Stringway: quality slipping?

[mongo]

I had my new 200TT for 6 weeks. Here are my observations.

Folks talk about how good the Stringway / LaserFibre machines are made. I
have to say I am super disappointed in the build and finish quality.

First, the mounting parts looks like somebody spilled silver paint all over
it. Or the gray paint was peeling off. It looks like crap. When I brought
this up, LaserFibre was just finding out that Stringway sent an entire
shipment of stringing machines they knew had a very sloppy paint finish, but
sent to LaserFibre anyway without telling them. He was completely pissed
because Stringway was not going to do anything about it and told LaserFibre
it was acceptable finish quality.

Even worse, Stringway said they intentionally sent the worst looking
machines to people who bought flying clamp machines because they "don't pay
as much". Unbelievable!! LaserFibre even showed me a copy of Stringway's
email to them to prove it is what they said. I thought Tim was going to
bust a blood vessel he was so pissed at Stringway. Because mine was in
better shape than all the others LaserFibre had in stock, the best
LaserFibre could do was send me some touch up paint.

Second, is it normal for the tensioner to twist and spin around when tension
is pulled? I already broken a couple of strings trying to pull tension. Is
there a way to fix it because Stringway's instructions on assembly don't
match up all the plastic pieces that came with it. Should I call LaserFibre
for help? Anybody else having the same problem.

If I had to do it again, I would not buy another one of these. If it is true
LaserFibre is coming out with new models, I hope for their sake Stringway is
not making them. Looks like Stringway is going down hill. What's up with the
Stringway website linking to Eagnas. Maybe that is the reason.

 

[eagle]

Hi Mongo,

I believe the correct website address is

http://www.stringway-nl.com/

r,
eagle

 

[barry]

There site says 30 day money back guarantee. Maybe you should send it back. Plenty of high quality machines on the market for less money.

 

[Redflea]

Can you post some pics? You can host them at photobucket.com for free, use the "img" button there on each pic to get a link to the image to post here. I'm sure folks here would be interested to see how it looks, I know I am...

 

[mongo]

barry

Thanks for the suggestion, barry. I went that route when I first became concerned about the machine. I spoke to a guy named Tim @ Laserfibre and he offered to take the machine back and either send me a new one or refund my money 100% even though it was after the 30 day money back period was up. I decided to keep the machine because I believe that the tensioning system is the best on the market. Expensive: YES! but it does what it says it will do. I just find the quality of the parts and the finish a concern.
My reason for starting this thread is to see if what I've experienced is unique or has a pattern developed.

 

[Redflea]

Thanks for the suggestion, barry. I went that route when I first became concerned about the machine. I spoke to a guy named Tim @ Laserfibre and he offered to take the machine back and either send me a new one or refund my money 100% even though it was after the 30 day money back period was up. I decided to keep the machine because I believe that the tensioning system is the best on the market. Expensive: YES! but it does what it says it will do. I just find the quality of the parts and the finish a concern.
My reason for starting this thread is to see if what I've experienced is unique or has a pattern developed.

Towards that end, can you post some pics that illustrate the problems you've experienced?

 

[mongo]

readflea

Towards that end, can you post some pics that illustrate the problems you've experienced?

I'm currently on the road and won't be able to post any pix until my return in a few days.
I will be glad to post pix and await others who have anything to add.

 

[STRINGTECHNO]

Dear Mongo
I hope that Laserfibre also told you that Stringway offered direct solutions for the tensioner that moved around?
The cause of this problem is that Sw changed the design of the fixing to prevent the maintube from bending too much caused by force of the bolt.
But obviously every advantage can have a drawback.

Did Laserfibre tell you also that SW changed the design directly by putting a positioning plate on the frame and that SW offered to send this solution to LF so that he can offer it to his customers?

And SW did not find that the paint was exeptable they apologized to LF and admitted that it was no good.

I advise you to contact SW on there website www.stringway-nl.com and they will certainly help you.

