1 reviews | Active since Nov 2020
RYOBI & Stevens & Co - Pathetic Products with "backed by" Pathetic service
I'm not holding my breath that anything will come from this, as I notice that these companies don't even reply on this website...
Anyway - As a home DIYer, we are almost "forced" to buy the Ryobi products - from a budget point of view. And I have a range of Ryobi products that I've purchased over the years - 50l Compressor, Mouse Sander, Orbital Sander, Router, Spray Gun, Leaf Blower/Vacuum, Corded Drill & the 254mm Table Saw... They all seem to work to some extent, but the quality & accuracy is absolutely pathetic! The straw that broke the camel's back is the Table Saw - 1st of all, the miter slot is not parallel to the saw blade (This is a BASIC functionality to do cross-cuts at an angle - mostly 90degree - which is impossible as the miter slot runs towards the blade, which is unsafe and simply dangerous!) There is also minimal adjustability for this, because of a poor design - Stevens & Co (also pathetic service delivery - see below...) Then to set the cut depth, the blade must be able to be raised - this action is also a BASIC functionality that doesn't work on this model - the blade comes out skew - which means, I cannot even make a zero-clearance throat plate as the gaps on either side of the blade ends up about 5mm wider than where the blade enters from... Then when I took it to Stevens & Co, (agents for Ryobi) to see if they can adjust this poorly designed/manufactured product. Well, they first said that it's an easy adjustment that would only be R190 or so, took 3 weeks to do - then AFTER I had to phone in 3 times to get feedback on the table saw, they said it was ready to be collected... So on arrival for collection, they couldn't find the table saw, then when they finally brought it out, it was covered in saw dust and my hand made zero clearance throat plate was missing & was replaced with a 2nd hand Ryobi standard throat plate (which I still have at home - now I have 2...) When asked about my throat plate, they couldn't find it said the guy that worked on the machine is off sick & will be back on Friday the 28th April - it's now Another week later & Still no phone call...AGAIN!!! Then when I checked the miter slot to the blade, it was still not parallel to the blade - and I thought they didn't charge me because they took so long to phone me (whether they forgot or just didn't do the work, I'll never know...) The worst part is that they told me that the blade raising skew, "is normal - the new one on the floor also does that..." So PATHETIC PRODUCTS together with PATHETIC service, makes me wonder how do they sell so many products (apparently)...
Like I said - the straw that broke the camel's back! I will NEVER buy another Ryobi product! EVER!!!
From Eric's side, he has Really tried to make good on what the original review was about. So Thank You again Eric - 10/10 for your tact, business etiquette & effort.
But... unfortunately, there is only so much a person can do - the rest is still up to the actual product to do what they were intended to do...
So Eric replaced & upgraded my entry level table saw (+-R5000 valued) with a more than double the value table saw, with even more extra functionalities. The problem Still lies with the following:
1) The Miter Gauges that comes with both these models, are totally useless - they have huge slack inside the miter slots & there's just No Way you can cut consistent 90 degree cross cuts.
2) The miter slot Still does not run parallel with the saw blade - which was why I sent the 1st table saw in to Stephens & Co for adjustment (as they said that they can fix it), then only got it back 3 weeks later, Still not fixed & they lost my Zero Clearance throatplate... And I did try to adjust them both myself without success & that first one came back the same - Not Parallel. This also makes it impossible to even make a Crosscut Sled for the table saw to "work around" the useless miter gauge.
3) The fences on both these models are also not great - 1st one was worse than the 2nd one, which is Slightly better, but I had to place shims at the mounts to correct the 2mm difference between beginning of the blade to the end of the blade & have to clamp down the furthest end with a clamp on every cut as there's flex in the fence as it is not tightened on the furthest side.
