Why cheap crappy Ozito power tools have 3 year replacement warranty while Makita only has 1?

Forums › Home Workshop DIY › Why cheap crappy Ozito power tools have 3 year replacement warranty while Makita only has 1?

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9 posts

Wannabe Geek

#1383313 9-Sep-2015 11:31

mdooher: My father once purchased a Ryobi drop saw from Bunnings. First cut the gearbox exploded and the blade smashed the plastic safety guard as it flew out of the saw.

He took it back and the lady at the refund counter said, "Would you like another one". I cant repeat what my father said, but suffice to say he has never brought another Ryobi power tool.

Sounds similar, if slightly scarier than my experience of Bunnings and Ryobi. Most of my tools are Makita and Hitachi, but I took a chance and bought a 12" Ryobi slide compound mitre saw from them a few years ago. Got about halfway through a pretty simple deck and the casting in the "drop" hinge mechanism was noticeably cracked (potentially a pretty major safety issue also). Took it back and they said they'd get it fixed, but it would be a few weeks, and they wouldn't swap with a new one. Not much use when halfway through something. Turns out they get another power tool retailer to fix for them, and if I dropped it off that would speed things up. So I did. They replaced the hinge with one of different design, obviously a known issue. Too late for what I was doing, and I had to make do with the big circ saw instead.

Got that job completed and part way through the next when the locking screw for the mitre adjustment stripped the threads in the casting.

Lost patience with it and forked out for an equivalent (in function) second hand Hitachi unit on trademe. Difference was incredible - much smoother operation, better quality of cut, much more accuracy/repeatability in complex cuts, much more reliable. Learned my lessons -

1. You get what you pay for - the trade tools inevitably do a better job when it comes to accuracy and ease of use (wasn't just the blade on the Ryobi either - I tried it with a decent aftermarket blade).
2. Trade tools provide a level of reliability that the cheap brands don't seem to - all very well to have replacement warranties etc, but not much help when they crap out in the middle of something.
3. Never bought anything from Bunnings again. They never even responded to two complaint emails/letters I sent wanting to know why they didn't swap my faulty but near new saw for one off the shelf.

richms

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#1383354 9-Sep-2015 12:18

I've found my ryobi drop saw fine except the clamp mechanism to hold things down is rubbish. Most of my tools are ryobi because easy to get at bunnings and we arnt being totally ripped in nz like the other brands. Look at the difference with home Depot on ryobi and it's not huge when you add gst and some freight. Often cheaper. But Milwaukee is a huge rip in nz.

Richard rich.ms

MikeAqua

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#1383463 9-Sep-2015 14:40

Makita seemed to have three grades of tool at my local M10 when I bought my circular saw.

Makita - which seem to be trade quality.
Makita Mate - which are cheaper and lower spec'd.
MakTech - which are budget priced

Whatever you buy, and what ever warranty the manufacturer or retailer offer, you have rights under CGA.

For what its worth I find my local M10 very good. I lost the spanner for my Black and Decker Matrix router head and they gave me new one free of charge.

Mike

mdooher

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#1383466 9-Sep-2015 14:44

MikeAqua: Makita seemed to have three grades of tool at my local M10 when I bought my circular saw.

Makita - which seem to be trade quality.
Makita Mate - which are cheaper and lower spec'd.
MakTech - which are budget priced

Whatever you buy, and what ever warranty the manufacturer or retailer offer, you have rights under CGA.

For what its worth I find my local M10 very good. I lost the spanner for my Black and Decker Matrix router head and they gave me new one free of charge.

You can't even buy the higher spec Makita stuff at Bunnings.

Also you will see that Bunnings and mitre 10 might sell the exact same model but the box will have a slightly different product code. It stops you getting the 15% discount if you find an identical item..

Matthew

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#1383468 9-Sep-2015 14:45

A few of the brands do that. Bosch Blue is better than Bosch green gear. DeWalt is better quality Black & Decker.

mclean

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#1383557 9-Sep-2015 17:50

1101: I still have my expensive Hitachi drill I bought 25 years ago . Still works but it never gets used anymore. I just use the cheap cordless instead .
Convenience over quality I guess .

Hah! I bought my Hitachi drill in 1982 to build my first keelboat. Now on it's second power cord and third set of bearings. Times and tools have changed!

NonprayingMantis

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#1383576 9-Sep-2015 18:40

mclean:
1101: I still have my expensive Hitachi drill I bought 25 years ago . Still works but it never gets used anymore. I just use the cheap cordless instead .
Convenience over quality I guess .

Hah! I bought my Hitachi drill in 1982 to build my first keelboat. Now on it's second power cord and third set of bearings. Times and tools have changed!

Pfffft, that's nothing. I've used the same broom for the last 20 years, and in all that time it's had 8 new heads and 10 new handles.

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miked

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#1384986 10-Sep-2015 13:53

I got the AEG cordless set which had: hammer drill, impact driver, radio, two batteries and a charger. (was only about $50 more than the drill on it's own).

Out of the box, they come with 1yr warranty (3 months on batteries), but if you register on their website, you get a massive 6 years warranty (with 3 years on batteries), and that applies to trade use too. That is quite some belief in their products!

I've found them faultless in use, and am very impressed. Was slightly more than I was planning to spend, but no regrets at all. Feel the extra was worth every cent.

No experience with their other products (routers etc), but wanted to mention them for those looking for quality gear, with a long warranty, and even trade-use cover!

