Redemption offers for returned items - what to do?

[Jekkil]

Hi all,

I've recently bought a Makita brushcutter and as soon as I got home I applied on their website for their redemption offer to claim a kettle.
After a few days I decided to return the brushcutter and now I don't know what will happen with the redemption...:;

Any ideas?

[woodPixel]

Don't give me ideas :D

[Chief Tiff]

I think they'll find out it's been returned...

I've had a few redemptions from AEG; you have to supply the receipt as proof of purchase. AEG only sell through Bunnings so it's not beyond the realms of fantasy for them to send a query to Bunnies and ask them to confirm the status and history of the transaction. They tend to take a few weeks to be processed; in my jaundiced view that would be to ensure that the purchased item isn't returned straight after the redemption request has been submitted.

[havabeer69]

recently this happened to me as well. exact same thing bought it, applied for redemption and had to take the tool back.

Makita and Bunnings do not talk to each other in that respect. the redemption was approved and is on its way to me. I actually asked my brother who works at bunnings and he believes that it would be FAR too much paper work and effort for Makita to get in touch with Bunnings and check everything. Makita warranty jobs (bought from bunnings) and repairs dont even goto Makita either, they goto a 3rd party for all that as well.

As mentioned above AEG is a bunnings only brand and they may watch it a bit closer but I doubt it.

[harmo]

Hi All,

While it's not precisely what you're getting...the review for the Makita coffee maker (and recommendations relating to the kettle you are talking about) is good for a laugh:


The Makita Coffee Machine: A Bizarre Battery-Powered Brewer - YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xOEIpbxM4w)

Do you have another 10 mins? I have a somewhat quirky tale about redemptions some might find entertaining.

I had a similar issue when I bought my DeWalt shop vacuum cleaner. Apparently, I had to buy the floor cleaning attachment separately (another $50 bucks? really?!), YET, I was able to a redeem a much more expensive circular saw (weird, but ok)... which I applied for (Please note, this is "Attempt 1").

Now the first vac blew up on the second day, so I swapped it back at the store. However, the guy at Sydney Tools processed it as a DOA. He also said he'd help with the paperwork.. so I didn't think much of it at the time. I walked out with a new one. About three months go by and I'd had no sign of the promised circular saw. So I contacted DeWalt, I sent them the receipt again as requested.. filled out the paperwork again as instructed. (Attempt 2)

Another 3 months go by... still no circular saw. So I contacted DeWalt again. They ask me (are you sure you're at this address?) When I said yes, they do the same thing, fill the form, etc. (Attempt 3) over half a year had passed at this point.

Meanwhile, I had had.... issues getting hold of some accessories for the vacuum (that I'd paid nearly $200 in full at the time of ordering the first vac), so I give the shop AND the head office of Sydney Tools the ultimatum of:

"Deliver, or refund me". Which after several attempts to find out what's going on over the months, with the usual promises to "get back to me" (which never happened).. my message may have been.. not rude... but definitely "Do I have to call lawyers?"-ish.

The next day, the accessories turns up at my doorstep, with a $200 pre-paid wine gift card to apologise. Sad thing is, I don't drink wine, but I might use it for meat marinades or gifts/whatever. Ultimately, I gave the bottles away as gifts, and bartered for things I actually use.. so it wasn't a complete loss.

About a month later, the second vac dies. It wasn't full, I'd emptied the bag and cleaned the filter regularly.. so I took it back again... quite wearied by this whole shop vac mess.

Another swap... and the guy said... "Didn't we do this before?" which we of course, had. He ruefully smiled and said he'd do the paperwork again. I casually asked him who do I have to sleep with and/or intimidate (possibly by offering to sleep with) to get a simple circular saw on redemption?

He answered: "You're not the first to have trouble with DeWalt... I can look into it for you, we have the receipt on file". (Attempt 4 by proxy)

I get a third shop vac... and I have to be honest... at this point, unlike Charles Dickens, I didn't have "great expectations". The circular saw has become a bit of a joke in the household. My better half was saying... "and here I've been desperately waiting to saw stuff... Now your title is "Hamish, destroyer of shop vacs". To which I replied:

"and lo didst the pot calleth the kettle black... For art thou not, Ren, destroyer of blenders?" She treats them like a wood chipper, and wonders why they die when she insert corn cobs fit for "mulching". (We now have an industrial blender, and no cobb policy).

Ok, a year and three days from the original purchase date, the prodigal, almost mythic circular saw arrives.

The following day, the third shop vac starts billowing out black smoke and smells like teen spirit... if teen spirit was possibly carcinogenic and hell-bent on destroying itself and/or the nearest vacuum cleaner. It did this with an almost new bag, clean-ish filter.. but due to the passage of time was no longer covered by the original warranty. I'm disgusted. I took it apart to have a look... the motor is burned out, plastic melted.... I think it had a shorted coil winding.. but it's all shorted at this point. I throw it out, despite having $250 worth of additional accessories for it.

A couple of days later, three different couriers deliver four more circular saws. One guy was clearly having a bad day, and was trying to sneak one of those "Sorry I missed you" cards onto my door because his little scanner whosiewatsit was broken. The sheer "I don't want to do the paper work, or be slowed down, why me?!" look when I caught him before he got into the van was... palpable. However, I was clear that I wanted the saw in his hands because I was not (and would not be) "missed". He was quite... grudging to say it charitably.

