by Wizard9999 » 27 Sep 2014, 17:02
Oh dear, what a disappointment.
Bit of traffic so arrived a minute or so late, but no matter as nothing had happened. Only one other soul there at the start anyway.
So a chap who basically tells us he was only shown how to use a P/T the day before starts to take us through how to set up and use one. Now I don't own one, but frankly even I could have imparted as much useful information as this guy did. In fact when it came to switching from Planer to Thicknesser he had to get his manager over as he couldn't remember how to use the machine. Said manager then proceeds to run a piece of wood through the Thicknesser without turning on the extraction and jams it up.
When they were explaining about the blades on the P/T I thought it was my opportunity to ask what Tersa knives were (read about them, but no idea what they are). Blank looks all round from the Axminster staff who all agreed that none of them had ever heard of them. Ironically, when I got home I thought I'd look it up on the Internet and the second highest ranked 'hit' for a search on Tersa knives is a link to the fact that Axminster sell them (not for one of their own machines, but for a Rojek). Well I guess Axminster in Basingstoke don't sell many of them.
Don't get me wrong, I don't blame the poor guy doing his best to show us the features of the P/T or how to use it. He should never have been put in this position by Axminster.
A shambles that reflects badly on the company. I know the Basingstoke store is quite new, but I am afraid I have no confidence in the competence of the staff there and do not feel I could expect an informed answer to any request for advice I might have. So I do not think they will be getting much of the money I will be spending on new kit in the near future!
Terry.