Swashdrive customer service

[Butternuts]

Not sure if I'm posting this thread in the right category or not but does anyone on here have any experience with Swashdrives customer service?? I got two Gen 8's I bought brand new plus a Spinner power supply about a year ago and the one machine is starting to get very chattery so I want to get two brand new swashplates to freshen them both back up to new. I emailed and talked to Tony Oliver about getting the parts and he said they can't sell the swashplates b/c people can put them on counterfeit machines but I can send them both to Australia and they'll put new swashplates on them and ship them back to me.....What the fuck?? These two machines are my daily drivers so I can't ship them out and wait weeks to get them back. I sent him closeups of the machines and offered to send the receipts from when I bought them to verify they are authentic to get these parts but all I got back was "the swashplate should last for years"..... I use these things hours on end on a daily basis so I am very familiar with how they run and something in the swashplate is definitely going out on the one, I can even feel a difference when spinning the bearing by hand. All I want is parts for my machines I paid good money for dang nabbit!!!!! Really hoping they resolve this b/c if not I'll never buy another Swashdrive product as long as I live if they don't want to sell the parts for their own machines to consumers. I've never heard of such a thing in my life. He said he can sell me the bearings if I have access to an arbor press (which I don't) but I'm not even going to piss with that b/c if I break the clip or something else then I'm screwed. Anyone else ever have any issues getting parts from these guys??

[nivek]

Yep - I contacted them regarding the needle guide that broke, I was told it would be shipped out immediately then a month later I had to re contact them regarding it. I understand that things get missed and overlooked so I just shrugged it off.

My advice contact him and tell him the same thing.. I understand his concerns but at the same time - Im not fond of people that make you send something in to be fixed that you can do yourself.

[Jesse Phillips]

I have only had a positive experience with them. At the beginning of the month I sent my gen 8 back to them (still under warranty) because it was running really erratically. They said they couldn't find any problems with it and Tony said he even tattooed with it and it worked perfectly. Just to stay professional Im not going to get into details but I tactfully pushed the issue and they mailed me a new machine which I should be getting in the mail in the next few days.
I think the only pisser here is that you have to wait so long for your machine because Australia is a very long way away and its not cheap to get something there either.
Im pretty sure that it says somewhere on their website that they don't sell certain parts but I might be wrong. I think if you are persistent and polite (patient too) you can get your machines fixed and just be out money for shipping.

[OwlsDen]

The do sell the bearings. Most likely a new bearing would fix it. Also there are wear plates in the back that may need replacing.

[eduki]

I wrote them asking for a part and never received a response. Days later contacted Tony on FB and he was kind and professional, but I don't think it's the right way to get attention from what might be a professional crew.

[Butternuts]

Just heard back and they won't sell me the new swashplates unless I ship them my machines...these are the only two machines that I own so thats not really a possibility. Never heard of such a stupid ass thing in my life. Would you ever buy a new car that you couldn't get parts for or had to tow it to the garage to change a turn signal bulb? I don't get it or is it they want to charge me a service fee to loosen and tighten one Allen screw? Bullshit

[darkness]

Thats not right Butternuts - the major issue is that are some ripp offs on ebay and when you replace the motor you have a nearly true Swashdrive. They have patentet the plate and thats the only different from the copy that you feel and see when you tattoo. So they sell the weight and whip-bars only to registeret buyers or you have to send them the bill to check that you have buy one. In the last years a lot of tattooers have buy a china swashdrive ,replace the motor and have bought only the weights and whip-bar to have a original working whip. So i can understand that the only sell the new plate with this option. By the way -as i have bought the Swash i have some bearings as replacment in the box so you should have the bearings in your box.

The Customer Service from swashdrive is one of the best that i ever have - but i have never need the service for repair ,only for extra parts and help

[eduki]

So then I was unlucky because they didn't even replied to me after several mails :D

[Butternuts]

Only thing I got in the box when I got them new was the lube and guide plates for the rear (smaller) bearing, no bearings. I understand their frustration on the people swapping parts on the knockoffs or whatever but I bought these brand new from Unimax, have receipts, etc. I supported their company by buying their machines and giving nods to them on here if I seen someone asking about them but they clearly don't support their paying customers. Fuck them, there's better out there. Going to save up some cash and get something different from a company that has good customer service and that I can actually get parts for when I need them.

[Jesse Phillips]

Maybe you should have more than 2 machines. What would you do if one or both completely broke down?

