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nirmala
02-18-2008, 11:47 AM
We understand that Sears has begun selling extended warranties on the
CompuCarve. We do not honor or service any extended warranty at this time.
We can only refer you back to the Sears store where the sale was made.

Thank you.

LHR Technologies

newcarver
02-18-2008, 04:54 PM
May I ask why you are not offering an extended warranty?

badger
02-18-2008, 06:03 PM
Maybe because its almost impossible to tell if alot of people are ignoring one of their statements in the warranty section:

The warranty does not cover commercial or industrial use.

But yet you still see alot of people using it for this reason. But if sears is offering the extented warranty then I guess sears will have to flip the bill.

scw
02-18-2008, 09:53 PM
I'm a electronic service industry guy by day, woodworker in my spare time after the day job is over.
Let me explain something to you who are asking about "extended warranties" and see if we can clear up some confusion.

Compare buying your Carvewright Machine to buying a Chevy Truck or a Sony TV. It comes with a MANUFACTURER WARRANTY. That warranty designates a time span during which the manufacturer will repair their product due to manufacturing defect.

It does not matter if you bought the product at Sears, Jim Bobs Chevrolet, or Best Buy....they are DEALERS...they are not MANUFACTURERS.

EXTENDED WARRANTIES are like buying insurance for your Chevy truck from State Farm....if you wreck your truck or blow the engine, State Farm will pay a THIRD PARTY Servicer to do the repair (if the terms of the extended warranty/insurance says it will- read the fine print- thats how lawyers make a living).
Chevy does not fix your truck, State Farm does not fix your truck...State Farm pays Joe's Body Shop and Garage to fix your truck. Neither Chevy nor Joe is going to give you a "loaner car" while yours is being fixed.

Some MANUFACTURERS do indeed sell their own extended warranty and do their own repairs...but it is very rare. ( In the auto world, the service department is a completely separate entity from the DEALERSHIP even if they operate under the same name in the same building)

We, the Carvewright users have been very fortunate to have LHR at our disposal to inquire about repairs both in and out of MANUFACTURER WARRANTY regardless of whether we bought our machine directly, from Sears, from some website or from the guy down the street....and regardless of whether we have an in-warranty manufacturer defect, out of warranty problem, misused it, abused it, or just plain wore it out!

EXTENDED WARRANTIES are INSURANCE POLICIES. Neither the MANUFACTURER or the SERVICER are in control of, or responsible for what that warranty/insurance policy covers, or what some salesman may have led you to believe.

LHR provides excellent customer service both IN and OUT of warranty.
Try calling Sony about your $4000 plasma TV one week past manufacturer warranty and see what you get!
Thats the reality of it...read the fine print.

deemon328
02-19-2008, 05:29 AM
Fine, it's great to have an actual response on the forum by LHR. What never seems to get answered is what happens when your machine goes bad under the Sears MPA. Do they pay LHR for the repairs or simply replace the machine?

scw
02-19-2008, 01:56 PM
Fine, it's great to have an actual response on the forum by LHR. What never seems to get answered is what happens when your machine goes bad under the Sears MPA. Do they pay LHR for the repairs or simply replace the machine?

most likely Sears themselves repairs the machine IF it is outside the MANUFACTURERS warranty period. Sears does have a service department still, even thought it is much smaller than in days gone by. Whether or not Sears techs are trained is anybody's guess. Also whether they have something set-up with LHR as far as parts is anybodys guess...perhaps I should not assume to make blanket statements like that...you should contact Sears (or the INSURANCE PROVIDER they sell "extended warranties" for) to see how that all works.
I'll level with ya. I'm in the TV repair biz. We do Warranty and Extended Warranty work for all the main MANUFACTURERS (Sony, MItsubishi, Hitachi, Phillips,Samsung ect) and DEALERS (Circuit City, Best Buy, HH Gregg, Wal Mart, ect.) and EXTENDED WARRANTY PROVIDERS ( NEW, GE, COSCO ect)
and we are factory certified to work on each manufacturers gear...but that does not nessecarily mean we are "trained" on each and every unit they produce. Neither does that mean your EXTENDED WARRANTY company will necessarily "farm out" your repair to a third party that is "factory certified".

