I have put this planer through very limited use. I bought it a year or
2 ago, and I planed a batch of birch boards (maybe 8 or 10) for a project. Then, I put it on the shelf. The other day I fired it up again, and it blew sparks & burned out.
I happened to have my camera right there, so I snapped a few good shots. Check them out:
formatting link
the "burned out" link on the right side.
To make matters worse, the Home Depot does not back the Ridgid warranty, as the imply when you buy this junk. I'm done with Ridgid.
sorry for your loss....how I would look at this situation... you bought the unit from Home Depot not from Ridgid...it should be up to Home Depot to stand behind their sale not worm out of it. I would discuss this with Home Depot management and be very firm about it.They owe you a new planer or to repair your unit at least. Good luck and I hope you can get some satisfaction!!
Warranties are from the manufacturer, not from the store. HD may help voluntarily, but they have no obligation. HD owes nothing, but Ryobi may depending on the terms of the warranty.
I'd say this might be true if he bought the product a week or two ago, not a year or two ago. IMO, the store has a responsibility to sell a product that works out of the box, but is not liable for what happens a year or two down the line. That's what the mfg warranty is for.
Home Depot offered a 'Lifetime Warranty' on a R2610 sander I purchased Dec. 2003. It was an offer, highly publicized in their store and on their web-site. I asked the highly qualified, ultra knowledgeable, sales-kid if that would include wear and tear on the Velcro pad. He assured me it would be covered. (I had my doubts at the time, as you can well imagine. I knew I would be buying replacements, but that's to be expected.)
For a lark, I approached yet another highly qualified, ultra knowledgeable, sales-kid, and asked him for a replacement pad. I explained that the unit had a life-time warranty. The first question out of his mouth was, and I swear: "Did you buy the extended warranty?" After I realized that as I talked to him, I could see the inside of the back of head through his eyes, I dropped the issue, at least with him.
This is an evolving story, I'll keep you posted. I'm going back there, with a print-out of the warranty and a picture of the sign.
Meanwhile, I bought a Velcro PSA pad at Lee Valley in London, and glued it on. Lasted about the same length of time as the original. I'm looking into a cheaper version of the Mirka pad which seems to last and last...but I only use that on one kind of sandpaper.
I also noticed that Home Despot no longer has that 2610 ROS on display... must be too expensive to buy now that the US dollar has 'adjusted'.
Here's a quote from the Home Depot web site concerning the Ridgid warranty:
"RIDGID® Handheld and Stationary Power Tool 3-Year Limited Service Warranty
Proof of purchase must be presented when requesting warranty service. Limited to RIDGID® hand held and stationary power tools purchased 2/1/04 and after. This product is manufactured by One World Technologies, Inc. The trademark is licensed from RIDGID, Inc. All warranty communications should be directed to One World Technologies, Inc., attn: RIDGID Hand Held and Stationary Power Tool Technical Service at (toll free)
1-866-539-1710."
Unless you have paperwork showing something different you'll have to deal with One World Technologies, Inc..
They don't have to. The manufacturer should, but then only for a reasonable amount of time [that's time, not use.]
I bought an item and returned it **undamaged** after a year. They asked why I was returning it,. I said I wasn't happy with the way it worked. No problem. Instant refund.
S...T happens. I bought an HP digital camera. The stupid rubber grommet "protecting" the electronics connector kept falling out. I went to the store [Staples]. No luck. They did not tell me at the time of purchase that they could care less after the sale. So I contacted HP. Hahahahahahahahahahahhaha!!!!! After two months of emails, phone calls, and photos, like yourself, and even a reply from their now defunct president, they sent me another rubber grommet ...that keeps falling out.
Dump your original [I gave mine to my kids] and buy a new, better one, and think of it as one of life's experiences. Don't chase after them or you'll be the only one losing sleep.
And now you know that, after the sale, HP couldn't care less either. Ever notice how much "Hewlett Packard" sounds like "useless bastard"? I've had one too many experiences with their utter lack of support to ever buy one of their products again.