And about Eagnas: this is a trick that SW's former sales agent is pulling at them because he owns this website address.

Stringtechno

 

[lonnie j]

Yo Mongo, Pass the beans. Great flick!

Funny I was thinking the same thing about the quality. Apparently, LF told Stringway about the problems with the tensioner a long time ago and they didn’t do anything. Then they finally did this stupid thing with these cheap plastic inserts that kept getting stuck inside the machine. According to Laserfibre, it makes the twisting worse than before. They are still waiting for Stringway to fix the tensioner with some sort of a second pin. I think he called it a position pin or screw or something like that. The way he explained it I can see how that would solve the problem. Call Laserfibre though because they made a temporary fix and so far it is working and holding up.

Yeah.. at first I thought the silver paint was bird poop. I have the floating clamps and now I’m P.O’d Stringway wanted guys like me to get the really bad ones. The paint is not the worst of it. I had to send the complete mount setup back for a replacement because it had HOLES in the metal. Like air bubble holes. Nasty. Any one else get holes in their machine. Got a new one. No holes but still looks like a little bit of pigeon poop. I got some extra touch up paint and a bunch more free string too. Great service. I like the constant pull on the machine. Laserfibre must be catching a whipping if all the machines look like ours. I’m going to write to Stringway and give them a piece of my mind.

 

[mongo]

lonnieJ

lonnie j

[make a Blazing Saddles comeback; Beacreful how you pass!]

No, mine did not have any holes. None that I have found yet.

I'll call Laserfibre to see what they made for the tensioner.

I'm curious to know what they say about stringtechno comments.

One thing techno says is confusing. If Stringway thought the paint finish quality was so unacceptable, then why did they send them out? If they are unacceptable, I would think they would throw the pieces away and make new ones or offer them at a much lower price? They clearly knew they were doing something wrong if they made the decision to send the worst ones to flying clamp people in the US far away from their home base. I don't know what is worse. Low quality is acceptable to Stringway? Or that is was not acceptable and they sent the low quality anyway. Either way, it is lousy business. If Stringway is so sorry, they should be kicking us all like a $100 refund.

 

[STRINGTECHNO]

Dear Mongo,

Stringway can not offer anything to customers of Laserfibre who are unkown to them.
Perhaps it could be useful to contact them directly.

Stringtechno

 

[JayCeeParis]

I had my new 200TT for 6 weeks. Here are my observations.
. . . is it normal for the tensioner to twist and spin around when tension
is pulled? I already broken a couple of strings trying to pull tension. Is
there a way to fix it because Stringway's instructions on assembly don't
match up all the plastic pieces that came with it. Should I call LaserFibre
for help?
. . . Anybody else having the same problem?

Hi Mongo,
I have quite a lot of experience with Stringway machines since several years because I am their agent for France.

I am surprised that you have a rotation of the tensioner mounting on the base, but I did have one client who informed me that this part had moved a little off center and not wanting to force the nut which screws onto the 2 plastic cylinders he asked me what to do. The easiest solution is to simply add a washer that is larger than the hole where the bolt and the cylinders are. That way the nut is fixed against the underside of the base as well as the cylinders, this way there is no risk and the tensioner mounting will be very firmly held in place. An easy solution was to take the white plastic washer that was used to hold the counter weight onto the cardboard support for shipment, it has no other purpose and it is perfect for this job.

The other small problem was to correctly position this mounting, I also mentioned this and the following problem to Stringway who reacted within days and supplied me with some small rectangular plates that can be easliy placed on the upper side of the base exactly in the right position with some double faced adhesive, the bolt goes through a hole in the plate and the mounting fits snugly around the plate. Job done, simply and efficient.

Since they have introduced the new "M base" which is without welding, the 4 elements (central tube, 2 ends + the axel) are held together by a long screw going from one end of the base to the other, there have been a few problems with the end pieces slipping off-center and this has been rectified for the more recent production, an insert plate prevents this side way movement than could have happened if the parcel had been dropped heavily during transport.

