Craftsman Warranty

[Puddin' Man]

About 12 years ago I bought one of those "Best Buy" Craftsman garden hoses. The hose material itsownself looks like it might outlive me, but the threaded aluminum connector on the end is flimsy.

The unit hasn't been mis-used at all, but the connector is bent. It leaks a fair amount. It has a "forever" warranty.

If I drained the damned thing, packed it up, and brought it to a Sears store for replacement, what should I expect? Do they *really* honor their warranties?

Thx, P

" ... and the bees made honey in the lion's head." - from "If I Had My Way", Blind Willie Johnson

[David Nebenzahl]

On 5/24/2008 8:12 PM Puddin' Man spake thus:

Pls. try this and report back here to us.

[Joseph Meehan]

It is hard to say these days. It is now K-Mart Sears. In the old days, they certainly did honor those warranties.

[ransley]

They probably will honor it, but it might be easier to cut off the fitting and put a new one on.

[The Ranger]

[Borrowing David Nebenzahl's posted message news:4838e54a$0$11145$ [e-mail]]

Yes, they still honor the Craftsman warranties on the tools. You might not find that exact hose still stocked but they'll provide a similar product. Have you attempted to "bend" the end-fitting back into shape with pliers or other toothed tools? If so, that might make returning it more difficult (they'll still accept it but you'll have to stand there longer and probably talk to a lead or dept. manager. BTW: If you change out the end-fitting, though, it'll void the warranty when the hose does finally deteriorate.

The Ranger

[dpb]

Puddin' Man wrote: ...

...

I've never had any Craftsman "lifetime" warranty be refused altho I've never had a Sears-branded hose.

I'd check on whether the replacement offered were any better or not, though. If the hose itself is ok, new brass end fittings aren't expensive and might be better than new.

--

[Gordon Shumway]

Generally this means a cheaper, lower quality.

This is one of the main reasons I quit buying crapsman tools many years ago. I used to buy their "Industrial" or "Professional" or whatever the current flavor was and of course I paid a higher price. However, a few years later when the tool failed and I went to replace it they tried to give me the lowest priced "similar product." The flavor of the day had changed and what I bought a few years ago was no longer available. I had to plead my case to someone higher up the food chain to get an equivalent or better replacement.

Now I buy quality tools. In the last 20 years since I quit buying crapsman the only hand tool that failed was a Snap-On 1/4" wobble extension when I tried to put 35 Ft\\Lb of torque on it. It was replaced with the same exact tool.

G.S.

[The Ranger]

This is also why I no longer purchase Craftsman tools. I got tired of having to "discuss that with the dept manager" on why they were going to replace my failed tool with a similar or higher (on two incidents over the same tool -- a garden hoe -- after he really pissed me off) quality. I've been using Armstrong, Corona, Fiskar, and Snap-On tools since and have absolutely no complaints or failed hand-tools.

The Ranger

[Puddin' Man]

Pardon my nosiness, but how long since they last honored a "Craftsman" warranty for you? A month? A year? Decade? Was it worth over $10?

You mean the clamp-on stuff? This hose *looks* like it wasn't really designed for such. Or at least that's my "take" on it.

Thx, P

" ... and the bees made honey in the lion's head." - from "If I Had My Way", Blind Willie Johnson

[Puddin' Man]

Nope.

That occured to po' me.

Also occured to po' me.

P

" ... and the bees made honey in the lion's head." - from "If I Had My Way", Blind Willie Johnson

[dpb]

Puddin' Man wrote: ...

I guess it's been two years now -- son tried electrician's pliers to cut #10 fencing wire and took a chunk out of the cutter. Only difference I can tell between old (>20 yr) and newer is in texture of handle insulation...

Well, I was really thinking of the metal crimp-on style. Don't know what is special about a hose that it would have to be designed for any generic repair coupling, however. I do have a sizable number of hoses w/ the standard plastic repair couplings and they, while admittedly less attractive looking, do the job and last quite some time for minimal cost.