LHR, on the other hand is a "one trick pony". They have one unit they make and sell, Sears is the only outlet I've ever heard of that sells their product for them...they probably have some tie to one another service-wise, but as a wise consumer would do, find out the details from the source.
Remember the people who thought All State and State Farm had their back after Katrina. Alot of those people didn't do their homework. Their "insurance" didn't begin to cover them in the way they "believed" it would.
Buyer beware.

newcarver
02-19-2008, 04:45 PM
As i hear many others defending this topic, I would simply like to add the fact that after having had more than my share of issues over the course of a years time under warranty, I would guess that it would not be in there best intrest to offer this at this time. Backing up a product that works all the time is a profitable gain to a company, giving the customer a comfort zone. Extending a warranty for a product that has known issues for a simple hobby(assuming it is used for this purpose and not industrial or business) is not at all profitable. If i have as much downtime in the next year out of warranty, the cost of a warranty would pay for itself for me a couple times over. The fact that this question has been asked many times before says alot for this topics validity. Is it wrong for me to assume they will back up the product they sold me on?

scw
02-19-2008, 06:23 PM
A ...I would guess that it would not be in there best intrest to offer this at this time..... Is it wrong for me to assume they will back up the product they sold me on?

Still it seems people tend to misunderstand...
manufacturers rarely offer extended warranties. Extended warranties are issued by insurance companies. The manufacturers are not involved.

I'm not saying that your unit will not be repaired by your warranty provider. Just understand that it is not LHR that you will be dealing with (unless LHR does the repair for the warranty provider, which at this time they do not).

I've had my share of glitches and outright meltdowns with my machine...but LHR has always been there to help me out.
Instant gratification (no matter how much you want it or paid for it in an extended warranty) is not within the power of any servicer in these days of "global commerce".
Hopefully you will never need to use your extended warranty. But if you do, I'll bet your servicer calls LHR at the same support phone number you and I use today on our own....and they'll have an answer.

and take it from an insider...extended warranties are among the most profitable businesses out there....its like HillaryCare...everyone pays in, only some use it, therefore making the payout very little. It doesn't matter if you're fixing a car, a TV, or a human being...its all paid out of the same pool of cash flowing into the insurance company.

Cmdr.Rav
02-19-2008, 07:26 PM
Sears also sells other brand named products and they service them with their repair service. For example they sell Whirlpool, Maytag, Sony and Dewalt, Makita etc. I have bought a Whirpool washer and dryer and a Sears repair man come for service. Not a repair man for Whirlpool.

Back to the car repair example I own a Chevy and I have a extended warranty from GM. I also on another vehicle have a after market warranty. I can go to any GM dealer or any auto repair center that accepts the warranty. Plus I have bought brand name tools from Sears with an extended warranty and they have repair the tools.

So if you can get a extended warranty for your Compucarve and Sears tell you they will repair it, then what's the problem? If Sears repairs the unit then I would imagine it would be done just as correctly as LHR would have.

Rav

Dan-Woodman
02-19-2008, 09:32 PM
I took nirmala's post to say that the customer has to take there unit back to sears and sears will in turn pay for the repairs if LHR is the one that repairs the unit.
just my take.
later Daniel

MLAKEY
02-19-2008, 10:12 PM
Look out of used part's, called with problem with my z motor, they advised that they would send new motor. When the motor arrived it was a used motor. Just goes to show when a company grows to fast you get bad service.

Dyna Rider
02-19-2008, 10:18 PM
and take it from an insider...extended warranties are among the most profitable businesses out there....its like HillaryCare...everyone pays in, only some use it, therefore making the payout very little. It doesn't matter if you're fixing a car, a TV, or a human being...its all paid out of the same pool of cash flowing into the insurance company.