I can't comment on your problems for the paint as I have never seen such difficulties, quite the contrary the only damage I have seen was on the drop weight (damaged during transport).

I am sure that Tim is doing his best to sort out these inconveniences, there have been lots of changes at Stringway since about the middle of last year and things didn't always advance without problems. Today I am confident that Stringway is not only better than before, I firmly believe that they have a great future with their machines and their concept of StringLab/tension Advisor, as well as some remarkably interesting new products to come.

If you need some advice or some help I am more than willing to share my experiences with anyone here and if this can be helpfull it's no trouble for me to answer your questions, so don't hesitate.

John Elliot.

 

[JayCeeParis]

Yo Mongo, Pass the beans. Great flick!

Funny I was thinking the same thing about the quality. Apparently, LF told Stringway about the problems with the tensioner a long time ago and they didn’t do anything. Then they finally did this stupid thing with these cheap plastic inserts that kept getting stuck inside the machine. According to Laserfibre, it makes the twisting worse than before. They are still waiting for Stringway to fix the tensioner with some sort of a second pin. I think he called it a position pin or screw or something like that. The way he explained it I can see how that would solve the problem. Call Laserfibre though because they made a temporary fix and so far it is working and holding up.

Yeah.. at first I thought the silver paint was bird poop. I have the floating clamps and now I’m P.O’d Stringway wanted guys like me to get the really bad ones. The paint is not the worst of it. I had to send the complete mount setup back for a replacement because it had HOLES in the metal. Like air bubble holes. Nasty. Any one else get holes in their machine. Got a new one. No holes but still looks like a little bit of pigeon poop. I got some extra touch up paint and a bunch more free string too. Great service. I like the constant pull on the machine. Laserfibre must be catching a whipping if all the machines look like ours. I’m going to write to Stringway and give them a piece of my mind.

Hi Lionnie,

For a first post on this forum, are you trying to impress us with your inside knowledge, or what?

There's something about it all that sounds a bit "tinny" to me, but there again I'm not in Tim's fan club, so maybe I am missing out on the essential details.

Never-the-less, I am not participating in this thread to take sides, I would like help to sort out the problems with some positive suggestions.

The main issues here concern LaserFibre directly and Stringway indirectly, you can e-mail Stringway www.strway@hetnet.nl for each of the following issues :

> a warantee, only if you are not satisfied with the solution from LF, then I suggest you contact : Stringway

> for the tensioner mounting which is not always securely fixed to the base, the solution exists, see the advice that I gave to Mongo, I have asked Stringway to provide Tim with the kits to rectify this problem, but if you ask Stringway to send you a kit directly, they will do so, just put Tim on copy so that you are not being supplied from both sides.

> poor quality paint, send photos to Stringway, they are willing to propose some form of compensation, this is Stringway's mistake and Stringway should provide the solution.
For info :
From what I understand, when the cradles (for both fixed and flying clamps) were made and packed, some of the turntable beams had suffered damage when the sand blasting for the central zone damaged the ajacent paint because the frame that protected the paint during the sanding had moved, unfortunately the person who assembled and packed the cradles to not signal this fault and the series of beams with damaged paint (but of no technical incidence) were exported to the USA without the manager of Stringway knowing of this problem. This only concerned 1 shipment, Stringway still does not know how many pieces were damaged. They have appologised to Tim for this mistake and they are willing to compensate those clients who have received unsatisfactory material. I would suggest that either this be done through LaserFibre or directly to Stringway, but to avoid confusion, this action should have both Stringway and LaserFibre in copy on all correspondance.

For any other questions you can contact me directly, if you need me to sort out a persistant problem I will do my best to find the appropriate solution.

Keep faith in your LF/SW Stringer, they are really fantasic machines.

John Elliot.

