Have you had anything like this happen with Grizzly?

One other point i would like to add.

When companies the likes of Grizzly (i am not saying it is the case for Grizzly) buy in bulk from manufacturers, very often the terms of their deal is such that these kind of pricing structures are based on no warranty claims back to the factory.
The idea being that an extra say 5% reduction in price on a bundle of goods is obtained on that basis simply because the seller then need not create a provision against the sale income for warranty.
Logistically it also frees up both parties and you can imagine the cost that would be involved in the two parties tracking a faulty xyz part between them what with customs and shipping alone.
So factor in that when Grizzly sells you that few hundred dollar bandsaw or whatever, and on top of it offers u a warranty in US accounting terms they would be taking an amount out of that sale to keep on the balance to provide for warranty coverage. Same way any other supplier (including woodworkers working from small shops) should be doing.
The magnitude of this amount is calculated based on prior experience for a similar device or model.
The net is though it eats into any margin being made.
So when you examine the whole equation, the risk assumed by Grizzly versus your risk for your few hundred hard earned dollars is certainly not equal and there is value being created by Grizzly in doing this.
Go buy an ebay chinese machine and expect all the same sefvices you do from Grizzly. I think u know the answer to that one.


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That is bizzare. Normally heavy items will be lift gate delivered. Yes, drivers are not expected to handle heavy items. For them to deny future business from you opens a whole new can of questions. My experience with Grizzly has always been top notch. I live about 2 1/2 hours from Grizzly and have always found it more convenient to pick up myself. Except my lathe which came from out of the area. At my request they delivered to the loading dock of a local factory. From there, with help, it was put onto my pick-up and I took home. At home I unpacked and assembled in the shop a piece at a time. Sometimes you have to get resourceful. Do contact them again.
 
Rob I think you missed several key points to the transaction. It's not worth going over again.

One of the points being this is out of the ordinary. Hench the question, have you ever had a problem like this with Grizzly.
 
Scott, I don't think some are reading AND comprehending what you typed. I understand there are two sides to every story, but you have provided a ton of facts and it seems to me to boil down to the one lady being, well being "unkind". I don't have a Grizzly in the shop, used to get a catalog from them and looked it over closely. Based on your story and Stu's, I'll not bother their store front or catalog business. My life is complicated enough without dealing with a known problem. Sorry for your troubles, hope it works out, would send this to a higher up and see what is going on. Good luck. Oh, and by the way, in answer to your original question, nope, have never had any problem with Grizzly, but then have never dealt with Grizzly and now won't.
 
Only two purchases from Grizzly (one being my bandsaw) and both went well, although I never did talk to anyone but the shipping company. Bought mine through Amazon but shipped by Grizzly. Guy knocked on the door and asked where I wanted it set down. It was on a pallet with a pallet jack. Set it down and walked it right into the garage. I'll be a little more weary of any future dealings.
 
Most trucking companies that do residential deliveries generally will have lift gates on the trucks... if there is a lift gate fee, which I've actually never heard applied as such, it is charged back to the shipper - if it is a prepaid shipment but more often its called for residential delivery fee. Truck drivers are just working stiffs like most of us and are usually more than willing to assist in the handling. Insurance restrictions do curtail some of what they are allowed to do... and it's true that most likely, they can only unload at the street end of a drive way... often the delivers are in smaller semi trailers - 20 or 24 feet - that you wouldn't want backing up your driveway anyhow. I'm a little surprised that the CS person didn't suggest a terminal pick up point... I'm sure SAIA has a terminal in KC... usually if you don't specify a residential delivery that's how the shipping is worked out.

Still and all, I still recommend that a letter to the manager or president would solve the problems, especially if you felt the CS person was being rude. There's never never an excuse for a customer service person to be rude.... even with the most trying customers... and I'm not implying that Scott was a trying customer.
 
Well here is carrier service for you. Last year, a friend ordered a new Powermatic lathe. I told him to call me when it was delivered and I would go help him put it together. On the day it was scheduled to arrive, the local carrier called and said it was in and they would like to schedule delivery for the next day. They were booked up for the day it arrived. Okay, no problem. Then my friend called me back a little latter and said it was coming that day anyway. I went over and here it came on the back of a pick up. The owner of the service brought it over personally on his own pick up and brought a big friend to help unload it. He backed into the workshop, and we got it off the pick up. Then he says, I'll help you unpack it to make sure there is no damage to it. Come to find out, the carrier owner is a woodworker. He saw the big box and what it was and he wanted to look it over. Said he knew when he saw what it was, my friend really would not want to wait another day to get it.
 
On this site I've read occasional stories about Grizzly products being damaged in shipment or having a mechan8ical problem after delivery. I do not recall a story about Grizzly not providing excellent customer service and doing whatever they could to make the customer happy. I have 2 Grizz products and I'm extremely happy with the tools and the support Grizz has given me. I will confidently buy more.
I suspect in Scotts situation he was being serviced by someone who either was brand new or having a very bad day. In either case I'm sure that Grizz will make amends if they feel the situation warrants it after researching..
As far as some folks slamming Grizz when the say that they haven't had any experience with the company is pretty lousy.
 
