Grizzly - Quality Control

[ringneck]

I was looking to add another grinder to my shop and decided to try the Grizzly heavy duty grinder (8 inch) vs picking up another Baldor (thought I would try to save some money).

The order process and shipping went very smooth and the product arrived quickly. However, when I went to do the minor assembly needed (adding the rests, guards, lights) I found a number of issues.

1) The mounts for the shields that go on top of the wheel guards had tapped holes for the tightening knobs that were smaller and a different thread pitch than the knobs intended to go into them.
2) One of the lights on the guards was not wired to the switch on the guard.
3) Two of the holes on the wheel guards that hold the tool rests were not tapped. At first I thought it was just powder coating, but once I removed the powder coating it was clear they were never tapped.

I was irritated by this... Given the headache of sending it back, I went ahead and repaired all of the items found, but was definitely disappointed that I had to. Don't get me wrong, it wasn't much work, but not something I would expect to have to do (given what they charge for these things).

It does seem to be a solid piece of equipment, and I am fairly sure it will perform well for a long-time (hopefully).

I sent a note off to Grizzly to share the experience, and they didn't even have the courtesy of replying to say sorry. Seems customer service at Grizzly has slipped along with quality control.

I understand that if you go cheap, you get cheap. However, this is a $500 grinder, certainly not what a new Baldor goes for, but not exactly cheap.

Just thought I would share a small rant.

 

[RCStocker]

It is a no brainer! HF is the bottom of the barrel in tools and you get what you pay for. That said they do make some good items and sell them at fantastic prices.
Power tools are one thing I would never buy there.
I have Balder, Delta, Jet, Grizzly and several other brands of grinders. My Grizzly buffers will take more pressure before stalling than my Balder will. I use them the same amount
Jet makes great products. Grizzly makes good grinders and buffers. I have had them for over 10 years and they serve me well. I have 11 different grinders and buffers. I even have a carbide grinder and commercial drill sharpener.
You get what you pay for.

 

[Canoe50]

It is a no brainer! HF is the bottom of the barrel in tools and you get what you pay for. That said they do make some good items and sell them at fantastic prices.
Power tools are one thing I would never buy there.
I have Balder, Delta, Jet, Grizzly and several other brands of grinders. My Grizzly buffers will take more pressure before stalling than my Balder will. I use them the same amount
Jet makes great products. Grizzly makes good grinders and buffers. I have had them for over 10 years and they serve me well. I have 11 different grinders and buffers. I even have a carbide grinder and commercial drill sharpener.
You get what you pay for.

What does HF have to do with the OP buying a Grizzly grinder & having issues with it? I'm missing the connection you're making.

 

[crewchief888]

for $500, i'd expect the grinder to be delivered, and assembled by at least one nekkid blonde.

then again, thats probably why i have a POS bench grinder.

 

[gsmornot]

You should be careful what you ask for. They may have blonde dudes working there.

On a side note. It surprises me you had so many issues with the Grizzly product. They have been in my experience a very good brand. They make different levels of products but all I've seen so far have been nice. I guess you we're unlucky on this one.

 

[crewchief888]

You should be careful what you ask for. They may have blonde dudes working there.

that'd be my luck

 

[ringneck]

On a side note. It surprises me you had so many issues with the Grizzly product. They have been in my experience a very good brand. They make different levels of products but all I've seen so far have been nice. I guess you we're unlucky on this one.

Honestly, I was surprised too. Prior experience and references for Grizzly have been good.

Maybe I am getting a little crusty, but I have noticed a marked decline in customer service and quality control in general (this being the most recent). I am not one that demands the lowest prices on everything, I see value in doing business with people that care to provide service, and will pay extra for it. I want my customers to feel like I care and want to do business with me.

OK, I got the lemon. How hard is it to respond to an email or phone call?

Seems like the pressure to be cheap is winning out in general. Just feels like a race to the bottom...

 

[Thumper68]

I just had a call into Grizzly today, the digital angle read out on my table saw failed for the 2nd time, granted it is 5 years old. They are not only shipping me a new one for free but they called back about 20 minutes ago to let me know that it shipped today instead of tomorrow like they had said.

IMO their customer service has always been a great selling point for me, and the fact that they stock parts for what they sell.

 

[Jim_No_Garage]

I bought a Grizzly Wood Cutting Band Saw and had an issue with the cast iron table. Once I sent them a quick video showing the issue they sent me a new table and told me to scrap the old one.

On the WW forums most of the problems reported are shipping damage related, ie arrived in an unblemished crate/box and showed damage upon unpacking - probably from packing it up. Quick call to Grizzly and they would send parts to repair.

Did you try calling them on the phone? I usually make first contact via phone and then switch over to email as it's asynchronous.

The mfg / assembly issues are not a good sign though for Grizzly. The interesting thing is the Papa Griz is a shooter and a machinist - they bought the rights to the South Bend name - when it happened the WW folks were curious to see what they did with the brand.

Sorry for your bad experience.

Cheers

Jim

 

[WWIIjeep]

You should be careful what you ask for. They may have blonde dudes working there.

Nitpicking, but a dude would be a blond, not a blonde.

I guess this is the grinder crewchief888 bought:

http://www.grizzly.com/products/8-1-HP-Heavy-Duty-Bench-Grinder/G0596

Assuming the company Grizzly doesn't name in the description at the bottom of the page is Baldor, it's amusing and sad at the same time.

 

[beamrider]

Head over to sawmillcreek.org, and post the situation there, I understand someone quite high up in the company posts there, handle of Shiraz, IIRC.

 

[Bumknee]

Give them a call. I have rarely heard of an issue they would not fix for customer. Very good service folks over there. Not that they dont have some junk - they do. Its just junk with a high level of service

 

[ringneck]

Give them a call. I have rarely heard of an issue they would not fix for customer. Very good service folks over there. Not that they dont have some junk - they do. Its just junk with a high level of service

For the record, I don't think this grinder is junk, it is actually quite nice, and I have some faith it will last. It is the basic QC issues and lack of customer service that drove me to rant. It's been over two weeks since the thing showed up. I have called 3 times, all with very long hold times, and I don't have that kind of time to spend waiting for them to answer (I may have more time on hold then it took to fix the thing). I have emailed the same message multiple times, with no answer.

I am not looking to rail against Grizzly or anyone else, just stating how disappointing it is to see basic attention to detail and customer service going by the wayside. Seems to be a trend...

Tried to buy an RF-45 clone from Grizz a few months ago, and after placing the order found out it would be a long time before I would see the mill (they were selling them, but didn't actually have any, or a clear indication of when they would have one). Cancelled, found a mom and pop, and had a nice RF-45 at my house in a couple weeks, and good service that continues (for a touch more in dollars, about 1%).

I tried buying a 10 inch Jet before this, and after having to return 3 of them I gave up on it. They seemed like a good unit, but don't seem to care to package them so they don't get beat to death during shipping. All were a drop ship, so the guy taking the order didn't really have much more involvement than collecting the money.

I actually feel a little stupid. Seems I fell into the save money trap, just didn't think I went that deep into the hole.

I do buy cheap stuff when cheap is good enough, and have consumable tools where I feel it is warranted (yes HF included, never had a problem with their customer service, even with many opportunities to use it ). Just didn't view this a one of those purchases.

Just sharing the experience, and glad to see others are not experiencing the same.