SGS Engineering

[Andrew O Byrne White - Ireland AO]

I've previously recommended these guys to people on the forum, however on my latest batch of tools, they've sold me a faulty tool cabinet.  I've been trying since March to get either the bits I need to repair it or a refund and still no luck.  Customer service at its finest!

[Man On The Clapham Omnibus]

I have a trolley jack of theirs that slumped very quickly. They replaced it with no difficulty when I complained. The replacement also slumps but much more slowly - it was cheap and you get what you pay for usually. I shan't buy cheap again. Even though the product was poor, the service was good. This was a couple of years ago though.

[Andrew O Byrne White - Ireland AO]

Spoke to them today and awaiting another call back... We shall see if it happens this time!

[TAFKARM]

Have they got a twitter account? That usually gets a quick response.

[DamperMan]

These are difficult times.   There's endless companies selling Chinese tools.   We try and buy best quality at lowest price.   We can't really judge the quality until we have the goods.   When we find actually it's not good or are pleasantly surprised.   The company is earning very little and are low overhead places which only know how the spelling and there's no "f" in customer service.     In the good ole days there was cheep Draper, good king Dick, and unaffordable snap on.    Very simples 

 

 

[Man On The Clapham Omnibus]

That's about the size of it Damperman! Trouble is how can you tread a middle path and buy 'DiY' quality (vs Snap-On pro stuff) which is good enough for our occasional use but better than 'snap-off' far eastern junk? Going into a shop and buying so you can see the goods is no help really as you cannot life test with your eyes. Halford's Professional spanners seem pretty good, but their jacks are as  Chinese as sweet 'n' sour and dearer than the eBay wallah's rubbish to boot. I have a forty year old Eversure trolley jack that now sinks under load, but I'm sure that if I fit new seals and 'O' rings it will last another forty years. I simply need the kick in the derriere to actually do it.  

[jeff oakley]

The SGS tool boxes are made in the UK. I agree their response to issues is not as good as it should be. My box, a big b*******, arrived and had a slight dent. I was originally told that as I had signed for it then it was not their problem.

Clearly it was as trying to get a burly truck driver to wait until you in pack a palletised box opened every pack and fully inspected was not acceptable to any reasonable person.

It got sorted but I would not recommend them for the three or four calls needed to sort out a simple issue.

 

[Andrew O Byrne White - Ireland AO]

No return phone call for the second time!  I'll call again tomorrow and see. I've just asked them to send me the broken runner and instructions to fit it.  I'd rather that than trying to pack it up again!

[Sparkymart]

I agree with @Man On The Clapham Omnibus about halfords tools I have been using their sockets set's and spanner's for years and they got some serious abuse in my last job as a CNC maintenance engineer and in far worse conditions being dropped in sumps full of coolant and mixed with every type of swarf you can think of and when needs must a long tubes on ratchets  to free turret bolts ,and I've never had one let me down ...but move away from the Pro range and you would think the tool's are made from marzipan.... And a big bonus is the trade card which gets you a very good discount on tool and all the other bits you find you need oba Sunday when everywhere else is shut

[DamperMan]

1 hour ago, jeff oakley said:

The SGS tool boxes are made in the UK. I agree their response to issues is not as good as it should be. My box, a big b*******, arrived and had a slight dent. I was originally told that as I had signed for it then it was not their problem.

Clearly it was as trying to get a burly truck driver to wait until you in pack a palletised box opened every pack and fully inspected was not acceptable to any reasonable person.

It got sorted but I would not recommend them for the three or four calls needed to sort out a simple issue.

 

Made is the uk from U.K. Components?   Assembled in the U.K Chinese components... very little is actually made in the U.K..   The most complex thing I own was designed in California and thrown together in China.   The continental tyres on daily car proudly boasts engineered in Germany ( made some where with cheap labour, limited health and safety and no environmental concerns.

Nothing is quite as it is marketed...

it is really hard to know what's good and what's not.    my 1989 Vw camper where the rear lights say made in w. Germany! is mostly original.   But after changing the drive shaft boots the replacements lasted 2 years..    the original heater fan on my seat altea  lived to 120k miles the eurocar parts replacement lasted 10k .  

I hope by buying a branded part/ or tool that the brand will to the up front design/ specifying it correctly, quality procedures etc and customer service.  

 

[jeff oakley]

That is what they claim Damper man and to be honest my box is a good piece of kit.

I do take your point and there is worse news when buying on a brand name. Some products that are sold on historical good motor trade names, are not anywhere near the old quality. Some have sold the name to be used by others as a marketing tool as people do by on brand.

As for things like your tyres, even if it is made in China it will be made to the spec that Conti lay down.

I try to buy British products even when it is more expensive as it supports British jobs, old fashioned I know. That is why the rush to use cheap supermarkets is something I don't do. Yes they employ British workers but their profits are sent to their home country or to an offshore account. Tesco is not perfect but pays huge tax into the UK economy as do Waitrose I support those and in the case of the later and their John Lewis arm, their customer service is second to none.

[Rednop1]

I brought a alu racing trolleys jack about 18 months ago from them  I thought was good value when ordering it

It lasted about 10 minutes out of the box before I sent it back I just couldn't believe how much travel was in the  handle before it operated the jack up it was something like 3/4 of the travel was doing nothing then for the last quarter it worked,i spoke to them on the phone and they said this is normal I said well all the other jacks i've used operated straight away and have no travel please refund my money and they did never brought anything else from them     

[DamperMan]

Ha... that's like Seat telling my wife that her 2 year old car with 10k miles and the air con stopped working, that her air con has no leak... the gas has disipated!!!!!   

[Lyonspride]

Much like a lot of this type of stuff, they sell rebranded Chinese made tools/equipment, often the same stuff as Clarke, Draper, Halfrauds, Machinemart, etc etc etc. My SGS trolley jack is the same as one in Halfrauds, just cost less and it's painted black instead of yellow/red.

Got a new pillar drill recently from SIP uk, it's basically the same drill as sold by all the well known brands, made in China and slightly altered to specification, in my case the motor is 375W instead of 250W and it has the safety stop button on the front, but otherwise identical to other better known brands.

Sadly nobody really makes this stuff anymore, it's all from China and buying top brands just means paying over the odds for the same stuff.

[Man On The Clapham Omnibus]

1 hour ago, Lyonspride said:

Much like a lot of this type of stuff, they sell rebranded Chinese made tools/equipment, often the same stuff as Clarke, Draper, Halfrauds, Machinemart, etc etc etc. My SGS trolley jack is the same as one in Halfrauds, just cost less and it's painted black instead of yellow/red.

Got a new pillar drill recently from SIP uk, it's basically the same drill as sold by all the well known brands, made in China and slightly altered to specification, in my case the motor is 375W instead of 250W and it has the safety stop button on the front, but otherwise identical to other better known brands.

Sadly nobody really makes this stuff anymore, it's all from China and buying top brands just means paying over the odds for the same stuff.

Your final sentence sums up my fears too.