-- Regards, Doug Miller (alphageek at milmac dot com)
Nobody ever left footprints in the sands of time by sitting on his butt. And who wants to leave buttprints in the sands of time?
am I missing something....am I too "Old School" ? I would never have treated my customer this way. When I ran my store, I sold the equipment, the customer was buying from me. I stood behind my word. If I told the customer it had a two year warranty, I would warrant the equipment for two years. If the manufacture did not want to back me up, I would still take care of my customers. I would never tell a customer that he is on is own. I would take care of his problem even if it cost the store money. I believe that this is the right thing to do. Many a time I went to bat for my customer with the manufacture. This is one reason I am still such a Delta fan. Delta always impowered me to take care of the customer even if the customer was in fault or the warranty was expired. If Home Depots sells the item they should back it up. Just my humble opinion. Mike
...an epistle regarding customer support beyond minimal manufactuerer warranty in a store he either owned or managed (can't tell for sure)...
But, I'll wager you weren't selling at the bare-bottom price-point either, in order to be able to offer such a level of warranty service. And, it sounds like this was probably some time ago when price competition to survive wasn't as much of an issue as it is today...
Admirable trait, but not possible w/ a discount pricing structure.
You answered to yourself. HD answers to stockholders. They have a very liberal return policy for any item for any reason in a specified time. After that, they don't much give a damn about you and no one in the store is empowered to make a decision that is outside the policy manuals. They cannot afford the cost of taking in a product and getting it serviced for you either. You pay for those low, low prices.
This is also the reason I heartily recommend buying from the local dealer. You get good prices, but you get fantastic service along with it. I know I can buy from Amazon and save $20,. but in the scheme of things, 20 bucks is cheap insurance to be sure the local guy is there to help me. For the guys out in the boonies, reputable places like Lee Valley and McFeely is a very good way to buy.
As a Home Depot employee I'd like to thank you for actually taking the time to read the warranty. Yep we do require a sales receipt, which I'm assuming this person no longer has. I say this as he is vague on how long he's had the unit, one or two years. It is unfortunate we need to require this but we do have people that try to run a scam on us bringing back a tool they got for five bucks at a garage sale or pulled out of a dump. I am in no way saying this is what is happening here. Just that I've seen it happen before. As also has been pointed out in other posts we have only a limited authority to address these isssues. If as an employee I exceed my authority I maay be promoted to customer. How far did you persue it. A sales person isn't authorized nor is a dept supervisor It would have to be OKed by at least an assistant manager or possibly even the store manager because of the cost of the unit.
The answer I give my wife as I fill the tank at the local station for .12 / gallon more. When I need a gallon of premium for my chainsaw or another five gallons of off-road for the tractor, he's there, next is twenty miles away.
Not in the boondocks, but if you stand tip-toe, you can see 'em from here....
From what I read in the paper yesterday, he is not making much money either. Many smaller local stations would be gone if not for the convenience store most have today. In spite of the prices, the markup per gallon has gone down to the station owner.
W/ the one HD I have dealt w/ for any extent (it's 60 mi to nearest so it's not an trip I want to make every day) they were able to find credit card sales records for some time back...how far back that extends I don't know???
The scam aspect is very real and everybody is being hurt by it. I just started a new checking account and found out after the fact that checks I deposit are being held for several days because the bank is afraid of counterfeit checks and they do this for all new checking accounts for 30 days. I have about as good a reputation as is humanly possible and I have a 750 credit score, but even I wasn't exempt. I answered an ad for a bicycle last year and was suckered into giving private information to a phoney escrow service. I'm amazed I didn't have identity theft problems afterwards, but I did as much damage control as I could as soon as I found out. The world is a scummy place and getting scummier all the time. I do think that HD should help customers with contact information for manufacturers if a customer comes looking for help, but they shouldn't be obligated to be the customer's agent in dealing with the manufacturer. Some people just need to grow up and do for themselves instead of expecting everything to be done for them.
I owned my store and it has been 8 years ago and if I still owned my store I would do the same. Our prices were very competive, they had to be. Every customer that walked in the dooor at a catolog in their back pocket. I matched most mail order companies, just could not do anything about the sales tax. But I always made myself worth 5% more to my customers with knowledge and great customer service.. Trust me, Home Depot and other large boxes are not selling at rock bottom prices! They are in business to make money. Selling at lower prices is no excuse for not taking care of your customer. Mike
Considering that the average vehicle costs you the average owner .35 cents per mile to operate, driving 40 miles round trip would cost you $14. Driving much over 5 or 6 miles is seldom worth a .10 savings in the long run. You really are saving money and helping the local economy.
Certainly they are...and they do take care of "their" customer, apparently quite well.
I suspect in the eight years since you were running your store that the price competition has escalated significantly for equipment. Of course, Delta as a prime example has shifted virtually all manufacturing offshore to continue to compete, so there may still be more margin to a dealer than one might think.
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