that's a good point, here's something of note.
CR4 - Blog Entry: The Everlast Plasma Cutter That Didn?t Last
i have to add, you would NEVER get this bs from miller.
one other thing, i'm just wondering if these units are csa approved for sale in canada?
when the country of origin is regularly being called for such things as lead paint in children's toys, you have to wonder if anything that comes out of that completely unregulated environment is even safe to have on your property.
Mark,
i can't blame you for trying to make a buck, after all, snake oil in its various forms was sold for almost 100 years... people kept buying it, so people kept making money selling it... no rocket science there. in fact i'd have to say you are a pretty good salesman... one minute, everlast is ten years ahead of miller in technology, the next minute you can get parts off the shelf at quickie mart and easily replace defects. i still can't help notice there is minimal focus on customer support.
i realize that everlast has paid to get the last word here, but i can't help wonder if those welding machines have lead paint on them, or any other hidden deadly defects that will only surface with time, and will be met with indifference from a completely irresponsible dealer/manufacturer network?
the chinese business model does clearly incorporate the 'get a lot of people once, and then move on to the next scam' mentality in every product i have ever looked at. why would i expect everlast to be any different?
If you read in between the lines there, then you'll see more rhetoric, than dealing with the issues.
A few things:
1) Yes, our units are CSA approved and CE.
2) If you're worried about "lead paint", then you probably won't like the nasty stuff that any electronic item has in it. Our units are powder coated btw.
3) If you look, you'll find problems with warranty with the other guys as well. Plenty of them...always two sides to a story. You WILL find warranty problems with any company that has been out there more than 6 months, I don't care who it is, including Miller, to think otherwise is extremely naive. I sit on the receiving end of nightmare stories all the time about other companies. We've sold over 10k units heading quickly to 15k. Rapid growth sometimes does create growing pains. Look at the post date. I believe that unit was sold in 2008.It was an issue with one shipment of plasma cutters. You can read in between the lines. We get guys willing to "blackmail" us as well promising to post nasty stuff about us if we don't give them this or give them that. We could chase every legal rabbit trail, but then we'd rather put the money into our business.
4) We are a US based company, not Chinese....lets get that out there. It is not Chinese owned either, though we do have a mix of heritage in the company, from the US, Britain, Canada, Russia, and growing.
5) When we started, we were importing welders from a generic company. It was probably a dumb thing to do, since they were selling to what seemed like every importer on the market....They sent out a bad batch of mosfet plsama cutters and a few units, and everyone importing from that company still had problems. The MOSFETS failed...not all of them, but a statistically significant amount of them. Many companies went under. That factory buys its components through middle men, and had bought a bogus batch that weren't what they said they were. It gave us a black eye as well as tarnishing the product image. We dealt with it and survived. We learned and made some changes. Before I came on board with the company over 1 1/2 years ago, I fully investigated this problem...All customers with issues received their replacements or refunds, some did have to wait a few weeks. This customer states he did not, but he also did not follow the warranty as it should have been. But in the end we did foul up handling this one situation and probably a few more, because of the sudden rash of issues outstripped our supply for about a month. But we cannot do anything about it now and have different and improved warranty handling policies in place.
6) We do not have any tie to that factory any longer and have not now since before that was posted. Our factory is ISO 9001 rated and holds its own patents. It has a large following in Europe and other parts of the world. They manufacture to our specs and we visit the factory personally to inspect, mostly unannounced, 3 times already this year. We did not do that from the beginning with the old factory, we do now. The current factory buys direct from the source using IGBT's from Sieman/Infineon which are heavier duty for welder applications, just as other companies do. Our prices are higher now, because our component quality is higher. There are plenty of "display" photos of our internal components posted by our customers proud of their units showing the internal construction...
7) Features, and designs and performance advancements have nothing to do with whether components are off the shelf or not. A lot of it has to do with how they are employed. We have several things that some of our electronic guys that buy our welders notice that are different, yet work well on our units that are simpler ways of doing the same thing. But advancements in welding technology is quite slow. Really, rather what is lacking is advancements in applications of existing technology. When there are new, useful applications of technology, it is an advancement.
8) As far as customer support, we have US based customer support, available well beyond normal business hours and usually on the weekends, with capable people to answer any problems and work through any issues. We also have a welding forum dedicated to technical support, resolving any issues with customer complaints that may slip through the cracks or that desire to ask questions or just chat. Our manuals are down loadable online on our website for perusal before anyone buys. Our warranty statement is posted as well as other helpful information on the website. We are also HIRING additional staff even as I write. I won't say we never have a problem with a welder or a customer never has to use his warranty. But we make good on it. Neither will a Miller salesman. If there is any perceived lack of focus on customer support in place now, its my fault for not talking more about it, but I feel that our customers are the best voice for that...whether past present or future.
9) I am not just a salesman. I work additionally on the side. I build and fabricate products such as sawmills and trailers. In fact, while I am replying to this I just took a deposit on a trailer. I rely on many Everlast products in my shop to carry me through. I have other products too...I use the Everlast, not because I am forced to but because I want to.
,but if you shot all of us like that,well...
