About 18 months ago, I purchased, for my gunsmithing shop's air compressor a 10hp single phase motor, from Phoenix Phase Convertors, a local business and reseller for North American Electric, Inc.
http://www.phoenixphaseconverters.com/product.php?id_product=756
As you can see on this page, the description clearly states "24 month warranty". On or about October 12, 2012, the motor, which had been working fine, started tripping it's 50 amp breaker regularly.
I contacted NAE and was directed to Mr. Dale Bostian as my rep. In a few days, at his direction, we had taken the motor (which weighs over 100 lbs!) to a motor shop in downtown Phoenix, about 50 minutes away, for "inspection". Phoenix Electric Motors, inspected the motor and declared it "fried". They forwarded an inspection report to Mr. Bostian who not only shipped us a replacement motor, but had his company send a check for Phoenix Electric Motor's inspection fee of 45 dollars!
Great right? Wrong!
Less than SIX WEEKS of actual use, the new motor start tripping the breaker. Convinced there was a problem with my wiring, I had two separate electricians come out and inspect all the ancillary components of my Ingersoll-Rand T30 air compressor. The magnetic starter, the overload switches, all the wiring, the panel and the breakers were tested and metered. Both electricians declared the compressor and wiring "good".
Take the new motor back to Phoenix Electric Motors. They had it run fine on a bench, we put a pulley on it and try to run it and it trips breakers again. Finally, one of the electricians opens up the motor and finds metal shavings, ground off cooling fins, BENT cooling fins, and an area on the center hub (stator?) where it had been rubbing on the windings while running.
Mr. Bostian, hemmed and hawed, and repeatedly requested the report (which I had sent) and ignored the pictures I had of the bent, ground off, and defective motor internals.
From early December until Jan 3rd, he stalled and delayed. The first motor took him about 3 business days to issue a replacement. On Jan 3rd Mr. Bostian states flatly: "We're not going to replace the motor...."
So here I sit, having not been able to do much work, with jobs piling up all over the place, because of a defective Chikom motor, which the importer refuses to replace, despite having SEEN PHOTOS that the thing is wrong all over and should've never been sold to anyone.
I learned a valuable lesson. Buy American.