Home Depot Lifetime Service adventure

[-MIKE-]

Interesting. Do you know approximately when you registered? Mine was June, 2012. I'm guessing they've been streamlining the process which would be good news for all.

[Leon]

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Understood I understand the hoops you have to jump through to get your purchase registered to be covered by "what ever" for a lifetime free replacement. The fact remains however that whether it be a warranty or service agreement the battery is covered for as long as they have stated if you have dotted your I's and crossed your t's. If the Service Agreement had a limited number of years the batteries would only be covered for that limited number of years.

I thought you were questioning if a 4~5 year old battery could actually have replacement coverage for life.

But considering how difficult it is with all the steps for registration they really don't want to cover the product for a life time so much as have a "flags and whistles" Lifetime Service Agreement stamp on the features list. They could simply exchange the defective or worn out parts at the store, with proof of purchase, if they wanted everyone to take advantage of the selling feature. But they are hoping that a majority will forget to register or not register properly within all of the time periods.

[DerbyDad03]

Approximately...yesterday. ;-)

[-MIKE-]

Funny! Well then, I'd say they are definitely streamlining the process, due in part, no doubt, to the complaints about "hoops" through which to jump. :-)

[nailshooter41]

Sounds a lot smoother and easier than when I first registered my drills. T hat was (according to them) late 2007 or so. They had a major software cha nge and data transfer to start up a new system somewhere just after that wh ere the I had to go to the website and register a new password and verify a ll my registration info was still there. It was.

Like you, I have a few Ridgid tools and they have turned out to be real wor khorses. I have two 5" ROSs, one for inside and one for outside. As I hav e posted before, the outside model has been used mercilessly and sanded a c ouple of thousand feet of fascia, ground off concrete to smooth it, and I d on't think it has ever had anything finer than 80 grit on the pad. Still r uns great, love the 8' cord and the reliability.

I have a 4" square pad sander, and it has just finished all the rough/mediu m sanding on its second full set of kitchen cabinets. I use it to sand all the doors on both sides, the interior of the cabinets (hello oatmeal board !) and then the rails and stiles. When hooked up to a shop vac it had real ly good dust collection, and it even came with a template to use if you wan t to make your own sandpaper with the correct hole position for dust collec tion.

I would buy both of those sanders and my little 12v drill again if they onl y had a one year warranty.

Their other tools don't have comfortable grips for me, and now in my 40th y ear of construction work I prize a comfy tool as much as good performance. There are times I drive a few hundred screws a day, so the tool grip has t o be good in the hand. I am drilling almost 300 holes tomorrow and driving 300 screws to hang the kitchen doors and put new slides on drawers in the kitchen I just refinished. 600 operations with the drills if I don't have to rehang and refit to get the job I want! That's a lot of holes and a lot of screws to handle accurately so a good feel is important.

Strangely, I rarely see Ridgid out on the job. It seems there are three ki nds of hands on working contractors these days, and usually they are a hybr id mix of these: 1) guys that buy just enough tool to get the job done 2) guys that buy nice tools and don't loan them or lend them even to their fel low workers and 3) the guys that buy pretty good tools knowing the life spa n of a tool on the job site.

Someway, for my fellow contractors, Ridgid didn't hit the sweet spot anywhe re with them.

Robert

[Leon]

With all due respect...;~) You are a big boy! I considered a Ridgid drill several years ago and felt that the only down fall was that they were Heavy. Your coworkers and contractors may feel the same way. It is probably your manly muscle bound hands and arms shield you from the drawback of heavy tools. ;~)

[DerbyDad03]

. That was (according to them) late 2007 or so. They had a major software change and data transfer to start up a new system somewhere just after tha t where the I had to go to the website and register a new password and veri fy all my registration info was still there. It was.

workhorses. I have two 5" ROSs, one for inside and one for outside. As I have posted before, the outside model has been used mercilessly and sanded a couple of thousand feet of fascia, ground off concrete to smooth it, and I don't think it has ever had anything finer than 80 grit on the pad. Sti ll runs great, love the 8' cord and the reliability.

