Back in January my newly purchased Nova Viking drill press (Tekna Tools) began throwing an error code. Customer service was responsive (they only work M-Th) and their solution was to send me a new head stock circuit board and have me replace it. I did so and when the machine didn’t even power on, they wanted to send me a second circuit board. I then refused on the grounds I no longer wished to engage in unqualified brain surgery. Instead, I requested a replacement machine and my request was denied.
Eventually, a new CS rep offered for me to send the headstock back in a prepaid shipping box and they would repair and return it. Once the headstock was picked up, I contacted their Florida VP and informed him I did not want their product returned to me. They were to keep it and instead shift into refunding me the purchase price. I no longer wished to own their new product whose delicate innards were repeatedly being tampered with.
Now, after 5 months, over 50 emails, endless phone calls, and being additionally aggravated by their brainless carcass of a drill press consuming my shop space, I just recently received my full refund.
While I know the Nova Viking has been a successful and reliable product, I wanted to share how fast things can go downhill when dealing with customer service. They still believe I am part of the problem since I was unable to replace the circuit board on their brand new machine.
Replies
I think you are being a tad harsh.
Even here in New Zealand, where there are strong consumer protections and prices of goods are higher as a result, you would have your work cut out getting a refund - they are entitled to repair the machine, and seem to me to have gone to very reasonable efforts, sending you a replacement board so you could get your machine working quickly and when that did not work paying all the costs of the repair. (I'd have to pay to transport it back...)
It is in the nature of more complex machines with more things to go wrong to have more faults.
Your best bet is to admit you have been unreasonable, ask for the repair to be performed and then either use the drill or sell it. Nova are not responsible for your emotions after all.
Every review of the Nova after-sales service - including yours - that I've read indicates that they're generally helpful, responsive and genuinely interested in fixing problems, with no quibble about replacing defective parts or otherwise putting things right.
Mind, some customers are impossible to please, eh? :-)
Lataxe
It's the manufacturers responsibility to provide a new product in good working order. If the tool is within warranty, the company should honor it. Sending parts to have an unqualified consumer is a bit suspect, if the unit is still within warranty.
What happens if something else goes wrong, did you forfeit your coverage because an unqualified technician (you) worked on it before?
IMO, you purchased a new machine, you should receive a new machine, free of defects. If problems occur, the manufacturer is responsible to make it right within the parameters of the warranty. (these vary widely)
Having a customer swap out parts is not the way to promote your brand, a simple swap for a new machine is what should have been done immediately, regardless of any emotions shared.
I'm with Edward. Mostly. I've had minor things break. Really simple fixes. Send me the part, I'll fix it. But a circuit board is a big ask, unless you simply slide the old one out and slide the new one in.
Agreed. Doesn't seem unreasonable.
One reason to buy from a local distributor when possible, even if it costs more. Recognizing thats becoming increasingly impossible.
When I buy something new, it should be, new.
I don't pay for new and then get a repair project, that doesn't sit well with me.
If it's a manufacturing defect, they need to repair it.
end of
Oddly this is the second post tonight, first in a different forum, where the OP was about a supposedly simple tool "throwing an Error Code" (the other one was a refrigerator).
I guess I'm just getting old...
Pretty sure I'm not replacing a circuit board on a brand new electric tool.
I don't trust these kinds of things in a woodshop environment anyway (especially safety devices that rely on them, though that's not the subject of the OP).
The simpler the better.
You give precedence to buy and sell in this country, as things are already… you’re asking for trouble. Everything is made in China which is how all of this started in the first place. 😆
OK, the quality/reliability of a product depends on the parent company specifications - and if they test them to those specifications, not the country of manufacture. Quality is fit and finish out the door, reliability is how well it performs out to expected end of life. Personally I think the company should back up their product better.
I know nothing about this Nora Viking drill press but I do have a HF floor model drill press, about $200 years ago, that I use to drill holes in wood. The switch died and I replaced it with a knockoff for a few bucks. It does not need any circuit boards, drill speed is changed by belt switching, something I last did about 4 years ago. I am a hobbyist and this works for me.
Circuit boards on machines has always made me leery. The home we moved into had been owned by an elderly woman. Through the appliances were 15 to 20 years old when we bought the home, they looked brand new. Less than a year into the home, the double ovens started acting up to the point we couldn’t use them. It was a circuit board issue and it couldn’t be replaced. We had a one year home warranty so it cost us nothing to get similar new double ovens. However, it felt really wasteful and I had pushed hard for a repair rather than replace. The Nova drills do look nice but not sure I can get past the computer circuit board interface.
