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The EXT is definitely worth the extra money and are in line with the Dynasty's on performance and features. I'd even recommend the PowerTIG 350EXT if you are looking for something similar to what you had, and a quarter to third of the price most likely.Originally Posted by micweld
Concerns about longevity? With the longest warranty in the business? People have tried to demean the warranty for a long time, saying we wouldn't last long enough (12 years ago we started the 5 year warranty), or that we wouldn't stand behind it. If we didn't stand behind our warranty, we'd be sued and out of business. Everything breaks. People are human, and there are always cracks in the system.
But people who say that we don't offer good support, usually do one of several things, or a combination of them.
1) They go online blaming the unit before they read the manual, or call tech support. They for some reason use the phone as a last resort. They'll email and want a full resolution over email and refuse to use the wonder of a cell phone. Service crawls via email. Some are self proclaimed misanthropes, others are but don't realize it.
2) People leave their unit sitting in a box (and this happened just the other day, but has happened time and time again) for 4 years before trying it out. Something goes wrong and they want us to cover shipping since it "was new" or just had an hour on it. We stand behind our warranty. It is printed on our website for all to see, and copy down.
3) A company buys a new welder from us, but their top "employee" despises the fact they didn't get the company to spring for a 10k machine. So they intentionally abuse and damage the machine. This has happened time and time again. Even though it may operate slightly different (but properly) than the machine they wanted, they'll tell their boss something is "wrong" with the machine. Fortunately, since we've stated this before, many bosses are now getting wiser, and it a much less common issue. I've had bosses tell me that this is what they suspected and listened in on the conversation, and things suddenly change.
4) People often try to blackmail when something does happen. They'll send letters saying, "well I will go on Welding Web if you don't send me a new unit, and talk bad about the machine."
5) They don't read the warranty terms. They are in black in white on our website, and under the tab at the very top that says "warranty". Our warranty is similar to the other brands in terms. But they will say it isn't...but it is.
6) They get mad at having to ship a unit back. This is the standard statement in Miller and other's warranty as well. We cover parts and labor. You cover shipping AFTER the first 30 days, which the first 30 days cover shipping both ways, and comes with an additional satisfaction warranty. If something is wrong, send it back for a refund if that is what you prefer. Or send it in and we'll cover the warranty and shipping during this time. FWIW the first 30 days is the critical time during a warranty. For customers that use their machines that is. If something is going to go wrong, most of the time it does it then. Some people equate this with "lack of service" or "not standing behind our product". No we sell a unit for a lower profit margin and a third of the price. Budget a little more to spend in reserve for the money you save, in case something does happen, which, of course, nobody wants, but reality is this site is full of all major players here with problems with their units. We are not alone.
7) Believe it or not, some people don't want to take the offer of replacing their own part to save on shipping. Our units have been for some time nearly all plug and play on parts. Most repairs if the user is qualified can be done with simple tools and takes 30 minutes or less of your time.
8) A small thing is perceived to go wrong, but the operator is never wrong. Or at least this is the most common issue we face. We get calls saying "There is something wrong with your machine I bought". First it is "your machine" that is a signal word. Instead of "my machine", they automatically signal that they are already in their mind sending the unit back. No person likes to be told they are the problem. We have tried a multitude of ways. Some people will be offended no matter how we do it. I frequently have customers that say "I've tried all the settings", when I attempt a diagnosis. They'll say "Something is wrong with the unit"...but 1) have not read the manual 2) already have the unit boxed up. But when you say you've tried "everything", more than likely the problem is staring you in the face and you didn't read the manual. The other day I have a person tell me he had been welding 30 years and shouldn't need to have to read the manual. He was stubborn about it. I finally told him I could not help him unless we were on the same page in terminology. He finally relented, and found out he had the torch on the wrong terminal. He was a rare one though. When people take this attitude, we are wrong already. There is nothing that we can say to them but "ship it back, we'll pay to have it overnighted back and we'll send you another unit and throw in a bunch of extra consumables for the inconvenience, and we'll send you a loaner overnight in the mean time." to make them happy. More than half of my calls can and are resolved over the phone. To make this warranty thing work, we have to go over the basics, and trouble shoot over the phone. Many get ticked off if we ask them elementary questions, because it is like we are questioning their integrity or knowledge. Those are the ones that go all over the place complaining about warranty. But those are the ones likely to have the smallest problems, and the ones most likely to have no issue at all but refuse to cooperate in any investigation as to the cause.