When Eric followed up with a phone call in Nov last year, I felt so bad that I haven't made the follow up review yet & I said to him the following:
If Ryobi could make/source a Basic Table saw that can do The Basics 100% (without all the "bells & whistles") , then they would sell Way more table saws & have a better reputation behind their brand plus obviously not dealing with customer complaints as much... Leave all the extras like the Router Mount & Fence, Sliding Table-side, Adjustable Extension, etc. off & just give people a saw that has a miter gauge that can cut 90 degrees / miters properly & accurately every time, a miter slot that is parallel to the blade (OR at least a proper way to adjust it) & a fence that can stay parallel to the blade. I said the new table saw looks great, the table top seems better machined, the throatplate is worse than the original one (the more expensive one is now plastic where the old one was metal at least, but they cut/machined the left side of the blade (a 45degree into the table) to accommodate beveled cuts, but this also prevents one from making a Decent Zero-clearance throat plate as it only inserts on the right of the blade and you cannot make one to rest on a 45 degree piece of the table. BUT I still cannot use the miter gauge/slot & I've already fully adjusted the blade/motor to its max.
So now I have a more expensive table saw, that still doesn't do the basics right with a huge, heavy box full of unused "bells & whistles", that I haven't really got space for...
But Again - Thank You Eric - I wish more companies have people like you in their Customer Service Departments that understands what their job entails, understands how their actions can affect the future of a company & then Really goes out of their way to resolve issues. You are a Real asset to your company!
Keep up the good work!!
From Eric's side, he has Really tried to make good on what the original review was about. So Thank You again Eric - 10/10 for your tact, business etiquette & effort.
But... unfortunately, there is only so much a person can do - the rest is still up to the actual product to do what they were intended to do...
So Eric replaced & upgraded my entry level table saw (+-R5000 valued) with a more than double the value table saw, with even more extra functionalities. The problem Still lies with the following:
1) The Miter Gauges that comes with both these models, are totally useless - they have huge slack inside the miter slots & there's just No Way you can cut consistent 90 degree cross cuts.
2) The miter slot Still does not run parallel with the saw blade - which was why I sent the 1st table saw in to Stephens & Co for adjustment (as they said that they can fix it), then only got it back 3 weeks later, Still not fixed & they lost my Zero Clearance throatplate... And I did try to adjust them both myself without success & that first one came back the same - Not Parallel. This also makes it impossible to even make a Crosscut Sled for the table saw to "work around" the useless miter gauge.
3) The fences on both these models are also not great - 1st one was worse than the 2nd one, which is Slightly better, but I had to place shims at the mounts to correct the 2mm difference between beginning of the blade to the end of the blade & have to clamp down the furthest end with a clamp on every cut as there's flex in the fence as it is not tightened on the furthest side.
When Eric followed up with a phone call in Nov last year, I felt so bad that I haven't made the follow up review yet & I said to him the following:
If Ryobi could make/source a Basic Table saw that can do The Basics 100% (without all the "bells & whistles") , then they would sell Way more table saws & have a better reputation behind their brand plus obviously not dealing with customer complaints as much... Leave all the extras like the Router Mount & Fence, Sliding Table-side, Adjustable Extension, etc. off & just give people a saw that has a miter gauge that can cut 90 degrees / miters properly & accurately every time, a miter slot that is parallel to the blade (OR at least a proper way to adjust it) & a fence that can stay parallel to the blade. I said the new table saw looks great, the table top seems better machined, the throatplate is worse than the original one (the more expensive one is now plastic where the old one was metal at least, but they cut/machined the left side of the blade (a 45degree into the table) to accommodate beveled cuts, but this also prevents one from making a Decent Zero-clearance throat plate as it only inserts on the right of the blade and you cannot make one to rest on a 45 degree piece of the table. BUT I still cannot use the miter gauge/slot & I've already fully adjusted the blade/motor to its max.
So now I have a more expensive table saw, that still doesn't do the basics right with a huge, heavy box full of unused "bells & whistles", that I haven't really got space for...
But Again - Thank You Eric - I wish more companies have people like you in their Customer Service Departments that understands what their job entails, understands how their actions can affect the future of a company & then Really goes out of their way to resolve issues. You are a Real asset to your company!
Keep up the good work!!