Customer Reviews:
 GMC will not honor any Warranty to the US!!! August 15, 2008
Troy (USA)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This is a very nice saw for the price. It has a comfortable grip, feels sturdy and well made. It is light weight, but still deliver good power and speed for cutting thick wood. I would of recommended this product until I found out GMC will not stand behind their prduct. GMC does not support any tool sold in the US and that includes Amazon. So if your tool goes bad don't bother trying to get a replacement from GMC. GMC is an Australian company and the 1866-307-0132(USA) support number connect you to Australia only to be denied of any support. Lets blame China for manufacturing the tool even though Australia designed and support it or NOT. That is the medias and publics reaction these days, blame the manufacture and not the company who is actually the root for the problem. Good thing Amazon is willing to credit my money back.
Amazon ***** (great service)
GMC * ( good product, terrible support)
GMC 7 1/4 Inch Circular Saw - Think Long And Hard Before Buying This One July 3, 2008
Mark (East Coast)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
The GMC CS10UL 7-1/4 Inch Circular Saw isn't the worst saw you can buy for the money, but it isn't the best either. Those who know a lot more than me about power tools probably would never even consider a GMC saw. I will admit I originally thought this was a private label saw branded by an auto company. Now I know it's just a budget tool maker.
Always the bargain hunter, I am a believer in *never say never.* Sometimes it's nice to have a saw that you don't mind losing when you have to take it somewhere else to help a friend. And I have friends in some *questionable* neighborhoods where power tools have a way of disappearing. That's why I wouldn't have ruled this saw out - that is, before I actually had to use it.
First and foremost, to be fair, I want to state that I am not totally unbiased in this review. I had a bad experience with a different kind of GMC saw that is no longer sold on Amazon as far as I can tell. I still think my review is fair, but I always like to give people all the information and let them make their own decision. And at this point, I probably won't post my review of that other saw since it's not being sold any more. I may change my mind about that, but suffice it to say there were SEVERE quality issues.
That's why I was very surprised to learn that my buddy had bought this saw and had it waiting for me when he called me over to help him do some VERY BASIC cuts for a small closet framing job. I didn't want to tell him, "What the heck did you buy that for?" I figured, "hey maybe they got a better factory to make these than the one I had problems with." Well my open-mindedness was not rewarded.
Specifications for saws that give you amps and RPMs don't really give you a feel for performance under real usage. Right out of the box, I knew this wouldn't have enough power for anything but infrequent use. It struggled with basic 2 x 4 and 1 x 6 pieces, not the kind of performance you would expect from even a cheap 7 inch saw. I'm talking standard pine here, not any special hard wood. I've gotten better performance making cuts with a battery power cordless saw that came with my Ryobi 5 Pc. 18V Combo Kit.
But even that could be forgiven for the price, which is very good. The two things that could not be forgiven however are the way the saw looses it's adjustment settings VERY quickly and has to constantly be readjusted. That's a time waster and a safety risk. Also problematic for me is the same cheap composite body that broke on the last cheapo GMC saw I took a chance with. Nope, I guess they didn't start using a better factory for these private label saws. At least not that I could tell.
Now I would have even been ballsy enough to try some angle cuts, but trying to adjust this saw for that was a pain. It didn't instil any confidence in me. Rather than take a safety risk I just got my own saw from home to perform those cuts, giving this saw a well needed rest.
When I was finished helping my buddy he asked me, "So what do you think, isn't it a great deal for the money?" "Well, I'm sorry to say I don't think so, and it may be a safety risk too if you don't know what you're doing." He didn't seem to agree with me. Using the saw for 3 hours and making all kinds of adjustments was enough for me to draw the conclusion.
Well, just recently I happened to be at my friend's place again and he asked for help with a small job he needed to adjust the height of a utility table, also made out of 2 x 4s. It came as no surprise to me when the saw seemed to struggle in the middle of the cut and loose all power from the motor to the shaft. Bottom line, no more cuts and it needed to be repaired under warrantee. That's after a total of maybe 3 and 1/2 or 4 hours of TOTAL use over 2 small jobs. I didn't tell my buddy, "I told you so," but I don't think I had to. He just gave me that look. I helped him pack it up for return and we went to our local place where I helped him pick out another saw to finish the job.
Now, it's true that not every saw will have this issue. But it's also true that this is the second time (and the last time) I've been burned with these budget GMC saws. While the price adds a star for the few lucky ones who do get one that lasts more than a day (8 hours) worth of use, the cheap construction, durablity issues and unstable adjustments make rating this higher than 2 impossible for me.
Please, learn from my mistake and that of my buddy and avoid private label cheapo hardware. Stick with Dewalt, Makita, Skil or any company that actually makes hardware tools as their primary business.
And if you must have a low priced saw as an extra, try looking into either the Black & Decker CS1030L 7-1/4-Inch 13 amp Laser Circular Saw with Soft Grips or the Skil Power Tools 5480-01 7-1/4" Circular Saw which both sell in the $40 to $50 price range. Those few extra dollars, along with *hopefully* better warrantees, make those better low priced alternatives than this one.
Keep shopping, even if it costs you a little more.
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