I've seen a lot of bad Ryobi and BORG comments here, so I'm throwing in one about a good experience with sanders.

Not so brief history. Got a B&D (yeah, yeah) FS540 sander a few months ago. Worked fine for what it was intended to do and
hooked up to the vac. Great dust collection. After much use, it started rattling, then quit sanding completely. By then it
needed a new pad too, but shipping was twice the price of the part. BORG had a different model on sale for $20, so I
bought two. Sanded fine, but dust collection was terrible - about a tablespoon in the bag over the weekend with a gallon
bucket full on the floor. Exhaust port was oval so it wouldn't hook up easily to the vac (my fault for not noticing, but why
design something like this?).

Went to the BORG with both to return the the unopened one, at least. Mentioned that dust collection on the other was
terrible, and the lady very happily put a 'return to vendor' sticker on it and gave me a full refund for both. Total time -
maybe 3 minutes, and pleasant to boot.

I still needed a new sander to finish off the project. Never had a ROS before, so I got the Ryobi RS241 for almost the
price of the two I returned.

I read the manual (hey, I said it's my first ROS!), peeled and stuck on a sanding disk that came with it, and went to work.
After 10 seconds, the paper frisbeed across the shop. Repeated this a few times, checked the net for hints, and ended up
at Ryobi Support. Over the next two hours (mostly my delay) and a few messages back and forth (with reasonable
suggestions provided), the tech suggested I contact Consumer Support and gave me the 800 number without being asked
for it. By then I had put on the Velcro adapter and was making sawdust. It stuck fine.

OK. Called and was talking to a rep within 2 minutes. I explained what had happened, and told her that they were spending
money to print on the box and advertise that some sandpaper was included, and it wouldn't pass anybody's QC. She
immediately offered to replace the pad and Velcro adapter, and I took her up on it. I had merely hoped to be a polite
nuisance, let them know they had a bad batch of paper, and maybe get some replacement sandpaper for my efforts.

Notice that these are all low-end items, yet both Home Depot and Ryobi provided excellent, fast customer service.
YMMV, but I'm pleased.

On Thu, 22 Mar 2007 17:50:12 GMT, wrote:

I've seen a lot of bad Ryobi and BORG comments here, so I'm throwing in one about a good experience with sanders.

Not so brief history. Got a B&D (yeah, yeah) FS540 sander a few months ago. Worked fine for what it was intended to do and
hooked up to the vac. Great dust collection. After much use, it started rattling, then quit sanding completely. By then it
needed a new pad too, but shipping was twice the price of the part. BORG had a different model on sale for $20, so I
bought two. Sanded fine, but dust collection was terrible - about a tablespoon in the bag over the weekend with a gallon
bucket full on the floor. Exhaust port was oval so it wouldn't hook up easily to the vac (my fault for not noticing, but why
design something like this?).

Went to the BORG with both to return the the unopened one, at least. Mentioned that dust collection on the other was
terrible, and the lady very happily put a 'return to vendor' sticker on it and gave me a full refund for both. Total time -
maybe 3 minutes, and pleasant to boot.

I still needed a new sander to finish off the project. Never had a ROS before, so I got the Ryobi RS241 for almost the
price of the two I returned.

I read the manual (hey, I said it's my first ROS!), peeled and stuck on a sanding disk that came with it, and went to work.
After 10 seconds, the paper frisbeed across the shop. Repeated this a few times, checked the net for hints, and ended up
at Ryobi Support. Over the next two hours (mostly my delay) and a few messages back and forth (with reasonable
suggestions provided), the tech suggested I contact Consumer Support and gave me the 800 number without being asked
for it. By then I had put on the Velcro adapter and was making sawdust. It stuck fine.

OK. Called and was talking to a rep within 2 minutes. I explained what had happened, and told her that they were spending
money to print on the box and advertise that some sandpaper was included, and it wouldn't pass anybody's QC. She
immediately offered to replace the pad and Velcro adapter, and I took her up on it. I had merely hoped to be a polite
nuisance, let them know they had a bad batch of paper, and maybe get some replacement sandpaper for my efforts.

Notice that these are all low-end items, yet both Home Depot and Ryobi provided excellent, fast customer service.
YMMV, but I'm pleased.






Home Depot, Walmart and Sears have all be good to me about returns,
and I do not buy anything with the intention of returning it.

wrote in message

I read the manual (hey, I said it's my first ROS!), peeled and stuck on a
sanding disk that came with it, and went to work.
After 10 seconds, the paper frisbeed across the shop. Repeated this a few
times, checked the net for hints, and ended up
at Ryobi Support. Over the next two hours (mostly my delay) and a few
messages back and forth (with reasonable
suggestions provided), the tech suggested I contact Consumer Support and
gave me the 800 number without being asked
for it. By then I had put on the Velcro adapter and was making sawdust.
It stuck fine.

OK. Called and was talking to a rep within 2 minutes. I explained what
had happened, and told her that they were spending
money to print on the box and advertise that some sandpaper was included,
and it wouldn't pass anybody's QC. She
immediately offered to replace the pad and Velcro adapter, and I took her
up on it. I had merely hoped to be a polite
nuisance, let them know they had a bad batch of paper, and maybe get some
replacement sandpaper for my efforts.

Notice that these are all low-end items, yet both Home Depot and Ryobi
provided excellent, fast customer service.
YMMV, but I'm pleased.

Good customer service for a crappy product. Think of the time saved with a
better ROS.

If you're happy, I'm happy.

That was gonna be my comment. With a DeWalt or Porter Cable you attach the
abrasive disc, plug it in, and sand. The tool lasts a long, long time.

I stopped buying low end portable power tools about the time I had to
replace my first acquisitions.

"Edwin Pawlowski" wrote in message
. ..

wrote in message

I read the manual (hey, I said it's my first ROS!), peeled and stuck on a
sanding disk that came with it, and went to work.
After 10 seconds, the paper frisbeed across the shop. Repeated this a
few times, checked the net for hints, and ended up
at Ryobi Support. Over the next two hours (mostly my delay) and a few
messages back and forth (with reasonable
suggestions provided), the tech suggested I contact Consumer Support and
gave me the 800 number without being asked
for it. By then I had put on the Velcro adapter and was making sawdust.
It stuck fine.

OK. Called and was talking to a rep within 2 minutes. I explained what
had happened, and told her that they were spending
money to print on the box and advertise that some sandpaper was included,
and it wouldn't pass anybody's QC. She
immediately offered to replace the pad and Velcro adapter, and I took her
up on it. I had merely hoped to be a polite
nuisance, let them know they had a bad batch of paper, and maybe get some
replacement sandpaper for my efforts.

Notice that these are all low-end items, yet both Home Depot and Ryobi
provided excellent, fast customer service.
YMMV, but I'm pleased.

Good customer service for a crappy product. Think of the time saved with
a better ROS.

If you're happy, I'm happy.