Shout Out to BendPak and their Customer Service

I wanted to make a quick post about my recent product purchases and the experience I have had with BendPak and their customer service.

Let me first state that I enjoy the GJ tremendously and so whenever I have an opportunity to support a vendor thats supports the forum, I try to do business with them if the product meets the quality I expect. So with that thought in mind, let me set the background as to how I became a customer.

I own a Snap On compressor that is made by Champion who is a brand of Gardner Denver. I have been very happy with the compressor and had been looking for another used compressor for my new Woodworking shop. As it happens, I was reading Odis "The Never Ending Retirement Garage/Shop Projects"

https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=149658

and in the thread he mentioned the offer from Bendpak for their new compressor located at this thread.

https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=380447&highlight=Bendpak

I read the comments on the GJ thread and searched the internet for comments on build quality etc and all seemed to be very positive. I contacted Jeff aka user "JSK" and he was kind enough to add me to their test group.

So for $1500 dollars I bought the 7.5HP 80 gallon tank model V-Max Elite 7580V-601 shipped to my address or to my local freight terminal. I figured for that price I could take a chance.

http://www.bendpak.com/Air-Compressors/VMAX-7580V-601

I chose the terminal as I wasn't sure of my work schedule for the next couple of weeks and this gave me some flexibility.

Jazmin who took the order answered all of my questions or found someone who could and made the process painless. I received a follow up email with my tracking number and when to expect the shipment. A week later the compressor was sitting at the terminal waiting for me to pick it up. The compressor was crated, packed and palleted very well which made it a breeze to unload.

The quality of the compressor was much better than I was anticipating and the low DB noise level when operating is a definite plus.

So, with that positive experience in hand it made it much easier to narrow down the list of vendors I was looking at for the purchase of a lift.

I decided to purchase their model XPR-12CL 12,000lb lift.

http://www.bendpak.com/car-lifts/two-post-lifts/xpr-12cl.aspx

Once again Jazmin took my order and made the process very painless. I received a 5% discount on my lift due to the previous purchase of the compressor which was a nice surprise. I inquired about ordering a red version of the lift as that is one of the few colors I can see but unfortunately it was going to cost another $1350 bucks. Who knew I loved gray so much!

Once again I received another email with the tracking number and expected delivery date. As before, a week later and the lift was waiting at the terminal for pick up.

When the forklift brought out the lift to load on my trailer the wrapping was torn hanging off the lift.

View media item 82935
I don't know if you can read what I believe is a yellow/green label that says "Caution Top Heavy - Do Not Fork Here" right where the forks are. The forklift driver was very patient and let me look over the lift which I did the best I could and there was about three or four scratches in the paint on the columns.

View media item 82938
The scratches appeared to be the only issues so I noted them on the shipping receipt and strapped it down to the trailer and headed on out to the shop.

I had so many other projects going that I opted to have the lift installed. I contacted BendPak and they gave me a list of installers within my area. I contacted four of them and two responded and I ended up choosing Chris from CEK equipment out of Cleveland TX. I had picked up the lift on Wednesday and had scheduled Chris for Friday so that I could take the day off of work.

In unloading and unboxing the parts for the lift on Wednesday night I noticed I was missing one drive roller and the bolt and race that held the drive roller in place.

View media item 82936
Fortunately, the drive roller had fallen into the lift column and was behind the lift arm. Unfortunately the bolt and race that held the roller were no where to be found. The next day Thursday I send and email to Jeff (JSK) and to Jazmin telling them of the issue and about my impending lift install and they overnighted the part to my workshop for arrival by noon on Friday. I also received an email that they were sending some paint via regular UPS so that I could touch up the scratches.

On Friday noon came and went with FedEx still showing my part out for delivery so Chris the installer got on the phone and tracked down the driver and 30 minutes later the part arrived.

Here is the lift with my temporary power plug to test the operation of the lift.

View media item 82934
All in all a great experience and I wanted to share my positive experience. I couldn’t be happier with both products.

