Hi,
i thought i should let people know that there seems to have been a change in Rutlands quality control, or rather a lack of it.
i recently bought a powervice on offer at £90* to find that the vice faces were a staggering 1/4" out of parrallel when closed. Reporting it to the 'kids' in Rutlands i was grilled as to the extent of the fault and had to submit photos before they would accept responsiblity and pay for the return carrage to Derbyshire [*i now see on offer for £60?]
All that being done i had the replacement sent out which, heyho, had one of the vice faces broken off and floating around in the bottom of the box. When i reported this to Rutlands the girl on the phone tried her best to tell me to 'just snap it back on' [not easy with the conecting lugs having snapped off], so she reluctantly agreed to send a replacement. This arrived and this time the vice faces were out of true with the travelling jaw 1/4" higher at one end than the other!
At this point i gave up and bit the bullet, putting it down to experience. i buy a lot of quality gear in a year but after this performance [and one last year when it took eight months to get a faulty replacement part] i've decided not to waste any more time and money with Rutlands, which is a shame after many years buying from them, but to my mind the company has taken a definate dive downwards.
Its also worth noting, and therefore be aware, that their 'Dakota' range of tools isnt as it seems, an American import, but Rutlands own 'cheepo' chinese produced brand. Judging from the packaging, these products come in a container from china and are sent straight out without being checked by Rutlands, thus using customers to conduct their quality controll for them.
Finally take no notice of Rutlands 'customer reviews' as they arent representative of customer views at all. If you write a review that is at all critical or gives a score less than 4 out of 5 it wont get past the Rutlands censor. Yet another sign of what was once a reputable company going teets. Sad really.
cheers, walt wales
i thought i should let people know that there seems to have been a change in Rutlands quality control, or rather a lack of it.
i recently bought a powervice on offer at £90* to find that the vice faces were a staggering 1/4" out of parrallel when closed. Reporting it to the 'kids' in Rutlands i was grilled as to the extent of the fault and had to submit photos before they would accept responsiblity and pay for the return carrage to Derbyshire [*i now see on offer for £60?]
All that being done i had the replacement sent out which, heyho, had one of the vice faces broken off and floating around in the bottom of the box. When i reported this to Rutlands the girl on the phone tried her best to tell me to 'just snap it back on' [not easy with the conecting lugs having snapped off], so she reluctantly agreed to send a replacement. This arrived and this time the vice faces were out of true with the travelling jaw 1/4" higher at one end than the other!
At this point i gave up and bit the bullet, putting it down to experience. i buy a lot of quality gear in a year but after this performance [and one last year when it took eight months to get a faulty replacement part] i've decided not to waste any more time and money with Rutlands, which is a shame after many years buying from them, but to my mind the company has taken a definate dive downwards.
Its also worth noting, and therefore be aware, that their 'Dakota' range of tools isnt as it seems, an American import, but Rutlands own 'cheepo' chinese produced brand. Judging from the packaging, these products come in a container from china and are sent straight out without being checked by Rutlands, thus using customers to conduct their quality controll for them.
Finally take no notice of Rutlands 'customer reviews' as they arent representative of customer views at all. If you write a review that is at all critical or gives a score less than 4 out of 5 it wont get past the Rutlands censor. Yet another sign of what was once a reputable company going teets. Sad really.
cheers, walt wales
