dpt

I understand its much better and I believe it. My point was that they are advertising one product and when you call they try and sell you another. Regardless of whether you are better off with the more expensive product, this is the old bait and switch. And they weren't going to substitute the fbv spinner, I had to pay the extra money for it. If you read other forums they have done this for others. I don't think of it as a bonus, they weren't "giving" me anything. The price of $100 was supposedly only for the day I called. If I tried to get it after I bought the system it would be $250. So it would seem that it was you that got the good price. DPT

Thanks for all the comments and advice. As one poster said it's difficult when you have never sharpened skates before. I am good with my hands and have always been a do-it-myself kinda guy. Still bothers me that they would sell a product at all that they have had complaints about (salesman admitted it right up front). Makes me worry about customer service after the sale. I know there are a bunch of Blackstone employees here so you may want to consider the message the sales people give when they basically come out and say (almost exactly) you'll regret it if you don't order the upgrade. WIth the upgrade it makes it 15% more expensive than the wissota which is a direct drive motor. The wissota holder while admittedly looking a bit home-made also looks very sturdy and adjustable. My parents live in Minnesota so maybe i'll just fly up to visit and take a look in person. Thanks for all the help. David

I am strongly considering the blackstone x0-1 sharpener. I've read alot and researched this one and the wissota. SO I called Blackstone today and decided that I was going to order one if they were willing to substitute a fbv spinner. After a short conversation the salesperson said it was ok, but I would have to pay the $15 difference. (seems like pinching pennies to sell a $879 sharpener that I'm sure is half profit). Then the salesperson proceeding to try and sell me the "upgraded" skate holder for $100 extra. When I said I wasn't interested he told me that this is the one that all the NHL teams use and it was far superior to the holder that came with the X0-1. He said if I wanted it after I ordered the package it would be $250 and that they were phasing out the current holder for this new one because they had had some complaints about it. Well all of the sudden I wasn't so sure that I wanted the X0-1. I said I wanted to think it over since I was only getting it to sharpen my sons skates so it wasn't going to get alot of use and I was having a hard time justifying getting it at all, but the sharpener at the rink is horrible and they charge $8 and if I want a good edge I have to drive some distance. So then he told me the deal was only for today, and when I called back I wouldn't be able to get the upgraded holder for $100. Well sorry for the long post but now I'm concerned since he CLEARLY indicated that he "highly highly" recommended the upgraded holder. (He really said it twice.) My son is 10 and will probably play til he's 18 and then probably play rec hockey so he can keep it (if it lasts). But I will only be using it at most once a week to sharpen his skates and maybe every two weeks to sharpen mine. I'm not sure either one of us is good enough to notice the FBV edge. Should I just get the wissota? the Blackstone? what about the upgraded holder? Thanks in advance for reading this and helping. DPT