It is great to hear that they stand behind their product!

Was the gray an option for color you could pick or is that standard now? Really would love to have a black or gray lift with orange arms

buildingup said:

Was the gray an option for color you could pick or is that standard now? Really would love to have a black or gray lift with orange arms

Click to expand...

The gray is currently the standard color. You could get a blue or red for an up-charge which might include other colors as well. It was not a cheap option as it would have added about 30% to the cost of the lift to change the color.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro

I always thought that BendPak was blue standard. Did pay the extra for the USA built unit?

buildingup said:

I always thought that BendPak was blue standard. Did pay the extra for the USA built unit?

Click to expand...

As my pictures show, if you get the aforementioned model that is the color you will get. I am just relaying my experience and what was told to me so I can’t answer about previous colors or COO options. Their new air compressors are the same gray color so I would presume that to be the new standard color.


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Appreciate the info. Going to take a serious look at BendPak again!
Please update the thread in a few months with more analysis of the list.

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

buildingup said:

I always thought that BendPak was blue standard. Did pay the extra for the USA built unit?

Click to expand...

Blue used to be the standard color. They changed it to gray now, and offer the blue and other colors as an add on ($$$$).

I can easily second your vote for BendPak. I recently had a XPR-10AS-LP 10000-lb capacity asymmetric lift installed in my car barn. Shipping from their Calif facility to NC was included in the price. My BendPak rep had it delivered to a local facility (weight about 1900 lb) and for 2 installers to bring it to my barn on a trailer and set it up. They were extremely experienced in this, did an excellent, efficient job. I paid $700 for that, and then I needed an electrician to connect to my 220v circuit. The quality and workmanship of the lift look excellent to me although of course I haven't used it over time yet. But it's what many pro shops use all day, every day for many years. And, yes, it is gray!

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Duker said:

I wanted to make a quick post about my recent product purchases and the experience I have had with BendPak and their customer service.

So, with that positive experience in hand it made it much easier to narrow down the list of vendors I was looking at for the purchase of a lift.

I decided to purchase their model XPR-12CL 12,000lb lift.

When the forklift brought out the lift to load on my trailer the wrapping was torn hanging off the lift.

I don't know if you can read what I believe is a yellow/green label that says "Caution Top Heavy - Do Not Fork Here" right where the forks are. The forklift driver was very patient and let me look over the lift which I did the best I could and there was about three or four scratches in the paint on the columns.

The scratches appeared to be the only issues so I noted them on the shipping receipt and strapped it down to the trailer and headed on out to the shop.

In unloading and unboxing the parts for the lift on Wednesday night I noticed I was missing one drive roller and the bolt and race that held the drive roller in place.

Fortunately, the drive roller had fallen into the lift column and was behind the lift arm. Unfortunately the bolt and race that held the roller were no where to be found. The next day Thursday I send and email to Jeff (JSK) and to Jazmin telling them of the issue and about my impending lift install and they overnighted the part to my workshop for arrival by noon on Friday. I also received an email that they were sending some paint via regular UPS so that I could touch up the scratches.

On Friday noon came and went with FedEx still showing my part out for delivery so Chris the installer got on the phone and tracked down the driver and 30 minutes later the part arrived.

All in all a great experience and I wanted to share my positive experience. I couldn’t be happier with both products.

Click to expand...

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I'm about to press the button for their HD-9 4-post.

During my online "research" paint scratches and small dings seem common. Of course, rarely will you find a posting of a "perfect" delivery so one just has to run the odds out.

I used to unload/load trucks so I know exactly what happens. When the forklift drivers get paid extra for fast unload/load times AND when an oddly shaped freight shows up........all bets are off for "clean" movement.

Sure, Bendpack can crate the shipment for no damage but then the cost goes up. Bendpack is packing with "due diligence" and any damages are covered by the freight company. It is just that the "bean-counters" are in charge.

My 3¢
I'm older (i.e. experienced) so I am worth more.