I've shared some of my recent experiences with Wilson CS within a few other threads, but thought I would make my own post for awareness. I just want others to be forewarned in advance if they are contemplating a Wilson stringing machine. I have owned a Baiardo L for 2.5 years now and back in April I started trying to track down a set of rails and the push down bases from the regular Baiardo in order to upgrade mine. I spent close to a month sending emails back and forth between Wilson and JC at that time.
First of all, the general Wilson customer service won’t answer questions about the stringing machines, they sent me to JC. JC doesn’t stock the parts, he suggested I reach back out to Wilson because he thought they could get them before he could. So Wilson ended up passing me off to another customer service team that services their B2B site. That team basically said they only provide support and sell parts to their dealer network. So not only did they not have them in stock either, but even if they did they refused to sell them to me because I’m not a pro shop.
So then I once again circled back to JC to let him know Wilson informed me he was my only option because they apparently route all the servicing of their machines through him. So he said he would place me on his backorder list since he didn't have them in stock. Fast forward to now, I've followed up with JC a few different times since seeing if he had any ETA yet. He is now telling me that they aren't expecting the base clamps until January at the earliest and he again suggested I reach out to Wilson to see if they could get them sooner (been there, done that, multiple times now).
In hindsight, I now have regrets purchasing a Wilson stringing machine due to the non-existant support. I couldn't imagine if stringing was my primary source of income and I had a machine go down and the delays were impacting my primary revenue source. I honestly expected the opposite, as one of the deciding factors in buying this machine was I was under the impression parts and service would be superior given how long they’ve been in production and sold by one of the largest retailers. I think it’s absurd they’ll sell these machines to the general public, but then turn around and refuse to offer any support or make parts available for them.
I know there's been several threads recently where people are looking for feedback as you're considering purchasing a stringing machine, so I thought I would share this experience for those of you to take into consideration.
First of all, the general Wilson customer service won’t answer questions about the stringing machines, they sent me to JC. JC doesn’t stock the parts, he suggested I reach back out to Wilson because he thought they could get them before he could. So Wilson ended up passing me off to another customer service team that services their B2B site. That team basically said they only provide support and sell parts to their dealer network. So not only did they not have them in stock either, but even if they did they refused to sell them to me because I’m not a pro shop.
So then I once again circled back to JC to let him know Wilson informed me he was my only option because they apparently route all the servicing of their machines through him. So he said he would place me on his backorder list since he didn't have them in stock. Fast forward to now, I've followed up with JC a few different times since seeing if he had any ETA yet. He is now telling me that they aren't expecting the base clamps until January at the earliest and he again suggested I reach out to Wilson to see if they could get them sooner (been there, done that, multiple times now).
In hindsight, I now have regrets purchasing a Wilson stringing machine due to the non-existant support. I couldn't imagine if stringing was my primary source of income and I had a machine go down and the delays were impacting my primary revenue source. I honestly expected the opposite, as one of the deciding factors in buying this machine was I was under the impression parts and service would be superior given how long they’ve been in production and sold by one of the largest retailers. I think it’s absurd they’ll sell these machines to the general public, but then turn around and refuse to offer any support or make parts available for them.
I know there's been several threads recently where people are looking for feedback as you're considering purchasing a stringing machine, so I thought I would share this experience for those of you to take into consideration.