I would have a lawyer send a letter to HAAS stating that you are suspending payments due to the machine not being fit for purpose. I would keep making the required payments into an escrow account so that if it goes to court you can prove that you had every intention of paying for the machine. It would be a big financial hit since there is no income from said machine but this would put the onus on Hass to get shit sorted.
Hey Tom, I'm glad it's not just me. I bought a brand new UMC-500 right around the same time. Took a few weeks to get it installed. During that, they found out that the conveyor I optioned (due to the standard conveyor already having major issues that would cause the machine to flood the shop) would not work with the machine as configured. Two months later, they finally got parts to make the conveyor run which I installed myself because it was going to be over a week to get a tech to me. Finally got the conveyor running so I could finally run the machine. Made some test cuts, and it was atrocious. Wouldn't cut flat, wouldn't make a surface finish, wasn't accurate at all. If I chamfered five sides of a cube, I got five different chamfers, sometimes none at all. Called Haas, they sent a tech out AGAIN, he reinstalled the machine three more times. It had moved a good bit since the first level, but it didn't move much at all between each of the later three leveling procedures. Nothing changed, still cut terrible. They sent an applications engineer out for the half day of training that I PAID FOR, and all he did was try to troubleshoot the machine. Then right before he left, he said "that's as good as any Haas machine I've ever seen cut". I compared the finishes and accuracy from my $25k Chinese Tormach to show them my expectations, and they said "you can't compare because that's a 3 axis vertical, not a 5 axis machine". No kidding you can't compare! It's a $25k Chinese machine compared to a $125k American made 5 axis. It should be leaps and bounds better. I contacted Haas corporate and explained the situation to them at around 7pm EST one day, and I had an email back at 7am EST the next morning asking for the serial number and HFO that sold the machine. I immediately responded, and that was the last I ever heard from anyone at Haas. Called many times, sent many emails directly to Haas as well as the service department and sales rep at the HFO, and they literally would not even pick up the phone. I 100% got blacklisted by everyone there. I was in the same boat as you (luckily much smaller payments), but I WAS a startup at the time. I had only been in business a year, and that was my first real machine, so I didn't have a spare $3k to be throwing at a machine that would not make a part. I ended up selling the machine with 34 minutes on the clock at a $10k loss and moved on. I've since bought Doosans, and they've treated me well so far. I really hope you shove a lawyer stick so far up Gene Haas's *** over this. He deserves it after making countless numbers of machines that land people in this situation.
I bet their lawyers told them to not communicate with you. Make sure you have all their emails stored safely in the cloud and on a zip drive. Take the time to write down all you can remember of the timeline and have your CNC guy do the same. I would bill them for all the lost revenue and expenses you've incurred (including payroll). You have been too easy on HAAS. Time to get nasty.
HAAS washed their hands of it because they know eventually you will discover the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act and are entitled to a full refund. so there you are, you now know about the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act. get a lawyer and get your money back.
@@daveholley2156 A cnc machine is a product and should have come with a warranty just like anything. If it came with a full warranty, the act states "if the product, or a component part, contains a defect or malfunction, must permit the consumer to elect either a refund or replacement without charge, after a reasonable number of repair attempts."
@@pauledwards6446 My Couch ! You got NOS up your Nostrils again ? I admit I didn't find a verbatim copy of the Act but mostly referred to the manufacturer car warranty and modifications ! So if I buy a Chinese product off of Amazon because it's cheaper compared to a premium product and it doesn't perform to my expectations ? WTF ? There's a Latin Law Term Caveat Emptor !!!! In English Buyer beware ✌️
We ran dozens of HAAS machine centers for the majority of our light work and have for about 25 years. When it came to heavy work we moved to DOOSAN horizontal machines. All around heavier and better built machine.
That Haas and the fact that you haven't made chips in 8 months would literally bankrupt everyone. That's disgusting. Thank you for sharing. Moving the machine and everything you're doing to overcome this is beyond reprehensible. As a former machine shop owner, you're literally losing $200 an hour. Absolutely idiotic
As a master technician I can say if it has Perpetual problems that can’t be fixed by anyone you made the right choice. Time to get rid of the HAAS boat anchor.
shidd start a new business and file for bankruptcy, tell they ass come get this mfer for 23k a month that's crazy. that's enough money to be outside someone's door in the morning.
I firmly believe you should get every penny back including for the pad plus compensation for damages headaches lost shop space etc any reasonable lawyer and judge will see that as necessary plus have all legal fees covered
Have you tried contacting your attorney general? Maybe there’s something equivalent to the “lemon law” that can be done to resolve the issue. I feel like Haas should have given you a refund for their equipment thus allowing you to move forward with another machine. It seems like the route ANY reputable company would take if they can’t resolve the issue.
Yah like the government is gonna help you sound smart call the government they will fix it they have never fixed any problem they have ever addressed only made it worse
Our AG here in Michigan would be useless on this type of case. I can’t see her giving a damn. (Not her biggest fan but I’ll keep it clean for the ‘Tube)
I give you a ton of credit for being as patient as you have been with this whole ordeal. For a half million dollar machine it should work straight out of the box no questions.
@@chrisharding2813 We just got one in a few days ago. Came to Canada from the US in shrink wrap. No container. A bunch of the sheetmetal was bent. Apparently, some of the shrink wrap came loose and started flapping in the wind. Yes.... The sheetmetal on the brand new machine was bent "from the wind"
They now advertise this as a 3+2 machine. I remember my dad going to Germany to get the 5 axis machine that they used in the shop. The Hass was incapable of true 5 axis. time to get the lawyers involved.
@@minibikemadman True it has 5 axis' but its not true 5 axis simultaneous which is what he was sold on . He probably doesn't have that in writing so there's not much he can do.
Haas UMC series absolutely can do simultaneous 5 live- I've done it on a 1000 and 500. They definitely have kinematic issues though I have seen that and so have many other people. These machines aren't the best and they can often cause a great deal of grief and I'm convinced that a lot of it comes from the factory.