If it’s that lucrative why doesn’t LHR sell an extended warranty?

Bill

pkunk
02-19-2008, 10:26 PM
We understand that Sears has begun selling extended warranties on the
CompuCarve. We do not honor or service any extended warranty at this time.
We can only refer you back to the Sears store where the sale was made.

Thank you.

LHR Technologies
My take on this (unofficially) is Sears is supposed to take your broken Compucarve, that is under extended warranty(after the 1 yr, 200 hr CW warranty runs out)and send it to LHR for repairs on their dime. As stated previously, an extended warranty is an insurance policy, but we'll have to see how this comes out in the wash. Sears warranty division would have to pay cash for the shipping & repair to LHR as they do not at this time have a working agreement.

ou1954
02-20-2008, 02:54 AM
I haven't bought a machine yet but a bit concerned by all the discussions and comments about repair.

Can anyone report a year or more of solid performance? I have never had a power tool fail and need repair.

Finally, is there a difference between tne reliability of the Sears units and the factory models, has there been an improvement over time?

Written by a 25-year ShopSmith owner.

(Correction, 49 years of owning a ShopSmith- On second unit, the first was lost in a fire. It still worked but insurace provided a replacement, used but a later model. My 1/2 inch Skill drill that went through the same housefire still works after replacement of the switch and power cord.)

The Drill and first ShopSmith were both purchased in 1958 and all my power tools have been well used, and yes, I have a single-speed router, the kind that takes a lot of holding when you turn it on.

Still, I am not assured that the CarveWrite is the right investment for me, especially after reading the missing screws and lictite postings.

On the other hand I acknowlwdge that ShopSmith has released fixes and upgrades over the years. As it turns out, the designer who selected the final drive belt (later replaced by another belt type) once worked for me. Jack Edgemond is the name I recall. His hobby in San Diego was building concrete boats!

Thanks.:confused:

pkunk
02-20-2008, 02:36 PM
ou1954, of the 10,000 units sold, there are a handfull of disgruntled users that have had more than their share of problems. The 2 machines are the same and are like nothing you have in your shop. You cannot expect a CNC (a computer driven machine) to have the same reliability of a table saw or a jointer or even a router. Think like this- is an old single speed router more reliable than one of the newer variable speed models? If you've never had a power tool need repair, you've not used it enough.:rolleyes:;):p

ChrisAlb
02-20-2008, 03:22 PM
Here, Here pkunk! Well said!

If I had all the "repair" money from the last 30 years from various tools in my pocket right now, I'd buy TWO more CW's right now, take my wife on a cruise and move to warm enough climate to ride my HOG all year round! LOL

twehr
02-20-2008, 03:57 PM
I have had two machines. The first one never did complete a project (bad power supply - cut motor issues, etc.) I was very unhappy and disappointed and pessimistic. I took it back to Sears after 3 weeks and they gave me another one.

This second one has worked perfectly.

I may have certainly caused some problems (I did burn up one flex drive because it was not lubed, one cover switch got filled with dust and quit). Now, I have a routine for cleaning after every project and other periodic maintenance that has keep everything running smoothly. So, it sits very happily along side my CNCed mill and lathe. (AND it is getting a lot more use than they are, just because it is so much more fun.)

In short - some will fail out of the box. No one, I am sure, is more aware (and displeased) with this fact than the people at LHR. Others will work beautifully IF you take care of it, mostly following the tips and suggestions you find here on the forum.

