Have you had anything like this happen with Grizzly?

Scott Turner

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I tried to buy a band saw from Grizzly and have it shipped to me. After I placed the order I got an email stating it would be up to me to unload the band saw. I called to get more details from Grizzly. In the mean time I got an email from the shipper telling me when it would be delivered. Grizzly tells me that I didn’t pay the extra cost for the lift gate on the truck so it would be up to me to get the band saw off the truck. To clarify I asked if what the lady was telling was that I would have to get on the truck and lower the band saw to the ground and then get it up the driveway. She said yes. She then said if I would have paid for the lift gate the driver would have lowered the band saw to the ground for me and left it in the street. The driver is not authorized to move the saw up my drive way. I asked if the insurance company was going to be ok with me working on the truck and she replied they have nothing to do with it. I told her this was crazy. I paid to have the band saw delivered to my house. She stated it was my problem since I did not pay for the lift gate. I asked for the shipping companies name so I could arrange something with them, since she was telling me the band saw had already been shipped.

I called them and got a nicer lady to talk with. Much nicer actually. The delivery company was SAIA. The lady at the shipping company told me they don’t charge extra for the lift gate and that a truck delivering something like this would come with a lift gate. it weighs 800 lbs. She was suprised Grizzly was charging for something they just do as part of the delivery. She also stated the driver would help me as much as possible. I asked if the driver was instructed to leave the saw in the street and the rest was up to me. She actually laughed and said her company does not leave frieght in the street and is not in the business of being rude. She assured me that the driver would not require me to enter the truck and would help as much as he could. She did tell me that he could not enter my shop and set-up the saw. Dang it.

I call Grizzly back to let them know I have everything under control. They had already canceled the order, but the saw was already in my area and I would have to pay shipping. What? I asked them not to cancel the order because I have talked to the delivery company and worked everything out with them. They couldn’t do that. I told them I would not pay shipping on something I didn’t receive and that I would call my credit card company to deny the charge.

A couple days later the delivery company calls and says the saw has arrived and they want to arrange a time to delivery. I explained the whole situation to the lady on the phone and she did some checking. It was the same person I had talked to a couple of days earlier. She looked up my record and told me that the saw left Grizzly that day and arrived in my area the same day. I don’t live real far from Grizzly. About 3 hours. Grizzly had told me it shipped three days before and that’s why I would have to pay shipping. Called Grizzly and asked if I could still get the saw deleiveried becasue the delivery company was calling me. I should have just arrange a time with the delivery company and left Grizzly out of it. I was told if I still wanted the saw it was no problem. I called SAIA back and tried to set-up a time for deleivery. I was told that Grizzly had called about an hour ago and told them to send the saw back. By now I am tired of messing with this.

That weekend I drove to Grizzly and bought the saw and had it loaded in my truck.

This has all been several months ago if not a year. A couple of days ago I tried to order a few router table insert rings for my Grizzly table saw(router table extension). I completed the order on the Grizzly site which billed me through Amazon.

Today I got this email from Grizzly. Funny yet irritating. Grizzly's non-customer service ruins their product.

Thank you for ########.
While we appreciate your continued interest in our products, a previous transaction / communication with you lead us to conclude that it would be mutually beneficial for us to discontinue our business relationship. Accordingly, we are unable to process your order, and will not be able to accept or process future orders.
Sincerely,
Kimberly
Grizzly Industrial, Inc.
 
I think this ought to be forwarded to Grizzly customer service. I had always though their customer service to be stellar. Hate to think I was wrong.
 
Holy moly Scott, didn't recall the back story on your bandsaw, I remember you getting it though. I'd follow up with their customer service as Carol said, but not heard of them black balling someone like that before. If you really need to get the part of them, you're welcome to have it shipped to my place and pick it up there or I can bring it by.
 
Worst part is when I got there I bought a band saw that is a step up from what I had originally ordered. For some reason this thing makes a lot of noise. Nothing like my Ricon.

Do you think they have a customer service? I have been there three times and it looks like they just have a few people in the back room.

I already have a work around to getting the parts I need, but I will keep you in mind. The router table inserts go on my Grizzly table saw. The saw I am now wishing I wouldn't have bought.

Do you know anyone in our area who can cut some inserts for me from steel? I have templates.
 
I find all of that absolutely amazing. If Griz doesn't correct this they'll be the next company to go belly up. I think what Carol said should be the next action, this needs to be moved up the chain at Grizzly, if nothing happens then maybe they need to go belly up. To be clear, if you don't specify tail gate typically you won't get it and you do have to get the freight off the back of the truck (at least that's how a carrier explained it to me). It sounds like the carrier in your case is a step above. But Grizzly's reaction is absolutely uncalled for. That part about not doing business with you is also a first (for me). Are things going so well for them that they can shut out customers? Unbelievable!
 