My best guess is as follows:

At least, one of the swaps was processed with a redemption application, and every application was eventually processed as a new redemption.

So while I do like DeWalt tools, I loathe, detest, and apparently destroy (in the course of typical operations) their shop vacs. I've bought myself a little Karcher and that has been cheaper, includes the floor cleaning attachments, has much better air flow, is quieter, works for years on end without complaint, the bags are cheaper, as are the filters.... so I wrote a review outlining my experiences with the DeWalt vac saying "stay away!"... and others have found it helpful.

So what do I do with five circular saws? Should I keep them? Have I not, at least paid for three of them with time, energy and buying (now useless) accessories? What do you think?

I tried to contact DeWalt, but they weren't interested in replying to my email. I'd already spent too much time chasing this up... I didn't want to spend another 30 mins on hold.

So I gave some of them friends, sold one to a colleague... I think I've still got one or two in their box(es) in the garage...

I hope you found this helpful.. or at least entertaining.

All the best in your redemption applications, may your shop vac last for many years. :~)

Hamish.

[rwbuild]

I personally don't have a problem with Dewalt.....I refuse to buy or use them after only once bought and used a drill for a month and threw it away, absolute piece of $#it

Vacuum cleaners for workshop, Stihl x 2, had them for 20+ yrs, still going strong

[Greg Q]

Great story well written, Harmo.

I bought into the DeWalt universe because I wanted a battery framing gun, so loaded up.

I wish that I hadn’t because 25% of them are crap.

[Greg Q]

WRT my earlier post…

DeWalt drills….crap chucks, no economical repair…had three. Three failed…crap
DeWalt framing gun….too heavy, frequent jams…crap
DeWalt compressor..failed after 30 minutes use. discontinued because:crap
DeWalt line trimmer…bad line spool, frequent issues…crap

DeWalt 18v grinder….champion. Best I have used. Eats batteries, but all brands do. Probably used up 100+ discs so far.
DeWalt SDS impact drill…excellent. I have flogged this thing for 6 years and it is still great
DeWalt circular saw…very good if you get the cast, not stamped, base. Not theft proof however
DeWalt 14.4v impact gun….What do you have to do to kill this thing? 6 years of abuse, still great
DeWalt angle drill….meh. Great paint mixer though with the right paddle.
DeWalt recip saw….does what it says on the box, but only used it 20 ish times
DeWalt 3 axis green laser level….really good.

So, actually 33% crap, 66% quite good.

For contrast I also own 10+ Festools and they are all good. 100%. Maybe not the jigsaw, but its not awful.

[barramonday]

You will probably still get the redemption tool.
A couple of years ago I bought a Dewalt thicknesser and returned, about 6 months later the redemption sander that I'd completely forgot about turned up.

[woodPixel]

Stop it dudes!

You are all giving me terrible thoughts.

I've been really good this year on restricting my Tool Acquisition Syndrome....

[Rudyvm]

You will probably still get the redemption tool.
A couple of years ago I bought a Dewalt thicknesser and returned, about 6 months later the redemption sander that I'd completely forgot about turned up.

Got the thicknesser a few years ago myself with a redemption drill set with a charger, battery and case of bits etc, after around 3 months of lodging the redemption nothing so I chased them up and 3 months later still nothing. Further follow up and around a month later finally received the drill and another few months later another drill so ended up with two.

Figured it was karma so was quite happy to keep both.

Dewalt seem very poor at managing the redemption process, got myself an AEG nail gun a few months ago and the redemption reciprocating saw took less than 2 weeks to arrive from the lodgement of the redemption, will think twice about being influenced by Dewalt redemptions in the future even if it ultimately worked out OK.

[harmo]

Hi all,

As the title suggests, I think PFH requested images depicting some of my redemption tale. I've been a little flat out of late, so I'm sorry for the delayed response.

While I don't have the problematic DWV-900L shop vac anymore (it's been a while now) I have a few bits left over from that debacle. :)

Interestingly, I've found a use for some of the DeWalt hose attachment adaptors, and they work actually work well with my resurrected Festool sander and Karcher shop vac hose. Other bits... like the hoses depicted in the next image... haven't been as useful.. but I keep them around in case they become useful once again... or until "she who must be obeyed" demands decluttering. (She won't do that, because decluttering involves a lot of her stuff being tossed, mwahahah. )

518986

Here's a shot of the standard 32mm hose and probably, the 4m DeWalt Extension Hose (One of the accessories I struggled to get with the shop vac). Clearly I use a spade more often than these hose(s).

518987
Here's the first redemption DWE-560 184mm circular saw I received. As you can see, I toss it into my cluttered tool drawer with my old Bosch R.O.S. I have used this saw quite a bit. It works well enough, but it's certainly not the best saw I've ever used. That said, it is very handy for breaking down larger sheets of wood... especially guided by a 1.8m spirit level or two and some clamps (Only the best track saw for me! :p)

518988

I found one of the other unused redemption saws the other day. It's still in the box. The might be another one or two lurking around somewhere, but.. my garage is quite a mess... which I'm not broadcasting that to the general public. :B

I'm sorry that I don't have more to backup my claims.. but that's surely enough, isn't it? Any further effort would require volunteering to help clean up my garage. Any takers?

Anyway, I hope this entertains, informs, confirms, amuses or even bemuses. You certainly won't be alone when dealing with DeWalt.

Hamish.