I recently bought an 18V Metabo cordless drill. I wanted a Bosch or Dewalt, but decided to try the Metabo since I have long heard about this venerable German toolmaker, and they seem to be aggressively trying to enter the regional market here with some good deals.
Several months later the chuck started slipping until the drill became unusable, and I returned it for service under the one-year warranty. After a few weeks the drill came back with a $60 price tag for the repair. The guys at the repair desk said they had to charge me because Metabo was charging them. There is a clause in the Metabo warranty that states that any repair sent in for warranty service will not be honored if the factory deemed that the problem wasn’t due to a defect in manufacture. Apparently an internal set screw had come loose, and I guess they didn’t think that proper torquing down of an internal screw fell under the responsibilities of the factory!
That’s not the worst of it. The guys at the repair desk told me that about 85-90% of the warranty repairs that get sent to Metabo are being rejected for just such bogus reasons. The factory “deems that the problem was not due to a defect in manufacture,” even though it clearly is, and they charge for the repair.
Long story short I got a new drill from the local store, because we do something like a zillion dollars with them every year and they know to keep me happy. But I sure was unhappy to find out that: A, the Metabo warranty is so worthless, and B. the tools guys didn’t warn me about this problem when I bought the tool in the first place. I mean, if I had known that Metabo’s warranty was nearly worthless, I would have paid an extra ten or fifteen bucks and bought the Bosch to begin with.
I’d be curious to know if anybody else has had these kinds of problems with Metabo tools.
Replies
scorch
When I lived in TX one of the tool stores that I went to started carrying Metabo tools. I was considering buying their chop saw and seriously looking at some of their other tools as well.
Pedro, the counter guy told me that they were having some issues with warrenty stuff and that they were going to discontinue carrying Metabo shortly. Well two months later I go into the store and everything Metabo is gone! Pedro said that people were swearing off the stuff, I decided not to give any of their stuff another look.
There must be something to it though because I'm not seeing the stuff around, anywhere.
Doug
That is a darned shame. I owned Metabo stuff in the 80's, and it was very very good. It sounds as if some corporate raider took 'em over and is gutting the company for quick profit.
Bill
Check the label, probably did not originate in Germany....
No, I'm sure it was made in China like everything else. I think even some Bosch stuff is made in China. But the company is reputable old German company from before WWII. They have a great reputation and I was hoping for a better experience from them. I wasn't altogether dissatisfied with the quality of the tool. Except for the problem that was repaired, the performance, power, ergonomics of the tool were all fairly competitive to other pro brands.