Amadeal Lathe failed – customer service appalling!

This topic has 48 replies, 22 voices, and was last updated 14 March 2020 at 10:41 by Nick Hulme.

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6 March 2020 at 11:57 #455687
Adam Hebbard
Participant
@adamhebbard10104
Hi,

Hope it's ok to post this mini rant here.

I bought an Amadeal bench lathe January 2019 after having 2 faulty out of the box machines from Clarke.

It worked fine for about 11 months, then just died. No apparent reason, just spun down and stopped working. I contacted Amadeal and they were initially fairly helpful, but insisted I tried to replace parts (which they sent me, and actually weren't an exact match), which I personally didn't think I should be doing, as I'm not a qualified electrical engineer, but whatever. I gave them the benefit of the doubt here. After replacing both the speed control board and filter board, the machine still didn't work. Bear in mind it took over 6 weeks to get to this point. They were also becoming almost impossible to get hold of.

I then began to send strongly worded emails (polite, but as a fairly irritated customer at this point), which they also took forever to respond to. They eventually agreed to arrange a collection to take it back and repair it. Though they did say over the phone that all their engineers left and they haven't replaced them. So he'd been guessing about the issue this entire time. I also don't know how they plan to fix it without an engineer.

So on Wednesday I booked the afternoon off to wait for a courier to come, which was all agreed and arranged. By 4pm they hadn't arrived, so I called Amadeal yet again to ask where they were. They called me back and said they're not coming today now. We booked it too late. They then tried to twist my words and claimed I said I was free all day, which is daft. I only had the afternoon off. I said I was free on Saturday as I am off work, and he said 'Oh it costs 3 times as much to collect on a Saturday, I can't do that' I said with all due respect, that isn't my problem. You have messed me around for 2 months and I still don't have a working machine. He then said, 'Well are you going to pay the extra cost then?' Safe to say at this point I lost my rag a bit. I wasn't insulting or anything but I expressed how poor their customer service has been in resolving this matter.

I would also note that the machine died before the warranty was ended.

I'm still working to resolve this, as once again they are ignoring me.

All I can say for now if for heaven's sake, don't buy anything from Amadeal, they don't deserve your money. I was really hoping that buying from a small UK based company would be supporting local business etc, but it seems they just don't care about their customers.
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6 March 2020 at 11:57 #13792
Adam Hebbard
Participant
@adamhebbard10104
Anyone else had these issues?
6 March 2020 at 17:04 #455734
Howard Lewis
Participant
@howardlewis46836
Maybe a Recorded Delivery letter threatening Small Claims Court, or Trading Standards, on the grounds of breach of contract may speed resolution?

(Was pestered by a firm of baliffs, chasing the bloke who used to live across the road. A red "Final Warning" letter, and on the envelope, to them stopped things immediately! )

Howard
6 March 2020 at 21:51 #455789
Falco
Participant
@falco
Similar problem here! Time they got their act together.
6 March 2020 at 22:53 #455799
Hollowpoint
Participant
@hollowpoint
Im sorry but you've gone through 3 lathes in 12 months? Sounds like user error to me.
7 March 2020 at 00:06 #455808
Alan Waddington 2
Participant
@alanwaddington2
Posted by Hollowpoint on 06/03/2020 22:53:07:

Im sorry but you've gone through 3 lathes in 12 months? Sounds like user error to me.

“2 faulty out of the box”……..what did he do, unpack them incorrectly?
7 March 2020 at 00:10 #455809
Ady1
Participant
@ady1
Sounds like dodgy electrics to me

If there is one weakness on modern units, especially if they are built to a price point, it's the electricals

No problems with the old stuff, a mains switch and a whirry motor

Motor blows up etc, fix it or get another and b backe up and running in 7 days or less
7 March 2020 at 00:38 #455811
Ady1
Participant
@ady1
Always follow Mr Spareys advice from 1948

——————–

Electrical Wiring
It must be admitted that the electrical installation of the average home workshop does,

more often than not, leave much to be desired.
In an understandable eagerness to ''see the wheels go round,'' temporary wiring hook-ups,

often from the house lighting circuits, are perpetrated, and do, alas ! only too often
remain as permanencies. These may continue to function indefinitely without undue

trouble, and the amateur is apt to add other machines, such as a driller or grinder, to the
existing arrangements, until the workshop presents an ideal set-up for a spot of arson!
No electric motor above 1/10 h.p. should ever be connected to the house lighting circuit.

