Bought a Jet Mini

Almost takes the fun away:

To whom it may concern, I have recently purchased several JET woodworking shop tools and, on the whole, I am generally satisfied. The wormanship and machining on my JET 12" Band Saw, purchased last week, and the JET Mini Lathe that was just delivered last night appear to be the highest quality. Unfortunately the shape my Mini Lathe was delivered in has left me concerned and disappointed. The tool was ordered through Amazon.com and shipped via United Parcel Service. The box appears to have been dropped several times and generally mishandled somewhere from your factory to my residence. The box had been resealed several times (packing tape applied over your nylon shipping bands), the corners of the box have been scraped open, the interior packing foam was severely damaged, and the accessory packages were not located in their appropriate compartments. The vinyl covered handle on the motor lever has been torn on the leading edge and several places on the main body of the lathe have obviously been touched up with paint, epoxy, or some similar material in an attempt to hide manufacturing deficencies. To make matters worse, as I was eating dinner last night there was a knock on the door, and by the time I answered it the UPS truck was pulling out of my driveway with the Mini Lathe sitting on my gravel driveway in an upright position, leaving me no recourse to examine the package in the Driver's presence. I have also ordered a JET 10" contractors saw through Amazon.com, which has yet to ship due to availability issues and my concerns have been risen to the point of re-thinking A) my purchase, and B) my purchase location. I have yet to operate my lathe in case there are issues with abuse or neglect on my part. I have taken several digital pictures to demonstrate the condition of the delivery, and they are available upon the request of any of the parties addressed here. Purchaser: Eric X. XXXXXXXX Tool Purchased: JET Mini Lathe JML-1014 Serial #: 4022952 Purchased From: Amazon.com Order Summary #XX-XXXXXX-XXXXX April 30, 2004 Shipping Method: United Parcel Service Tracking #: XXXXXXXXXXXX

I had a very similar experience with the Jet mini lathe I bought last summer. In addition to the lathe, I also ordered the bed extension, and neither were in what I call "acceptable condition". The handwheel on the tailstock was broken, and some of the feet on the lathe were missing ... could possibly have fallen out of one of the many holes in the box. I first called Amazon, and they asked me to call Jet, who told me to talk to Amazon ... etc. , etc., adnausium. In the end, a very helpful person from Jet customer support took care of the issue, and I was shipped new parts to replace the broken ones.

The bed extension was another story, though. The box was in no better shape than that of the lathe, but on first inspection, it looked like the pieces were all there, and there was no visible damage. The I noticed that the end of the extension was convex, and I took a look at the inside of the piece. If I didn't know better, I would guess that someone took a 10# sledge, and beat the inside until there was a crack that ran off in three directions from the center of the end. Using the palm of my hand, I pushed against the outside of the end piece, and the whole thing just caved in. It stayed in one whole piece, but you could wiggle it in and out at least 1/2". I decided I didn't need the extension after all, but then got screwed by Jet for shipping charges to return the piece.

So for me personally, I will think twice about ordering tools from Amazon.com again. While my mini lathe runs great, I would probably also think twice about ordering Jet tools ... at least sight unseen.

tms