Is IH still in business anymore?

[bumperscoot]

I was wondering if anyone in this forum has heard from any of the folks at IH recently....

I have an older manual IH mill, and the motor burned out with only 20 hours on it. I have been trying to contact IH for weeks for advice on upgrading or replacing the motor, and even toying with the idea of replacing the mill outright for one of the more curent models (I use mine as a manual mill).. I'm a bit leary of plunking down any money with non-existent personnel..

I live within driving distance, but don't want to trek out to be met with a closed sign...


Steve

[slatronic]

I ordered a manual mill about 4 weeks ago and got it in about a week. It took 1 email that I waited a week for a reply and nothing then I decided to call. They answered my first try. I guess I got lucky. I had one issue with the machine so far and the spindle got super hot. I replaced the bearings and all is fine so far. So I would say they are still in business. Whoever answered the phone there said they usually have 50 or so manual mills ready to ship. Once you get ahold of them you should be able to receive a mill in no time if you want manual. CNC seems like another story. Also as far as customer service goes if there's a problem, I can't answer there cause I just took it into my own hands and fixed it. There are a few threads just below that have info on what people have been dealing with. So the question is do you want to deal with a company that may not have any support but for the price of the machine hard to beat.

my 2 cents

slater

[sharpshooter90]

I was wondering if anyone in this forum has heard from any of the folks at IH recently....

I have an older manual IH mill, and the motor burned out with only 20 hours on it. I have been trying to contact IH for weeks for advice on upgrading or replacing the motor, and even toying with the idea of replacing the mill outright for one of the more curent models (I use mine as a manual mill).. I'm a bit leary of plunking down any money with non-existent personnel..

I live within driving distance, but don't want to trek out to be met with a closed sign...


Steve

According to US Customs records they had only 1 shipment of 43 machines which arrived in Long Beach, CA on Sept. 9, 2009. As of today there have been no shipments in 2010.

[aucran]

US custom records hasn't been updated yet, I received my mill in February of 2010. :X


I tried calling them last Saturday and got no response tho...what I'd read about their great customer support on these forums helped me to decide to buy their mill, and they do seem nice/helpful. It's just hard to catch them.

[ksanalytical]

I spoke with Tommy about one week ago. He's the only one who's ever answered the phone there. I don't think I've ever gotten a response to any e-mail that I've sent or voice-mail that I've left. This is not the way I do business (I'm a small business owner as well), but I understand he is extremely busy. I usually just keep calling until someone answers now. For what it's worth, you really get the impression that Tommy cares about the quality of his work once you talk to him. I think he would have been very concerned about Slatronics spindle problem had he known. Technical questions are probably best posed to the forum.

The tour invitation was offered again on the phone last week and I plan on being on-site in mid May so I think you'll just need to get him on the phone before you run over there. Good luck!

Ken

[Shev]

I spoke with Tommy last night...they are still there and buried. If you want PM me your info and I will forward it to him...

[sharpshooter90]

US custom records hasn't been updated yet, I received my mill in February of 2010. :X

The data base is updated automatically as soon as the goods are cleared and released to the customer. Most likely the one you got in February was from the 2009 order.

[mikefayettev]

Does anyone know what their time frame is for shipping the cnc upgrade. I e-mailed them a couple of weeks ago inquiring on this before I place an order but have not received a reply. I would rather used their upgrade vs a whole different machine but I need to be confident of a decent delivery time frame and that future support will be available.

[Shev]

I believe they are still running 8 weeks on a kit (you need to have a IH manual mill, not a clone, to be eligible to buy a kit) A few have had issues with getting kits but I believe there is only one person that is waiting for parts (as of last week when I spoke with Tommy) I have never had an issue getting ahold of Tommy, just text him and he gets back with me as soon as he can...

[mikefayettev]

Thanks Shev for the reply. I have one of their newer mills so If I can scrape up the 4K I will send him my business.

[jetflatline]

I believe they are still running 8 weeks on a kit

More like 8 months. I ordered my upgrade kit in mid-October and it still hasn't shipped and I don't expect it for at least a "couple more weeks" which I'm treating as "sometime in the future".

See the "AWOL" thread for running commentary.

[mikefayettev]

Thanks Jetflatline, That is way too long given that your credit card is charged right away.