Worst part is when I got there I bought a band saw that is a step up from what I had originally ordered. For some reason this thing makes a lot of noise. Nothing like my Ricon.

Do you think they have a customer service? I have been there three times and it looks like they just have a few people in the back room.

I already have a work around to getting the parts I need, but I will keep you in mind. The router table inserts go on my Grizzly table saw. The saw I am now wishing I wouldn't have bought.

Do you know anyone in our area who can cut some inserts for me from steel? I have templates.

Not sure they have a local customer service, still might be worth calling to find out why they won't work with you, sounds like the issue was on their end.

I don't know anyone that can do steel, but I do have the cnc router running again, so might be able to do something in aluminum or mdf for you.
 
i ordered both my drill press and bandsaw from grizzly, no problems at all. when a bad capacitor took out the motor on the drill press, they sent me a whole new motor.
 
Given we only have one side of the story, I would be surprised if there wasn't more to this. Not saying you're leaving things out, scott, but I don't buy the idea that Grizzly would refuse you as a customer without some business reason.

First, it clearly states when you order machinery on their website that shippers are not required to unload the freight. I do think that the upcharge is kind of rough if the freight company they use doesn't charge for lift gate service. That's definitely suspect and I'd like to know grizzly's explanation there. They should only be passing along costs incurred, in my opinion.

Second, you still purchased from grizzly after the run-around? From the sounds of it, I don't think I'd be that patient with any company that I got such an odd experience from. There again, though, I am only going by your recount and giving you the benefit of the doubt. If there is more info there that led you to continue to want to do business with them, I'd love to hear it.

Third, I'm not trying to beat you up on this - I've got several grizzly machines in my shop and i'm overall very happy with their service. Sometimes, the concept of "shipped" in one man's mind is different in another's. It doesn't necessarily mean it's sitting on a truck and in motion. Maybe they had it at the dock already and their customer service people had no way to know that. I'm not making excuses for them, it's just that we don't know all the details. My metal lathe came with a spotty driver board - quick email to them and they shipped me a replacement board 2nd day and gave me no grief. I've only had one machine delivered to the house - my metal lathe, and i did have to take it off the truck - it was easy, since it was a tiny little lathe, though. Everything else I've gotten from them, I have picked up at the shipping depots.

3 different freight yards, vastly different experiences - it wouldn't surprise me if grizzly's upcharge is more like insurance to cover the serious unpredictability of shippers. Forks driven through machines, completely soaked with rain, dropage, etc. I've been at the freight yards a few times and see these kids zinging around on fork lifts so recklessly it's a wonder anything arrives undamaged. Not making excuses for Grizzly, I just think we're not seeing everything that went down and I'm skeptical any business would turn away a specific customer like that without more info.
 
I have ordered a couple large items for Grizz and not paid for tailgate service. In both cases my theory was I would back my pickup up to the back of their truck, push the item into my pick up. In both cases the drivers said, no problem we will do it for you. Their trucks had lifts, I asked and they said they would have put in on the ground for me, was no extra charge, that is why their trucks had lifts. I have always received great service from the carriers.
 
I don't buy the idea that Grizzly would refuse you as a customer without some business reason.

Nor do I, but no matter what, to send such a message to a customer, risk having it go viral on-line with a business that does a great bulk of their business due to word of mouth, seems way over the top to me. That is why I would escalate it to the highest Grizzly authority - office of the president. Anyone can have a bad day. If they are in customer service, they ought to stay home that day!

Let's hear from Grizzly on the matter of denying service to any customer.
 
Scott,
I think instead of worrying about customer service, write a letter directly to the president of the company... you'll be surprised at how quickly some things will get changed... company presidents don't like to get those kind of letters. It's worked for me a couple of time.

You mentioned you were working with SAIA on the delivery... from my experience in the transportation industry, SAIA was one of the better trucking lines... they hauled a lot of my cargo.
 
Yes it is the springfield store. My biggest problem was how rude the lady was. In her words, you didn't pay for the lift gate so it is up to you to get it out of the truck. She then said if I didn't it would be up to the driver to leave it in the street or return it.

The delivery company didn't agree. I have sent an email to customer service and got an email in return saying they are backlogged and will contact me when they can.

I recently bought one of thier 5 hp table saws at an auction. Wish I hadn't done that.

The reason I went ahead and drove down myself was because of the cost of the bandsaw and the reviews. I have learned I should have just got another Ricon.
 