The writer himself suffers from all the amateurs prejudices against "professional safety

factors" yet, in the matter of electrical installation, it is not so much a matter of

prejudice as of plain common sense.

The wise amateur mechanic will, therefore, see to it that a proper power point is fitted

in his workshop, from whence he may wire up his machinery with a heavy "cab tyre"
cable. If this cable is secured to the benches and walls of the workshop, so that it is out

of the way of damage and cannot chafe, metal conduit may be dispensed with, although,
of course, conduit tubing is the ideal.
Another point which is often neglected is the provision of an earthing lead to all

machines. It is quite a common occurrence, especially in damp weather, for the
operator to experience an electric shock, of more or less severity, whenever the metal

portion of a machine is touched. Apart from being extremely disconcerting, this
can be dangerous, as it may cause the operator to "jump" on contact.
Sudden, uncontrolled movements such as this should never be made near revolving machinery!
The simple cure is to connect all the machines by a common wire to an earthing point, such

as an outside stack pipe or a water main. A bare copper wire connection will suffice.
Do not earth to a gas main, it is illegal.
7 March 2020 at 03:47 #455815
Ron Laden
Participant
@ronladen17547
Hi Adam,

Your Amadeal lathe is not a CJ18 mini lathe by any chance..?

If so I had one and I had problems with the speed control pot on the front panel. It became a problem to set the speed it was up and down all over the place and eventually stopped working. I was waiting for a response from Amadeal but wanting to get the lathe running in desperation I gave the pot a big dose of contact cleaner and it cured the problem.

Of course yours may not be the CJ18 and you may not want to play with it plus my problem came on gradual where yours just suddenly stopped so it may have nothing to do with the pot but just thought I would mention it.

What contact you did have with Amadeal did they not consider it could be the motor that is the problem.

Ron
7 March 2020 at 06:47 #455819
Adam Hebbard
Participant
@adamhebbard10104
Posted by Howard Lewis on 06/03/2020 17:04:46:

Maybe a Recorded Delivery letter threatening Small Claims Court, or Trading Standards, on the grounds of breach of contract may speed resolution?

(Was pestered by a firm of baliffs, chasing the bloke who used to live across the road. A red "Final Warning" letter, and on the envelope, to them stopped things immediately! )

Howard

Something along those lines is the plan yes!
7 March 2020 at 06:50 #455820
Adam Hebbard
Participant
@adamhebbard10104
Posted by Alan Waddington 2 on 07/03/2020 00:06:00:

Posted by Hollowpoint on 06/03/2020 22:53:07:

Im sorry but you've gone through 3 lathes in 12 months? Sounds like user error to me.

“2 faulty out of the box”……..what did he do, unpack them incorrectly?

I had 2 clarke latches that were faulty. They were cl500m lathe mill combos. The first one had knackered lathe bearings and didnt cut smoothly, rattled and ran like a locomotive. Second they replaced came with no key in the mill so it didnt turn, then eventually fixed that and then it turned out the mill bearing were shot. Same rattling and deafness of the first lathe bearings. So no, that wasnt user error. And I've been extremely careful with this machine also. I consider this very bad luck Im afraid. Still? Their service has been awful.
7 March 2020 at 06:52 #455821
Adam Hebbard
Participant
@adamhebbard10104
Posted by Ron Laden on 07/03/2020 03:47:59:

Hi Adam,

Your Amadeal lathe is not a CJ18 mini lathe by any chance..?

If so I had one and I had problems with the speed control pot on the front panel. It became a problem to set the speed it was up and down all over the place and eventually stopped working. I was waiting for a response from Amadeal but wanting to get the lathe running in desperation I gave the pot a big dose of contact cleaner and it cured the problem.

Of course yours may not be the CJ18 and you may not want to play with it plus my problem came on gradual where yours just suddenly stopped so it may have nothing to do with the pot but just thought I would mention it.

What contact you did have with Amadeal did they not consider it could be the motor that is the problem.

