Festool Kapex Recall

[scholar]

My Kapex was collected on 3rd June and was delivered back by UPS today - I got notification it was on its way on Thursday.

It arrived back in one piece - no idea what they actually did to it - the only noticeable difference is that the laser is clearer (but this needs adjusting) perhaps they changed/cleaned the lens, I don't know

I did chase them about 10 days ago and got a reply a few days later saying the machine was in the workshop and please have patience as demand was high - I responded asking for at least an estimated date for return and pointing out that the demand was known before - anyway, the following day I got notification it had been despatched.

So, overall, I cannot grumble - a 13 year-old machine has been fixed under recall and I was without it for just over three weeks. The UPS side of things seems to have been efficient.

Cheers

 

[Hartwood]

I really thought the debacle with the re-fit had been sorted for me with Emma down in Bury arranging for the work to be done in the UK.

I finally got a response from Germany with a shipping label, which was fine if now surplus to requirements. What did surprise me was that along with the shipping label was an additional instruction to attach 3 copies of the invoice to the outside of the box. On the instructions received with the box there was no mention of the invoice and it was just the shipping label that needed to be attached when sending the machine back. There was only two copies attached when I received the box.

The real insult I now feel is that following a phone call on Thursday from the Festool advising that the re-fit had been complete and the machine would be sent out I received an invoice for the labour and shipping this morning. There is no other instructions other that it is a upfront payment. There is no indication that the machine has been shipped back to me and no indication it will be sent until the invoice is paid.

I understood from the website that this re-fit was entirely at Festools expense and whilst the invoice states no charge for the re-fit kit the labour and shipping have been charges out at £33.42.

I know there are a dedicated following of Festool on this forum and I appreciate the quality of the machines they sell, but honestly if they cannot manage to design a process and communicate all the relevant information out to customers then they are no better than cheaper brands from whom we would not have any expectations.

This whole matter has cost me time and hence money at a level which is not acceptable.

My Kapex arrived back yesterday, hooray. and my account has been credited with the amount from the invoice. I got the machine out of the box and honesty I couldn't tell they had changed anything. There was a test sheet which presumably says everything is safe, but there is no evidence they took any of the covers off as the dust that I left on the machine was undisturbed.

Thanks to Festool for the diligence of getting the warning out there and for arranging the re-fit (real or imaginary) on such an aged machine but honestly even if I had unlimited cash, Festool will not be anywhere near the top of my shopping list again. My Makita track saw and drill are great and I would recommend them to everyone.

 

[Distinterior]

I wonder why the recall/repair wasnt undertaken at Bury St Edmunds like all the other service and repairs in the UK & ROI....??

I'm glad you got your saw back, even if it appears they haven't done anything more than checking it is safe!

 

[Glenhyrst]

It's good to hear that at least some of you have had your Kapex returned.
Mine is still somewhere in the ether having left my home on the 4th June.
Today I received this email from the Festool ABS Team:

"We wanted to inform you that we are still in the process of clarification with UPS regarding customs clearance.
The package is currently in a UPS warehouse and we are trying everything possible to resolve the delay.
We will keep you updated and again we apologise for the inconvenience."

Disappointing.

Phil

 

[Chippyjoe]

When mine went, I phoned them up and they were going to send UPS to collect it.
As all the repairs were at that time being done at their repair centre in Bury St Edmunds I took mine there. Brilliant service and collected it 2 weeks later.
They replaced the faulty part and reset the lasers and re-calibrated the saw.
Can't fault the service or comms from Festool.

 

[Glenhyrst]

Some positive news. Just 11 weeks after my Kapex left for its German holiday, it has arrived back home. And no charges - yet.
Wife makes the point that if I have managed without it for that long, did I need it in the first place?
Married over 50 years and I still haven't got her to fully comprehend the concept of "tool ****".

Phil

 

[Doug71]

Quick rant, not about the Kapex recall but kind of related.

My Kapex stopped working on Tuesday morning, I think (hope) it's just the auto shut off brushes but called Festool anyway.

I explained I'm really busy and need it working again ASAP. I was told it would be collected this week and turned around in 48hrs but I had to fill in the repair form online which I did (also meant having to set up a My Festool account).

I was tempted to just get some new brushes and swap them myself but it means opening the saw up and also the saw is getting on a bit so a proper service would be good for it. I had a few jobs where I didn't need the saw so thought I could do those for a day or two.

I heard nothing all week so phoned today and this time was told they are short on transport boxes, if I was lucky it would be collected next week but will probably be the week after, also their repair shop is running behind so would probably be at least 3 days in there

To hopefully get it going again I thought I might as well order some brushes from them just to see if that was the problem only to be told they don't hold any stock of parts and it could take 4 weeks for them to come from Germany

A quick look online and I ordered some brushes from Healey's Tools, the chap said he would put them in an envelope for me straightaway and I should have them in the morning

I know this is nothing compared to you guys who have been missing their saws for weeks but I do find it very slack from Festool when they constantly push their amazing service. My Kapex has been back to them twice before and both times it was delayed due to the lack of transport boxes.

Sorry, rant over, it's Friday night, I'm going for a beer.

 

[Glenhyrst]

Update on my Festool Kapex experience.
10 weeks after the return of my retrofitted machine, a letter of apology for the poor service arrived together with a new sawblade as compensation.
I would not be at all surprised to learn that Festool and Test and Trace have been run by the same personnel.

 

[Doug B]

Update on my Festool Kapex experience.
10 weeks after the return of my retrofitted machine, a letter of apology for the poor service arrived together with a new sawblade as compensation.
I would not be at all surprised to learn that Festool and Test and Trace have been run by the same personnel.

I to received a blade & letter of apology, to be fair to Festool the hold ups were mainly on the part of UPS who are so useless they are still sending me emails about customs clearance to which they attached the receipt stating it was a warranty claim but seem completely unable to understand I haven’t imported the saw.

 

[Mike-W]

Yes our postman delivered a package on Thursday with a complimentary saw blade and a letter of apology- Fair do to Festool they admitted the delay in processing the recall from the UK was longer than expected or planned for.
In my case i think my Kapax may have been away for 6~8 weeks but the great thing is the chop mechanism is much smother in operation than it ever was previously. I'm not sure if that was what the recall was about, but overall i'm very satisfied with the outcome.

 

[woodieallen]

.....However she got stopped by customs who insisted she needed a carnet for the equipment now. Fortunately she managed to get away with a warning not to travel without a carnet again.
...

Oh please...don't mention carnets again. Brings back too many horror stories.

 

[paulrbarnard]

Oh please...don't mention carnets again. Brings back too many horror stories.

By great coincidence of timing she is flying to the US tomorrow morning with her kit again and still hasn’t arranged a carnet. We shall see how she does this time.