9) Some people want a overnight repair. We understand "unit down" issues, and try to cooperate, but cannot provide this service to every customer. We have to make decisions that don't please everyone. Other customers don't want their repairs shuffled back either. If it isn't back within a week of shipping it out, people get mad and say we take too long. Average repair time runs between 2 to 4 weeks. But seasonally, and very occasionally it can run longer. This is hardest on people that have only one unit in their shop and make their living with it. We do understand and try to make it painless as possible. But it we are human, and make mistakes. Sometimes we repair something, and find out after testing something else in the chain has failed or fails after being load banked because the initial problem stressed the components.
Now, of course, yes, there are failures with the units occasionally. The repair facility that we equip also repairs other name brands. I asked the owner the other day about repair issues, and he told me they were "mild" in comparison with other name brands on most things. We've gone out of our way to equip and train our staff in Tennessee. Not only flying them to the factory in China, and flying factory personnel to our office in CA for common training and brain storming problems, but also we've made sure that the repair facility is more than a "swap" shop. They have the latest programming, testing and repair equipment, even to the point of having specially built equipment from the factory to rebuild, test, and repair. Your average service center on other brands is little more than a swap shop with an oscilloscope, a volt meter and a soldering iron. Ours is more than that...way more. Yes, we have one, but it is the best equipped one you will find in almost any welder repair shop in the country. And yes, I've been in others for comparison.
Our pricing is much cheaper than anyone elses. We do this by eliminating the middle man, and operating on a little lower profit margin. Eliminating the middle man removes the "complaint" buffer that exists at a brick and mortar shop. The brick and mortar shops "eat up" a lot of complaints. For us, the first line of complaint isn't the counter guy at a LWS, but it is every forum and social media site on the internet. For some reason, people still don't think to call us. Or when they do, the unit is packed up and ready for return, then they get irate about answering questions.
I've messed up with customers in the past. I probably still will. I am human. I try not to be, but I am at the end of the day, a father, husband, brother and son. I have cares and concerns just like everyone else in the company and we have a bad day once in a while.
But anyone who knows me, I will go out of my way if you 1) Don't try to cuss at me and call me a redneck for my southern accent. Profanity is my hot spot. I don't cuss at customers, and well, if they cuss at me, I am not inclined to do anything that is not spelled out in the warranty, if you know what I mean. 2) Listen to what I am trying to have you to do, instead of saying "I already tried everything". That helps nothing, and gets nowhere. That is like a Doctor asking you "where does it hurt" and you tell him at some point and time, you've hurt everywhere. 3) Don't tell me what you think the problem is and here is what you want me to do to fix it. After 12 years with the company and after handling tens of thousands of customers calls (or more?) I have a purpose for asking the questions I ask. Sometimes the questions I ask may make you feel that I think you are an idiot. (which most of the time I don't unless you show me that you are), but there are numerous common operating errors that are made by even 40 year veterans of the industry that are simply because they are welding with something new, but didn't read the manual. 2) Don't lie to me and say you read the manual, and tell me what the manual told you to do...because I wrote most of the online manuals...and the newer ones put in the box. Lying to me about what the manual said to do, or that you read it, tells me that there is more than a 50/50 chance the operator is the issue, or you are trying to defend tearing up the unit. 4) Genuinely read the manual, instead of me being nothing more than your quick setup guide. I don't mind that if you are starting at ground 0 with welding, but those guys never tell me "I already tried everything".
People tend to buy a unit based off what is stated that the maximum a unit will do. And then they buy it planning on using it at that maximum. My reply to this, is like, you don't buy a car to redline it all day do you? But for some reason, when you buy a welder, people do.
As far as lasting, our units are out there and have been ticking along daily in everything from the Aerospace industry, to the Auto-Body industry, to the MotorSports industry, to the ship building industry. We have people with not only one or two welders, but 5, 6 or more units. We've replaced whole lines of the Dynasty's with our PowerTIGs in many shops.
More than one person has stated, that they can buy two, keep one in reserve in case something happens to the other, and then still save 30% over the competition.
The overwhelming 99.5% of our customers are great to deal with, especially through a warranty repair. But the .5% (or less actually) can make it seem like we are the worst thing in the world if they don't want to follow the warranty rules, or think they don't apply to them.
