kinda feel let down....

E

Envious Eric

New member
I have been using the griots garage 6" DA for quite some time now, roughly 5-6 years.

I have had many stop working while under use, carbon brushes need to be replaced....no biggie, its a simple swap and takes less than 5 min and the machine fires right back up and works until they go out.

When you run through the installed set of brushes, and then replace them with the brushes that come in the box (apparently you are not allowed to swap otherwise it will void warranty, strange), you are left with a machine that wont turn on until the brushes are replaced. Try giving a call to Griots and you will get the reply "we don't sell the brushes here, and you are not allowed to change them yourself".

"OK fine, Ill send in the whole polisher so you guys can do it. "

after my first return, I realized you send in your old one to be fixed, they just send you a brand new complete unit. They don't just replace the carbon brushes. A $8 part is all it takes, but they send you a $150 machine...???? Whatever, I got a new machine and an extra set of brushes that I wanted in the first place.

Fast forward to last week...

while using the DA, it starts sparking inside the maching like the 4th of july. Turn it off, get my other one, continue working. I sent an email over to Griots asking for a return label and I get a reply stating "you are no longer able to return your equipment due to excessive returns". I ask why is that, explain the only problem with the machines Ive sent it was due to needing the carbon brushes replaced, but griots doesn't sell them, nor give you a place to buy them, so they require the machine to be sent back instead and a new one is given back, not my fault"

The lady proceeds to tell me "the machine is probably not the best fit for my business, so they will not honor a lifetime warranty anymore"

So let me get this straight. The polisher says "professional machine" on it, but is meant for the DIY person using it on the weekends only? A professional business cannot use a professional machine for daily use? My lifetime warranty (big reason why I chose these machines) is no longer honored?

For a simple fix that takes 5 min to do, but takes 2 weeks to get a machine back, its very silly that it has come to this...Ive been sent on two occasions a few years back new sets of brushes, but now the people at griots tell me "we cannot sell you or give you any brushes, you have to send the machine in"

Rupes, I guess Ill be making the switch once these things crap out! Two griots went into the trash last week after two straight years of use since they burned up, wont turn on with new brushes, and my "lifetime warranty" isn't honored...:angry:
 
I hope they don't pull this with the boss series. If they did that to me, they'd never hear the end of it.
 
how many machines did they replace before the last one? i only had one go out in over 5 yrs of use , not the machine's fault when my parrot chewed through the cord, and it was replaced with a new one, no problems, when i was just going to re-splice the cord. i often wonder how they can stay in business with that lifetime warranty. i know they boss machines are not lifetime warranty.
 
tropicsteve said:
how many machines did they replace before the last one? i only had one go out in over 5 yrs of use , not the machine's fault when my parrot chewed through the cord, and it was replaced with a new one, no problems, when i was just going to re-splice the cord. i often wonder how they can stay in business with that lifetime warranty. i know they boss machines are not lifetime warranty.
Click to expand...

They don't say who's or what's lifetime......
 
For the hundreds of people who I've heard have amazing experience with Griots Garage customer service, this would be the first negative I've heard regarding their lifetime warranty tool policy.

Envious Eric said:
I have been using the griots garage 6" DA for quite some time now, roughly 5-6 years.

I have had many stop working while under use, carbon brushes need to be replaced....no biggie, its a simple swap and takes less than 5 min and the machine fires right back up and works until they go out.
Click to expand...

About how many have you had stop working? 2? 6? 25?

After X amount of warrantied polishers, is this the first time they told you this?

I'm just trying to get more information before jumping to any conclusions.

If I owned a professional detail shop in California and after "many" warranty replacements for a ~$150 tool, I don't think I'd personally feel too bad about having to purchase another $150 tool to run my business. I just had my headphones warrantied and they let me know a warranty replacement can only be used once. I think the fact that Griots will stand behind their tool so many times is amazing and 99.99% of the world will never have an issue with their policy. But for a pro, you have to figure any tool is going to eventually break.

Envious Eric said:
Rupes, I guess Ill be making the switch once these things crap out! Two griots went into the trash last week after two straight years of use since they burned up, wont turn on with new brushes, and my "lifetime warranty" isn't honored...:angry:
Click to expand...

The fact that they won't turn on with the new brushes may be the reason why Griot's wants the entire polisher shipped back instead of just sending out brushes. Also, I don't think the fact a $150 polisher died after two years is a big negative from a professional detail shop. I bet it made a lot more money for you than $150.

Keep in mind most of RUPES tools are under warranty for 1 year...

I don't want to come off like I'm disagreeing with you that this situation sucks, but just giving you my perspective.



The statements and opinions expressedherein are solely those of Vega@Autopia anddo not constitute official statements orpositions of Autopia Car Care, Autopia.org, orany of its subsidiaries. :)
 
5-6 years out of a $100 tool sounds pretty good to me, especially when you factor in how much money its made you.
 
FWIW I have two of my three gen 2 tools I could have just sent in for warranty (slight play in bearing) but I just spent the $100 and bought new ones instead as I know I've beaten the piss out of them and I've more than gotten my moneys worth. In fact Jeff has insisted in having me get them replaced and I have repeatedly said no.

