I have to say I am so disappointed with the company Busy Bee Tools.
It was always one of my favourite places to visit when in the south. A place for a gear head to go and dream about tools. Not just any tool’s but specialty tools on a different scale.
This summer I took the dive and bought my dream metal milling machine. A retirement goal to take my metal working on to another level.
All went well, machine was bought and also a wood lathe.
It then was time to wait as the machines wet shipped through sea lift.
They arrived in good condition in October, I had built an extension to my work shop specifically for these two machines, electrical work and lighting too along with a new source of heating for the work shop. Need I say, I was committed to this.
With the help of a bunch of young lads we got the machines set up. Plugged the mill in and not a light was illuminated. You cannot imagine my disappointment. Well on to check fuses etc, iron out any of the simple things. Fuses changed and still no power or action from the machine.
The first call on Oct 21 2022 to Busy Bee was made at this point. Initially this was very good, very helpful and understanding of the situation. They suggested sending one of the main board down for their repairs to check out. I had a weekend in which to do this work so I decided to research issues with the mill. There are many of these mills made by the same factory but with different names, Craftex, King Canada, Precision Mathews. All similar electronics and set up. They also suffer similar electrical issues on occasion. There is a wide variety of components that can cause a “no power” situation so it seems to me sending the whole electrical unit and circuitry would be the best solution. I could see a yo-yo situation arise sending individual components back and forward till everything worked. I was just desperate to get this fixed ASAP.
I phoned the same guy Monday morning and checked if this seemed like a good idea. He agreed and that morning the box with the whole control panel unit was sent. Oct 27th after I received their return shipping label.
It was a while till I heard they had received parcel arrived Nov 14th 2022 and I was informed my unit was in “the queue”for testing. I was resigned to their process, as seemingly they could just not send me a new unit but rather it had to go through a repair analysis. “Cest la vie” I thought!
I waited a few weeks and then decided to prod the customer service for an update as I had heard nothing. This was the start of my frustration. No answer was forth coming. I then followed up with another few emails spread out through a couple of weeks. I gave them some leeway for a Christmas break as well. These messages were polite and to the point that I would appreciate a time frame or information on progress. Still no answer.
This continued until last week when I took to physically phoning the customer service. There was a young man who answered and read my file as I waited then promising me he would research what was holding things up and return an email with a time frame
and info. Surprise! A week later and no answer.
I am beyond disappointed with the company and their after sales service! So if you are looking at any larger machinery let me warn you that after sales service isn’t great.
I’m now trying for figure out my next action.
Another call is probably my immediate action and I will wait on line till I get some form of information. ( did I mention I hate being on the phone… one of my things that just rankles me!)
Picture is of the mill, bereft of its control box! Hmmmmm! Into the fourth month! Eight months since I bought the damn machine! The ongoing saga!
#busybeetools