Tom, it would be interesting to know if either of the other two machines were sold and if they met the expectations of performance. Please keep us updated on Rob’s progress.
I'm a small business owner, and one of the things I struggle with is how long do I give a situation before I pull the plug. Thank you for sharing your experience - it helps some of us out here to realize we aren't the only ones dealing with issues!
Congratulations on 100K subscribers. Haas sounds like an average Chinese company... no shortage of promises, delivers a dysfunction piece of crap, and they disappear once the payments land in their accounts. (For an American company they sure give the Chinese a run for bad service).
Hi Tom, you have always seemed to me to be an honest man. I'm not going to give you advice. Hopefully someone on the fence buying a HASS or some other brand just decided against HASS. That will get the stockholders attention. Thank you for your time.
Man, I had a bad feeling about this HAAS thing from the time of your first video on your trials and tribulations with that company. You've been more than patient with them. More so than I would have been; I would have sued them into oblivion months ago.
Tom I'm sure you have thought about legal options with Haas . As a retired CEO I can tell you sometimes its best to cut your losses. Doing work around processing to remedy the shortcomings of your purchase is going to effect your margins. I really get upset when we allow companies to get away with delivering on there promises. Haas pisses away a fortune with his Formula 1 team you should get you money back and if you decide to continue the path to making billet blocks you may have to purchase a high end overseas mill. Good luck love your channel !
This is simple, dude. Haas, come get your sh!t. I have no clue how a company can not stand behind their product. Glad you made this video, sorry you have had to go through these hassles.
Put the payment in a escrow account and tell them when it does what they said it was going to do when they sold it you then they can have the money. I'm sure they will be in touch. What dirt bags.
I work with 2 HAAS 3 axis mills 8 hours per day, and based on everything I've heard, I can't say I'm entirely surprised. Heard they're really hit and miss at times.
Good spot for a HD 40 ton Frame pulling table, you can build your own frames for the custom car market on the steel deck not having to send out for the parts you need. Wish I had a spot and shop the size you do 2 and 4 post lifts and a frame table I wouldn't have had to sell the last 2 vehicles I have in the last 3 months.
I think this reinforces the character you are Tom. I have so much respect for your honesty and integrity. Really hope that your buddy can make good of the machine and get the products flowing.
We bought several new haas 5 axis and 3 axis mills in the laat year and i am shocked at the weird issues they have. Atleaat once a month the control will just lock up mid run. No buttons work but green light is solid. Thankfully those parts are wide open on tolerance but i would look into a Grob. Especially for the price you are paying. Its above and beyond what is needed but the quality is top notch and theyre built in ohio.
A UMC500 5 axis can be had for around 142$ new or so last I checked. A small Grob 330 is around 4 times that. There are cheaper 5 axis machines than Grob that arent shite. Even Grob has issues- glass shop I worked in had plenty of Grob 550s and a 350. I still had to make parts for the 330 to fix the coolant skimmer. Grob are very nice machines but still have issues
@@CaskStrength777 We have a umc 500, umc 750 , and two mazak 500a. They are tiny compared to this machine. The 750 is barely big enough to do a cylinder head. A grob has high level production features he really wouldnt need but the key to the grob is how the spindle tucks into the machine to allow for a large working envelope at incredible speeds. It takes alot of skill make intricate parts on a haas compared to other brands. all machines have issues but the issues on these newer haas machines are like i have never seen in my 15+ years macining.
I worked at a shop that bought a "new design" machine and it was also a bad idea that they stopped making that model after a year. Haas has a history of Bad Ideas that don't actually work.
In my experience with super high precision machines they have to be in a temperature and humidity controlled environment plus or minus 1 degree will cause all kinds of issues. Good luck Tom 👍
When we get machines from other companies we have them up and running within 2 weeks maximum, so the fact that Haas can't get it right after 1.5 years are just fucked up man
At my last job, when we expanded our shop we added 4 little Haas VF4s and had them running in a week and then again a month after! Our most recent expansion they again chose more haas machines for consistency and it was downright bizarre by comparison. You'd think these were the first ever devices Haas made and they were experimenting to make them functional. Exact same specs as machines just a couple feet away that fired up instantly and these took many months of people in and out from Haas to make them work. It's kinda baffling when you think this company is making machines to do high precision work but their tolancers for machines to ship out the door is +/-1 functional mill.
It sounds like HAAS is doing R&D on there new equipment on your dime. I wonder what would happen if your buddy comes up with a way to make it work, if they will want to come figure out how you guys finished there machine. I would definitely be very tight lipped if you did get it running and sell the answers back to HAAS for 2 or 3 times what you have invested. Thanks for sharing your stories, I know the HAAS one stings. Your a stand up guy, doing things the way you have. Thanks, Sir.
After Tom's ordeal, I'd trust Harbor Freight over HAAS. At least you know what you're paying for and getting, PLUS, HF will exchange or refund your money in most cases if a tool doesn't perform as advertised/intended.
@@michaelwigley8856 agreed, never had a bad experience with HF. Other than some gems like the Daytona? jacks that are legitimately good, as long as you go in knowing you're buying a disposable tool that'll last you 1 maybe 3 projects you'll never be disappointed and their CS will always take care of you.
You have a lot more patience than many of us. Stop making payments, you will hear from them real soon. I would have shipped it back to Haas and completely washed your hands of it. But that's just me.
You have more patience than I would have! You pay that kind of money and didn’t get what you payed for. There would be lawyers involved at this point! You are a stand up guy and I love the channel! I hope it all works out for you!! Keep up the good content
A company as large as HAAS isn't going to care about a single-owner shop. They make their money off of huge corporate factories. Hate to say it, but that's just how it is.