 

[lonnie j]

Hi Jay Cee Paris

Any person spending as much time on the phone with LF fixing our brand new stringing machine as we did, has no choice to learn what all the problems and possible solutions are. It was annoying for me and my wife. I sensed a lot of frustration from LF with Stringway for what I felt was feet dragging from Stringway. It was embarrassing, and a little insulting when LF told us Stringway’s solutions to all the problems we had.

Your solution to Mongo I think was the third or fourth idea LF came back to us with from Stringway. Because you are a Stringway distributor, I am surprised you gave the advice. Did you try it yourself on any of the 200tt’s at your warehouse? If you did, you would already know it can not possibly work.

#1 If you try to use the plastic washer you immediately find it does not work. The problem is the plastic sleeves stick out the bottom of the machine by about 1/8”, maybe 1/4"

a. The screw is too short to add something between the sleeves and bolt. I can not get the bolt on the screw if I use thewasher.

b. Even if the washer and bolt could fit on the end of the screw, the washer hits the sleeves sticking out the bottom and does not touch the bottom of the machine as you say it will. It does not. I tried with a thin metal washer. It is still only pushing on the sleeves. It is no different than the bolt pushing on the sleeves. Everything still twists.

We were going to try to trim off some of the plastic sleeves but LF said no. I guess they did not want me to cut off a finger in the process.

LF’s solution was to use just the smaller sleeve with a spring, an extra large metal washer and the bolt and wait for Stringway to make a permanent solution. They sent me the parts. LF’s solution works so far.

I did not know anything about a plate. LF mentioned a second screw or a pin or something. Time mentioned Stringway was talking about something like that. I called LF on 4/23 about it and as of then LF had not gotten any updates from Stringway.

I have no inside track to Stringway or Laserfibre. Only hours of talk trying to fix my stringing machine. It's been almost 2 months since I got my stringing machine. In my opinion, Stringway needs to get their act together.

 

[JayCeeParis]

Hi Jay Cee Paris
#1 If you try to use the plastic washer you immediately find it does not work. The problem is the plastic sleeves stick out the bottom of the machine by about 1/8”, maybe 1/4"
The screw is too short to add something between the sleeves and bolt. I can not get the bolt on the screw if I use the washer.

Hi Lionnie,
Your descriprion of the sleeves is quite surprising to me because I have installed several of these Stringway machines (ML.90s and ML.100s) and the 2 plastic sleeves (1 big + 1 short) arrive exactly to the centre of the steel tube of the machine's base. If you screw the nut directly onto the sleeve the nut is slightly countersunk, there is plenty of thread to put either a metal or plastic washer in place and if this is done there is no "sinking" effect on the metal tube, it locks in perfectly and the tensioner mounting does not move.

The only reason for the insert plate is that it permits you to place the tensioner in exactly the right position on the base, if not it can be approximate because you don't have any guide to hold it in place when tightening the nut on the screw under the base. This plate doesn't contribute to the support of the mounting, but it would certainly help to prevent any "twist" tendencies of the tensioneur mounting.

What I can see is that somewhere there has been a mistake in the choice of sleeves, and of course the absence of a explanation or a plan to assemble the machine further complicates the problem. The combination of these two factors has led to this most regretable situation. In France I have never had such a problem and yet I am in a similar situation to Tim, I think that it is more bad luck than bad management, but if one or the other of these two problems had been corrected before, the end result leading to this very frustration result, would probably been avoided. I will take steps to rectify this situation. My appologies in advance, as a client you have every right to complain, to find the right solution and to be compensated. Please send a short note with contact details to Stringway, I will ask them to provide you with the correct sleeves, washer and the insert plate.

If you have any difficulties PM or e-mail me, I will sort it.
Best Regards,
John.