Mike

ps I really wasn't fussed by the idea of a radio, but figured the impact driver was easily worth the $50 extra on its own, and the radio was therefore effectively free. I thought I'd never use the radio, but the kids LOVE it. It has made weekends renovating a gutted house much more bearable for the kids, and therefore for the adults too! Fabulous result!

raytaylor

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#1385321 11-Sep-2015 01:13

pom532: If the brand name doesn't give you an idea of quality, offering a longer warranty period at least tells the consumer they think it will last

That is a good point.

There are greater economics at play here.

1) The quality of the materials. The cost of producing the product, vs the sell price may be such that they can replace it 3 times and still make a profit. So this incentives them to advertise a 3 year warranty. Its a nice selling point.

2) If Bunnings is anything like a big NZ retailer, there will be clauses in the supply agreement that say the supplier of the XYZ brand products will have a penalty fee for every returned product. Those contracts are really, really nasty to suppliers. As a consumer I found it really eye opening, especially as I discovered these contracts on the company website after I finished working for them - each return I processed there were reason codes we used to describe the fault or reason for return. I was oblivious to it when i was entering them into the computer, but they basically defined how much that supplier got fined that month for things like restocking, repackaging, shipping faulty items back to the supplier, disposing of faulty products, etc etc.

So the suppliers could choose if a product was returned faulty, did they want us to test it, did they want it sent back to them, should we just dispose of it, should we instantly issue them a new one. Each method had different costs to the supplier, in addition to the supplier paying the cost of the product at full retail price, not the cost price.

3) Reciepts printed on thermal paper. This is a huge asset to any retailer - because thermal paper often fades if it is not left in a cool, dark place. Many retailers now say you must have proof of purchase. Which is why you should scan the reciept at the till if its over $50 for any purchase you make.
Ideally I would like retailers to log a card number (flybuys / eftpos / loyalty etc) in the POS system and then offer to email you the reciept. The first time they can just ask for your email address, next time its already on file and they can the operator can select "yes" on screen to email it to you. They would save money in thermal roll costs, but of course it suddenly means you have a proof of purchase that doesnt fade for the full 3 years of your warrantly. Thats my conspiracy theory coming out there. Sorry for that.

Anyhow the supplier has analysed the performance of their product and its materials and worked out the cheapest, most efficient way to add that "3 year warranty" mark to the product. Some times its just using better materials, other times its exclusions in the warrantly such as no commercial use, and other times its just economics and banking on the fact you wont keep your reciept.

Ray Taylor

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raytaylor

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#1385322 11-Sep-2015 01:23

Oh and you should be buying milwaukee wherever possible.

They have battery operated heated jackets, and a converter that gives your 18v drill battery a 12v and a 5v 2A USB output.

Ray Taylor

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Huchiz

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#1385390 11-Sep-2015 09:04

3) Reciepts printed on thermal paper. This is a huge asset to any retailer - because thermal paper often fades if it is not left in a cool, dark place. Many retailers now say you must have proof of purchase. Which is why you should scan the reciept at the till if its over $50 for any purchase you make.
Ideally I would like retailers to log a card number (flybuys / eftpos / loyalty etc) in the POS system and then offer to email you the reciept. The first time they can just ask for your email address, next time its already on file and they can the operator can select "yes" on screen to email it to you. They would save money in thermal roll costs, but of course it suddenly means you have a proof of purchase that doesnt fade for the full 3 years of your warrantly. Thats my conspiracy theory coming out there. Sorry for that.

I second for that. That's why I always photocopy the receipt and also keep a digital copy of anything worth doing that. The thermal printing even fades in your wallet in months (or weeks).

miked

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#1385422 11-Sep-2015 09:31

Huchiz:

I second for that. That's why I always photocopy the receipt and also keep a digital copy of anything worth doing that. The thermal printing even fades in your wallet in months (or weeks).

Yeah. I had a fuel discount voucher on a supermarket till receipt in the dashboard box for a few days, and it was only just readable. Bar code had gone, guy had to manually type the number which was very feint.

I try to scan and email important receipts when I remember, but sometimes forget.

Aeg's system was quite neat, because you have to register on their website in 30 days, then that becomes your warranty proof. No need to keep your receipts for 6 years! Although again, being cynical, I wonder how many buy it based on 6 year warranty, but forget to register in time? I'm sure that features into the economics of the deal....

Mike

Fred99

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#1385487 11-Sep-2015 10:28

raytaylor: Oh and you should be buying milwaukee wherever possible.

They have battery operated heated jackets, and a converter that gives your 18v drill battery a 12v and a 5v 2A USB output.

Most importantly, they have caps, tee-shirts, and bumper stickers with this:

1101

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#1385490 11-Sep-2015 10:32

miked:

Aeg's system was quite neat, because you have to register on their website in 30 days, then that becomes your warranty proof. No need to keep your receipts for 6 years! Although again, being cynical, I wonder how many buy it based on 6 year warranty, but forget to register in time? I'm sure that features into the economics of the deal....

Mike

The need for receipts on power tools is a scam
Suppliers & retailers should be able to tell warranty status just from the serial no. Them not doing so is simply lazyness
I would bet the serial number allways gets checked when its eventually sent back to the importer/local distributor

blackjack17

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#1385498 11-Sep-2015 10:42

I have gone into bunnings with a bank statement before and that was enough.

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