Complaints

• Initial Complaint

  05/04/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I am writing to file a complaint against Voorwood regarding a recent purchase of their A15 miter lock shaper machine. Despite being told by their sales team that the machine would meet our specific needs, it has proven to be unsuitable for our type of work, running large 4' x 10' veneer panels, and has caused significant disruptions to our operations.We purchased the A15 with the intention of using it for lock mitering long elevations of veneer-matched wall panels. However, since its installation on April 4th, 2023, we have not been able to run a single panel through the machine. The panels track away from the machine causing the miters to not be acceptable. Even Voorwood's own technician was unable to get the machine to run correctly, which suggests that it is not as simple to operate and maintain as we were led to believe.In addition to being unable to perform its advertised capabilities, the A15 poses a significant risk to our operations. We cannot afford to have the machine ruin a panel in a run of paneling on one of our jobs, as this would cost us time and money to remake all the panels. We have already had to stop production for almost two weeks, disconnect the power and dust collection on our old setup, install the A15, hook up power and dust collection, only to tear it all down, and go back to what we had.Our confidence level in the A15 is now zero, and we believe it is not suited for our type of work. We have tried to use the machine for several weeks, but it has not been able to run a single acceptable panel. This is not cost-effective for ** and has caused significant disruptions to our operations.We request a resolution from Voorwood, such as a refund or replacement of the machine, as well as compensation for any additional costs or lost production time that we have incurred as a result of the issues with the A15.

  Business response

  05/18/2023

  It is Voorwoods sentiment that the machine in question will produce a lock mitered joint as presented by the sales team. After the customer was unable to resolve the tracking issue we sent a technician, at no charge to them, to investigate the situation. Our technician arrived on 4/18/23 and began looking into the issue. When he arrived, he found the edge guide had been skewed and was out of alignment for tracking parts. Once that was corrected, small parts would feed through the machine as expected but they were still having issues feeding the large 4 x10 parts into the machine and keeping them aligned properly against the fence. The customer expressed to the technician that he expected a 4 x 10 part to be placed into the machine and the operator be able to let go of the part and it should track straight into the machine, on its own, with no help from the operator. This is a next to impossible task without a feeding system, which was not requested. Long parts must be assisted against the edge guide because most of the part is extended outside the infeed table of the machine. The customer had installed roll cases before and after the machine which were also influencing the part causing it not to track correctly.  On the morning of the third day, April 20th, our technician was given an ultimatum to have the machine done by 11AM or pack up his things and they would return the machine.We explained to them that we should be able to help them with a solution, but we needed more time, which they refused to give us. We also explained to them that the issue is not with the machine. Despite us sending a technician free of charge, it became clear that the customer was dictating their own expectation and timeline. They then indicated that Voorwood should return the machine regardless of the real issue. Voorwood has made several attempts to contact the customer and work out a resolution, with no response. Our contention is that we made a machine to order, based on what was requested, and sent our technician in good faith, at no cost, to evaluate the issue. We believe the customersresponse to be unreasonable and our commitment to help resolve the issue remains.

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