 

[backboard34]

had my machine for about 2 years. i think its build is alright. no paint peeling or anything when I got it.

the 2 things i have problems with are the clamp swivels and the black plastic racket mounts. i started stringing for my club. the extra volume makes the swivel lock wear out after about 100 sticks. first i sent hem back and LF rebuilt them for me for free. now they send me extra parts to do it myself. saves time but still a butt pain. they say you have to keep it greased. they go a little longer. not much longer.

the other are those black mounts that the racket sits on. i snapped 2 of them during stringing in a year. man, i thought the stick exploded. scared the you-know-what outta me. as long as LF keep sending the replacement parts for free, i’m good.

 

[backboard34]

forgot one thing. once the string gripper froze up and had to send it back for a rebuild.

is my situ for 2 years of use normal to you guys?

 

[mongo]

The latest from mongo:

When I started this thread, I was interested to see if my experience
after receiving a Laserfbre stringing machine was unique or
was this a pattern that others were experiencing.

During the past week, I have been in direct contact with Stringway in the Netherlands and Tim at Laserfibre. I contacted Stringway at the urging of JayCeeParis(a Stringway representative in France) and Stringtechno.

Again, I asked the same question: Has the quality at Stringway been slipping? I have received countless emails from SW trying to explain why I received a second quality machine. None of which makes much sense. The blame is always on someone else, or I am the only one who experienced any problems. Really? Through Lasefirbe, in the past 4 or 5 weeks, Stringway gave so many different fixes for one major defect that I've lost track. Some suggestions contradicted previous suggestions. It was like they were making it up as they went along. Finally, SW wants me to drill holes and attach some kind of plate to my new machine and fix it myself. I paid more than $600 for a brand new machine that now I have to repair it to make it operational . . . NO WAY! SW would not even let me send it back to Laserfibre for them to fix it for me. Stringway said I had to do it myself! They said they don’t pay for repairs. What kind of stupid warranty is that?


Thanks to another poster here, Lonnie j, and not Stringway, I already got a simple fix that Laserfibre made and it seems to work fine.

The most troublesome part of this whole ordeal has been Stringway’s offer to pay me with a $165 String Lab if I created positive posts here at TW. They wanted me to make positive posts that would make Stringway look good, and sound as if they had the situation under control. In return, after I made these (fake) posts, they would send me a String Lab tool. In their words “to rectify the negative comments”. I HAVE REJECTED THIS OFFER!

I have every email to support everything I have stated here. I have to ask myself if SW has been doing the same for others, to make praising posts, in the past. Posts, in part, influenced my choice to buy this machine. I don't know for sure that SW did that, but anyone know?

The answer to my original question, in my opinion, is a RESOUNDING . . . YES! The quality is not very good. And if you have to deal with Stringway direct, the machine is not worth the money. I now understand why Laserfibre has posted a disclaimer about Stringway’s warranty on their website. I also understand that Laserfibre is introducing a new generation of their machines soon and they will not let Stringway make them. I can understand why!

 

[JayCeeParis]

A wise man once said :
"Don't listen to what he says, but try to understand his reasons for saying it . . ."

I am not going to get into a mud fight with you Mongo, it's not worth it, but it seems that you had 2 problems, so let's try to sort them out :

1.) The first problem was damaged paint on the beam of the cradle, you wanted a refund of $100 to which LF asked you to add $70 charges for them to refund you as they offered to transit the payment through LF to you. Rather than spend $170 (of which $70 is lost in bank fees) SW offered you a $165 StringLab, which you refused. As the problem was the damaged paint, then SW offered to send you a new beam to replace the damaged one. They explained that it was simple to replace, just undo the 2 screws which hold the cradle mountings and place these mountings on the new beam.

Curiously enough you categorically refused this offer from SW and you asked them to stop contacting you as you were perfectly happy to deal exclusively with LF. . .

2.) The tensioner mounting slips on the base, it simply needed a washer under the fixing nut that screws under the base, ther may have been a problem with the size of 1 of the 2 bushes which are fitted onto the screw and which should be at exactly the same diameter as the base, therefore the pressure on the bolt which holds the mounting in place is applied equally between the 2 surfaces of the rectangular tube in the base. When you receive the machine you need to assemble the mounting onto the base, therefore, if you need to replace one of the bushes and add a washer, you do not need to send the machine back to LF. In any case the machine is transported dismantled, so all LF would do is to send the machine back with the replacement parts and you would have to assemble them yourself. There are no holes to be drilled, just slide the 2 bushes onto the bolt, put on the washer, the nut and tighten it.