edium sanding on its second full set of kitchen cabinets. I use it to sand all the doors on both sides, the interior of the cabinets (hello oatmeal b oard!) and then the rails and stiles. When hooked up to a shop vac it had really good dust collection, and it even came with a template to use if you want to make your own sandpaper with the correct hole position for dust co llection.

only had a one year warranty.

th year of construction work I prize a comfy tool as much as good performan ce. There are times I drive a few hundred screws a day, so the tool grip h as to be good in the hand. I am drilling almost 300 holes tomorrow and dri ving 300 screws to hang the kitchen doors and put new slides on drawers in the kitchen I just refinished. 600 operations with the drills if I don't h ave to rehang and refit to get the job I want! That's a lot of holes and a lot of screws to handle accurately so a good feel is important.

e kinds of hands on working contractors these days, and usually they are a hybrid mix of these: 1) guys that buy just enough tool to get the job done 2) guys that buy nice tools and don't loan them or lend them even to their fellow workers and 3) the guys that buy pretty good tools knowing the life span of a tool on the job site.

ywhere with them.

I can't speak to the Ridgid tool weight of earlier versions, or compared it to other models available today, but compared to the DeWalt 18V DC970K tha t I have been using for the past many years, the Ridgid set that I just pur chased is much smaller and lighter. Granted, the DeWalt has huge NiCAD batt eries, which add to the weight and size.

On the other hand, the DeWalt radio is huge and heavy compared to the Ridgi d radio, but the Ridgid radio absolutely S*U*C*K*S compared to the DeWalt r adio.

I'll take the size, weight and durability of this...

1024x1024.jpg

...over the sound of this, every day of the week:

5f-4c6eb644c7ae_300.jpg

In addition, the DeWalt radio charges the battery if plugged into AC. The R idgid radio is battery only. If you need to charge one of the Ridgid batter ies while using the other one, you lose your tunes/sports.

[nailshooter41]

I am still laughing my butt off at that, Leon. And just so you will know, I prefer to think of myself of 280 pounds of boyish fun. :^)

Even though I might use them all day, unless it is ridiculous, I never cons ider a tool's weight. So ya got me there. And you are right that my co wo rkers and fellow contractors ARE concerned with tool weight and size. What a bunch of weenies, eh? ;^)

But size matters. (Did you hear the cymbal crash and Ed MacMahon's "hiyo"?)

All the Milwaukee, Makita and the Ridgid line of drills and saws have handl es that are just entirely too small for me, the little 12v Ridgid drills be ing the exception. The brands I see at the big home stores are uncomfortab le as I can barely get my palm and fingers between the trigger and and batt ery, and then I feel like I am holding a skinny broom stick. Same with mos t of their other tools in their lines.

I used to be a fan of DeWalt because they had great grips on some of their tools, but due to reliability issues I don't buy anything DeWalt anymore.

I am off to the salt mine. My manly self is charged this morning with fina l selection of paint colors, counter top color and texture as well as windo w treatment selections. I already picked out the floor treatments and othe r paint colors, so I might just stop by the tea room on the way out to the design center.

It isn't easy being me... ;^)

Robert

[Leon]

We all paint an image of ourselves that borrows a lot from our youth... then we catch a glimpse of ourselves in the mirror, coming out of the shower, and the glass breaks. ;~)

Sissies, the whole LOT... ROTFL I can say that the tool that gets heavy at the end of the day is my Domino.

I will say that I have larger hands than the average man and I hate my fingers digging into the palms of my hand so the girth of the handle is important to me. I used to be big in to photography and felt that Pentax cameras were designed for women. ;~)

Same here.

If you need help with color choices call Karl and yank his chain. Wink wink.

[Leon]

Li-Ion has made a world of difference in tool weight...

[krw]

Amazing. I can't imagine a radio worse than my DeWalt. I use it only for playing MP3s (and haven't done that in a few years). In fact, it's so bad I replaced it with a Bosch (also way overpriced).