why is automator making this so hard??

I have the most simple file copying task that I need to happen on a daily basis: connect to a local file server, get the contents of a certain folder and copy the contents to a folder on the local harddrive, replacing all duplicate files.

This seems easy right?? Well, why the hell can't automator do it? here's what I've tried: "get specified server" --> "connect to server"---> "get specified finder items" <browse to network share, and select the folder i want> ---> "Copy finder items"

It connects to the server just fine and even starts copying the files just fine but it it quits right towards the end saying "can't read contents of server <ip address here>" No matter what changes i make to my workflow, the outcome is the same. Tried using the "get folder contents" and that doesn't work like expected...it starts grabbing all kinds of folders that don't even exist in the folder i'm trying to copy.

I can copy the files manually, piece of cake. So why is this such a complicated thing for Automator to pull off?


fyi: I've even tried using "watch me do" by selecting the folders and selecting all and copying. What a joke that is...it never selects the right thing....it always moves the mouse to click on something else.