I had a circuit board on my Jet 16-32 sander go out (smart sand).
They wanted several hundred for the defective part.
I bought a speed controller for about $25 off amazon to run the feed belt.
I hope the OP gets him problem solved
Thats rubbish, new machine or full refund, within a week and two at most for a replacement.
But this is why I have as few complex electronic and mechanical goods as possible.
Whatever it is its going to fail.
If I recall, there were even bigger problems with expensive farm equipment that had computer systems and software forcing you to go to dealers to fix. I think they were trying to pass laws allowing/mandting that companies had to allow you the right to fix it yourself. Not sure if it passed. Fortunately, we aren’t this far down the path on woodworking machines.
There was a huge John Deere dealer in Ukraine when Russia first invaded. They stole everything and sold it back home. John Deere knew exactly where it was, and shut it all down. They had to be stripped for parts.
That's a good story.
There's something to be said for keeping tools as simple as they can be to perform their functions. But many modern tools have a vastly expanded set of functionality entirely due to their governance and operation via complex software requiring complex hardware. For example, consider the nature of the tool we all type these posts into.
The "purist" woodworkers of the unwired variety have a point about the vulnerability of more complex tools and another point about the loss of a certain variety of knowledge and skills when the tools are making more of the decisions (are better jigged) and doing more of the work (have a motor - with a circuit board). But .....
Will y'all be getting rid of the various tech in your lives that need all those circuit boards? One feels that this is unlikely! :-)
Many items with circuit boards are easily fixed with a new board or e-component. I've had desktops that slowly transform via component swap-outs until nothing but the case remains, for example.
Surely the answer to a bad board is (as in the case of the Nova drill press here) to swap out the failing board for a non-failing board. It's no different, really, than changing the tyre on a car when it wears out or proves defective. The necessary things are: an available replacement service at fair cost; the means (a manual) enabling the owner to "do it yerself".
Why waste all that time and energy and packing and transport fuel and .... swapping or returning the whole machine?
Lataxe
The board was replaced and it did not fix the issue, then they offered to send another one.
How many times does a customer have to go through the part swapping process before the company says they'll replace the machine? How much time without a new working machine, that you already paid for, do you let go by? How long is too long, how many parts swaps is enough?
The first job with a new machine should not be to replace defective parts and argue with the manufacturer. One reason people purchase new machines is for reliability, less down time.
I find this unacceptable, regardless of how "easy" it may be to switch out a part.
IMO, It seems like too many of you are simply willing to give the manufacturers a pass on this type of situation.
That’s what I’m referring to as setting a precedent. Business collusion. It’s a matter of getting customers to accept it as normal. Look how many people here have accepted this practice as normal and actual defend it.
“[Deleted]”
If they sent a new board with no result why would they assume it's a bad board? What's the definition of insanity again?
I designed, installed, and serviced electronic circuit boards in industrial equipment for decades. Most circuit boards will work outside the temp and humidity range that people will work in, except for >90% humidity causes issues.
Customer support by asking customers to replace circuit boards has a major advantage, in that shipping costs and turnaround time to a working machine can be minimized.
The disadvantages are if the repair is too complex for the customer, or if something unexpected happens. In that case customer service needs to escalate to the next level of service.
Sounds like the company customer service did what was needed, tried the simple board replacement, and then escalated. They did what they were supposed to.
Sometimes the problem is a bit closer to the nut holding the handle !
Why does a drill press need a circuit board in the first place?
This one does. There are no belts or pulleys. The speed is variable and electronic. Hence the circuit board.
Refrigerators don't "need" circuit boards either. But they all have them.
Probably why the 22 year old Kitchenaid side-by-side in our garage is still going -- quality components deployed in the context of stable technology.
The LG in the kitchen is basically garbage. Looks good though.
One is a piece of refrigeration equipment, the other a shiny, decorative toy.
"The disadvantages are if the repair is too complex for the customer, or if something unexpected happens. In that case customer service needs to escalate to the next level of service.Sounds like the company customer service did what was needed, tried the simple board replacement, and then escalated. They did what they were supposed to.
Sometimes the problem is a bit closer to the nut holding the handle !"
They didn't take it to the next level as you say.
They simply tried to repeat what they already know didn't work the first time.
And the nut holding the handle is the one who paid for the machine and now has to deal with poor service.
Again, this is unacceptable.