Bill wrote:
It wasn't a direct apples-to-apples comparision. But I thought that
the MasterForce 6"-belt x 9" disk sander looked more robust
than the Ridgid, and it was on sale for $20 less than the Ridgid unit.
Here's another fact,
the nearest Ridgid "Customer Service Center" is at a rental-station
store more than 50 miles from Indianapolis. What does that
say about how much they care about their customers?
Good observation Bill but that begs a whole lot of different questions.
Most retailers have a limit on how long you can return a product to them -
usually not for the duration of the warranty. Usually more like 90 days or
so. With Ridgid products, the warranty is lifetime - even on batteries, if
applicable. So the retail warranty usually means that at some point you are
haveing to returen your product to the manufacturer - and at that, for a
limited time. With Ridgid, it's lifetime, even if that means you might have
to somehow get the product to an authorized repair center. With HD - who is
Ridgid's primary retailer, the normal retail sort of walk in return policy
applies in the same manner as most other retailers. That's just retail
competitiveness. Beyond that though is that very valuable lifetime
warranty. I've used it - I know it works.
The unit in
question has a lot of plastic parts...almost all. The main spindle
on the Ridgid, that runs all of the way the motor is used for every
operation. It is a built-in defect. Also, unsealed bearings.
What do you mean by unsealed bearings? I'm just not sure what you are
making reference to. As for plastic - Ridgid is not low end consumer junk.
I cannot imagine a wear part like a spindle being plastic, but I may be
wrong. Look again Bill at what Ridgid is and I think you may find your
first look might be mistaken.
When you consider that an inital stock of sanding materials could
approach $100, does one really want to "invest" in that unit?
I hope this shows that I did my homework, if nothing else.
Well, I think you certainly did do some of the homework required, but I'm
not sure you've seen things as they really are.
--
-Mike-