Woodmizer Warrenty: As good as it gets!!!

logwalker · April 04, 2007, 02:18:18 PM

A couple weeks ago there was a spirited discussion on a new Woodmizer that had a couple problems. It seems the new owner was a bit impatient to say the least. My own experience has been quite different and in an effort to be fair and balanced I want to tell my story. The other thread just stuck in my craw a little and I needed to get this on record:

I recently purchased a 6' extension for my 1994 LT40HDE and picked it up in Portland Or. The WM yard is about 300 miles from my house and not real easy to get to. So I was a bit upset when I attempted to install the extension and found the adjustable brace that the crew at WM had loaded did not fit my machine. I called Ken Barton at the Portland yard and let him know there was a problem. He immediately apologized for the inconvenience and said he would next day air the part at his expense and I could return the wrong part anytime I was in Portland. I got off the phone and returned to work. An hour later Ken called me back and said he had some bad news for me. It seems that there was not another brace kit in the entire WM system. He asked me what I wanted to do. I said that I wanted to cut this brace apart and make it fit my machine and send him the bill. Without a moment's hesitation he said that would be fine. No qualifying, no conditions, just do it and send the bill. I said a big Thank You and hung up. It took about 2. 5 hours to re-engineer the part and cut and weld it to fit my machine. Well spent time compared to the alternative. I have never dealt with a company that tries so hard to keep the customer happy. And it may be true for all the companies listed to the left, I don't know. But I just want to say thanks again to Ken and all the gang at Woodmizer for making a bad situation into a win/win.

Tom Sawyer · April 04, 2007, 03:27:51 PM

I agree. Just today the solenoid on the lube system started sticking on my brand new (38 hours) LT40 Super. I called Dave and he is sending a new one. The gang in Manilla is great to work with.

Tom

Kcwoodbutcher · April 04, 2007, 10:07:40 PM

So how much you going to charge for your labor?

sparks · April 05, 2007, 09:48:18 AM

Everyone who owns a Wood-Mizer understands they have to work on the mill to replace the warranty parts. If it is a major component, like the engine, we have the engine company do it since it is their warranty on the engnine not ours. 99% of our customers have no problem with that. The other 1% can pay the mileage, which the warranty states is not covered, and we will come put the parts on.

WH_Conley · April 05, 2007, 09:55:01 AM

I always figured if I had the part I could put it on about 10 times quicker than to wait on someone.

I have had warrenty work on alot of stuff over the years that I had to return the old part to prove it was broken. With WM, my word was all that was ever needed, unless it was a part that could be rebuilt, in which case they wanted it back, but they paid the shipping. How do you beat that?

Brucer · April 08, 2007, 02:35:22 AM

I blew a hydraulic hose on the clamping cylinder with less than 400 hours on the mill. WM Canada West had spare hoses for the vertical clamp cylinder ('cause they apparently get hooked on stuff and torn off), but not for the horizontal cylinder. They had never had to replace one of those before.

Rather than keep me waiting for a delivery from across the country, they told me to buy one locally and send them a copy of the invoice. They credited the amount to my account, no questions asked.

logwalker · April 08, 2007, 07:24:43 PM

They sent me a credit invoice today for the exact amount I requested. I had even offered to take their shop rate which is less than mine but they gave me the full amount. I wish they were all this easy to work with. "Woodmizer Sets the Pace"

Joe

Engineer · April 10, 2007, 01:53:38 PM

I wish everyone understood that owning a sawmill isn't the same as going down the street to the Toyota dealer and buying a new truck. Most of the time the dealer isn't just down the street - it's in another state, province or country, and we have to learn to fix it ourselves. I have come to learn that if you want to be a sawmill operator, you better be at least conscious of many aspects of welding, small engine repair, hydraulics, strength of materials, etc. (as well as all the associated things like chainsaws, trucking, business and finance, forestry, drying and processing, and a pile of other things I need not repeat). I'm happy that most of us here look at sawmill operations that way. If I had to "bring it in" for everything that went bad on my old mill, I'd be better off just leaving it with the guys in New York and visiting it with some logs every couple of months. WM is really good about parts and even work outside of warranty. I'm very happy with the way that I have been "included" as a member of the WM "family" even though my mill is secondhand and 27 years old.

Chris Burchfield · April 10, 2007, 08:09:43 PM

Neither of the two tales following is "Warranty" however, it is support from WM and I feel the need to tell it here.

Couple of months ago, 30 miles from home on the "Big Muddy" 23 acres I plan to build on and currently milling for my work shed. I thought I'd run out of diesel for the 51 hp Cat. I drive bi-focals, have a red/green difficiency in my vision and forgot to open the vent cap - I had not noticed yet. But I was 60 miles round trip from my mill manual and back to the mill. There's a 1-800 number on my mill for WM. I'm armed with my cell phone which happens to get three bars. The tech on the other end said fill the fuel tank back up, reconnect and just pump th #&!! out of the fuel bulb. Well, as I disconnected the supply and return lines I realized I still had about a fifth of a tank. Then I noticed the "little vent screw cap" was in the closed position which I opened. With the engine running, it had already started to pull a vac. pressure collapsing the tank and bulb. Said and done, she started right back up with no problem. I didn't know if I had manual pump to bleed the lines. Didn't know if I needed to purge the fuel lines of air. Heck it was fuel starved and couldn't suck no more. Just thought I'd run her out of fuel and probably had air in the lines. Ha, Ha on me.

Last Friday I misplaced my shipping receipt for the blades I ordered last summer. Just wanted to know how much I'd spent so I could claim it on my business tax with the IRS. Spoke with someone in sales who looked it up then emailed a copy I could print out and take to my tax preparer.

Both of these may seem small but, I considered both occurances to be excellence in the area of service and support.