"Mike Pio" wrote in message
news:FqlOe.2065$sw6.1844@fed1read05...
I sure hope this post doesn't stir up controversy, but I'm curious about
Grizzly's tools. Over the years, it's been my observation that Grizzly
seems to sell equipment for considerably less than the competition. As one
example, they sell an oscillating spindle sander for about $570 while a
comparable Shop Fox sander is around $900 (I couldn't find many differences
in the specs).
As another example, Grizzly seems to sell some very inexpensive shaper
cutters (as compared to Freud, for one). Maybe I'm wrong, but it seems
Grizzly is consistently less in general.

I happen to own a lot of Delta tools, but that's mainly because I've stuck
with what I know. Because I'm considering buying some Grizzly equipment
and have absolutely no experience with them, I'd be curious to hear
opinions from those of you who have owned/used equipment from both Grizzly
and other manufacturers. If you could state of few pros and cons of
Grizzly, I'd really appreciate it. If Grizzly tools are not as high
quality as the competition, than I'd sooner spend the extra money on the
better stuff. I'm open-minded though.


A few Grizzly here as well. One thing worth mentioning again is their
customer service. Top notch and one of the best in the industry (I feel it
should be a model for others).

I had a friend that needed warranty work, no hassles, no grief, and they
sent him a $50 gift certificate for his trouble. After dealing with so many
sub-par customer service centers, he mentioned it was actually a pleasure to
deal with and looked forward to something else going wrong.

I did have one minor problem with a machine. Spoke to a tech who knew the
product like the back of his hand. Unlike other call-centers who read from
a flow-chart (or even worse the overseas customer centers). This guy
actually knew what he was talking about (and yes English was his first
language to boot), and most likely was a hobbyist himself. I am not sure if
it is training, or the guy actually was well versed on the machine. You
could definitely tell that he had spent some time with the machine. As far
as I could tell, he was not looking at a manual, but all from memory.
Top-notch as far as I am concerned. For what it was worth, I remembered his
name for reference, Gary, it was. Kudos to you Gary and this never ending
out-sourcing call center world. The machine in question was a knee mill.

I have also called Grizzly on two occasions with pre-sales technical
questions. Same experience as above. Try that with some of the other
importers (I am sure there are some that I have not run into yet). I always
think, if that are not willing / able to help ya before you buy, what will
it be like after.

Chris