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Reminds me of another incident with Grizz I had. Ordered an item I knew was on back order. I knew that and it was a good buy and I didn't mind waiting. The time came and I got a notice that it was still on back order, would be several more weeks. In the mean time I started reading, on this forum of people that had ordered the jointer and had it in three days. I called CS and side I was not at all happy about reading where other were getting their orders, placed weeks after I did, in a few days. Please cancel my order. All was done politely but the lady knew I was upset, she apologized several time, she was very nice. I cancelled and hung up. Next day I had a message on my phone from the them CEO of Grizzly saying he understood I had a complaint and would I please return his call. I never asked to speak to him, but I thought it was great that the CS person sent my complaint up the latter. I confess I never called him back, because I had already ordered a jointer from someone else, but, when I did want something the next time I still ordered from Grizz. I would hate it if they are going down hill.
 
To clarify a few things. I knew they charged a fee for the lift gate. I had planned just like Paul to work with the driver in put it in the back of my truck. The lady from Grizzly said that was not possible. The reason I called was because Grizzly sent me an email telling me I was on my own as far as getting it off the truck. Again, I had to pay for the lift gate or the driver would leave the band saw in the street or return it. Leaving the band saw in the street is not an option because my house is 400 ft from the street. She kept referring to the driver and truck as if they were owned by Grizzly. I kept hearing "our drivers" and "our trucks". Her telling me that the their driver could not do anything and they could not drive their truck up my driveway and drop off the saw. That was not acceptable to me and I was not paying a fee that the delivery company told me they don't charge for. So the lady at Grizzly tried to make it sound like I was canceling my order and then told me I would have to pay for shipping since the saw was already in Kansas City.

Keep in mind the delivery company told me when they picked it up in Springfield and when it arrived in Kansas City. I even asked her to verify it was my band saw. She told me she was standing in the warehouse looking at it right then. According to the delivery company the band saw was still in Grizzly's warehouse in Springfield when the lady told me it was in Kansas City and I would have to pay for shipping. I refused and canceled the credit card payment.

Sounds too screwed up to believe doesn't it. Trust me, I was surprised to hear how rude and uncooperative that Grizzly was.

I believe their business reason was because I refused to pay shipping.
 
Something's not right obviously. There is another side to this story somewhere ;-) To be classified as a non-customer by a retailer would really take some doing.
 
Folks, I've know and worked with Scott, something isn't right with the way Grizzly is treating him as a customer. Looks to be a case of someone on the customer service side is overstepping their bounds. Can't see that a corporation as a whole would get all bent out of shape for a customer wanting to do what is right for themselves, there would be a whole lot of refusal of service going on if that was the case.
 
I've heard so many stories about Grizzly and their bad service, bad shipping, damaged tools and work arounds required to get the tool to work as advertised, that I would not buy a major tool from them ever.

I really think that if you do decide o buy from them that you have to recogize that you are rolling the dice, you have to be OK with that, and it comesup craps, you have no one t blame but yourself.

I'm not saying Scott did something wrong, quite the contrary, but you have to expect that for the money you pay you will have extra troubles to deal with.

Just my opinion.
 
I do think Stu makes an excellent point. Try see this from Grizzlys side. They moving loads of machines. If not their whole business model would not survive.
They cannot dicker at every step. They have built rules or rather terms and conditions into their sales deal. When someone wants to have them bend over backwards on their pricing it gets to a point where the deal ceases to have any value in it and that type of customer they simply dont need.
We woodworkers tend to have beer money and then champagne desires in service/support delivery etc.
In business those just cannot go together to the extent we like. There comes a time when on has to fish or cut bait.
I have a client that has this problem on a btb basis. So its not only something occuring on a btc basis.

Lets examine something here.
The bandsaw was how much ?
What realistically do you think they made on that gross.
I doubt its more than $175
Now they built a model where they are not tied to tailgate delivery in their choice of contractors that delivers. If a deal does require it they looking for added contribution to go outside the standard rate of their delivery. The fact that Scott found the delivery contractor in this case had a tailgate and was prepared to use it for free, is mere coincidence. It may not be the case across the board when you look at the cost at which they ship this item across the lower 48 states.
I can even see where people in certain areas cost them more but by applying rules like the tailgate service story they get enough added contribution to do a one size fits all price as opposed to an individual case by case pricing slowing down the deal.
They have tried to remove risk from the transactio too to help in the sale so there is full disclosure.
Now what was the amount you were dickering about in relation to their selling price 1% to 2%.
Its time we grow up with our expectations.
If we trully desire a relationship with our machine supplier that we have this list of near perfect expectations from at budget prices, then we need to be giving the equivalent back in the deal or its simply unsustainable.
There is incredible value in their machines, i often wonder just how they manage it.
We expect precision of unrealistic levels from castings etc that when we see the purchase price is nowhere near what we prepared to pay for some other brand that basically comes out of the same locations.
Time to get real. Honestly i would have done what Grizzly has done and its high time they did it.
Lets also keep in mind their volumes and margins are nowhere near the likes of what a corporation like Apple has to play with yet we expect equal standards from them.
Now you can throw the tomatoes and rotten eggs but before you do, remember you get what you PAY for.

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