Flex Pixie issue

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OCD-tailing

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I've had a Pixie for about 17 months and it is lightly used and now I am having an issue with it. It worked perfect last time I used it about 2 weeks ago and today when I hit the trigger to start the machine it made its normal chirp sound and then all 4 battery lights started to flash green very rapidly but the backing plate didn't start spinning. The battery had 2 bars still but I put a fresh battery on it and same result.

I contacted Flex and the guy I spoke to was somewhat mystified. I was supposed to get a call back today but have not received it yet so I am hopeful they might have an answer tomorrow. Anyone else have anything like this happen to their Pixie?

Alan
OCD-tailing
 
UPDATE!!! After speaking to numerous people at Flex I have gotten nowhere with this situation. Apparently Flex was recently purchased by Skil and and chaos has ensued. They have no real process in place yet to help people who are having issues with their tools. They referred me to a local Fastenal outlet and that outlet had never even heard of Flex power tools so I called Flex again and was given another name of a repair shop 2 hours away from Louisville.

I normally send my Flex tools to Powerhouse Distributing in Omaha for repair but I reached out to Flex as this tool is barely out of warranty (of course). The interesting fact is that Powerhouse has seen the exact same issue that I described all across the battery operated line and Flex supposedly had never heard of this issue. I was told by that shop that there is no repair except a complete replacement of the entire motor assembly at a cost that is almost equal to the cost of the tool itself. Furthermore, they stated that they have had a lot of problems with the cordless units coming out of China so BUYER BEWARE!!! Cordless is nice but not if you have to replace a 17 month old machine that is only used 2-3 times per month.
 
I know that this doesn’t help you but things like that are the reason I buy Griot’s. Lifetime warranty. Buying a Flex or Rupes is cool but I use tools so little that if they die just outside of warranty I’m out big bucks and didn’t even get to use them much. I prefer to give my money to a company that stands behind their products.
 
Mine was 7/28/20 so I hope you don't have any problems with yours. It's not even so much the problem because machines are going to break but it is the poor response from Flex that has me aggravated.
 
OCD-tailing said:
Mine was 7/28/20 so I hope you don't have any problems with yours. It's not even so much the problem because machines are going to break but it is the poor response from Flex that has me aggravated.
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Check if your credit card has extended warranty, normally they double the manufacture’s warranty up to an extra year. In that case they’d either refund your purchase value or cover the repair costs.
 
Sorry to hear you are having multiple issues, please keep us posted. (I also didn't know that Flex was sold)
 
Alan,

Keep us fellow owners in the loop on your outcome!
 
Bruno,
Great idea. I'll check into that.
Thanks,
Alan
 
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John U said:
Alan,

Keep us fellow owners in the loop on your outcome!
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UPDATE: After approximately 3 weeks of being sent on a wild goose chase to have someone repair my Pixie I managed to get in touch with Chris Metcalf at Flex and it was unbelievable what a difference that made. When I told him about being sent to multiple outlets for repair and every one of them saying they had no knowledge of a relationship with Flex and their power tools he was shocked. I even talked to a few managers at these places and they were clueless. Very frustrating.

Chris listened to my ordeal and promptly told me he was going to send me a new unit due to the runaround I went through. He later texted me and told me that my issue led to a new process within Chervon / Flex to avoid this issue in the future. He also told me that should I hear of anyone having any issues with any Flex product to get them in touch with him if they can't make progress through normal channels.

Here's a big THANK YOU to Chris for finally getting this straightened out.

Alan
OCD-tailing
 
Glad you got in context with him. If it’s one thing missing from this forum I’d not having Mike Phillips to pass along threads like this to Chris.
 
Now that's what I call CS! I really tip my hat to Chris and I don't even own a Flex
I think my next polisher is going to be one upon hearing about this!
 
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