Had a bad experience with a postive turn around. I have an Ingersoll Rand Compressor. Been very happy with it. Many many many hours of trouble free operation. Sunday the motor lit on fire just as I was walking by it . I first thought I lost a one leg on the phase. The motor just gave up the ghost with a fire storm of sparks. Looked like one of those friction wheel toys I played with as a kid.

I am not going to get into the model and start a what if thread.

1)I bought the Inger because they have a good reputation for the money. I spent a few bucks more than the other brand.
2)I have owned I/R products from Impact Sockets to Die Grinders etc and everything in between.
3)I have registered EVERY I/R product I have ever bought for warranty purposes.
4) I have never had a product or tool go bad until now.

The kicker. The motor on this air pusher is way out of warranty. I started surfing the web for a motor and found I was looking at $500 for the motor and shipping as this is a heavy item.

Then I got to thinking. I have started Letter Writing Campaigns in the past and have always gotten my way in the end. I did this with another high end tool brand until they begged me to stop and sent me a replacement along with a few extra gifts to make me go away. It was a David and Goliath thing.

Monday morning 9:00 AM: I call I/R and first call I get a supervisor. The guy was pleasant to deal with. I explained my problem and the flaming motor. He asked for the serial number which I provided. Next thing he says "you have bought a few items from us in the past 20 years". I replied I was always happy with the products. They never broke and even if they cost a litle more I felt it as worth the cost. - Adding MADE IN THE USA.

The supervisor told me the motor is out of warranty. As I am thinking yeah he is right but I thought I would try.....before I could even complete the thought he said "Im going to send you out a replacement NO CHARGE. It will be on your doorstep in 72 hours. No questions asked.

Tuesday morning 8:00 am: I hear a thump on my porch via UPS Heavy Freight. Motor was here. 23 hours later from the first call.

I am impresses by I/R. This is a Global Company that does business the American way. Not too many business's left that handle customers this way. They honor the brand they sell.

In this economy, present state of the world and all other uncertainty I have faith in this country. I/R had no reason to do this but they did and that matters to me.

The warranty invoice that came with the motor is what got me the most. It was printed VIP Customer/ Emergency shipment.

Goliath made David feel important today.

Edit-
Flame out.......left engine Captain!

Nice! Carnage pics are always fun.

Man those are the things that I used to remember about this country , also great to hear about still, sometimes pays to buy USA made and spend a little extra .Keep the good events coming , everyone needs a little lift once in a while.

jaxdream

Wow, I have always bought IR stuff as well but now I know why

Soon as I read this thread I thought of our last teener tuesday and seeing your I/R air tools. Great story about what about what customer service should be like.

Kyle

I've had 3 I/R products in my Amazon wishlist for a while now waiting for cashflow to improve. I feel good about leaving them there.

Like just about everybody else with a "home shop" I have a horrible "oil-less" compressor. It was cheap (in every sense...) when I needed one and had no money for better (and still kicking myself about the 2HP Craftsman compressor I'd used happily for 20 years but just wouldn't fit on the truck for the move outta NV...).

The noisy monster has been completely reliable (so far...) but I have been looking at sh!tcanning the "compressor" part (leaving the big tank) and replacing it with a nice 'real' (oiled-piston) compressor.

IR has moved to the top of that search list, lemme tell you !

Thanks for the post !

Awesome story Jeff.

They just gained another customer; I too have a few tools on my wish list.

Great story. You've also convinced me to start filling out the warranty cards. I always pitched the things thinking I would get a ton of junk mail. I always tried to go with Dotco air tools. They're great tools but they're tool line is small and specific. Quite spendy too. I'll reach for the IR now after hearing this. With all the bad news out there it's great to see someone spreading the good stuff. I think that motor already payed for itself through the loyalty the CS reps actions gained. Sometimes you need to spend money to make money.

IR rocks. I have a few of their tools. They don't break. They work when you need them. I purchased a new 4" pistol grip air grinder from the discount store. (not IR) I oiled it up and went to use it. If failed the first time I touched it to the panel I intended to grind. After messing with it for about 5 minutes I dropped it on the floor and smashed it with a sledge hammer. Doesn't pay to by cheap junk tools.

I have always had extremely good service from my IR tools......


I even nicknamed my impact "Mr. Ingersoll".


Great company... I will pay extra to keep that kind of service around.

I wonder if I call Porsche and tell them my car is not running and up on jackstands will they send me a new one.

The never ending story...................I have been wanting a new compressor for years and will definately buy IR if and when the time comes. I have a Sears 1 Horse twin cylinder compressor I bought new in 1979 that just keeps on running. The foam air filters disintegrated decades ago and I have never changed the oil or tightened the belt. Unbelievable. It has not had a hard life, but jeeez, I may never get a new one. That's right, I said 1979. Its good to hear good things about "made in USA". I will always spend a little extra to buy our stuff.

That is a great testimonial for IR. They are a great company and worth our patronage. I'll bet that everyone has bought a "cheaper tool" that has ended up costing more in the end than a quality tool. . . It's all about quality, customer service and support no matter what the product or service. That 's what wins my business anymore.

I've got an older IR compressor and it's like an old watch. . . tick, tick tick. steady and strong

I just bought a new one and am hooking it up now. That made me feel even better about my decision. Thanks for sharing.

That's Awesome! I have always purchase I/R air tools and compressors. I have not filled out a warranty card in years since I have never had one fail...

Great story.

Is I/R stuff carried at any retail outlets, or is it like Mactools or straight from the company or... ?

Amazon carries them pretty deep (there are 4 flavors of 1/2" drive Ti impact - they have them all), This is on my current wishlist:
1/2" drive Ti 'Quiet' 2" shank impact

But this: 2135TiMAX is the part number of the 'base' 1/2" Ti impact. ask Google about that part number and you'll get many sources.

I'm pretty fond of Amazon for stuff like this since I pay for the free shipping (?) and I get stuff to my door in 2 days for no shipping cost and no sales tax, and for a few bucks more I can get it overnight.

Well, I'm not sure that a company standing by its product is an "American" thing -- I would call it a "professional" thing. I've had plenty of American companies screw me, and the best customer service I ever got was from Kia. Yes, Kia the automaker.

A few years ago I bought a Kia and started having problems almost immediately. Although the dealer and I could agree that it was fuel related issue, I thought the problem was inside the tank and they thought it was probably anything but. So, after they replaced every fuel-system related device that lived outside of the tank with no success in permanently resolving the issue, Kia took the car back. The best part? They classified my loan as "paid off." Drove my credit rating up about 100 points in about 3 months.

Thanks for the info on IR -- I'll keep them at the top of my tool list from now on.

Don't hold your breath ... I had an issue with my 03 car and got no where. My feelings is that with all their non committments ( warrenty) they were able to save enough $ to buy VW.. off rant.

I'm on the cheap end.. I always buy Sears.... pay a bit more and no questions asked for exchange on a new hand tool.

Found at the Harbor Rick ? I had one of those very tools come flying apart ( literally ) after about 3 days use, I put it back together and it did it again. FWIW I will buy IR over Strap On any day.

This was pre-harbor freight days. We have a local low buck tools place. It was an impulse buy. The tool was probably not as bad as my reaction, but I was having a bad employee attendance day and was already pissed off. Just as I smashed the grinder my employee came walking in late and hung over. He didn't leave his job for the rest of the day. Best 20 bucks I ever smashed.