[Butternuts]

Maybe you should have more than 2 machines. What would you do if one or both completely broke down?
With the Gen 8's I can line and shade with the same machine, just have to make a give clip adjustment so I could live for a week if one broke down and I had to order a new one. It's unlikely that both machines would die at the same time. I don't like jumping around to different machines b/c I want to settle on a machine that works best for me and use it exclusively so it becomes a part of me, so to speak. I do my best work with these machines so far out of anything else I've tried so I wouldn't want to do someone the injustice of using a different machine I don't work quite as well with even if I was in a pinch. Sucks that they won't sell this part to me. Todays session I put the noisy swashplate on my liner b/c I really needed my shader to be on point. I may just give in and buy the bearings and try to press them out myself and cross my fingers I don't screw anything up b/c I really like the machines.

[Butternuts]

Ended up going directly through Oust Bearings to get the replacement bearing I needed and was able to set up a jig with a c-clamp and a little punch to press the bearing out and the center spindle out of the bearing. Put new bearing in, machine back together and she runs smooth and quite again. The guy at Oust was extremely helpful to me and directed me to some good videos on properly lubing these bearings which I will be doing for now on instead of trying to snake the lube needle under the dust seal and all that crap. I got a set of 8 bearings from Oust for $50 some odd dollars and Swashdrive wanted to sell me the same exact bearing for $25 for a single one... I remember I took a lot of heat on here a few months ago for buying and reviewing the Lace machine because the guys aren't tattooist or support the industry or are greedy, etc... How is Swashdrive any different?? I got close to $2000 tied up in their equipment and they refuse to sell me parts to their own machines and want me to ship them to Australia so they can charge me a service fee and want to rape me on a fucking bearing. My next machines will be American made, I'm done dealing with this foreign bullshit.

[thesmokingmirror]

Sucks to hear that about their customer service

[Jesse Phillips]

Hey butter nuts, would you be so kind as to link me to those lube videos?

[Heath]

Hey butter nuts, would you be so kind as to link me to those lube videos? Read this out loud...and...slow enough to fully understand. If you don't laugh you have issues. :cool:

[Seanaskew19]

Hahahahaha!

[Seanaskew19]

But on a serious note it's a bit pants that you had to go down that route Butternuts.

[Butternuts]

Hey butter nuts, would you be so kind as to link me to those lube videos?

Might have to private message ya those videos ;o) hahahahahaha

The guy from Oust directed me to these videos for maintaining their bearings. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mEkAeVVivK8

I doubt you'd ever have to soak the bearings in the cleaning solution like the video b/c in a tattoo machine they aren't being exposed to dust and dirt and whatnot but I like the idea of popping off the dust seal and dripping the oil right on the bearing instead of trying to snake the needle in there and ripping the seal up.

[Jesse Phillips]

Thanks man! Hahaha, finally get to see this lube video ��!

[S_Trofatter]

i dont get this thread, just a few weeks ago we had like 10 heads raving about how awesome swashdrive is and how fast they send you shit, and how dumb it is to buy their products from american distributors. Thread practically says the opposite of the other one. can someone clear this up for me and tell me who to believe lol.

[Butternuts]

i dont get this thread, just a few weeks ago we had like 10 heads raving about how awesome swashdrive is and how fast they send you shit, and how dumb it is to buy their products from american distributors. Thread practically says the opposite of the other one. can someone clear this up for me and tell me who to believe lol.
This was the first time (and last) I had to deal with Swashdrive about a machine issue I was having so this was my only customer service experience with them and it was very negative. There are plenty of other awesome machines out there by builders that take care of and appreciate their customers and aren't douche bags about selling spare parts to even deal with these guys in my opinion. If I'm going to lay down $600 for a measly little tattoo machine then I better be able to get simple parts for it no questions asked.

[asA]

They sent me parts no problem. I proved I had a legit machine and they sent it out fast and easy.

[OwlsDen]

I always write Tony Oliver directly and he has always been super fast at responding. Nothing but good experiences here.

[daibead]

I had problems with my machine. The motor stopped working. I had to ship back to swashdrive. But they were great to deal with. Very quick response and fixed quickly.


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[ATS]

They are very very good..
They maybe on the otherside of the planet for most of us, but their customer care (and that really is the word) is from my experience, very very good!
Cheers Swashdrive for fantastic machines and support!