Carba-Tec

[Black Bear]

I hope this will turn into a review of the service ability of Carba-tec, as I am totally frustrated with the lies, the lack of interest and the unavailability of such things as blades for the Carba-tec line of machines.

I have a little six inch bench top s planner jointer which still has 12 months warranty. I ordered a set of new blades at $49.00 almost 3 months ago from their local agent in Coffs Harbour.

I am now told by the Brisbane office of Carba-tec that they wont have replacement blades for this machine until next year.

At one stage I spoke to a person, at the Brisbane office, who told me that the machine I have is obsolete and that blades are not now available, and that I should contact Black & Dekker, Stanely, DeWalt to see if I could get a replacement.

This lady, later apologised to me and said that it must have been something else she was thinking about.

Later I was offered a set of blades out of Melbourne at $39.00 but they would not send them to the local Coffs Harbour Agent, (Postage free to me) and they would not send direct to me from Melbourne but the blades would be sent to Brisbane and then to me owing I paid the full postage costs, which, incidentally, "I have absolutely no idea how much that will be" said my friendly carba-tec, Brisbane person.

I have solved the problem, I have purchased another floor stand jointer that has three blank blades that I can readily access by purchasing cut to size blades (one sided) from a local source.

Am I the only one getting frustrated with Carba-tec????

[ToothFairy]

To balance the ledger a bit, I have to say that my experience with Carba-Tec Sydney has been consistently good. It seems to vary a lot from branch to branch, and possibly from person to person within a branch; I've only dealt with Sydney, and I can't even recall whether the Sydney outlet is owned by CarbaTec or let out as a franchise. In any event, CT management need to know there are problems in some places, and they need to deal with those problems.

- Michael

[Green Beetle]

I can also say that the Melbourne store has provided me excellent service. You get a different flavour from each different sales person ... some quite extreme, but they're generally very helpful and knowledgeable.

I would be very frustrated by what you've explained, but a little bit of freight won't hurt too much I guess. I would expect them to carry spares for 10 years on any product they sell ... or they shouldn't stock it in the first place. You're buying machinery, not computers. The technology is very static.

[damian]

There have been a few carbatec service threads over the years. As here reviews are mixed. In Brisbane I've had both ends, very good and very bad serivce.

If I were you I'd try timbecon and hare and forbes for your blades. Timbecon in particular can be cheaper for small items posted and all three carry similar lines. They usually know thier product and carbatec's so if they have something they will be able to tell you.

I'm sorry you've already felt the need to buy another machine, that's an unhappy outcome and carbatec should be concerned if their customers are that frustrated.

[Col]

I have purchased many items over the years from carba-tec Melb. I have had a few grizzles and warranty claims and every time they have been more than helpful and have solved my problems and on some occasions they have given items to me free of charge to make me happy. You just need to ask for and insist on speaking to the people in charge to get the correct answers you want to hear.

Col Leeden
Hoppers Crossing
Vic.

[rsser]

Just got good advice and an instructive conversation about dust extraction from Daniel at the Melb. shop.

Rang for clarification about the right size bag to go under my dusty and he couldn't have been more helpful.

[lesmeyer]

The service I get from Carba-Tec in Balcatta (Perth) has always been very good. One needs to build a ralationship with the people if you are embarking on a long term hobby - in this case woodworking.
Les

[groeneaj]

I almost always get good service at Sydney carbatec - they can get busy and sometimes you have to wait. But that's just the way it is.

I have had a bad experience with Brisbane. I'll never order or deal with them for a long time.

Andy

[ajw]

My experience with Sydney store has been good too. Staff always helpful, and if they don't know something, they find someone else on the staff who does. I remember when I bought some gear from them at the Working With Wood show a few years ago, I had to call in to the store at Auburn late on the Saturday afternoon to finalise some things. Staff were obviously frazzled after a long busy day, and probably stretched a bit thin, but they were polite and got the job done.

Your situation isn't a good one - I'd phone/write and complain about it and see what can be done.

ajw

[crowie]

G'Day Black Bear & Gents,
Just as a consideration have you thought about going "aftermarket" for your blades to a long term specialist in outer Sydney;
Henry Bros Saws at Vineyard on Ph#02 96275486.
They have been suppling industry with sharpening service as well as all sorts of new blades for many many years and are good at what they do.
Cheers. Crowie

[rsser]

Do you know if they do planer blades?

