New Drill Press

Vaughn McMillan

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Here's the short version:

This followed me home Friday night...gotta love the liftgate.

Craftsman Drill Press 01 - 800.jpg Craftsman Drill Press 02 - 800.jpg Craftsman Drill Press 03 - 800.jpg Craftsman Drill Press 04 - 800.jpg Craftsman Drill Press 05 - 800.jpg Craftsman Drill Press 06 - 800.jpg Craftsman Drill Press 07 - 800.jpg Craftsman Drill Press 08 - 800.jpg
Craftsman Drill Press 09 - 800.jpg


And here's the long version:

Some of you may recall back in October when Sears briefly advertised this drill press for $179.95, both on the web and in some of their stores. (Normal price was around $500.) A bunch of people jumped on the deal, including me. I don't think the Craftsman 17" would have been my first choice for a big drill press, at that price I couldn't refuse. Sears quickly determined it was a mistake though, and pulled the drill press from their website. (It's still not shown there.)

A few people managed to buy online that day and pick up at their local store, but when I placed my order, the website said the drill press would be ready for pickup at my local store in about three days. I got an order confirmation later in the day, saying Sears would call me when the drill press was ready to pick up. By then, the word was out all over the 'net that the sale price was a mistake, and Sears was canceling the orders. I figured ah well, it was a lucky shot for a few people, but no such luck for me. Sure enough, I never did get a call from my local Sears store.

A couple months later, I happened to notice that the charge for the drill press was still showing on my credit card. OK, I figured if they didn't cancel the charges, they didn't cancel the order. So, I sent Sears an e-mail message inquiring about the drill press. Their response was that I'd need to talk to the local store, since, as an in-store pickup item, the transaction had been handed off to them. When I went to the store, and explained the situation to the clerk, she talked to the manager for quite a while, then went searching for the drill press on the computer and in the warehouse. She came up empty handed, but told me she'd order one and call me when it came in. OK by me.

Another month passed, and by now I had decided I was done waiting...I wanted the drill press or I wanted my money back. I went back to the store and again said I wanted to see what the status of the order was. Once again, I explained the whole story to another clerk (and another manager) and once again they couldn't find the drill press in the warehouse. (They were showing one in stock.) After nearly an hour of them trying to come up with a drill press, I told them it wasn't their fault, but it appeared Sears didn't want to sell it to me at that price, so I should just get a refund. The clerk and his manger though, were determined to sell me that drill press at that price, so they asked if I'd be willing to pick it up at another store. After thinking about it for about a nanosecond, I said sure.

A few quick phone calls later, he had located four at a Sears store about half an hour away. He had them put a hold on one of them, and printed me a receipt for pickup at the other store. So this afternoon, I took a little road trip and picked up my new $196 (with tax) drill press.

And now you know the rest of the story. ;)
 
... yeah yeah yeah. but you still suck! :thumb:


(had to be said)

...art

ps: but then, I'm still busy enjoying my $95 (free shipping) PC690 router + PC sander that amazon basically gave me a month-and-a-half ago.
 
I'll take it off you hands for $200 :D

GREAT deal to say the least, hope it lives up to it's price :thumb:

Don't listen to him. I'll give you $201.

My recently retired boss had been talking to me about WWing and gathering tools to do it as a hobby for something to do once he retired. I saw the DP during the mis-priced frenzy and told him about it. He went and bought one during lunch that day.

Congrats to you both and all the other lucky Winnah-winnah-winnah's.
 
Vaughn, you have about 3 months more patience than I do. In the end, you got a good tool for the price. Also, I have to give credit to Sears staff for making good on the price.

I would guess that you have the "best deal of the year" trophy in hand, at least for the present.
 
Kudos to the Sears manager that made it happen!
I like those laser crosshairs. I wonder if I could rig one up on my mill…:huh:
I agree on the kudos to the store staff. I even got the sales clerk's name, and plan to let the General Manager of that store know he treated me well.

The jury is still out on the laser crosshairs. All the aiming adjustments are done with plastic pieces held in place by allen screws, so I suspect it's not real durable. I'll play with it and see how I like it, but if the laser fails me, there's always the drill bit itself. Amazingly, it always points to the exact spot where it's gonna drill. :p
 
Congratulations Vaughn! :thumb:

It renews ones faith in people to hear of a store manager who is determined to live up to his end of an agreement.

DT
 
What a DEAL, Vaughn. Congratulations. I'm glad some of you guys are having a little luck on these sweet deals. The only Deal that I really hated not getting in on, was two Biese Fences that I needed, on the Lowes closeout deal. I chased every store between Odessa & Lubbock and all the way to and including the "Complete" Dallas and surrounding area stores, but Alas, the closest I got was that I missed TWO they sold in Abilene 30 minutes before I got there, (and for $59.00 + tax each). What really hurt was that they said they had to beg the guy to take them, since the store mgr said they had been in the store for two years and they had never sold one before, and they had a message from corporate to GET THEM OUT of the store.

Have fun with the new drill.:thumb:
 
I am convinced the lowly ol drill press does not get the credit it deserves. I could easily get along without a tablesaw but a drill press, no way!!

Glad you got a good deal on it Vaughn. You should like it,with or without the lasers I think.
 
Dang, Vaughn,

That's one heck of a drill press for the money. And at 3/4 hp, no bogging down!

Greg's got plans for one heck of a great drill press table. I've been meaning to build one like that for a long time...

Thanks,

Bill
 
When I first tried my laser the two intersecting lines were fat and blurry. I then noticed the lenses had a grease coating on them. I cleaned the lenses and the line was more focused. After fiddling with it for a few hours I did figured it was a useless piece of junk. It did not satisfy my need for accuracy. In my opinion my eyeball is more accurate then the laser. What I did not like about the laser was the two intersecting lies were not at 90 degrees to each other, therefore it was hard to judge were the drill bit was going to drill.
Score: Eyeballs 1, Laser 0.
 
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