There are a few things we have to keep our heads about in relation to all of this , dont for one minute think i am condoning the whole lot but i do like to look at all the sides to the equation.
Lets step back for a moment and consider this.
We all want machines. Was a time when these machines we want as hobbiests were only available to companies or to the very rich.
Along comes the likes of Grizzly and looks at a business model that says if we get it made in the east and "manage the quality" then we can pull off making these available to the man in the street for an affordable price.
Something that happens in these cases is the company that undertakes this kind of venture typically takes on the warranty risk. That is to say there are typically no returns to the factory due to the non value added cost of shipping goods back all the way unless the issue is significant enough and requires sufficient rework and the original factory cost of the item is high enough to warrant it all and still make it economically viable.
Now we have to consider this is not "German" or "what was American" manufacturing although its getting better in the east every day while i am not sure we in the west are keeping that same standard we had.
To get the price point the term "Quality" ends up getting defined not in absolute terms but in terms of "fit for purpose"
They use certified Iso 9000 entities and in the event of those that dont realise this it means that quality is as a result something dealt with by process rather than inspection of each part on a one by one basis. When a defect is found under these conditions there is usually supposed to be a corrective action. During that corrective action review a decision gets made as to the ramification of work in progress and finished goods in stock which could run all the way through to goods in the field (hence issues like recalls).
If an entity like Grizzly imposed exceptional fit for quality standards on these plants and they did not "manage" a problem like Drew is having then the batch that this unit came from might very well have been scrapped for the items we have seen. This would only add to the cost of the factory and in the end get passed on to Grizzly and reflect in the price.
The only way we get the prices for the items which we buy today in all categories of our life is through the reduction of non value added cost. Inspection is a cost that adds no value to the fundamental item. Freight the same and packaging the same. Hence the picture we see of a pallet that is marginal to say the least.
It looks likely that the damage as a result of the forklift going through the side has occurred because the pallet was not adequate for the weight of the machine. It collapsed and so the forklift operator ends up having to do something to lift the item while i guess someone put something under it to hold it up enough so he could get at it the second time. My bet is he pushed the unit on the side to try tilt it and in so doing ended up putting the fork right through. Further complicating his life.
I bet this is happening on most of those pallets.
I also have never been a forklift driver but i do have a friend that manages a warehouse where he is always looking for forklift operators and the reason being is that they get driven beyond what is sensible to move goods in and out of a warehouse. The people doing the managing have never calcluated into times expected to deal with load and unload and load again with the view that the pallets on these things are defective potentially quadrupling the normal time to move the item and as a result creating a backlog. And that is without any human error which is likely to take place as well when one pushes the limits of these things all the time. None of these businesses operate on any fat, they are often so lean they actually end up running under staffed because its crap work and a crap environment to work in.
What the whole crew does is "manage" customer expectations. This is a very practicle business model.
If you examine it by and large we all say we get good customer service with Grizzly and if something is wrong they see you right. This is what is happening in Drews case.
This is in essence all we can hope for when we expect the pricing to be what it is for our machines. Heck lets be real just stop to think a bandsaw with all its bits and pieces made in China shipped all the way across the seas , manufactured machined assembled( all the individual parts) painted tested gooped up and crated then loaded and unload and shipped again to warehouses and then handled again to get to a customer and all for how much $425 in the
case of this unit and delivered in USA for $79 so a total of $504.
Lets get real. My sons headphones cost close to that and eventhey were made in China. Killed me to see that kind of coin being spent on speakers on the head but lets also be fair to these machine manufacturers.
If we drive expectations up too high we will see the cost to do our hobby go in the other direction from which it has come and the result is fewer of us will be enjoying this hobby. Bear in mind as cost of purchase goes up so will volume decline and that would have further damaging consequence.
So in essence i think whilst i do not agree that Drew should suffer through this with a new purchase as long as compensation is made to the extent that both parties are happy then it can be a liveable solution. Note that this compensation will cost them and that will go into feedback for the whole quality chain to evaluate the merits of increasing the allocated monies spent on the pallet.
The same for the paint. Someone did not prepare the surface properly by the looks of the paint problem and the paint did not adhere. Again stripping and rework not viable when costs are already so low. So it gets blended into the batch just like we end up with some screws having no head or no point or some other defect in every box we get.
The issue becomes serious when this happens every time in every shipment. It becomes more so when we get no response from the company that supplied it.
Now Tony i dont say dont look at the Hammer but lets get real and fair , the two companies and their machines are not in the same league. A hammer is for pros and is made and supplied by machine company in different volumes at very different prices and is suited to pros as opposed to hobbyists.
I dont see anything one can compare between Hammer and Grizzly except to say they are both in the machinery business.
Remember that Grizzly also has to absorb in this whole excercise the cost of having staff to deal with us on customer service and the expenses they end up having to shell out to get things done correct like any additional freight or parts. Its a tough game and overall it would have appeared to many of us that they have done a pretty reasonable job of the whole excercise up to now.
None of this makes it right to ship a defect to a customer. To me they need to block this situation at their warehouse and rather avoid passing it on in this manner and better to do it all in one go at the scratch and dent discount day. That way it all moves from the warehous at customers cost and with full disclosure. This is the part where i think they have gone wrong and i dont think any amount of compensation redeems them to me. Even more so in Drews case because of the issues with the first unit and him requiring them to inspect the second which they claim to have done.
Its tough and there is no perfect world. I still think they do a better job of the whole process than i would say some of our known big brand names have or are doing today.
Also lets look before we get to compare Saw Stop as a company to the whole Grizzly brand, at the pricing associated with that machine versus a model in the Grizzly line of up of the same HP etc. There is significant dollar difference and question becomes if we all can afford and are willing to pay that price why is Grizzly or anyone else for that matter still managing to sell their table saws.
I try to be a realist when it comes to these issues. Just my 22 cents.
Anyways installed and leveled and feels really solid.