[groeneaj]

G'Day Black Bear & Gents,
Just as a consideration have you thought about going "aftermarket" for your blades to a long term specialist in outer Sydney;
Henry Bros Saws at Vineyard on Ph#02 96275486.
They have been suppling industry with sharpening service as well as all sorts of new blades for many many years and are good at what they do.
Cheers. Crowie

I went to Henry Bros the other week - Excellent service :2tsup:

I discussed getting new planer blades as they sell good quality blades there. Maybe in the new year i'll get them.

[Alastair]

Do you know if they do planer blades?

I have had my obsolete jointer blades sharpened there, and they confirmed they could fabricate replacements if needed.

regards

[Black Bear]

My Mate has just bought several band saw blades from Henry Bros, and he is very satisfied with the service and quality of the blades.

AS for making or fabricating blades I beleive that is a specialists job as there is a bit of a process cutting holes and slots in HSS.

I bought a new, bigger (So must be better) jointer that has 3 plain blades that I can buy as a lenght of 18% tungsten cut and sharpened for $35.00. The supplied blades are too soft and cost $51 a set at Gasweld locally.

Off track a little but I am going to try Henry Bros for router bits.

Regards
BB

[rsser]

Yeah, I have a bimetal bandy blade from them which I like as it can be sharpened and I don't have to faff around resetting everything after a blade change.

[TP1]

Personally I steer clear of dealing with local agents after similar experiences - (not Carbatec). The problem is that they do not stock all the lines that they are agent for and more often than not have to order them in. I now prefer to deal direct.

As far as Carbatec goes, I placed an order for a drawbar for a spindle moulder and it came within a few days for the total cost of $8.80. I can't complain.

[Black Bear]

I have just started dealing with Carba-tech Sydney direct and pay the postage. However of 12 items 3 (Advertised in the Catalogue) were not available.

This is a common trait amongst suppliers these days, so I cannot blame Carba-tech alone.

BB

[munruben]

With companies like Carba-tec it seems to be par for the course. I tried to purchase a pedestal drill from them in October and although they had all models on display in their showroom, none were available to purchase and delivery would probably be after Christmas if I ordered one. Needless to say I ended up buying a $400 pedestal drill from another company. Lots of the big furniture stores do the same thing, had to wait 8 weeks for a bed and 6 weeks for a mattress so its not just in woodworking equipment.

[Black Bear]

Thank you for the spelling correction. I agree with you on the late service provided by some of the most major stores and suppliers.

Just a simple thing like a belt for a thicknesser takes a 10 day wait through Bunnings. I have smartened up and bought two replacement belts now.

I get nervous when suppliers say that the fault lays with their supplier. This sounds as though the first supplier has not paid their import bill or summit!!!! I am awaiting a 4 inch blast gate from Gasweld and Carba-tec with both places saying it is on 'Back order'.

I don't feel obligated to wait for one supplier anymore, I just take the first one in, and tell the others that I waited for a 'reasonable time'.

[Green Beetle]

I think it's easy to underestimate the complexity of running a business like Carbatec. The vast range of items they carry and offer is in response to market demand. This vast range not only creates a massive inventory burden on them, but exposes them to hundreds of suppliers and supply chains through most parts of the world.

Even with perfect suppliers, timing stock levels and demand is incredibly difficult. Holding stock of everything for the 'what-if' scenario would cripple their business and expose them to obsolete stock and other things. All this would be reflected in the prices we pay too.

We all know in business that the 'they' have let you down, be it a transport co, distributor, manufacturer, freight forwarder etc. It only takes on knob down the line to stuff things up and forget a pick-up, order, phone call or detail.

In general, I find their service fine, nothing remarkable in retail terms, but generally good amongst their competitors. I do however expect them to carry the obvious spares for machines they sell.

They're not there to support the woodworking community and that crap, they're there to make money and they staff if with wood enthusiasts because they sell better. If you don't like it, shop elsewhere or import yourself perhaps.

[rsser]

Fair nuff.

What irritates me is that they may have eg. a special on the website, you order, it goes through, and then you get an email or phone call: 'out of stock'.

