 GMT

In article <1992Jul21.170346.28864@organpipe.uug.arizona.edu> apoyner@as.arizona.edu writes:
   :
>Yes. it seems to me also that by far the most Griz complaints I have read are 
   :
>To restate the conclusion, if you have ANY problem, call the vendor.  At least
>this keeps the option open to return the unit.

Well, I couldn't sit by any longer.  I purchased a G1022 10" 1.5HP tablesaw
from Grizzly last year when I was on vacation in PA.  I gave the crate a quick
check for any obvious omissions when I purchased it and it seemed like
everything was ok.  I started assembling the saw upon returning home and
found that the motor included was a 1HP in contrast to the 1.5HP advertised
in their catalog and specified in the saw's manual.  I called Grizzly to
inform them of the slip-up and requested an exchange for the correct motor.
After a few minutes they found someone to take my call and he laughed it
off by telling me that the label was incorrect and that I really had the
correct motor.  I indicated that the factory label (to me) seemed a better
indication of what was shipped and that I would feel better with a motor
that had a correct label.  I tried to reason that I didn't want to be in
a similar situation if I tried to sell this saw someday, having to convince
someone to disregard the label and "trust me".  He recommended that I
should "prove to myself" that this was indeed a 1.5HP motor by taking it to
a motor shop at MY EXPENSE to resolve the issue.

I also indicated that the mitre gauge bar was ~1mm too thin (vertically) and
would cause the mitre fence to hang-up on the table during a cut.  He
indicated that this was a FEATURE since you could use the snag to align the
gauge to the table assuming the table casting was perpendicular to the blade.
If I didn't like that I could just take a FILE or GRINDER to my brand-new
cast-iron table and put a bevel on it.

Well the cast extension fences didn't align in the same plane as the table
so I was instructed to "cut pieces from a soda can" using them as shims to
bring the three surfaces in line.  They did replace the set of table inserts
since the the two that came with the saw were bent.

Somewhere in the series of telephone conversations (to the non-tollfree
number I might add; you see the 800 number is just for orders) I started to
get a sick feeling about dealing with this company and said that I just wanted
to return the saw and call it quits.  "Oh, if you do that then we have to
charge you a 10% re-stocking fee plus freight costs since NOTHING is wrong
with the saw."  To my best recollection here is where I went NON-linear and
mumbled something about having the charge reversed by my credit card company
until they resolved these issues or took the saw back as defective.  She deftly
replied that they would just turn it over to a collection agency... Certainly
not the "we're-just-happy-to-help-you-folks" I had thought I would be dealing
with.

Anyway, I kept the saw; put the sticker they sent me with the a new HP
rating but the wrong serial number on the original motor; live with the
mitre gauge (I'll chuck it and get a real one someday); replaced the belt
(the original had a bump at the splice that caused the motor to vibrate
excessively); still haven't gotten around to installing the Excalibur fence
I bought for it; sold the cast extensions for $50 (the new fence needs a 78"
table anyway); and threw the soda can in the trash.

Believe it or not it's a decent saw for the money if you are willing to put
some work into assembly.  Grizzly offers a compromise balanced between quality
control and product cost.  I have had both good and bad luck with post-sale
support.  The best I can say is if you can deal with the shortcomings you
can save considerable $$ on serious tools (some assembly required).

-john
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