I recently got targeted advertisement from HAAS that they were moving into more "cost" conscious product lines. If HAAS wants to become more mass market, they need to address these kind of issues or the internet will eat them up. Always appreciated their racing and engineering success from afar. Love the fact that they took "America" to F1. But with your well documented narrative it helps gain insight on the difficulties possible in setting this type of equipment up.
That is a sad and very expensive story .Obviously Haas is no longer a reputable company. This will serve notice to other potential buyers of this type of equipment. Tom ; you have been a real gentleman through all of this; I am truly sorry for you. May things work out going forward.
Sir. There are categories of patience. Patient, very patient, and very, very, patient. I have called myself a very patient man. I would say you are a very, very patient man. Good for you. I am 72 years young. I am running out of patience. You’ve used a fair amount with this piece of life. I’m just saying, you can run out of patience. Peace be with you.
Sorry to hear about this, but glad you've got it resolved. As a small CNC shop owner/operator I know what kind of investment in time and money we're talking about here, so seeing you deal with this in such a positive manner and share it with the world is truly inspirational. Thank you.
I work for a large corporation I can't name, but we have sent back several HAAS machines due to issues when the Laser alignment company came in to run through it. Look into Grob, they make some good 5 axis stuff although I don't know if it will be affordable to you. Also just fight and get HAAS to take that machine back, your buddy is probably going to just throw some offsets in to try and compensate, but I think you will run into issues if the alignment people say it's off.
Put the payment in an escrow account and when they make you Whole and the machine works fully...the court gives them their money. That way you still make your payment but put them in a bind...
I use a doosan everyday and I love it it’s a perfect machine the new ones have crash safe technology so it’s much harder to fuck shit up on the machine itself
It was just a few days ago that I was wondering how the Haas was doing. Well, now I know. Seems like it's time to get a different brand. Maybe some of the other places that already do billet blocks can suggest a brand that actually works.
Unfortunately he's stuck with a contract that says he's gotta pay 23K for rest of his life. Can't afford to buy another machine. He's screwed unless a pro-bono attorney wants to get involved.
Tom that's poor customer service from Haas. Wondered what was going on with it. Hope they do the right thing and compensate you. 100k subscribers awesome!!! Congrats 👏 😎
Haas sold you a lemon , your friend Steve Morris bought a Centroid 560xl about a month ago and he's already making billet heads all the big names making billet blocks use Mazak machines. Keep us updated good luck
Congratulations on having the patience to work out the problems on that machine. I knew you were in trouble when I first saw your Hass on the floor. Several companies have been sunk financially by what you have gone through. I worked for 12 years as the international plant engineer in the 1990's my impression since then was to stay away from Hass. I am retired now but my younger brother has used Mori Seki since the 1990"s I think his oldest machine was a used (serial number 7) That machine as one of the first MH50's out there, it had some problems that were fixed in the 1995 version (that he bought new @[$260+K]) that had the integral pallet changer. That machine is still holding 0.0005" tolerances. The shop is now up to 10+ horizontal machines (all MH50 variants) and we have never experienced such poor service and performance. Many machine tool manufacturers have failed after having done something to a customer like your experience. Admittedly a large five axis machine is expensive and difficult to program on a base level and mechanically difficult to build because of rigidity issues. Seems like you are attempting to making lemonade out of lemons. Giddings and Lewis failed for the same reason, underbuilt and oversold a new concept machine.
I threw a tweet @ Tony Stewart. I know he's not directly involved in Haas Automation but maybe he'll make a phone call and get somebody on this. Or not. Sure can't hurt.
I ran a haas lathe for 15 years and we never had a problem with it. 60 hours a week it was easy to learn and program put that machine was built 20 years ago. but we did have some mill problems on 2ed mill we bought from them,😢
we bought 2 new haas machines a few years ago at my shop. it took a good 6 months to get the mill up and running without issues, but we still fight with the lathe to this day. haas has been out every few months since for that pile of crap.
wow, i would have had a heart attack a long time ago with this. geez! 23k a month for nothing. I work in the auto industry as a maintenance tech, I think haas is used to these big industries that have multiple engineers and programmers on site and they just pay the bill no mater what....thats a bummer 😢 i would have loved to seen that up and running in your shop pumping out blocks making 💵💵💵
Just the facts like Tom said. I would imagine there's plenty of legal and financial talks behind the scenes that don't need to be discussed publicly... yet.
I spent the last 3 years working in a cnc shop. All the old timers had stories like this about Haas. One had this exact same problem on one of their mold making mills. Haas wound up buying the machine back. From talking to him it sounded like they either didn't know how to adjust the backlash settings or they were using ball screws/ways that weren't repeatable.
Ever since the daughter took over her fathers company at Haas they now have a failed F1 team that had been running for years and this is proof the rest of the company is failing as well. For them to not contact you and leave this on you to figure out is disgraceful for the company. The daughter is going to run that company into the ground. Crying shame and crying shame you get left with the burden of their mistakes.
Tom call a lawyer, force them to take it back. Get the money back and move away from Haas. I had a machine (bought new) that I sold 18 months later for issues, nothing like yours but still.
Tom I can't imagine your pain but I want to say thanks for sharing. This helps us a couple ways 1) As a consumer and 2) As an entrepreneur to better understand the struggles of owning a small business.
Sounds like the unfortunate end of this saga is in front of a judge. Kudos to you for staying on the high road, honoring your part of the original contract and for telling your story without just ranting aimlessly like many would do. Too bad the guy at the top of Haas does not care enough to reach out directly but instead lets his high paid minions continue to play this game. Best of luck.
