I'm writing this messege with the intent of alerting users to some
issues I just experienced with the Fein Model 9-55-13 vacuum. I"m not
recommending against buying one, but I do think they should revisit
their service policy.

I had my unit for about a year and a half. During that time I was
genrealy very pleased with the unit in many respects. It had fantastic
dust collection, a resonable foot print, and of course made a lot less
noise than anything else.

A few days back it broke. I called Fein and was told that I had to
send it into either Pitsburg or Hartford. I told them I was a
contractor and needed an immediate replacement. The rep asked me if I
wanted to buy a new one!

I sent an email. Below is the response (note he got my name wrong):

Craig Morrison ]
Hi Vince,

I am not really sure how to respond to thie compliant, or even if we
should. While I think our repair centers probably shouldn't throw
repair estimates at our customers, and wait till they actually see the
tool, I also don't believe that Sears, or any other manufacture would
consider a "no-charge" replacement on a power tool that has been used
for a year and half.

Craig

Contast this with Shopvac - 5 year waranty (and a cheap unit!)
http://www.shopvac.com/web/products/...index&StoreID=
(Note: I had a shopvac that was a few years old and they simply sent me
out a new engine when it broke OVERNIGHT!!!)

Festool - 3 year waranty (this is what I replaced my Fein with)
http://www.festoolusa.com/ProductDet...&prodid=583360

wrote in message
oups.com...

tool, I also don't believe that Sears, or any other manufacture would
consider a "no-charge" replacement on a power tool that has been used
for a year and half.

I've always wondered if I should have spent the money on a Fein instead of
the $65 I spent at Home depot for *two* vacuum kit that included a lifetime
warranty. Now I know. I'm very happy with the big Ridgid vacuum. The
little portable that was thrown in as an extra has become a super companion
to my biscuit cutter.

Bob

When one of your customers calls after a year and a half and says
something you built and that they use commercially is broken, do you
drop everything and run over there to rip it out and redo the work for
free?

In article .com,
wrote:

Festool - 3 year waranty (this is what I replaced my Fein with)

A friend of mine had the opposite happen. He ended up replacing his
Festool with a Fein and never looked back.
I have one of each. The CT 22 lives on the truck with a Ridgid 2610 ROS.
The 9-55-13 lives in the shop with a Festool Rotex sander.
I like them both, so far no trouble. A fabricator in another market has
been using Feins for 8+ years and has several units. No incidents aside
for some brushes.
It's like the BMW vs Mercedes argument. Both excellent engineering, both
have unhappy things happen.

If I had to buy a third vacuum? I'd buy another Fein. Better suck, more
room in the bag. Turbo III this time.