I agree with you that when you purchase à $600 machine (or even one for $300) it should be perfect and there are good reasons to be unhappy with what has happened, both LF and SW have tried to find a solution for you and so far I don't think that you are satisfied, and rightly so, you have a sincere offer to rectify the problem of the poor paint, so why do you refuse it?

The other problem is apparantly solved, so let's finish with this story and put things right once and for all.

Now its up to you.

 

[yourname1245]

did you buy your machine from stringway or laserfibre, because i only keep in contact with laserfibre. They are nice and have the answers to help.
i had some paint chips mishing and some scrapes on my mountign system but i don't care but if i could get some touch up that would be awsome. I mean its the machine and not the way the machine looks.
thanks
sal

 

[willeynilley]

backboard34

hey backboard:sad:
Think you got problems w/ that racket mounting plate? Try this on for size:
Since I got my machine a few years ago I've busted 5 of those cheap plastic things and the last one, a week ago took out my friend's new K 6.1 Tour w/ it. How does that grab you, dude?
:sad:

 

[lonnie j]

Mongo

Did a guy from Stringway contact you to say he was going to send you some things because of the condition of your stringing machine? The guy said to me he was going to let me pick some things off the SW website. Then later in the same e-mail said he changed his mind and he was not going to do anything. Then he writes back again and says he changed his mind again to send a new “beam” and parts to fix the tensioner on condition I don't send it back to Laserfibre for fixing because he doesn’t want to pay for shipping. If I want it fixed, I have to pay for it myself or do it myself. The guy sounds insane. Stringway’s 10 year warranty is worthless if this is how they take care of the customer.

I am taking what he wants to send. Maybe LF will buy it from me?

 

[Semaj]

My machine is slightly wobbley, but the job it produces is seccond to none (as far as manual machines go).

It took me some getting useto. But after spending many hours working out how its innards work it easy and fast to use now.

Only criticism is the stability of it. mabye it's becuase I have mine on carpet?!

 

[mongo]

Mr Elliot
To set the record straight, it is impossible to sort things out when you start with things that are not quite accurate. I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt and presume that you did not receive all the emails I sent DIRECTLY to Stringway.

I want to make it PERFECTLY CLEAR, that I have never had ANY DIRECT contact with you and quite honestly don’t understand why you have become involved in this. BUT since you fired the last salvo, HERE WE GO:


I did not ask for anything! I sarcastically commented Stringway should kick us all back $100 for the poor quality. Meaning anybody who got a machine with poor quality. It was YOU who posted Stringway was offering something if I contacted them.

Stringway offered me 2 things on April 28. $75 in accessories for the lousy paint job.

Then, they offered an extra $160 String Lab thing if I would post positive things about Stringway here on TW.

These were two different offered that you have cleverly combined to mislead the readers here. I quote Fred Timmer from Stringway from an email sent to me directly :
“To compensate for the damaged paint we want to offer every customer that shows the bad paint to us on a picture 75 euros of accessories that can be chosen on our website.
If you are willing to make a post we want to make you a special offer, and you will be the first one in the US who gets such a tool: We want to offer you a Stringlab stringbed tester worth about $160. This tool is not yet introduced officially in the US so we ask you not to notify any body about this offer. It is important for us that people on the message board understand that we do not want our very good reputation to be damaged by human mistakes, that we made. I hope you can agree about this and I would like to hear from you.”


I politely wrote back to Stringway one week later:
“I have given your offers serious thought and would like a cash refund for the second quality paint problem. I'm really not interested in any Stringway accessories. Since there is a feeling that the paint was not first quality but sent anyway, and I paid for first quality, I think it is only fair for you to return money to me. I understand it is impossible for you to credit me directly through a credit card, I would like you to wire transfer the 74 Euros($100USD) to Laserfibre for credit to me.”