Haas is a basically a low end machine capable of doing aluminum fairly accurate. We have several verticals because the majority of our work is aluminum and engineered plastics . For the money they are not bad. For what your trying to machine you defiantly need a 5 axis simultaneous machine not 3+2 . I’d say your sales rep started you off on the wrong road. Doosan which is now DM Solutions is a far better machine and not all that more expensive . I’ve also found Haas to be very poor on support. I commend you for your patience . Best of luck to you
We gave up on 2 new HAAS we got in the end of 2019. Both always had software problems, cooling problems and one had a vibration over 1k rpm and they came and replaced head,bearings and a whole top unit that never fixed it. So after tired of losing money and wasted payments like yourself we got a layer and had them junk machines ship back. So we got a couple Milltronics after talking to a few buddies who have had good luck with them after HAAS machines let them down as well. We're going on about a year with new machines and they have not once let us down and tech support along with anyone you speak to is extremely nice and knowledgeable. Buy if you get tired of the HAAS look up Milltronics and see if they have what you need cause apparently HAAS has gone down hill from everything we all keep hearing.
I won't ever spend my money on another Haas machine.... The two I had, 1st was used, so take that for what it's worth. 2nd was brand new. Both never worked right... Bought a Matsuura and now have 2 of them and never had an issue unless something wore out. Would never give Haas my money again.
I know it may be hard to stomach, but getting a Solistor involved may be a good idea they may be able to help put pressure on them to resolve the issue or take the machine back and return payment.
I went through a very very similar adventure with some software development. Was supposed to be 6-8weeks. 16months and $50K later it still didn’t work. I finally had to just walk away and take the hit. When doing things that have never been done, sometimes they don’t work out…. That’s business.
You are much more patient than I would have been. Reinstating payments on a non revenue producing machine is chickenshit as you can get. But they have bought themselves millions of dollars of bad publicity.
You need to contract with a outside machinist who is certified in the use of this type of equipment. Get them to certify that the equipment is defective and go from there. Once you move the machine they will have a valid argument that you damaged it in the move and installation.
From my experience, 5 axis machines are pain in the ass to keep everything properly aligned and if you need real precision you need check it every single month with internal program for alignement.
@@Jraksdhs I am not saying that have issues but for sure they need to be check time to time, I work on cnc for many years and never seen 5 axis machine that is always 100%, every single month we do the auto calibration process that machine have from factory.
You're a good man you keep your side of the deal. Sounds like that can't be said for the paper weight maker. Maybe business doesn't work like this, but could you have set up. New company on paper for the mill. If the mill doesn't make money the company can't pay the bill. They can fix it or come get it.
Haas makes decent entry level VMC's but even our VF-6 has had a history of lubrications system problems. I see their simple machines as decent risk but am not shocked that they struggle with a more complex 5 axis machine. What you were wanting from that machine probably would have been better achieved with a machine that was 2 to 3x the price. Doosan or Makino come to mind.
There's a reason the cnc engineers i work with don't buy haas. I will say we have a couple makinos machining many blocks a day and its rare to have issues with those.
Being a shop owner. I would not stand for this. Contact the dealer and tell them your sending it back. Hass should of sent an application engineer in to help correct the problems. That engineer would know if is the machine or programing issue. There's no secrets to doing set ups. The dealer you bought from should have done this for you. If you told them what you wanted to machine. They could of told you how to go about doing it right. They have people on staff for this purpose. I guess you need to go to imts show in Chicago this September. I guarantee that Hass will be there. So will all the big bosses. You need to confront them head on. I don't know any shop that could afford to do what your doing. There are a lot of 5 axis or more machines out there. I have a customer that has a 19 axis machine and makes one product year around, Good luck, Tom P.S. think about contacting titans of machining, He would probably help you out.
I would have a lawyer send a letter to HAAS stating that you are suspending payments due to the machine not being fit for purpose. I would keep making the required payments into an escrow account so that if it goes to court you can prove that you had every intention of paying for the machine. It would be a big financial hit since there is no income from said machine but this would put the onus on Hass to get shit sorted.
This comment is 100% what you do.....
Tom, contact your attorney immediately.
I agree 100%. That sucks he is out all that money for a paper weight.
Agreed, time to get your lawyer involved and compile documentation to get them to sort this out.
Super Solid advice!!
Hey Tom, I'm glad it's not just me. I bought a brand new UMC-500 right around the same time. Took a few weeks to get it installed. During that, they found out that the conveyor I optioned (due to the standard conveyor already having major issues that would cause the machine to flood the shop) would not work with the machine as configured. Two months later, they finally got parts to make the conveyor run which I installed myself because it was going to be over a week to get a tech to me. Finally got the conveyor running so I could finally run the machine. Made some test cuts, and it was atrocious. Wouldn't cut flat, wouldn't make a surface finish, wasn't accurate at all. If I chamfered five sides of a cube, I got five different chamfers, sometimes none at all. Called Haas, they sent a tech out AGAIN, he reinstalled the machine three more times. It had moved a good bit since the first level, but it didn't move much at all between each of the later three leveling procedures. Nothing changed, still cut terrible. They sent an applications engineer out for the half day of training that I PAID FOR, and all he did was try to troubleshoot the machine. Then right before he left, he said "that's as good as any Haas machine I've ever seen cut". I compared the finishes and accuracy from my $25k Chinese Tormach to show them my expectations, and they said "you can't compare because that's a 3 axis vertical, not a 5 axis machine". No kidding you can't compare! It's a $25k Chinese machine compared to a $125k American made 5 axis. It should be leaps and bounds better. I contacted Haas corporate and explained the situation to them at around 7pm EST one day, and I had an email back at 7am EST the next morning asking for the serial number and HFO that sold the machine. I immediately responded, and that was the last I ever heard from anyone at Haas. Called many times, sent many emails directly to Haas as well as the service department and sales rep at the HFO, and they literally would not even pick up the phone. I 100% got blacklisted by everyone there. I was in the same boat as you (luckily much smaller payments), but I WAS a startup at the time. I had only been in business a year, and that was my first real machine, so I didn't have a spare $3k to be throwing at a machine that would not make a part. I ended up selling the machine with 34 minutes on the clock at a $10k loss and moved on. I've since bought Doosans, and they've treated me well so far. I really hope you shove a lawyer stick so far up Gene Haas's *** over this. He deserves it after making countless numbers of machines that land people in this situation.
