DW735/Lowe's saga concludes (long & Rambling)

Good Morning Folks,

I said I would post an update regarding my acquisition of a DW735 planer
from LOWE'S. My local LOWE'S was unaware of the $100 tool rebate advertised
in their flyer. Ad stated "see store for details". Tool Dept. totally in
the dark about the ad. Tool Dept. referred me to Customer Service.
Customer service did not know either, made several calls to mgmt. and got
several differing answers. Lowe's would not sell me the "display" DW735.
Wanting to "lock-in" the rebate deal before it ad expired, I paid the $449
for the DW735 with the understanding that Lowe's had at least one more on
order with delivery 7-10 days. 12 days later and no new stock has arrived
BUT that display unit has been sold and NOT to me. Once again I discuss the
situation with Customer Service. They have no way to determine when the
units they have on order will arrive. They do check inventory of all LOWE'S
in Arizona and find several in Tucson (about 90 miles) and 2 in Peoria (55
miles) Peoria being a northwest suburb and I live in Apache Junction which
is extreme eastern suburb. Lowe's in Peoria will hold one for me. Great
day for a drive through the city! Lowe's Mesa refunds my payment via a gift
card and we are off to Peoria.

(omitting the part regarding tire failure on the 101) Yeah, it was one of
those days.

Lowe's Peoria had the DW735 and had my name on one. At check out price
comes up as $479 Talked it over with checker and head cashier. Shown my
receipt and refund paperwork, they adjust price to $449 and I'm happy.
(keep ALL your paperwork!) Stuff the DW735 in the trunk and tie lid down.
It is big and heavy!

Drive back through the whole city. "Hey, they are widening I-10...again"

At home, we unpack the planer and begin the assembly. Removing the screw
and washer from the height adjust shaft, I slide the adj. crank onto the
shaft and reinstall the screw/washer. There, it is assembled!

Fire it up and run a very rough piece of mahogany through at 1/16" depth of
cut and in "dimensioning" mode (96 cpi). This board had some deep snipes
and a bad burn so I felt would be a good subject. As I have no dust
collector (yet), the chip port spews a steady stream of chips all over the
driveway, me, my wife, both cars and much of the lawn. (With just a little
breeze, I could be mulching yards 2 doors away) WOW, this is _GREAT_!!!
(Wife, brushing chips out of her hair, off her shoulders and arms even says,
"Oh great!") Noise is not as loud as I expected from what I'd read in some
of the reviews in various woodworking mags. It is, after all, a big
powertool and big powertools do make some noise. It is not as loud as that
old ShopVac I have. More on the order of my ShopSmith. MK-V. The mahogany
came out nice and smooth. Most of the snipe was removed and all the burn.
Cranking cutter down 1/32" more (1/2 turn of crank!), switch to "finishing"
mode (179 cpi) and run it through again. All remaining snipe is gone and
the surface is absolutely glass smooth. Even my wife, still trying to get
the chips out of her hair, is amazed. "Boy, that really _is_ great!" she
admits, rubbing her hand over the almost slick mahogany. When your wife is
impressed, you know you bought the right tool. First major job for the new
planer is additional cabinetry to match her dining room hutch.

Ran some red oak through it turned out perfect also. The DW735 is _just_
what I'd hoped it would be. Well built, it is big, solid & heavy with tight
controls. It fits my needs and I can't ask more than that. A wonderful
addition to my shop. (and BOY, is it ever yellow)

Regarding LOWE'S part in this purchase: I have no real problem with the help
in Tool Dept. It is not their fault mgmt did not inform them of the rebate
offer. In every instance, the folks in Tools looked at my ad, said they
were unaware of the offer and referred me to Customer Service. When Lowe's
opened, there _were_ informed, knowledgeable people staffing the Tool area.
Now you must ask the cashier nearest to the tool dept. to page someone if
you have a question. If someone is free in electrical or plumbing or paint
or wherever, they will come over and _try_ to help you. Folks, please don't
blame the help. It is not their decision to down-size the staff to the
point where one person is covering more than one area. And it is not the
helps fault that the rebate info is not posted in the tool area. Management
controls these things. The gals I dealt with at Customer Service said,
"I'm sorry, I don't know but if you could wait just a minute, I will find
out for you." AND they did. What more can I expect of them? No one can
have ALL the answers, All the time. But they did a little digging and found
the answers for me. We all enjoy the prices at these places and part of the
pricing is determined by the cost of the labor in the stores. Management is
in a constant battle trying to figure how much help to have to properly
serve us customers and still make a profit. Sometimes they cut a little too
deep. I'd like to see someone staffing the tool dept. full time. I think
that would result in more sales and less shrinkage (theft). As for the
automated checkouts (much discussion on another thread) I'll wait in a line
to deal with a live clerk before I use those semi-un-staffed checkouts. I
rather not help put more checkers out of work. But I can see the automated
lanes are the wave of the future.

Now I'll send the rebate in and see how long that takes. (making copies of
EVERYTHING before I mail it)

Well, I've rambled WAY more that need be so out to the shop and I'll see how
deep I can pile chips on the driveway with the DW735.

DexAZ