Info on Grizzly in Canada

[Warren]

I'm trying desperately to purchase a Grizzly jointer, and I read a couple of threads regarding Grizzly dealing with Canadians so I thought I'd settle it once and for all. I just received a phone call from a rep. at Grizzly after enquiring about holding one for me so I can drive down and pick it up and she told me that they won't even sell to Canadian residents in their showroom, let alone using a brokerage company to ship to. Bottom line I guess is if you want one you'd better waltz into the showroom with a fistful of U.S. cash and don't give them your address. Sigh. I keep reading rumours that the company they have an agreement with up here is Busy Bee Tools which, as far as I can tell, sell inferior products at double the price. Just thought I'd share the info.

Warren.

[Jay]

Warren:

That's crazy! Which showroom were you going to?

If you're going to pay in cash (US greenbacks), in person, at the showroom you don't have to give them any personal info! Of course, that being said, you would probably have problems with any warranty work should you need it.

Which model are you interested in? I live about 85 miles from the Bellingham, WA showroom. If 'push really comes to shove' and your talking about the WA showroom, I could come over and buy it for you! (Course you'd need to pay my gas and roundtrip ferry toll. ).

Would you have to pay 'import' fees to get it back into Canada?

Jay

[Warren]

Hi Jay...I appreciate the offer, but I'm talking about the Muncy, PA showroom. Washington is a wee bit far for me to go. I would have to pay duty at the border which is 6%...then of course all our moderate sales taxes which work out to 15%. I understand that I would also need to pay the local sales tax which is another 6%. So, when all is said and done it works out to $1130.00CDN ($950 US) for the 3 HP model and $986.00 ($850 US) for the 2 HP model. That is for the 8" models. The only option that I'd go with up here would be the General International, and the 6" model would come to $925 CDN and the 8" model is $2195. Pretty sad, eh? Anyhow, I'm just going to keep calling until they have them in stock and then make the 12 hour round trip and do just that...cash in hand. Hopefully they don't make me speak or they might hear a Canadian accent, take me out back and string me up for attempted treason or something. Ridiculous.

Warren.

[Tom Woodman]

[Locutus]

Whatever you do, don't say "aboot".

:)

[Jay]

snip

Good luck, let us know how the whole thing turns out.

Jay

[Warren]

Well, judging from other peoples experiences it doesn't seem that much goes wrong with the Grizzly products. If some small parts have to be replaced now and again I would greatly look forward to a nice long bike ride through the Appalachians to go buy the part. I also understand that many parts are interchangeable from one company's product to the next so I could also source them out that way. If the motor becomes an issue that is something I am very familiar with replacing. I have never owned a jointer before and therefore have little idea as to what parts will or will not be a problem, but that is a bridge that I will cross when faced with it. The King equivalent that I did check out, while it seemed a solid enough machine, only had a 1.5 HP motor, poor location of the start/stop button, shorter table length, shorter fence, no mobile base and was just plain ugly...all this for a quoted price of $1500 after tax. I think Canwood is only sold at House of Tools and there is none out here. Everything I've read about them also seems to indicate that they are decent but not fantastic. I have to admit that I've never even heard of Samona. Basically I have no intention of settling for something decent if a little extra work will get me something great.

Warren.

[Christian]

have you looked at the King series??? they look very similar... and they are probably sold localy.

[Warren]

"Yes, now aboot the warranty....oh damn...."

[JGS]

[Charles Self]

With all the other accents in Pennsy, your Canadian burr should be unnoticeable. You need a buddy in the area, so you can take the machine over, assemble it, check table flatness, check fence straightness, and run some wood through it. Lets you get going with warrantee replacements, and also creates a "used" machine to bring through Customs and to value for sales tax...eh? Knock, say, 40% off the value of a new machine.

[Stephen M]

If you're really stuck on a Griz and you're in greater Montreal, Contact me. I'm just inside the US just off "the 15". I would be willing to serve as a delivery point.

You can reach me at [e-mail]

-Steve

[Warren]

People do seem happy with it but in the end it is $1400 after tax. That's still $350 more for less machine. Nontheless, it is probably what I will end up with if the Grizzly doesn't happen.

Thanks for all the input everyone...and the great offers.I'll let you know what happens when I finally have my jointer.

Warren.

[B a r r y]

General International...

[Chris Friesen]

Have you looked at King Industrial? There are a number of people on the Canadian Woodworking forums that are happy with their King jointers. They even have a DJ20 clone.

[Warren]

$2195 for the 8" as opposed to $1130. That is after all taxes and duties and exchange.

[2fatty]

sorry if you mentioned this earlier, but I don't have the first couple of posts...

warren, when compairing prices, don't forget to factor in duty when you try and bring that thing back accross the border. It was made in Asia, so they'll they are going to want a cut.... Have you tried contacting Busy Bee? They are the reason you can't buy Grizzly in Canada. They sell pretty much the same tools with a differnt name on them (same colour too). For that matter, I was once told that they could order you any machine from the Grizzly catalogue. give them a try.

[Warren]

Yes, all of my pricing that I have mentioned has included the local sales tax, the 6% duty on Taiwanese machinery, exchange rates and Canadian taxes that I have to pay. Even with all of that factored in there is no comparison. I have looked at the Craftex stuff at Busy Bee and a local moulding/flooring shop has one. It is flimsy junk. I never heard of Busy Bee importing a Grizzly tool, though. I will give them a call right now and see what the manager has to say about it and post my findings.

Thanks, Warren.