--

[Oren]

To exchange a Craftsman hose under warranty; there NEEDS to be a clear marking on the hose, indicating the Craftsman brand. . You can take it back (at least my wife has). The hose she brought home for exchange is about 13 years old; clearly marked as a Craftsman hose.

You make me want to try and exchange mine; now!

[Erik]

I've taken back a few hoses with no problems. However, none in the last couple of years. One had obviously been run over with the mower... they didn't seem to care. Your mileage may vary.

Through the years I've exchanged literally thousands of pounds of broken/worn out commercially hard used Craftsman hand tools... most originally bought in the late 60's and early 70's. Rarely do I get any guff, and when I do, it's almost always from a new employee.

That warranty is a good deal, take advantage of it! It's sure saved us a bundle!

Erik

[Puddin' Man]

It's clearly marked "Craftsmans Best" or somesuch. Good thing, too, 'cause I couldn't find any papers on it.

I likely will, after I confirm the store mngr's name over the phone. :-)

Look at their hose line on sears.com. Then figger time, gas, etc. Might be worth it, might not.

Best, P

" ... and the bees made honey in the lion's head." - from "If I Had My Way", Blind Willie Johnson

[Dan Lanciani]

In article , [e-mail] (Puddin' Man) writes: | On Sun, 25 May 2008 16:28:24 -0700, Oren wrote: | | >On Sat, 24 May 2008 22:12:19 -0500, Puddin' Man | > wrote: | >

| >>

| >>

| >>About 12 years ago I bought one of those "Best Buy" Craftsman garden | >>hoses. The hose material itsownself looks like it might outlive me, | >>but the threaded aluminum connector on the end is flimsy. | >>

| >>The unit hasn't been mis-used at all, but the connector is bent. | >>It leaks a fair amount. It has a "forever" warranty. | >>

| >>If I drained the damned thing, packed it up, and brought it to a | >>Sears store for replacement, what should I expect? Do they *really* | >>honor their warranties? | >>

| >

| >To exchange a Craftsman hose under warranty; there NEEDS to be a clear | >marking on the hose, indicating the Craftsman brand. . | | It's clearly marked "Craftsmans Best" or somesuch.

That's what the rubber one I exchanged a few years back said, and that's what they wanted to see. Interestingly, they tried to give me a much less expensive plastic hose that did not say Craftsman anywhere. I pointed out that this would be an issue if I needed to exchange it again. There was some argument that the hose I was exchanging was green while the current rubber Craftsman hoses were black (and the plastic non-Craftsman hoses green) but they did give me the Craftsman one eventually. I still have one of the older green rubber Crafstman hoses; we'll see what happens if it fails some day...

Dan Lanciani ddl@danlan.*com

[Oren]

I have a 50' Craftsman green hose connected to the black Craftsman 50' black one.

The green one has a sleeve / collar near the hose bib end...with the "marking" you'll be able to replace the hose if marked.

[Anthony Diodati]

I paid $10.00 extra for a "no questions asked,walk in replacement warranty" on an 1/2" impact wrench. With in the year, it lost some of the guts it had when new, and when I went to exchange it, got a hard time about "what was wrong with it". I told them I paid $10.00 for a "no questions asked" warranty, what's up with the questions/hard time. Then they tried to tell me they didn't make that impact any more, so they couldn't replace it. I think I finely had to talk to a store manager, and told them they needed to give me something of equal value,(I had the warranty receipt) So they finely did. Funny, the same guy who was happy to sell me the warranty, was the same one that gave me a hard time.

Now, hand tools OTOH, were never an issue, they took a quick look at them, threw them in a bucket, and gave me a new one. YMMV. Tony

[Puddin' Man]

I took the offending hose in. Got what appears to be a proper and comparable replacement.

MIghta helped when I screened over the phone, mentioned the store mngr's name.

P

" ... and the bees made honey in the lion's head." - from "If I Had My Way", Blind Willie Johnson

[Ashton Crusher]

I've got a "Craftsman Professional" 3.5 ton floor jack that leaks. When I called about the warranty they told me one year and that's all. Don't have the reciept or papers anymore.

[Ashton Crusher]

Did she still have the receipt??