• January Turning Challenge: Thin-Stemmed Something! (click here for details)
  • Conversations are now Direct Messages (click here for details)
  • Congratulations to John Lucas for "Lost and Found" being selected as Turning of the Week for January 13, 2025 (click here for details)
  • Welcome new registering member. Your username must be your real First and Last name (for example: John Doe). "Screen names" and "handles" are not allowed and your registration will be deleted if you don't use your real name. Also, do not use all caps nor all lower case.

Excellent Customer Service - Powermatic and Laguna

L

Lawrence Hurst

Joined
Jan 10, 2011
Messages
1
Likes
0
Location
San Jose, CA
As background, I regularly read blogs, stories and complaints about customer service and how bad it has gotten and personally I have seen it get worse from restaurants to our woodworking business. I have worked for a major semiconductor company for years and spent many years as the final escalation point for the most vocal and irate customers that you can imagine so I believe I know the difference between good and bad customer service.

In December I had two very nice experiences with two companies I have sometimes heard maligned. I had some issues that I wanted to resolve and both Powermatic and Laguna stepped up and gave me far more than I expected and without a fight or any of what I have come to expect from some companies based on info I had read on the web.

I ended the year or started this year with two great experiences from companies that I would definitely purchase products from again. They set a great example and I appreciate the people at each company that talked with me and supported the final resolution.

Thanks, Lonnie
 
Laguna

Laguna...hmmmmm.

I think you might be the first person that I have heard of that had a good thing to say about them. My experience with them was horrible!!!!

1. Lathe centers didn't line up....we will send you a new one was their response after about 2 weeks of dealing with their lack of support to find out they didn't have any more.

2. Lathe #2 shows up....weak in power and just didn't run right. Called and was told to just run it and it was a new programing for the inverter. The inverter POPPED. sparks everywhere. Worked for 3 weeks. Good thing I didn't ship the first one back.

3. After dealing with the what I think was the manager below the owner, they sent me the third one...that didn't turn on out of the box!!!! The sales staff was misleading, the tech support was useless.

I will never forget the sales guy telling me that the owner designed this lathe...I just recently watched a video of him turning and now understand why it is a peice of junk and that the company is not a company to deal with. They are good at selling but have no knowledge about what they are selling
 
You are Lucky Lawrence

Hi Lawrence - It's good to hear that you've had a positive CS experience.

I'd like to know what you needed resolved?

I wonder if your positive CS experience was due to all the negative press they got in the past, and that they are trying to do better?

Due to my personal experiences with one of those companies I could not in good faith provide anything positive about them to anyone. As a matter of fact I go out of my way to warn people to stay away from them!

For me they've lost a customer for life. I'd planned to purchase a Drill press and band saw from them. I've gone elsewhere, they can not fix that.

It's good to hear that you got satisfaction, many others have not. I hope they've changed they're operating practices to actually support their customers. That's what we need.


Tom
 
Powermatic experience

About three years ago I bought my first lathe. I was (am) a new woodturner, and was considering a PM3520b. In doing my research I called Powermatic tech support and got through to a gentleman named Russell. In addition to giving me what I felt was honest info, he also went into their workshop and took several photos of the 3520 (with some accessories) and emailed them to me. These included photos of the "other side" of the lathe, since I am left-handed and expected to turn, in some cases, from the back side of the lathe (which, it turns out, I do when turning the inside of bowls). I bought the PM3520b, along with a few accessories, including the dust shield head that was supposed to slide onto the back portion of the banjo.

The dust shield head didn't fit (out of spec, and scratched up the paint on the banjo). I called PM. Before sending me a replacement the tech guy went to their warehouse and ended up telling me that their new supplier had sent them a batch of shields and they were all out of spec. He facilitated the refunding my purchase of the shield, but his effort also saved me from getting a second one that would not have worked. He also offered to send me a can of paint, at no charge, which he did.

Since then I had an issue with the cone from the tail stock live center assembly; they sent me an entire new assembly. I have been very impressed with their customer service, and it was their dealings with me before I was a customer that turned me into a customer.

Concerning the retail environment in general, I am also appalled at the poor customer service, and the deterioration in customer service, that I have experienced over the past several years, but at least my own experience with Powermatic has made me a customer, and also made me a satisfied customer. Just my 2 cents worth.

Bob Parson
 
One of the successes of AAW has been to increase membership from a few hundred to nearly 15,000 turners and a network of chapters reaching out and creating more woodturners every day.

Lots of folks are now coming into the sales end from different directions. 10 years ago the people on the sales end were all woodturners.

Companies that routinely come to the AAW trade show and regional symposium trade shows are for the most part coming from a woodturning background. They understand woodturning and giving them a little slack for pushing their own products they will rarely sell you anything you don't need. most have the philosophy that their reputation is their most important asset

When you look for equipment and companies
See what the AAW chapters use for their demos, what do the crafts schools use in their classrooms, what do the professionals and emerging artists use?

I know lots of turners who own Laguna Bandsaws, but I haven't seen Laguna lathes in chapters, craft schools, or professional turners studios.
I have turned on at least 40 different lathes in clubs, schools, and other peoples shops but never turned on a Laguna lathe.

I have a Laguna bandsaw and have had great support from them. Laguna knows bandsaws. My saw is 15 years old and runs great.

Al
 
Last edited:
The problem with relying on others tales of customer support / product quality, is that unless their experiences were pretty recent, they may be completely irrelevant. Companies / products change over time. Some for the better and lots for the worse.

I remember when I was researching chainsaws. Reading all the "I've had my Stihl for 20 years and it's bullet proof" posts and thinking "If I had a time machine and could go back 20 years to buy one, that would be helpful input."

I think Al's point about not everything out of a company being the same quality and supported the same is right on. I've found Powermatic and Jet lathe customer support to be fantastic. Both over the years that I've owned them and as recently as a couple months ago. But I also own a Jet (aka performax) Drum Sander and had some issues when I first got it. Customer support wise, it was like talking to a completely different company (not in a good way).

I have no experience with Laguna, but I'm willing to accept the possibility that maybe they have improved recently based on Lonnie's report. I'd want to see more positive reviews before I would consider sending them any money though.

Ed
 
Last edited:
Sure wish I bought a One-Way

Powermatic sucks IMO.

They didn't seem to care one bit that the shaft on my 4224 motor snapped in half. I would think it's clearly a defect in their steel, but they said I was out of warranty and didn't even want to look at it. A new motor and pulley would be nearly $1000.

Makes that small difference in price for the One-Way seem really insignificant now. 🙁
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top