 
RaskyR1 said:
FWIW I have two of my three gen 2 tools I could have just sent in for warranty (slight play in bearing) but I just spent the $100 and bought new ones instead as I know I've beaten the piss out of them and I've more than gotten my moneys worth. In fact Jeff has insisted in having me get them replaced and I have repeatedly said no.

Click to expand...

Have to agree here with Rasky. Jeff is a stud and goes out of his way to make sure we are all happy. I'm sure when he sees this he will make it right. But with that being said it sounds like Griots has gone out of their way to keep you happy in the past. There's no other company that I know of that just keeps sending out new after new like Griots. I understand your perspective, they should of communicated with you better, but you've definitely gotten your $$ worth.
 
IMHO

I can see both sides here. First they do have a "lifetime warranty". Second, I can completely agree that pro use, kinda beats a machine. So maybe they should have a "limited" warranty for commercial use?
 
This makes no sense why they would supply a spare set of brushes, not allow the user to change them (plus they don't even work!) and then replace the entire machine. Somethin' not adding up here.. just my $0.02
 
grungy said:
This makes no sense why they would supply a spare set of brushes, not allow the user to change them (plus they don't even work!) and then replace the entire machine. Somethin' not adding up here.. just my $0.02
Click to expand...

Not really. Ever see most vehicle powertrain and engine warranties?

Most won't cover a timing belt so people grenade the engine, then they cover the replacement cost of the engine instead. I've seen it numerous times.
 
the rep just called me about this (didn't say he saw it here or not, just regarding the emails I had sent it to someone else)

basically, because I am a professional, I do put more use on it, not a big deal IMO when all my warranty claims from them on previous machines were from simple brush replacements, not because of the machine breaking apart, or it sparking inside like my most recent one did. That was a first REAL WARRANTY issue I would have to have claimed for a broken machine.

I told him my issue with them not sending out brushes as I can change them myself. I was taking a working DA, taking the brushes out of it and trying them in the dead polisher and the polisher would fire up no problem, so that's how I knew it was just the brushes wearing out and the reason why I kept asking them to send me new brushes instead of a brand new machine every time. Tried working with them, didn't go my way, oh well, I sent in the machine and got a new machine and extra brushes in the end each time. He said its because when people open up electronics, there is no control it all gets put together correctly and then comes back in with more issues...ok I get that, but damn it, I can replace brushes just fine and I would like there to be a 5 minute fix rather than a 2 week turn around.

I'm not arguing I got my use out of the machines, that is not the point. A LIFETIME WARRANTY as they have is the issue, and then they don't honor it because I use the machine more than a DIY guy when it was labeled a Professional tool. As mentioned, maybe a stipulation stating the warranty is good for 1 year or two years when in commercial use would be a good thing to have on their end.

The rep did offer me a solution and if I didn't already have a BOSS 21 (awesome machine) then I would have taken him up on it, but for now, a credit will be given for the machine towards a new BOSS, but no longer a 6". Fair enough for me, I'll cash in when the time comes. Kudos for the customer service from either craig or chris, whomever it was (I forget)
 
First off Eric, I apologize for this situation. We take it very seriously when someone is not happy with a product or our service.

I was just brought up to speed by customer service and can shed some light on what was communicated to you and offer a resolution.

Due to the number of tools that were returned and the condition they were in when we received them, it was determined that the 6" Random Orbital was not the right fit for the whatever they were used for or however they were used. A lot of professionals on this forum use the 6" for a number of different reasons, one being that it's covered for life against defects. The rigors of professional use will speed up wear and impact the lifespan of a tool, which our warranty does not include (Normal Wear and Tear). That being said, as I'm sure some people on this forum can personally attest to, that hasn't stopped us on many, many occasions from honoring a warranty replacement on items that are just worn out from normal (or in a professional setting, not so normal) use.

Trust me, I know it seems counter-intuitive to send back a machine for a new when only the brushes need changing. This machine is used by people of all levels of technical expertise. Since this machine is designed with the brushes internally, we cannot be sure in all cases that the brushes will be installed correctly and that the machine will be put back together correctly. Obviously this is not much of a concern with the present company, but sending a new machine ensures we can continue to provide the lifetime warranty to that customer.

Many years ago, our policy was not to offer replacement brushes. Brushes are available for purchase from Griot's Garage or your preferred online distributor. We are working on a replacement guide to aid in the replacement, which will be available in coming weeks.

In this case, it was and is our determination that this tool is not the right tool for whatever they're being used for and however they are being used. For example, if we sold brake pads and someone kept cooking their brakes and returning them, at some point we'd just recommend different brake pads for everyone's sake.

I'm having our customer service manager give you a call here shortly to discuss giving you full credit for your 6" Random Orbital towards The BOSS G15 or G21 (G15 would probably be a better fit as an alternative). Edit: which apparently already happened!
 
Quote
"trust me, I know it seems counter-intuitive to send back a machine for a new when only the brushes need changing. This machine is used by people of all levels of technical expertise. Since this machine is designed with the brushes internally, we cannot be sure in all cases that the brushes will be installed correctly and that the machine will be put back together correctly. Obviously this is not much of a concern with the present company, but sending a new machine ensures we can continue to provide the lifetime warranty to that customer."

OK, that makes sense. If they were externally accessible as I thought they might be, then my comment seemed spot on. I stand corrected and thank Griot's for pointing this out to the forum :)
 
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