So plenty of other retailers link their website to their inventory database. Why not C-tec?

[RETIRED]

Part of the problem is that the suppliers guarantee a delivery time of xx/xx/xxxx so the retailer gets their catalogues printed expecting stock to be there.

Unfortunately the delivery truck has a flat tyre, the boat is held up because customs have discovered a huge drug haul or in most cases the supplier is waiting to fill a whole container and doesn't bother telling anyone, so the delivery date is delayed by a month or so.....

[Dengue]

I have had good service from Carbatec Brisbane over the years. Pays to get to know the staff and develop relationships - they can be so helpful and supportive, but some of them are so overworked that it takes ages to get a response to specific technical queries, if at all.

That said, I do find it difficult to get parts for machinery from them - they don't seem to want to know, or just don't know

[TP1]

Most Carbatec stores are owned by individual proprietors who have a group buying/marketing arrangement . Not quite a franchise as I understand it.

This means that the experiences we have in each store are largely dependant upon each store owner's approach. In Perth for example, they seem to be reasonably good about supporting customers with spare parts. While I was picking up my spindle moulder part, people came in with old power tools looking for brushes and other parts, which Carbatec had in stock.

[Too Many Clamps]

Carba-Tec Melbourne is by far the worst retail experience I ever experience. From the cramped old days in Richmond, where they never had the item you wanted, to the flashy new Springvale showroom, their service has been deplorable. And that's on a good day.

I only ever go to them when I have exhausted all other options, or I have no choice. Here are a few examples from only my last few dealings with them.

I recently ordered a 5/8" arbor for my tablesaw, an MBS-300. Other retailers wanted $80 with the dado table insert, Carba-tec wanted $45 without it. Since I prefer to make my own inserts, I opted for the Carba-tec. After waiting a week for the Melbourne store to get back to me, they insisted I place the order with Brisbane even though I had opted to collect from the Melbourne store. When it arrived weeks later I the price had increased to $119, not $45. I was told it has always been $119 despite being quoted $45 via email (I still had the email for proof).

I needed a replacement tension hand wheel for my new bandsaw with the 5 year warranty. I was told that because they couldn't conceive how I could've possibly broken it, they would not honor the warranty. They claimed that their quality control would pickup any defect in the part during manufacture, therefore I must've hit it with a hammer or something.

Last Saturday week I had to drive out there to pickup the hand-wheel. I wasn't sure what time they closed, so I thought I'd ring to find out. I got the recorded message and answering machine 8 times straight. Funny thing was the recorded message included information about their Saturday trading hours, but it was interrupted each time by the answering machine just as it was about to say the time. "Our new Saturday trading hours are from 8 AM until .BEEP, Your call is important to us, please leave a message."

Got a phone call from them recently to kindly inform me that the mortiser I'd ordered finally arrived. I wish I could've seen his face when I told him I had collected it 2 years earlier.

After at least 15 calls to determine they actually had one, I made an appointment with them to check out the Robland combo I'd been trying to buy from them for over 2 years. Now that's a long story on it's own. After waiting a half hour to be served, I was told they were unsure of the specification, or even if the unit was complete and that they would not open the shipping case to find out. That meant they were unsure if it was single-phase or three-phase, what length sliding table it had, whether it had a Tersa cutterblock, if it had the mortising table, or if it was indeed complete. Talk about pot luck!

Carba-tec Melbourne is the woodworking equivalent of Telstra.

I now deal directly with Jan in Brisbane and highly recommend you do the same.

BTW. If any Carba-tec senior management is reading this, I'd happily sit down with you to discuss your stores pathetic service provided you are genuinely interested in fixing it.

[Sturdee]

Carba-Tec Melbourne is by far the worst retail experience I ever experience.

On the other hand I have no problems with them. I ring them before hand to find out if it's in stock and get served efficiently when I'm there.

Peter.

[munruben]

I think it's easy to underestimate the complexity of running a business like Carbatec. The vast range of items they carry and offer is in response to market demand. This vast range not only creates a massive inventory burden on them, but exposes them to hundreds of suppliers and supply chains through most parts of the world.