Did you buy a 5 axis doosan? If so how have you got on with it?
I bet their lawyers told them to not communicate with you. Make sure you have all their emails stored safely in the cloud and on a zip drive. Take the time to write down all you can remember of the timeline and have your CNC guy do the same. I would bill them for all the lost revenue and expenses you've incurred (including payroll). You have been too easy on HAAS. Time to get nasty.
HAAS washed their hands of it because they know eventually you will discover the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act and are entitled to a full refund. so there you are, you now know about the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act. get a lawyer and get your money back.
Call steve Lehto, he is even in michigan.
What the Hell does the Magnuson -Moss Warranty Act have to do with a CNC machine ?
@@daveholley2156 A cnc machine is a product and should have come with a warranty just like anything. If it came with a full warranty, the act states "if the product, or a component part, contains a defect or malfunction, must permit the consumer to elect either a refund or replacement without charge, after a reasonable number of repair attempts."
Wtf are you on ?
@@pauledwards6446 My Couch ! You got NOS up your Nostrils again ? I admit I didn't find a verbatim copy of the Act but mostly referred to the manufacturer car warranty and modifications ! So if I buy a Chinese product off of Amazon because it's cheaper compared to a premium product and it doesn't perform to my expectations ? WTF ? There's a Latin Law Term Caveat Emptor !!!! In English Buyer beware ✌️
We ran dozens of HAAS machine centers for the majority of our light work and have for about 25 years. When it came to heavy work we moved to DOOSAN horizontal machines. All around heavier and better built machine.
That Haas and the fact that you haven't made chips in 8 months would literally bankrupt everyone. That's disgusting. Thank you for sharing. Moving the machine and everything you're doing to overcome this is beyond reprehensible. As a former machine shop owner, you're literally losing $200 an hour. Absolutely idiotic
Applaud your professionalism Tom. I would have been tempted to ship it back to them and put it right in front of their main entrance gate.
Godfather--Maybe with bright yellow lemons painted all over the packaging?
Yea that would be a heck of a sight when they got there the next morning .
As a master technician I can say if it has Perpetual problems that can’t be fixed by anyone you made the right choice. Time to get rid of the HAAS boat anchor.
To be honest with you Tom, I would have thrown the towel in a long time ago. Good on ya for giving it a go 👍🏻
shidd start a new business and file for bankruptcy, tell they ass come get this mfer for 23k a month that's crazy. that's enough money to be outside someone's door in the morning.
I firmly believe you should get every penny back including for the pad plus compensation for damages headaches lost shop space etc any reasonable lawyer and judge will see that as necessary plus have all legal fees covered
Oh, so you're an attorney? Oh, right. You just play one on the internet. 🤣 As if you know what a judge would or wouldn't do 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Have you tried contacting your attorney general? Maybe there’s something equivalent to the “lemon law” that can be done to resolve the issue. I feel like Haas should have given you a refund for their equipment thus allowing you to move forward with another machine. It seems like the route ANY reputable company would take if they can’t resolve the issue.
Agreed
Yah like the government is gonna help you sound smart call the government they will fix it they have never fixed any problem they have ever addressed only made it worse
You are totally right, unfortunately, the critical word in your statement is "reputable"... Haas is not exactly that.
Michigan’s AG is nearly useless when it comes to consumer protection.
Our AG here in Michigan would be useless on this type of case. I can’t see her giving a damn. (Not her biggest fan but I’ll keep it clean for the ‘Tube)
I give you a ton of credit for being as patient as you have been with this whole ordeal. For a half million dollar machine it should work straight out of the box no questions.
depends how cutting edge it is (forgive the pun) what is written in the small print? is it a prototype etc?
worked off the semi* that didnt come in no box lmao
@@chrisharding2813 We just got one in a few days ago. Came to Canada from the US in shrink wrap. No container. A bunch of the sheetmetal was bent. Apparently, some of the shrink wrap came loose and started flapping in the wind. Yes.... The sheetmetal on the brand new machine was bent "from the wind"
42 lawyers just contacted Tom Bailey after this video. Pretty F Ed up that people get held financially responsible for things that don’t work.
They now advertise this as a 3+2 machine. I remember my dad going to Germany to get the 5 axis machine that they used in the shop. The Hass was incapable of true 5 axis. time to get the lawyers involved.
"Ha ha, did we say 5 axis? We meant 3+2! Whoopsie daisy!"
Hey 3+2 is 5!! That one Steve Morris has is nice.
@@minibikemadman True it has 5 axis' but its not true 5 axis simultaneous which is what he was sold on . He probably doesn't have that in writing so there's not much he can do.
Haas UMC series absolutely can do simultaneous 5 live- I've done it on a 1000 and 500. They definitely have kinematic issues though I have seen that and so have many other people. These machines aren't the best and they can often cause a great deal of grief and I'm convinced that a lot of it comes from the factory.
@@CaskStrength777 this isn't a UMC though its a shitty Frankenstein of a horizontal and a UMC
Tom, it would be interesting to know if either of the other two machines were sold and if they met the expectations of performance. Please keep us updated on Rob’s progress.
No they haven't been sold. Haas has got a problem with the machine and it might not be fixable.
I'm a small business owner, and one of the things I struggle with is how long do I give a situation before I pull the plug. Thank you for sharing your experience - it helps some of us out here to realize we aren't the only ones dealing with issues!
Congratulations on 100K subscribers.
Haas sounds like an average Chinese company... no shortage of promises, delivers a dysfunction piece of crap, and they disappear once the payments land in their accounts. (For an American company they sure give the Chinese a run for bad service).
Almost China, Commiefornia...
@@shitmyhellcatsays Chyna
they're in california soooooo, same difference. living off their name.
Hi Tom, you have always seemed to me to be an honest man. I'm not going to give you advice. Hopefully someone on the fence buying a HASS or some other brand just decided against HASS. That will get the stockholders attention. Thank you for your time.
