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Thread: Tool reviews

  1. #1
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    Tool reviews

    Yeah I know you asking yourself what does this have to do with business, well quite honestly I am sick and tired of having to deal with absolute rubbish customer service when it comes to purchasing industrial power tools, be it Hilti, Makita and now Bosch. Make no mistake I am am not complaining about the quality of some of these brands, however when it comes to customer relation none of these companies have a clue about dealing with customers.

    You have to beg to get them to send a rep out to demo the tools, the reps are f^&* useless to say the least when you ask them technical questions about the equipment even though they go for product training, Hilti changes reps faster then I change my underwear., every time I ask for a tool demo there is a new rep, so now I drive to Springfield and deal directly with the person behind the counter, but then you have another problem because they don't stock most of the product in Durban you have to order and pay for delivery to your premises the following day or you have to drive back to the store in Springfield to collect the product. Likely for me Hilti has a decent product so once you purchase any of their products you don't have to waste time dealing with customer services until it requires a service, then it is back to JHB, they service it and charge you to deliver it back to Durban again, so it pays you to rather deal with a company like JMM power tools to service your power tools.

    Half the product are not even on display in the stores, Bosch must be the top of the for this complaint, more like 60 % of their range is unavailable, for example the Bosch oscillating multi tool, you cannot find one on display anywhere in KZN, they only carry the 10.8 volt unit in JHB, they no longer stock the powered version and when you order the 10.8 volt unit, you have to wait 3 days to get, then on the 3rd day I am told that unfortunately they forgot to send it 3 days ago and get this, they cant give me a delivery date, in other words I must just be patient and they will get it to me when they do. I have product standing in my workshop talking up space since Thursday last week waiting for this tool to finish off the cutting and sanding.

    I have got to a point where I need to start sourcing my power directly from the cheapest location in the world. You ask yourself why do I actually waste my money buying tools and expensive test equipment in this country, they say because of warranties, etc, yeah right. I wont even go into the problem I had with my Bosch laser level, that was a joke of note.

  2. #2
    Diamond Member AndyD's Avatar
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    I agree in many cases the local agents are adding zero value, they're bringing little, if anything, to the table except skewed prices. Nobody wants to keep stock of anything, most don't want to entertain even legitimate warranty claims any many aren't even capable of supplying after-sales service. I hate to say it but I order most of my tools and instruments from EBay nowadays, I can pick most things up from a reputable trader at 50-60% less than I can locally. There are one or two local agencies I still deal with but they're the exceptions and in the minority.
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  3. #3
    Full Member Smoky's Avatar
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    Lightbulb Best Power Tools

    Good day ians

    I recommend:


  4. #4
    Diamond Member AndyD's Avatar
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    Hi Smoky, do you recommend the tools or the agencies that distribute and support the tools?
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    I recommend

    Hilti product for brick and concrete. The Hilti brand has a good name and the product is a good quality, been using it for a long time for site work and I can highly recommend all their products, the customer service team and reps, well all I am going to say is if the product wasn't so good and it relied on the customer service they would become like the dodo.

    some Makita products for wood work ,

    one Makita product I don't recommend is the 18 volt BHP454K drill, the chuck cannot hold a drill for more than 10 holes and you have to retighten, never had this problem with Hilti and I have both the 14.4 volt and 22 volt. I was told it has something to do with the stop start torque because it is not a soft start it suddenly stops and eventually the bit falls out, if you are like me, I spend a lot of money on good quality product so that my jobs runs smoothly. Maybe I should replace the chuck with a Hilti chuck because I don't have a problem with the machine or the power of the machine just the irritation of the drill falling out while trying to work. I was told by a customer the other day that my workshop is like tool porn, you can just sit with your tongue hanging out in envy

    The customer service, at least they have a service centre in KZN, but man you have never heard a company make excuses when it comes to brand new faulty or defective products, the last defective product took 3 return trips and a site visit from management to get it repaired, never worked properly from the day I purchased it.

    some Bosch blue products for wood work, it is just trying to get a demo on a product, the backup service, well you need to have a faulty product to see what crap you are gona go through to sort it out. I am waiting 5 days for a new product to arrive and they cant give me a delivery date, just imagine trying to get a replacement a faulty product or get a product repaired, there is not service centre in KZN, in fact I don't know that there is one in South Africa.

    Some Metabo products for steel work, cant really complain about Metabo because I haven't had any faulty or defective products and never had to send any of my metabo product for a service, I have a 1000 watt drill with all the bells and whistles, it just keeps going. The battery drills have all been replaced because the batteries have run their charge cycles, but never had any problem with them.

    I have never used Dewalt so I cannot comment of their products.

  6. #6
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    Quote Originally Posted by AndyD View Post
    I agree in many cases the local agents are adding zero value, they're bringing little, if anything, to the table except skewed prices. Nobody wants to keep stock of anything, most don't want to entertain even legitimate warranty claims any many aren't even capable of supplying after-sales service. I hate to say it but I order most of my tools and instruments from EBay nowadays, I can pick most things up from a reputable trader at 50-60% less than I can locally. There are one or two local agencies I still deal with but they're the exceptions and in the minority.
    Andy I am still a bit nervous to buy online, hate paying for something I cant pickup and walk out with, I know I could save a lot of money especially my fluke equipment. Unfortunately it is suckers like me who keep these companies going in SA. I could have had lots of overseas trips buying tools and saved a lot of money if I was smart. People say but it is the backup service, then buy 2 of the same product and keep one for spares if it breaks.

    I am sure I could have got my new multi tool from Bosch faster if I had purchased it on line at a fraction of the price.

    Maybe it is something I need to look at in the future. The internet has made the world a small place.

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