Silverline Tools - Selective ratings ?

Wayne3765

I recently bought a Silverline 115mm 500 Watt angle grinder and it burnt out within five minutes of light use.

Video here of it's final moments -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j64fllj7WYY

I left an honest but factual review on the item page but it appears they do not like customers leaving low ratings as my review has not been posted up.

They claim that

Silverline Tools has a zero-tolerance policy on fake reviews

Maybe they should have a zero tolerance policy to fixing ratings.

Would Trading Standards etc be interested in a Company fixing ratings to make a product look better than it actually is ?

Wayne3765

I had it's replacement delivered today .

I decided not to chance another Silverline toy , I tried a ROK from Toolbox instead and what a difference.

I managed to finish the job I started with the toy , it was like a knife through butter and hardly got warm.

heart_free

It's up to the company what they want to post on their own website. They probably feel it's not in their business interests to post negative reviews. Unfortunately this is the wrong decision. The way a company handles and responds to complaints is a much better gauge than having only positive reviews. The correct handling of any complaint can turn a person from a bad reviewer into a loyal customer.

Just because they choose not to post negative reviews on their own site, doesn't mean those reviews won't get out - people tend to post elsewhere as you have done. The company have missed an opportunity to showcase their customer service.

Wayne3765

heart_free wrote: »

It's up to the company what they want to post on their own website. They probably feel it's not in their business interests to post negative reviews. Unfortunately this is the wrong decision. The way a company handles and responds to complaints is a much better gauge than having only positive reviews. The correct handling of any complaint can turn a person from a bad reviewer into a loyal customer.

Just because they choose not to post negative reviews on their own site, doesn't mean those reviews won't get out - people tend to post elsewhere as you have done. The company have missed an opportunity to showcase their customer service.

I've been thinking about buying one of their car polishers for a while but I will not be buying anything electrical branded by them after this experience , I have zero confidence in their products and customer support.

They have a 3 year warranty but I'd be concerned they'd just ignore any possible claims that could be made in the future as they have so far refused to answer any of my questions.

bear1969

I have had my silverline polisher for over a year and could,nt complain about it ,I have polised my landrover and renault megane a few times and its still good only thing i did,nt like was the sponge pads are very easily torn

Hoof_Hearted

I rarely post negative reviews unless I have good reason. Two, one for a printer and one for a holiday cottage, failed to appear so I queried what each company's review policy was. Both seemed very embarrassed and my "lost" reviews then appeared. This goes on a lot, I suspect. Credit to Amazon. For all it's faults (Prime!), the reviews seem geniune.

patman99

Just because the first grinder blew-up after 5 minutes of use doesn't mean the 2nd one will.
Personally, I would have avoided the ROK unit as it is not a known brand and is likely to be a 'multi-branded' product (same product, different 'makers' name & packaging depending on market).

Wayne3765

I know what you mean Patman but if I was after a decent brand name I'd be paying at least 3 times more than I did , I was just after a cheap grinder that would cut or grind whatever I wanted it to without any fuss.

There are other reviews of the Silverline where it has burnt out , caught fire or died within the first few minutes of use , something I didn't want to chance again as I wanted to get the job finished.

There's not a lot of info on ROK powertools but this is a quote from a press release I found -

The budget power tools were sent off initially to a few select people who were respected in the power tool industry for analysis and reviews. Pretty much everything that came back was praise on the tool quality, durability and efficiency – everyone involved thought the tools were worth 3-6x what the actual RRP is, which goes to show the value for money that Toolbox is offering.

Sounded OK to me and I thought it'd be worth a shot at the price I was paying.

I've only used it 5 or 6 times but so far it feels as good as any Makita , Hilti , Bosch etc grinder I've used over the years.

If it only lasts me just over a year then I'll be happy as I will have had more than my money's worth out of it by then

nickcc

I bought a Silverline router specifically for DIY kitchen work top fitting along with a Silverline jig. When the router arrived it did not come with the correct guide for the jig so I phoned up the supplier (Toolstation) who told me that they could not supply the correct guide for that router so I had to buy a multipurpose guide from B&Q. I was quite surprised later when I found out that Toolstation and Silverline are the same company. I also find that buying Silverline power file belts are also a waste of money as they only last for a very short time before breaking, only genuine Black and Decker belts seem to last.

Wayne3765

Had a reply from Silverline on Tues. 8th ......

Blah Blah Blah ...... When we receive negative reviews we like to investigate the comments before posting the review to see if there is anything we can do to rectify the problems. We also pass the comments on to our quality control and customer services department........Blah Blah Blah.

So now they've had time to investigate the comments they've posted the review? NO , it's still not been posted.

If they were looking into how they could rectify the problem then surely they'd ask me for my input on how I used the grinder ? NO , no contact at all apart from the reply mentioned above.

My bull**** meter is reading that as 'false

Adam_Ant

I purchased a Silverline ratchet screwdriver from a reputable retailer. In the space of 18 months the retailer replaced it three times. The last replacement lasted 48 hours. My enquiry of Silverline yielded no help at all. The response from their Support dept was nil. E-mails to the company and in particular to the M.D. have been ignored. The is a "guarantee" with the item BUT, you must return the item at your own cost. They will only repair or replace and offer no refund. Need I say more!