I did not say ANYTHING to Stringway about adding another $70 for Laseribre in any email communication. That information was from an email that Laserfibre sent to me explaining the complexities of how a wire transfer works. That is not my problem. You do not have your facts straight when you say the Stringway Lab was offered for any reason other than a bribe to make positive posts at TW and Mr. Timmer’s statement proves it. Not only that, your timeline is wrong.

#1 I categorically rejected the Stringway Lab because I categorically refuse to post positive reviews that in my opinion, were not true.

#2 I rejected the table because I already have one that was touchup repainted weeks ago while Stringway was wasting my time making offers and taking them away. What would be the point in having two tables?

#3 Your idea to fix the twisting tensioner is NOT what Stringway is advising. Please get your stories straight! Stringway is suggesting drilling holes in the stringing machine and riveting a plate of some kind. They sent me pictures of what they want me to do. They’re nuts if they think I’m going to do that myself.
You are saying just use a washer with the white plastic things. How many times does it have to be said it is impossible. The plastic things are too long. Mine hang out of the bottom. Your way can’t work. If I got the wrong plastic parts, fine. Don’t you think it proves AGAIN Stringway is even more incompetent than I first questioned? How many things have to be wrong on a single stringing machine before “bad luck” is NOT “bad luck” but really shoddy quality? Is Eagnas quality bad luck or bad quality?

You and Stringway just don’t get it. You keep saying if I am now satisfied with my 200TT, what is the complaint? Like I said before. The complaint is the quality I received and all the things I had to do myself to make my purchase 100%. That might be acceptable in France. It does not work that way here.

"Informed decision-making comes from a long tradition of guessing and then blaming others for inadequate results." Scott Adams

 

[JayCeeParis]

Hello Mr. Mongo,

Thank you for taking the time to clarify the situation, your explanations are quite clear and your reasoning is fine, for the essential I agree with you.

You are right about the bushes (round plastic inserts), if they are too long it means that you were not supplied with the correct parts and therefore the problem was not immediately identified (I don't know how this happened but both you and Lionnie had the same problem). Once identified it was easy to find the solution, but it took too long . . . LF corrected it in their way and apparantly this works.

As for the shoddy paint job, no excuses this is not acceptable and should never have happened in the first place. If the retouched paint is acceptable, then fine, no point in replacing the beam.

As for all the rest, I think that both LF and SW have been trying, each in their own ways, to do what they think is right, but the end result a bit of a mess and I can perfectly understand why you are fed up with it all.

I put in my 2 cents worth to try to help sort it out, sorry if it has only complicated matters.

You have certainly stirred things up, and rightly so, and in the long run this will be beneficial not only for the quality of the machines, but especially for the relation with our clients. I would like to think that some lessons have been learnt and that this situation will not be repeated.

Thanks again,
John.

 

[carpetgrub]

just so you don't feel alone, i've also have gone through the pain. i ordered the machine in May 2006 and after disappointing promises of shipment throughout 2006, i recieved the machine in April 2007. yes, almost a year! my first machine had metal casting problems, air bubbles in the railing. Also, the paint job was less then idea. I was told the bird poop you describe is the diamond dust spray. anyways, laserfibre replaced the turntable but the turnaround was an additional 4 weeks . they salvaged the glide rails for the single clamps to put on the replacement turntable (i say a days work), but it was sitting in shipping for 2.5 weeks. apparently someone forgot to ship it back to me, until i reminded them. add shipping time back to and from and you get the 4 weeks. i'm glad i read your post about the tensioner twisting. i thought this was normal. i just now sent an email to tim to get the parts to fix the issue. it has been an ordeal, but i've been patient. you don't have much choice. the machine itself is very versatile and i don't regret it when the results come out great.