newcarver
02-20-2008, 05:20 PM
May I ask why you are not offering an extended warranty?
My original question was why lhr does not offer an extended warranty not sears. LHR denies any involvment in sears offering this for the compucarve, and does not offer one for the carvewright. I guess it comes down to the fact that lhr has us over a barrel being one of two sellers of their product. So if your machine has had alot of issues during the warranty, why would any company wish to offer any further assistance to customers who stuck with them through the trials of a new machine. I stuck with it and now am a bit scared by the rate of breakdowns and labor costs, not to mention when i get a part there is a 50/50 chance it isnt even a new part and now i have to pay for that. I have never had an issue with sales, techs or any other people who work there, they have been great in the resolution of my issues. Sears offers this now for the compucarve, what about the carvewright owners? I guess they have to fend for themselves, right. Others have stated that they just dont have tooffer added protection, and they are right. They CAN do what they wish, and will continue to do so. I can't be the only one who wishes they would back up the machine i have grown to like so much. Others have said if you have never had tools breakdown, then your not using them. I can only say to that, i have many tools as well as a hunder other products as we all do and if they all acted up the way this does, i would probably go with the one who does offer extra protection over one who does not. Most products i have bought lately(even at walmart) offer an added service plan. So back to my original question, why is lhr not offering any added assistance for the faithful users?

ChrisAlb
02-20-2008, 06:05 PM
Hi Newcarver,

I haven't been following this thread so please forgive me if this has been asked and answered already. But, have you asked LHR this question?

The folks in here don't work for them. I know I wish I could answer it not only for you but for myself as well as I'm a CW not a CC owner. I've been self employed in the building trades all my life and as such have a ton of tools to cover most every aspect of building custom homes from the dirt to the cabinets. In all honesty, I've never had an extended warranty on any of them. I guess I just never really worried about it much as I care for my tools to a point (some might think anal..lol) that I've never really needed one. That's not to say I haven't had a bunch go south on me over the years, I surely have and some, yep, right out of the box. I know a lot of folks have had a bunch of problems with their machines and I'm sure at least some of it is due to...well...just a bad machine. I don't know if it's just that I'm lucky or it's due to the anal thing but mine has been pretty good to me thus far. (I don't think it's luck though as I've never had any...LOL). Anyway, I'd love to know the answer to your question but I can't help thinking that you're asking the wrong folks.

If you have asked LHR I'd be very interested in what their answer was myself.

Chris

newcarver
02-20-2008, 06:15 PM
Yes I have asked them this question several times since i bought it. When I purchased this 1yr and 1 month ago there was none offered by either sears or lhr. Their response was "no we do not, but it has come up..." That was all I got for an answer the first time I asked and the last 3 times i asked i got less than that for an answer. I asked in this thread due to lhr posting the initial response.

ChrisAlb
02-20-2008, 06:26 PM
Well that doesn't sound like much help huh? I think I'll call them tomorrow and ask them the very same question. I've always gotten pretty straight forward answers to my questions and I'd be really interested in the answer to this one. I wil absolutely let you know what they tell me.

Chris

pkunk
02-20-2008, 09:19 PM
Sometimes you get the answer you deserve depending on how you ask the question.:confused:
A spoonful of honey will catch more flies than Gallon
of Vinegar. :p

newcarver
02-26-2008, 08:51 AM
I have asked many times through email and phone, nicely to I must ad. I guess it comes down to the fact that now that sears offers the extended warranty, I'll check into it further with others who have purchased it and see what that results are. Too bad for the carvewright owners, Sears has had my business for quite a few years now and have had many extended warranties from them and never had to use one. I use my wood and other tools all the time and dont have alot of issues. If i buy it, i never use it, when i don't, well we all know what happens then...

DocWheeler
02-26-2008, 09:46 AM
Newcarver,

I think that post #4 answered this very well, it is not an LHR issue. I just received my coverage documentation from Sears yesterday.

Tom75
02-26-2008, 10:35 AM
when my cw broke i right away call my local sears service department and no one at the service dep. have herd of the cw . in short i called lhr and they where great on getting picked up and repaird ans sent back . so far so good

gsrice
02-27-2008, 01:04 PM
I've been round and round with Sears on the Extended Warantee stuff -- bought it, they cancelled it -- Sears offered it again a month after then cancelled it for 7 times the price --

But there is an option my VISA offers the same thing that Sears does at half the price -- 5 year extention for $189 -- you may want to call your CC company if you bought the machine with CC