I have a Grizzly combo sander. 14" band-saw, portable planer, DC, radial Drill press. They have always worked as advertised & I am pleased with them. Delivery has always been prompt & on time from their loading dock in Bellingham into my truck & I hauled it home with me about an hours drive. Customer service has been great too I know the guys on sight & can talk with them across the counter. Eyeball to Eyeball has great advantages. Only real problem was with a bench vise I called Bill Crofutt their quality assurance rep (since retired). & explained the problem & he had several vises pulled at random to inspect & saw the problem I was having & sent me another vise inspected by him before shipping. I think somewhere I have the new reps. E-mail I'd have to search for it though since both laptops have been wiped clean & had a re-install.
 
The incident is really way out of the norm. I have several Grizzly products and am happy with them and service. For really good service call their tech support number. It is not toll free but the people at the other end are knowledgable. On one occasion I called with a problem it turned out this was new news to them. They later sent me a gift certificate as thanks for bringing it to their attention.
 
yup, they didn't even bat an eye when they sent me a replacement motor for the drill press, gratis, they even ate the shipping too, along with profuse apologies. sounds to me like a little bit of mud on both sides of the ol fence.
 
Timing is Everything!

Well this just gives me the warm fuzzies with a new G-0766 on order when nobody has ever seen one before!

Grizzly has a great rep for customer support now. However I have been on either end of some pretty wild customer support calls. Crazy customers and crazy support people. I'm not going to try to judge this.

Grizzly did charge me an extra $34 for lift gate service. I didn't really need it but I liked the idea of the lathe being their baby until it was sitting on solid ground. Best I recall shipping weight is over six hundred pounds, over a hundred of that crate and packing. With Grizzly's flat rate shipping and flat rate lift gate service it is obvious they are doing some averaging. As always that benefits some customers and other customers pay more than they would have with individual pricing. I did some quick cyphering and figured paying 2% extra for lift gate service was worth spending to be sure of getting it even if I found that I would have got the same service without paying for it. One thing, lift gates are often on smaller trucks, might be the difference between backing up to my barn or setting the crate down several hundred feet away.

Hu
 
At my work, we have a dock, but only a dock (no forklifts, etc, as the dock is outside of a metal walkway). When I ordered a piece of equipment for us, having a dock saved us the liftgate charge. The item was light enough that I should have been able to move it, but it was so plastic wrapped to the pallet, that the driver helped me scoot it off the truck so I could break the shrinkwrap and inspect it in the lite.
That said, part of the reason I believe they may have that charge is using multiple carriers (who they use in Missouri, might not be who they use in Washington). This is a CYA sort of thing, IMHO, verses a pure, we get extra profit, motive..
Placing a cancel order on the CC/disputing the charge, I would expect, rather then getting it canceled through Grizzly would be the business problem that would cause a company to refuse to do business with someone in the future, as they may dispute the charge after the fact. (not always easy to tell if it is a bad experience/try again, verses someone who is completely unreasonable)
If you walked in with cash, I expect you would walk out with what you wanted.
I expect this was a bad situation that was compounded just by attitudes, rather then reality.
 
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I'm a bit late to the party on this, but I'll add my kudos to Grizzly. I've bought a lot of things from them and it was always handled exactly as they stated on their website. It was very clear about truck delivery, etc. I've gone to a local terminal to have them load a bandsaw on my pickup. I've met a driver at the Lowe's parking lot to have him offload a delivery onto my utility trailer. When my new tablesaw was delivered last year, the driver lowered it to the ground at the end of my driveway and even helped roll it down to my shop building, for which I handed him enough to have a nice dinner. In every case, there was never any question about how deliveries were to be handled based on information from Grizzly. I never hesitate to do business with them.
 
I'm a bit late to the party on this, but I'll add my kudos to Grizzly. I've bought a lot of things from them and it was always handled exactly as they stated on their website. It was very clear about truck delivery, etc. I've gone to a local terminal to have them load a bandsaw on my pickup. I've met a driver at the Lowe's parking lot to have him offload a delivery onto my utility trailer. When my new tablesaw was delivered last year, the driver lowered it to the ground at the end of my driveway and even helped roll it down to my shop building, for which I handed him enough to have a nice dinner. In every case, there was never any question about how deliveries were to be handled based on information from Grizzly. I never hesitate to do business with them.

Bill I would say the good service you got was from the delivery company not Grizzly. I had a nice resolution worked out with the delivery company also. Grizzly refused to let it happen.

Grizzly still has not replied to me about this.

On another note, this past weekend I placed an order with Woodcraft. I never got a conformation on my order so I called first thing Monday. Woodcraft could not find my order so we agreed to just place the order again. The lady worked with me on the phone and placed the order. Yesterday I noticed my credit card had been billed twice. I called this morning and found out my first order had someone else's name on it but included my credit card number and address. That is the reason they couldn't find it when I called the first time. The first order had already shipped from starrett. Woodcraft was going to try and stop the second order because it too was shipping from starrett. They are going to credit my card and make sure I get my original order. The key here is the service I got when an issue with an order occurred. Nice, polite and simple. Worked out over the phone. Things don't always work as planned, it's how it is handled when they do wrong. I believe I just got someone from Grizzy who was having a bad day and was bound and determined to take it out on me.
 
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