Yeah, it makes you wonder how the big companies of yesteryear, when I was a young man, could supply the items straight off the shelf or at the worst, maybe wait a couple of days for it to come into stock. And just to think, in those days we didn't have all the modern technology like computers to help,. and you know something else? staff didn't make lame excuses in those days and there was a little old saying that went something like this. "The customer is always right" Today it seems its just the opposite. Maybe the good old days weren't so bad after all.

[rsser]

Often when I ring and inquire about stock they check the computer and say it should be there but then they go and check the shelves to be sure. So their stock control system is cactus.

[L R P]

Hey rsser
Is it not better to be sure of something than to have you arrive and it not be there.

and as for you too many clamps

I'll just bet you are perfect in your life as well !!!!!http://www.woodworkforums.com/images/icons/icon13.gif

[rsser]

You miss my point Lindz. They don't have reliable control of their inventory. So if you did ring up first to check and the counter jumper just checked the computer, you might well still get down there to find no stock.

[Too Many Clamps]

On the other hand I have no problems with them. I ring them before hand to find out if it's in stock and get served efficiently when I'm there.

Peter.

Yes Peter, but you're a well known senior member of this forum. Do you think they might treat you differently?

I doubt you've ever had to wait 2 hours to be served on a Saturday only to be told the store is now closing, please come back another day.

[Too Many Clamps]

and as for you too many clamps

I'll just bet you are perfect in your life as well !!!!!http://www.woodworkforums.com/images/icons/icon13.gif

Very poor form mate. Fortunately for you, I am a gentleman. Otherwise I'd be obliged to tell you to go ...

[BobR]

My experience with Carba-Tec in Sydney has been A1. David has the franchise on this store and is ex-Brisbane Carba-Tec. Except for Mark, there has been a total turnover in staff over the last couple of years. I have had no problem with any of them.

Last Wednesday whilst I was down in Sydney I purchased a Leigh Super FMT. Returned home on Friday to find a part missing. Rang Carba-Tec to explain the problem and also ordered a new router bit. Arrived this morning (Monday).

As for Henry Bros and manufacturing blades. Those who have visited them will know that they are not a smalll backyard operation. They are set up to manufacture blades for large commercial machinery. Our requirements would be at the lower end of their capability.

[wheelinround]

Part of the problem is that the suppliers guarantee a delivery time of xx/xx/xxxx so the retailer gets their catalogues printed expecting stock to be there.

Unfortunately the delivery truck has a flat tyre, the boat is held up because customs have discovered a huge drug haul or in most cases the supplier is waiting to fill a whole container and doesn't bother telling anyone, so the delivery date is delayed by a month or so.....


I agree with what your saying and it happens all to often unfortunately Gov dept's who are supposed to stop this sort of thing, they take to long and accept the lame excuses in sorting the matter out making customers even more annoyed.

How ever I believe its against the law to advertise something you do not have in stock and can not supply. As Munruben said i recall even as a kid my dad placing orders and they would contact you if the product was deleted, arrived or taking longer.

[Sturdee]

Yes Peter, but you're a well known senior member of this forum. Do you think they might treat you differently?




Not really, for Sturdee is my forum name and not my real name and only 3 suppliers know me by both my forum and real name and Carbatec is not amongst those.

Normally when I ring up to see if an item is in stock I don't even give my name. I'm also not conceited enough to presume that they would recognise me when I go there as I don't shop there regularly. As far as I'm aware they treat me as other customers.


Peter.

[Too Many Clamps]

Fair enough. I'm glad someone is having a better experience with them than I have.

Frankly, I can not remember a single instance where I've shopped in the Melbourne store without wishing I hadn't.

Anyhow. I now deal directly with Jan in Brisbane and I have nothing but praise for the service I am receiving.

[L R P]

Frankly, I can not remember a single instance where I've shopped in the Melbourne store without wishing I hadn't. Then why do you keep returning, is it just so you can keep complaining?

[wheelinround]

I am on their E-mail list last 3 day sale in November no notification same with the two prior
I know 3 people who went to that sale in November to be told sorry not in stock and it was in the sale specials. Ok I agree could have sold out but highly unlikely.

[RETIRED]

Behave kiddies.:wink:

[RETIRED]

I think everybody has had their say so it is timely to close this down.