Festool... Anyone else tearing their hair out?

[Mcluma]

My TS55 is worth its weight in gold though.

Yesterday I had to build a fancy open wall unit on a kitchen Im fitting and rather than being the usual ready made hang it on the wall and add the doors job it had to be built from loads of melamine end panels etc. Anyway using the TS55 saw and rail I cut all the various bits up and put it together not one chip in sight and all cut perfectly square in no time at all, try doing that with a hand saw or a normal circular saw.

I can do that with my Mafell any time all the time :lol: :lol:

and no problems with the plug - the mafell stuff is more robust. maybe not as clean in dust particals, but more of a workhorse

 

[Oryxdesign]

I've not experienced any of these problems, what are you guys doing to your tools.
Incidentally both ends of the plug it cable and the socket can be purchased separately, they are all <£10.

 

[woodbloke]

If I buy a new Festooly green router then, what sort of mains cable will it have? :? I assume it'll have a standard sort of black rubbery thing with a 13A socket on the end - Rob

 

[petermillard]

I've not experienced any of these problems, what are you guys doing to your tools.
Incidentally both ends of the plug it cable and the socket can be purchased separately, they are all <£10.

That thought crossed my mind as well; been using Festool for ~8 years or so without any of these problems, and I cart my gear around a lot so no kid-glove treatment here.

Please don't take this the wrong way, but you guys who've had trouble are definitely locking the plug-it chord in place, yes? Reason I ask is that there was a thread over on FOG not so long back about some people complaining that the chords (sanders especially) kept vibrating themselves loose, and it turned out they just weren't doing that full quarter-turn to lock the cables in; it occurs to me that a not-fully-inserted-and-locked cable would probably arc across the contacts, possibly causing some of the problems mentioned here??

 

[Woodielanger]

Woodbloke,

great skiing, how long did it take to recover ??? :lol:

We do look after our tools and I am sure we are connecting them up correctly. We even had a sales rep from Festool come out once and check everything himself. We are, however, a workshop and things are used on a dialy basis. The sanders are the worst although our don't come loose, they just burn the points out.

Most festool comes with a standard 13a plug one end and a 'plug-it' connector on the other. The idea is that the cable can be plugged into other festool tools at the tool end so you just use one cable for many tools. The idea keeps the workshop tidy ! But is Nearly always faulty.

I just had a chat with a guy in a tool service department in an independant tool shop. He said someone started legal procedings against festool for this cable issue but Festool won by saying all cables should be suspended from the ceiling and not hung over the edge of a workbench or table and that this is what was causing the faults. If the cables were susspended from the ceiling, the cable would not become faulty !

THAT'S NOTCRICKET !! I don't dis-agree that having a cable suspended over the workbench is cleaner and probably less prone to getting court on things but come on !

I was told of one chap who bought a Kapex (over £1000) chop saw only to have the motor fail after 2 years. They wanted £700 to fix it and would not offer any good will as it was out of warranty. ! They would not even let him have the parts at trade price, he had to pay RRP ! He told them to put it in the skip. That's customer service for you. !
My Dewalt saw is over 5 years old and we hardly molly coddled it, that has never missed a beat !

I think after our current Festool tools wear out, I will buy other brands to replace them. Festool will learn in the long run when no-one wants their tools and they are over priced and the customer service does not back the price up. It's a shame, when they work, they're un-beatable.

 

[chippy1970]

I was told of one chap who bought a Kapex (over £1000) chop saw only to have the motor fail after 2 years. They wanted £700 to fix it and would not offer any good will as it was out of warranty.

Thats ******** for a start as they have 3 year warranties so it would have been covered if 2 years old.

 

[Woodielanger]

They offer a one year warranty but if you regester (send off the card after buying a tool) they will extend it to 3 years. The man in question obviously did not regester his extended warranty.

 

[Woodielanger]

Sorry if I come across as if i'm on a one man anti-Festool rampage, they are top rate tools when they are working, I just wanted to know if other people are having the same problems and if anyone knew of solutions.

I am open minded about all tool brands but most of our tools are festool so when all of them suffer from the same problems, it's a big headache ! #-o

I do have lots of nice things to say too !

 

[RogerS]

Sorry if I come across as if i'm on a one man anti-Festool rampage, they are top rate tools when they are working, I just wanted to know if other people are having the same problems and if anyone knew of solutions.

....

Not at all, mate. I started a thread a while back about their illegal practices in terms of price fixing. Got lambasted well good with people saying how wonderful Festool were...this thread puts matters right IMO....

 

[chippy1970]

They offer a one year warranty but if you regester (send off the card after buying a tool) they will extend it to 3 years. The man in question obviously did not regester his extended warranty.

So thats Festools fault that he didnt bother registering for 3 years ??

My dealer always registers every tool for you now as far as I know that is the norm now for all dealers

 

[Hudson Carpentry]

They offer a one year warranty but if you regester (send off the card after buying a tool) they will extend it to 3 years. The man in question obviously did not regester his extended warranty.

So thats Festools fault that he didnt bother registering for 3 years ??

My dealer always registers every tool for you now as far as I know that is the norm now for all dealers

Well you don't spend £1000 on a tool that will only last 2 years. With Festool prices there should be a 5 year warranty without filling any cards.

 

[Woodielanger]

Of coarse it's his own fault for not extending his warranty.

My 1st point was that a £1000 saw failed after 2 years.

My 2nd point was that festool did not care or try to meet the guy half way. That's not good customer service.

 

[p111dom]

After reading this thread I was coincidentally down at my tool supplier and asked them if they've had any Festool cable issue and he said "I'd be lying if said we didn't have quite a few." I must admit that of the three cables I have, the one I use the most is starting to wear and that's with hobby use but I've had no arcing or burning issues. I think that by the end of the year I'll have to replace the plug end (eBay item 120686298685) but that's not a big deal to me. I agree though that their tools are not up to scratch for the price. I had endless problems with my Domino before they finally replaced the whole front fence assembly and my OF1400 locking handle is loose and I can't seem to find a way to tighten it up. Reasonable tools but I have much cheaper tools that have never missed a beat despite much harder use, my T11 and Metabo 450 spring instantly to mind.

 

[woodshavings]

It seems that Festool USA give much better service to their customers.

There are issues with a number of their tools but Festool USA's response seems exemplary.
http://festoolownersgroup.com/festool-tool-problems/
Maybe the sometimes poor service we receive in the UK is an another example of rip off Britain

John

 

[Woodielanger]

In the interest of cheering up, my Festool brushless drill has been very good. It's perfect for cabinet making, small and light but powerfull. It has worked faultlessly for over 4 years now.

I don't want to sound like I'm contradicting myself but it is only fair to share the good news as well as the bad !

 

[markturner]

I have been using festo for over 12 years now, and have pretty much everything they make. Up until 2 years ago, I was using it all pretty much every day and I dont think i have ever had one tool go wrong or need any kind of service. I have replaced several plug it leads, but that is it and considering the hammering they get on site, its not suprising. I have always found my supplier ( toucan tools) to give great service and help whenever needed as well as being very reasonably priced. its interesting that makita, etc are stealing all the ideas Festo came up with now, They have been real innovators in the field and have made my life and the quality and speed of my work so much better. Its also a real joy to use a tool that is so obviously well thought out, solidly built and does the job so well. Even little things like the sytainer sytem just make your life so easy.

Sure, some cheaper tools do the job as well, but what would you rather drive - a toyota or a BMW? Sometimes you cant just put a price on quality and pleasure of owning and using something that is at the top of its league.

Cheers, Mark