Craftsman Replacement Tools - Used?

[DerbyDad03]

It's been a while since I traded in a Craftsman tool under the lifetime warranty, so maybe I just don't remember this happening last time.

I turned in a ratchet handle and 3 Phillips screwdrivers. The replacement screwdrivers were new off the shelf but the ratchet handle was a different story.

Hanging on the wall inside the cashier's area was quite a large number of ratchet handles, open-end and box-end wrenches and a few other hand tools, all with yellow stickers on the handle.

The cashier handed me a ratchet handle from behind the counter and said "This is still covered by the lifetime warranty."

The ratchet handle looked "new" (clean?) but had a few dings in the handle section. The yellow sticker said "Replacement Tool" oe something like that.

I assume that the tools behind the counter are probably a combination of scratch and dent items from their inventory along with some customer returns that can't be sold as new.

Is this something new or has it always been this way? Just curious...

[Oren]

I exchanged a 3/8" ratchet maybe ten years ago. IIRC they called the replacement a "refurbished" tool.

[dpb]

Never had the experience -- always had new stock replacement unless the failure was something for which there was a repair kit available; like the ratchet I took in a couple of months ago they did have the replacement gear set for so did the swap-out while there. Don't know what they would have said/done if the particular kit hadn't been in stock. (Really knocked my socks off it was as this is just a quite small catalog store w/ only a few appliances, lawnmowers, tools and such in stock. That had any parts in stock was an eye-opener).

--

[a2rjh]

Same thing here. A bit disappointed that they have taken that route - cost cutting, I guess.

The guy said they now have to replace with "refurbished" items before replacing with new tools.

[DerbyDad03]

re: "A bit disappointed..."

I was too, for about a second, but then I found it real easy to rationalize it away.

If my car breaks under warranty, I don't get a new one...I basically get a "refurbished one". They fix what's wrong, maybe with new parts, but it's still a "used car".

I guess the same goes for something like the ratchet handle. As long as the "gears" work, I'm not going to be concerned about a scratch on the handle section. Trust me, I didn't wrap it in a cotton towel and lay it gently in my tool box when I got home. ;-)

Besides, as long as it has still has the lifetime warranty, I'll just take it back again. Of course, if I'm going back every 2 weeks for the same tool, I'll voice my objections until I get satisfaction.

[jamesgangnc]

I guess I can live with it too. Not my experience in the past though. Might help to see which stores have how much inventory of scratch and dents and go to the store least likely to have any.

[Jon Danniken]

They tried that on me when my 3/8" ratchet handle went TU. I called them on it and asked to speak to a manager, who gave me a new one.

Jon

[The Ranger]

I recently turned in a couple Craftsman hand-tools and had them attempt this nonsense. It was hot, I was tired (and delayed in finishing the task-at-hand because the rachet and socket had failed), and as the "kid" handed me the replacements from under the cash register, I tiredly said, "Get a manager." He pulled the right tools without so much as a second look.

My guess is that a significant number of hand tools are failing more frequently and their flagship Craftsman brand is hemorrhaging.

The Ranger

[hallerb]

sears no longer owns craftsman tools sears is just a license.

i expect sears to disappear within a few years, they used to be diverse into allstate insurance, coldwell banker real estate bankinbg etc.

so when retail took a dump they still survived.

then they decided 100% retail, if the economic dump continues they wouldnt heck they lost money over last holiday selling season.

kenore is being shopped around, pretty soon there will be no reason to go to sears, their brands will be at home depot

[keith]

.

...by being bought by an already bankrupt K-Mart.

There is no reason to go to Sears now. Hasn't been for more than twenty years.

[N8N]

AFAIK it has been that way for something like 10 years at least, at the stores in my area.

nate

[hallerb]

A good friend worked at sears till recently he was a PMT, he handled everything returned to the store.

said people brought in a rachet with the handle mostly hacksawed off....

people abuse tools ............

[Tekkie®]

keith posted for all of us...

ACE Hardware is now promoting Craftsman tools. They also have a very limited selection of Snap-on flashlights, etc.

Snap has always just replaced parts. Ratcheting mechanisms, screwdriver blades.

[Jim Yanik]

=?iso-8859-15?Q?Tekkie=AE?= wrote in news: [e-mail]:

I wonder how Ace's pricing is compared to Sears?

[krw]

Craftsman tools are nothing special anymore, if they ever were.

Don't know how Snap-On has faired. Many believe they've lost it too.

You get back your wrench, not someone else's rebuilt.

[Tekkie®]

Jim Yanik posted for all of us...

I don't go to Sears because they closed their hardware store near me and I'm not going out of my way for them. I have a long standing "disagreement"

[Jim Yanik]

=?iso-8859-15?Q?Tekkie=AE?= wrote in news: [e-mail]:

"thanks" for NOT answering the question.

[hallerb]

I quit shopping at sears because of their in home service policy.

To get a furnace with air serviced they charge nearly double travel :(

All the tech did was swap tool kits at his truck.....

Any company gouging like that needs to lose customers!!!