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Durtdawber
01-26-2009, 06:12 PM
This evening I had my first unpleasant experience with CarveWright. Back in October, I contacted them via email for assistance on some broken parts on my machine. I did this due to the fact my warranty was due to expire in November. After unsuccessfully getting a response from them, I attempted to contact them again. In mid November, I finally got a response saying the someone would be in contact. Toward the first of December, I received a voice message from a support rep. Due to the holidays, I waited until last week to contact them back. I guess that is my bad for being considerate and not bothering them during one of the busy times of the year.

Last week, I was told that one of the items was covered under warranty even though my warranty had run out and the other was not. Tonight, I received a call from their support management to let me know that the item not covered under warranty would not have been covered under warranty even back in October.

The item in question...the quick change chuck. Now here is the kicker, they sent me one back in the first part of 2008...under warranty.

Even though the QC is not listed in the original warranty that came with the machine, apparently they are adding items to the list of "not covered" and have decided that a bad QC is a operator error. I guess that is their right by the wording in the warranty that says "and include, but not limited to" so I have no recourse but to complain and warn everyone.

Now I feel this is a bad business practice but the thing that torched me the most was my next request...I asked to speak to her manager so that I may take my complaint up to the next level. She denied this request by stating "that her job was to deal with these items". I again made this request several times, being denied each time.

I ended the phone call, never raising my voice but assuring her that I would air my complaints publicly.

Buyer beware. No telling what will be added to the list of "Consumable materials" in the future.

Jeff_Birt
01-26-2009, 08:27 PM
I can understand the confusion and frustration, and please take my comments in a friendly and constructive manner. Just to be perfectly clear and dispel any suspicion. The QC was never covered under warranty. Nothing has been 'added' to a list of consumable items.

CW has been (overly, in my opinion) generous in the past when folks have had QC issues and replaced them at no charge. This generosity on their part did allow them to do some post-mortem inspections of returned chucks to determine the cause of failure.

Mechanical things wear out. That's just how it is. As machine owners we can expect to replace things like bits, belts, adapters, flex shafts, chucks, etc; just as we can expect to replace spark plugs, tire, belts, oil/filters on our cars.

The QC's in particular typically fail from misuse or lack of proper maintenance. It is not unusual to get hundreds of hours from a chuck. CarveWright release a guide to the use and care of the QC: http://www.carvewright.com/downloads/Care_and_maintenance_of_the_QC.pdf; I found it very informative and recommend it as required reading to all fellow carvers.

Durtdawber
01-26-2009, 08:41 PM
Jeff, your conmments do not upset me in the least. My point was that the original warranty wording does not list the QC and I had one replaced before, under warranty. I think that if you were to poll the users, many have had the QC replaced under warranty in the past. No one was told that it was being replaced out of generosity. At some point CW found that it was costing them and added them to the list. I can assure you that proper maintenace was followed with cleaning, seating and care of qc.

I am less concerned with a $30.00 part as I am with the refusal by an agent of CW to apply normal customer service processes. I am concerned more with the refusal of this agent to pass me to the next level of management. This post is my way of pointing this out for other users and the company in the hopes that the issue will be addressed.

Dyna Rider
01-26-2009, 09:38 PM
The QC was never covered under warranty. Nothing has been 'added' to a list of consumable items.


Using and Maintaining the Quick Release Chuck (Rev 1.4) 08/19/08

Central to the performance and versatility of the CarveWright machine is
the patented Quick Release Chuck (or Quick Change).

The quick release
chuck is warranted against manufacturing defect only and is not warranted
against issues related to general wear and tear


The Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act