Man, I had a bad feeling about this HAAS thing from the time of your first video on your trials and tribulations with that company. You've been more than patient with them. More so than I would have been; I would have sued them into oblivion months ago.
Tom I'm sure you have thought about legal options with Haas . As a retired CEO I can tell you sometimes its best to cut your losses. Doing work around processing to remedy the shortcomings of your purchase is going to effect your margins. I really get upset when we allow companies to get away with delivering on there promises. Haas pisses away a fortune with his Formula 1 team you should get you money back and if you decide to continue the path to making billet blocks you may have to purchase a high end overseas mill. Good luck love your channel !
...When you said "NEVER BUY THE 1ST OF ANYTHING!", you got it 1000000000% right.
This is simple, dude. Haas, come get your sh!t.
I have no clue how a company can not stand behind their product.
Glad you made this video, sorry you have had to go through these hassles.
Put the payment in a escrow account and tell them when it does what they said it was going to do when they sold it you then they can have the money. I'm sure they will be in touch. What dirt bags.
I work with 2 HAAS 3 axis mills 8 hours per day, and based on everything I've heard, I can't say I'm entirely surprised. Heard they're really hit and miss at times.
That matches my experience too.
Congratulations on 100k subscribers!
Sorry you have had so much trouble with this machine, you are more patient than I am!
Good spot for a HD 40 ton Frame pulling table, you can build your own frames for the custom car market on the steel deck not having to send out for the parts you need. Wish I had a spot and shop the size you do 2 and 4 post lifts and a frame table I wouldn't have had to sell the last 2 vehicles I have in the last 3 months.
I think this reinforces the character you are Tom.
I have so much respect for your honesty and integrity.
Really hope that your buddy can make good of the machine and get the products flowing.
We bought several new haas 5 axis and 3 axis mills in the laat year and i am shocked at the weird issues they have. Atleaat once a month the control will just lock up mid run. No buttons work but green light is solid. Thankfully those parts are wide open on tolerance but i would look into a Grob. Especially for the price you are paying. Its above and beyond what is needed but the quality is top notch and theyre built in ohio.
A UMC500 5 axis can be had for around 142$ new or so last I checked. A small Grob 330 is around 4 times that. There are cheaper 5 axis machines than Grob that arent shite. Even Grob has issues- glass shop I worked in had plenty of Grob 550s and a 350. I still had to make parts for the 330 to fix the coolant skimmer. Grob are very nice machines but still have issues
@@CaskStrength777 We have a umc 500, umc 750 , and two mazak 500a. They are tiny compared to this machine. The 750 is barely big enough to do a cylinder head. A grob has high level production features he really wouldnt need but the key to the grob is how the spindle tucks into the machine to allow for a large working envelope at incredible speeds. It takes alot of skill make intricate parts on a haas compared to other brands. all machines have issues but the issues on these newer haas machines are like i have never seen in my 15+ years macining.
I remember working on a Tree cnc mill. It was painted yellow. I used to call it my lemon tree!
Circa 1983..... yikes.....
I worked at a shop that bought a "new design" machine and it was also a bad idea that they stopped making that model after a year. Haas has a history of Bad Ideas that don't actually work.
In my experience with super high precision machines they have to be in a temperature and humidity controlled environment plus or minus 1 degree will cause all kinds of issues. Good luck Tom 👍
It says a lot that HAAS does not use their own machines to machine parts. They use Mori-Seki’s and Doosans to make parts for their own machines.
Its a good man that rolls with the punches RESPECT
Your too nice Tom. I hate that your having to go through all of this. Keep doing your thing man. Your doing really big things!
When we get machines from other companies we have them up and running within 2 weeks maximum, so the fact that Haas can't get it right after 1.5 years are just fucked up man
At my last job, when we expanded our shop we added 4 little Haas VF4s and had them running in a week and then again a month after! Our most recent expansion they again chose more haas machines for consistency and it was downright bizarre by comparison. You'd think these were the first ever devices Haas made and they were experimenting to make them functional. Exact same specs as machines just a couple feet away that fired up instantly and these took many months of people in and out from Haas to make them work.
It's kinda baffling when you think this company is making machines to do high precision work but their tolancers for machines to ship out the door is +/-1 functional mill.
You hit the nail on the head. You are making your payments so to them that's all they care about
It sounds like HAAS is doing R&D on there new equipment on your dime. I wonder what would happen if your buddy comes up with a way to make it work, if they will want to come figure out how you guys finished there machine. I would definitely be very tight lipped if you did get it running and sell the answers back to HAAS for 2 or 3 times what you have invested. Thanks for sharing your stories, I know the HAAS one stings. Your a stand up guy, doing things the way you have. Thanks, Sir.
HAAS is definitely the Harbor Freight of the CNC world.
Have never heard it said better than this.
After Tom's ordeal, I'd trust Harbor Freight over HAAS. At least you know what you're paying for and getting, PLUS, HF will exchange or refund your money in most cases if a tool doesn't perform as advertised/intended.
@@ronwilliams1094 Yep, if it were HF they'd atleast got one good run out of it...
Harbor freight would never treat there customers like that or they wouldn't be in business very long
@@michaelwigley8856 agreed, never had a bad experience with HF. Other than some gems like the Daytona? jacks that are legitimately good, as long as you go in knowing you're buying a disposable tool that'll last you 1 maybe 3 projects you'll never be disappointed and their CS will always take care of you.
Drop a lawsuit on HAAS. Maybe they will listen to that.
That easy?
This is crazy. I thought Haas was better than this. You are way more patient than I would have been.
You have a lot more patience than many of us.
Stop making payments, you will hear from them real soon.
I would have shipped it back to Haas and completely washed your hands of it.
But that's just me.
You have more patience than I would have! You pay that kind of money and didn’t get what you payed for. There would be lawyers involved at this point! You are a stand up guy and I love the channel! I hope it all works out for you!! Keep up the good content
Seems like this machine works as well as their F1 team
There is a reason he gave Tony Stewart *half* of his NASCAR team. Half. It’s the reason the company works.