Ron

HI Ron,

No it's a bigger AMA240V. It did something similar and he got me to test the motor but it seemed fine. When I first took the back off a set of the block connectors were totally melted. Hugh just kept getting me to change it parts saying 'Oh that'll probably work'. Gave them the benefit of the doubt at first but this machine has clearly just keeled over. I'm in disbelief they dont gave a service engineer.
7 March 2020 at 06:53 #455822
Adam Hebbard
Participant
@adamhebbard10104
Posted by Ady1 on 07/03/2020 00:10:45:

Sounds like dodgy electrics to me

If there is one weakness on modern units, especially if they are built to a price point, it's the electricals

No problems with the old stuff, a mains switch and a whirry motor

Motor blows up etc, fix it or get another and b backe up and running in 7 days or less

Yeah its definitely some sort of electrical fault aa there were melted connectors inside the unit when I took the back off.
7 March 2020 at 06:55 #455823
Adam Hebbard
Participant
@adamhebbard10104
Posted by Falco on 06/03/2020 21:51:45:

Similar problem here! Time they got their act together.

Oh really, may I ask what's happened to you?
7 March 2020 at 07:56 #455832
John MC
Participant
@johnmc39344
Posted by Adam Hebbard on 07/03/2020 06:50:36:

Posted by Alan Waddington 2 on 07/03/2020 00:06:00:

Posted by Hollowpoint on 06/03/2020 22:53:07:

Im sorry but you've gone through 3 lathes in 12 months? Sounds like user error to me.

“2 faulty out of the box”……..what did he do, unpack them incorrectly?

I had 2 clarke latches that were faulty. They were cl500m lathe mill combos. The first one had knackered lathe bearings and didnt cut smoothly, rattled and ran like a locomotive. Second they replaced came with no key in the mill so it didnt turn, then eventually fixed that and then it turned out the mill bearing were shot. Same rattling and deafness of the first lathe bearings. So no, that wasnt user error. And I've been extremely careful with this machine also. I consider this very bad luck Im afraid. Still? Their service has been awful.

Worn out bearings straight out of the box? A friend bought one of those Clarke combo machines, same sort of problem. Not worn, it was brand new! Problem was adjustment, soon sorted, much easier than the hassle of returning it. The worse thing about this machine was the gearing to get the drive up in to the milling head, noisy, but my friend soon learned to live with it.

John
7 March 2020 at 09:44 #455846
Lathejack
Participant
@lathejack
I have seen the same problem with a new Clarke CL500 combo machine at a Machine Mart showroom in Mansfield. The headstock spindle was stiff when rotated and very notchy, so possibly the taper roller spindle bearings were full of muck or more likely way over tightened with preload. It certainly wouldn't have worked well at all, or for very long, in the state it was in.
7 March 2020 at 11:31 #455857
larry phelan 1
Participant
@larryphelan1
Buy British ????
7 March 2020 at 12:26 #455871
Circlip
Participant
@circlip
Try Arc for machinery, no connection but the late Sir John did a good job at source, followed up by Ketans gang.

Regards Ian

"Buy British?" You probably are, most of our scrap being reimported.

Edited By Circlip on 07/03/2020 12:28:22
7 March 2020 at 14:15 #455885
Adam Hebbard
Participant
@adamhebbard10104
Posted by John MC on 07/03/2020 07:56:35:

Posted by Adam Hebbard on 07/03/2020 06:50:36:

Posted by Alan Waddington 2 on 07/03/2020 00:06:00:

Posted by Hollowpoint on 06/03/2020 22:53:07:

Im sorry but you've gone through 3 lathes in 12 months? Sounds like user error to me.

“2 faulty out of the box”……..what did he do, unpack them incorrectly?

I had 2 clarke latches that were faulty. They were cl500m lathe mill combos. The first one had knackered lathe bearings and didnt cut smoothly, rattled and ran like a locomotive. Second they replaced came with no key in the mill so it didnt turn, then eventually fixed that and then it turned out the mill bearing were shot. Same rattling and deafness of the first lathe bearings. So no, that wasnt user error. And I've been extremely careful with this machine also. I consider this very bad luck Im afraid. Still? Their service has been awful.

Worn out bearings straight out of the box? A friend bought one of those Clarke combo machines, same sort of problem. Not worn, it was brand new! Problem was adjustment, soon sorted, much easier than the hassle of returning it. The worse thing about this machine was the gearing to get the drive up in to the milling head, noisy, but my friend soon learned to live with it.

