Thread: Fine Tools Australia

Originally Posted by Lappa

I bought some stepper controllers over eBay from a seller supposedly in Darwin. Parts arrived but were not the same as those advertised after done testing and Google searching - cheap copies.
Paypal found in my favour and offered a full refund as long as I returned them. Fair enough - not too bad to send to Darwin.
Then I got the return address and it was China. I complained to Paypal that I had bought them in good faith from Darwin but they said if I wanted a refund I would have to send to China. It was too expensive - would have got about $5 back after freight.

The last few items I have bought on eBay all have a Sydney suburb address but when they arrive they have come from China. eBay won’t do anything about it even though it really is false advertising.

This is why I now always pay with Paypal using my CC. Two layers of protection.

Get refund via Paypal when you can (since its faster/easier) but when they demand return work out how much return is via Auspost with tracking. If <$45 return the item and get your refund and use Paypal's return shipping reimbursement.

If its going to cost >$45, complain to the seller that it is unreasonable that you should pay for return shipping for their mistake/crappy product and when they refuse contact your CC. All CC wants is for you to try and resolve the issue and have this documented. If you try you will get your refund.

Originally Posted by Lappa

I bought some stepper controllers over eBay from a seller supposedly in Darwin. Parts arrived but were not the same as those advertised after done testing and Google searching - cheap copies.
Paypal found in my favour and offered a full refund as long as I returned them. Fair enough - not too bad to send to Darwin.
Then I got the return address and it was China. I complained to Paypal that I had bought them in good faith from Darwin but they said if I wanted a refund I would have to send to China. It was too expensive - would have got about $5 back after freight.

The last few items I have bought on eBay all have a Sydney suburb address but when they arrive they have come from China. eBay won’t do anything about it even though it really is false advertising.

Originally Posted by LanceC

Lappa, I have taken to giving a negative feedback when falsely advertising the origin. They know that they are being deceptive.

Make a formal complaint to The Office of Fair Trading in your state and to the ACCC. False, misleading or deceptive conduct is illegal under Australian consumer legislation.

Hopefully the "Australian" side of these shoddy outfits can be shut down and the people behind them prosecuted.

Originally Posted by derekcohen

Here's the interesting part: Mujingfang wrote back to say that the plane in question was a counterfeit of their plane. And ... wait for it ... their agent in Australia is Fine Tools Australia!

So the message is if you're looking for Mujingfang in Australia, you're boned

Originally Posted by derekcohen

........I wrote to Mujingfang to explain that EBuy7 were selling poor examples and their service stunk.

Here's the interesting part: Mujingfang wrote back to say that the plane in question was a counterfeit of their plane. ...........

Regards from Perth

Derek

Hi Derek

What you report is absolutely scurilous. Some one has the temerity to counterfeit a good, honest Chinese product! Where, oh where, is the world headed?

More seriously, I have a few Mujingfang products - bought from their HQ in Hong Kong - a tiny block plane and a couple of spoke shaves and they all look good and work acceptably. They certainly lack that wow factor of Terry Gordon's products and even the aura of sound engineering of ECE Primus's, but OK users. Only issue I have had, so far unresolved, is a tendency for the wedges to work loose. All have been quite precisely fettled so I do not thing it is due to inaccurate fitting - latest suspicions is that the timber used may be insufficiently resilient, or that the wedges may be too sharply tapered. Still usable, but annoying.


Fair Winds

Graeme

Graeme, I have had good experiences with Mujingfang in the past. Indeed, I was an early user - about 25 years ago.

I may rebuild this "Muji" - can we think of an appropriate name? - if bored and feeling a little creative.

Regards from Perth

Derek

Originally Posted by derekcohen

......I may rebuild this "Muji" - can we think of an appropriate name? - if bored and feeling a little creative.

Regards from Perth

Derek

Mmmm, Derek

New body, new wedge, Japanese blade and chip breaker - definitely some potential there.

The name may be more difficult. Last month I described some photos of IanW's delightful planes as tool pawn except that I used an alternative spelling of pawn. The politically correct moderator struck and deleted the offending word as WWF is a pawn-free zone, literally.


Cheers

Graeme

Just reviving this thread...... has anyone had any luck contacting or getting a response from Jason? I sent a rabbet block plane back in December after we chatted about it. Auspost shows delivery mid jan. Can’t get a response at all from them, didn’t realize things were so bad with them until I read this post.

Ordered a set (8) of Narex mortice chisels from Artesan. No timely delivery. No response to emails. Finally, eight weeks after the order, 6 of the eight chisels arrived. No note, no explanation, no back order. Unfortunately I came across Derek's complaints on this site only after I had my own. Never again Artesan and never again FineToolsAustralia (they have the same ABN). For Narex, I had excellent service from DubbeldWoodTools in Qld.

Remember that if you pay by credit card, you can hand the problem over to the cc card company. They have to fight on your behalf, and more often than not will reverse the charge and refund you. I suspect there are consequences for the offending company because they tend to get very upset when you do this - serves them right for messing customers around.

Originally Posted by Andrew007

Ordered a set (8) of Narex mortice chisels from Artesan. No timely delivery. No response to emails. Finally, eight weeks after the order, 6 of the eight chisels arrived. No note, no explanation, no back order. Unfortunately I came across Derek's complaints on this site only after I had my own. Never again Artesan and never again FineToolsAustralia (they have the same ABN). For Narex, I had excellent service from DubbeldWoodTools in Qld.

Yes, same here finding the comments too late. Randomly 3 months after it was sent back, Jason has responded and even sent out a replacement plane so I will complain no more. Not sure what’s going on but will be my last order also.

I have just been reading through this thread and all I can add is the quote from Benjamin Franklin as follows.

"The bitterness of poor quality remains long after the sweetness of low price is forgotten"

You blokes have received exactly what you paid for it seems.

Col.
Lara, Vic.

Col, it's the service they're complaining about, not the quality of the tools. You can receive poor service regardless of the quality of the tools you're purchasing. The only way you can avoid a seller who provides poor service is to be pre-warned, which is exactly what this thread is about.

The next time you receive poor service from a seller think about how palatable it would be to you if someone told you you 'received exactly what you paid for'.

Not to mention you're just as likely to be shafted by a company charging top dollar as you are by the small guy. Probably more so, big companies can afford to fight back.

I have brought from FT once some time ago and never had an issue, but it appears that things have gone south since then for whatever reason.
I just did a quick comparison of a couple of planes between them and Timbecon and the prices are exactly the same so it seems that it would be foolish to continue to support FT if all you are going to get is disappointment.