Nice shot.
A company as large as HAAS isn't going to care about a single-owner shop. They make their money off of huge corporate factories. Hate to say it, but that's just how it is.
Had a similar issue with a major laser manufacturer. Seems like there's a pattern with big companies not giving a dam
100K Subscribers , Great work ! it must be mind blowing trying to juggle all your doing and still stay sane !
I recently got targeted advertisement from HAAS that they were moving into more "cost" conscious product lines. If HAAS wants to become more mass market, they need to address these kind of issues or the internet will eat them up. Always appreciated their racing and engineering success from afar. Love the fact that they took "America" to F1. But with your well documented narrative it helps gain insight on the difficulties possible in setting this type of equipment up.
I’d be soooooo Pissed..
to dump that money into a machine and have something like that happen.
That is a sad and very expensive story .Obviously Haas is no longer a reputable company. This will serve notice to other potential buyers of this type of equipment. Tom ; you have been a real gentleman through all of this; I am truly sorry for you. May things work out going forward.
Sorry your going through this man. Glad financially you've survived it atleast but it's sad.
You're living up to your end of the bargain like the man your are and they don't care.
This should have never been like this.
Sir. There are categories of patience. Patient, very patient, and very, very, patient. I have called myself a very patient man. I would say you are a very, very patient man. Good for you. I am 72 years young. I am running out of patience. You’ve used a fair amount with this piece of life. I’m just saying, you can run out of patience. Peace be with you.
Sorry to hear about this, but glad you've got it resolved. As a small CNC shop owner/operator I know what kind of investment in time and money we're talking about here, so seeing you deal with this in such a positive manner and share it with the world is truly inspirational. Thank you.
If it doesn't do what they said it would can't you return it for a refund?
Did you have a performance agreement stating the capabilities of the machine? If so, I would think you could sue them for breach of contract.
I work for a large corporation I can't name, but we have sent back several HAAS machines due to issues when the Laser alignment company came in to run through it. Look into Grob, they make some good 5 axis stuff although I don't know if it will be affordable to you. Also just fight and get HAAS to take that machine back, your buddy is probably going to just throw some offsets in to try and compensate, but I think you will run into issues if the alignment people say it's off.
Put the payment in an escrow account and when they make you Whole and the machine works fully...the court gives them their money. That way you still make your payment but put them in a bind...
I use a doosan everyday and I love it it’s a perfect machine the new ones have crash safe technology so it’s much harder to fuck shit up on the machine itself
It was just a few days ago that I was wondering how the Haas was doing. Well, now I know. Seems like it's time to get a different brand. Maybe some of the other places that already do billet blocks can suggest a brand that actually works.
Unfortunately he's stuck with a contract that says he's gotta pay 23K for rest of his life. Can't afford to buy another machine. He's screwed unless a pro-bono attorney wants to get involved.
Tom that's poor customer service from Haas. Wondered what was going on with it. Hope they do the right thing and compensate you. 100k subscribers awesome!!! Congrats 👏 😎
In my 25+ years of working for G.M. I do not recall ever seeing a haas machine in any plant!
Haas sold you a lemon , your friend Steve Morris bought a Centroid 560xl about a month ago and he's already making billet heads all the big names making billet blocks use Mazak machines. Keep us updated good luck
Congratulations on having the patience to work out the problems on that machine. I knew you were in trouble when I first saw your Hass on the floor. Several companies have been sunk financially by what you have gone through. I worked for 12 years as the international plant engineer in the 1990's my impression since then was to stay away from Hass. I am retired now but my younger brother has used Mori Seki since the 1990"s I think his oldest machine was a used (serial number 7) That machine as one of the first MH50's out there, it had some problems that were fixed in the 1995 version (that he bought new @[$260+K]) that had the integral pallet changer. That machine is still holding 0.0005" tolerances. The shop is now up to 10+ horizontal machines (all MH50 variants) and we have never experienced such poor service and performance. Many machine tool manufacturers have failed after having done something to a customer like your experience. Admittedly a large five axis machine is expensive and difficult to program on a base level and mechanically difficult to build because of rigidity issues. Seems like you are attempting to making lemonade out of lemons. Giddings and Lewis failed for the same reason, underbuilt and oversold a new concept machine.
I threw a tweet @ Tony Stewart. I know he's not directly involved in Haas Automation but maybe he'll make a phone call and get somebody on this. Or not. Sure can't hurt.
I ran a haas lathe for 15 years and we never had a problem with it. 60 hours a week it was easy to learn and program put that machine was built 20 years ago. but we did have some mill problems on 2ed mill we bought from them,😢
Your patience is beyond what I can comprehend! Very expensive investment to not have a return on!
we bought 2 new haas machines a few years ago at my shop. it took a good 6 months to get the mill up and running without issues, but we still fight with the lathe to this day. haas has been out every few months since for that pile of crap.
wow, i would have had a heart attack a long time ago with this. geez! 23k a month for nothing. I work in the auto industry as a maintenance tech, I think haas is used to these big industries that have multiple engineers and programmers on site and they just pay the bill no mater what....thats a bummer 😢 i would have loved to seen that up and running in your shop pumping out blocks making 💵💵💵
Just the facts like Tom said. I would imagine there's plenty of legal and financial talks behind the scenes that don't need to be discussed publicly... yet.
I spent the last 3 years working in a cnc shop. All the old timers had stories like this about Haas. One had this exact same problem on one of their mold making mills. Haas wound up buying the machine back. From talking to him it sounded like they either didn't know how to adjust the backlash settings or they were using ball screws/ways that weren't repeatable.
Good for you for standing up what’s right & calling them out on their awful customer service. Too bad there is no way you can just stop paying.
