Fein Vacuum Model 9-55-13

[david]

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 [ [e-mail]] 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!)

(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)

[BillyBob]

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

[cerskine]

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?

[Robatoy]

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.