John

They weren't worn, they were just defective. It sounded like there was a spanner rattling around inside!
7 March 2020 at 14:15 #455886
Adam Hebbard
Participant
@adamhebbard10104
Posted by Lathejack on 07/03/2020 09:44:51:

I have seen the same problem with a new Clarke CL500 combo machine at a Machine Mart showroom in Mansfield. The headstock spindle was stiff when rotated and very notchy, so possibly the taper roller spindle bearings were full of muck or more likely way over tightened with preload. It certainly wouldn't have worked well at all, or for very long, in the state it was in.

Yeah sounds like it was as dodgy as the one I had, though that isn't even the issue I have now, lol
7 March 2020 at 14:16 #455887
Adam Hebbard
Participant
@adamhebbard10104
Posted by larry phelan 1 on 07/03/2020 11:31:00:

Buy British ????

I thought I was, Anadeal being a small london based company. I know the machines I still from china, but I can't really afford anything made over here, it costs a bomb. Worth it I know, I just don't have the funds.
7 March 2020 at 20:34 #455979
Falco
Participant
@falco
Posted by Adam Hebbard on 07/03/2020 06:55:24:

Posted by Falco on 06/03/2020 21:51:45:

Similar problem here! Time they got their act together.

Oh really, may I ask what's happened to you?

I had an electrical problem and did get a response from Amadeal at the second time of asking. A further query remains unanswered .

These companies sell their machines largely to an amateur market and the very least a supplier should do is provide some technical assistance and a clear and comprehensive wiring diagram for the particular machines that he sells. Providing a Chinese/ English manual with a minimalist wiring diagram is a sloppy and couldn't-care-less way of treating customers shelling out over a thousand pounds for their machinery.

American companies generally do better on this. The emphasis is on selling on this side of the pond and customer service comes a poor second.
7 March 2020 at 21:10 #455982
Bob Stevenson
Participant
@bobstevenson13909
Amadeal is only 20 minutes run from home for me and I went to have a look in 2017 before aquiring my Warco WM180 as Amadeal do the same basic machine. Their 'showroom' turned out to be an unmarked railway arch and there was initially no answer until I had one foot back in the car, when the main man finally peered outside to see what I looked like.

The place is not very big and is basically a small warehouse operation where crates arrive from China and are sent on to the buyers. Approx. on third of the space was taken up with a pile of mini-lathes in various states of disassembly, presumably warranty returns. The man was apparently friendly when he learned that I was genuinely interested in one of the machines and levered the top off of the crate to let me take a look. As far as I can recall there appeared to be no engineering on site and if there was a bench present it was a very small one…..

The main mental and emotional activity of 'the man' was selling…….his strategy was to slag off the likes of Warco & Chester as being very expensive compared to him. However, it was fairly easy to tot up the price and work out that, actually, Warco's price was considerably better since they threw in two chucks, two steadies and a faceplate etc…the Amadeal machine only came with a 3 jaw, although it did have a pot of touch up paint which Warco don't include!

A couple of days later I went around the M25 to Chidingfold to give Warco the once over. Within minutes of getting out of the car I liked what I saw and realised that they are the opposite of Amadeal in that they are offering a sorted out set of products for a carefully sorted out price…. There's nothing wrong with Chinese machines and, frankly, they are the only game in town for people like me, but it's ESSENTIAL that you buy from a reputable concern who are prepared to open the boxes BEFORE they pass it on to you.
7 March 2020 at 23:32 #455999
Martin Hamilton 1
Participant
@martinhamilton1
Check out this unhappy customers dealings with Amadeal customer services & a Mini lathe that had problems.

https://youtu.be/lNrCPzFDuKU
7 March 2020 at 23:44 #456003
Ian Johnson 1
Participant
@ianjohnson1
Just had a look at Amadeal's website and noticed they are selling the new Syil X5+ 4 axis CNC milling machine for £11.000+.

One thing sets my alarm bells ringing is that the machine is fitted with Mach3 operating system, which as far as I know is no longer supported or updated by Newfangled Solutions. I would expect a new hobby CNC to come equipped with Mach4.

Makes me wonder what sort of back up and after sales service this company can offer for a machine like this, let alone a Mini lathe?

Ian
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