I'd be interested to hear how the other two machines are doing. Congrats on the 100k subs brother. 🤘👍
Ever since the daughter took over her fathers company at Haas they now have a failed F1 team that had been running for years and this is proof the rest of the company is failing as well. For them to not contact you and leave this on you to figure out is disgraceful for the company. The daughter is going to run that company into the ground. Crying shame and crying shame you get left with the burden of their mistakes.
Theyre doing great in F1 this year. Waaay better than anyone's expectations.
Tom, you have had more than enough patience with that machine. Hope you didn’t lose to much money on that thing
You’re handling it like a True Gentleman!
I've operated 3 axis and that was a pain.
I can't imagine running 5 at once.
Tom call a lawyer, force them to take it back. Get the money back and move away from Haas. I had a machine (bought new) that I sold 18 months later for issues, nothing like yours but still.
Tom I can't imagine your pain but I want to say thanks for sharing. This helps us a couple ways 1) As a consumer and 2) As an entrepreneur to better understand the struggles of owning a small business.
Sounds like the unfortunate end of this saga is in front of a judge. Kudos to you for staying on the high road, honoring your part of the original contract and for telling your story without just ranting aimlessly like many would do. Too bad the guy at the top of Haas does not care enough to reach out directly but instead lets his high paid minions continue to play this game. Best of luck.
Haas is a basically a low end machine capable of doing aluminum fairly accurate. We have several verticals because the majority of our work is aluminum and engineered plastics . For the money they are not bad. For what your trying to machine you defiantly need a 5 axis simultaneous machine not 3+2 . I’d say your sales rep started you off on the wrong road. Doosan which is now DM Solutions is a far better machine and not all that more expensive . I’ve also found Haas to be very poor on support. I commend you for your patience . Best of luck to you
Congrats on 100k subs keep it coming
We gave up on 2 new HAAS we got in the end of 2019. Both always had software problems, cooling problems and one had a vibration over 1k rpm and they came and replaced head,bearings and a whole top unit that never fixed it. So after tired of losing money and wasted payments like yourself we got a layer and had them junk machines ship back. So we got a couple Milltronics after talking to a few buddies who have had good luck with them after HAAS machines let them down as well. We're going on about a year with new machines and they have not once let us down and tech support along with anyone you speak to is extremely nice and knowledgeable. Buy if you get tired of the HAAS look up Milltronics and see if they have what you need cause apparently HAAS has gone down hill from everything we all keep hearing.
I won't ever spend my money on another Haas machine....
The two I had,
1st was used, so take that for what it's worth.
2nd was brand new.
Both never worked right...
Bought a Matsuura and now have 2 of them and never had an issue unless something wore out. Would never give Haas my money again.
I know it may be hard to stomach, but getting a Solistor involved may be a good idea they may be able to help put pressure on them to resolve the issue or take the machine back and return payment.
Don't Steve have a 5 axis machine cutting blocks????
I went through a very very similar adventure with some software development. Was supposed to be 6-8weeks. 16months and $50K later it still didn’t work. I finally had to just walk away and take the hit. When doing things that have never been done, sometimes they don’t work out…. That’s business.
We all make wrong choices sometimes. It's not your fault that the Haas is a piece of crap. Best of luck working it all out 👍
You are much more patient than I would have been. Reinstating payments on a non revenue producing machine is chickenshit as you can get. But they have bought themselves millions of dollars of bad publicity.
You need to contract with a outside machinist who is certified in the use of this type of equipment. Get them to certify that the equipment is defective and go from there. Once you move the machine they will have a valid argument that you damaged it in the move and installation.
I don't know if it will help, but I sent them an email telling them that they should be ashamed on how they treated you.
From my experience, 5 axis machines are pain in the ass to keep everything properly aligned and if you need real precision you need check it every single month with internal program for alignement.
Real machines don’t have these issues. DMG. Grobe. Okuma. Any of those will shit on a haas all day.
@@Jraksdhs I am not saying that have issues but for sure they need to be check time to time, I work on cnc for many years and never seen 5 axis machine that is always 100%, every single month we do the auto calibration process that machine have from factory.
Haas should be paying you 23k a month for research and development.
Research and NO-development...
I agree it's time, actually way past time, to get your attorney involved.
It’s past time you got rid of it, right from the beginning it was nothing but a headache!
Hopefully your next cnc will be flawless 👍
You're a good man you keep your side of the deal. Sounds like that can't be said for the paper weight maker. Maybe business doesn't work like this, but could you have set up. New company on paper for the mill. If the mill doesn't make money the company can't pay the bill. They can fix it or come get it.
Tom you’re a patient man. At this point I would be filing a lawsuit for any all monies spent to date. You have a nice fancy paperweight! IMO!!!
Haas makes decent entry level VMC's but even our VF-6 has had a history of lubrications system problems. I see their simple machines as decent risk but am not shocked that they struggle with a more complex 5 axis machine. What you were wanting from that machine probably would have been better achieved with a machine that was 2 to 3x the price. Doosan or Makino come to mind.
CALL STEVE LEHTO. He is the lawyer dog for lemon law, a car guy, youtuber and even better, practices in michigan.
Ouch. That's terrible that you've had this experience... hopefully your buddy can salvage some functionality out of it.
There's a reason the cnc engineers i work with don't buy haas. I will say we have a couple makinos machining many blocks a day and its rare to have issues with those.
Being a shop owner. I would not stand for this. Contact the dealer and tell them your sending it back. Hass should of sent an application engineer in to help correct the problems. That engineer would know if is the machine or programing issue. There's no secrets to doing set ups. The dealer you bought from should have done this for you. If you told them what you wanted to machine. They could of told you how to go about doing it right. They have people on staff for this purpose. I guess you need to go to imts show in Chicago this September. I guarantee that Hass will be there. So will all the big bosses. You need to confront them head on. I don't know any shop that could afford to do what your doing. There are a lot of 5 axis or more machines out there. I have a customer that has a 19 axis machine and makes one product year around, Good luck, Tom P.S. think about contacting titans of machining, He would probably help you out.