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 [ snipped-for-privacy@feinus.com] 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!)
Festool - 3 year waranty (this is what I replaced my Fein with)