rigid lifetime warranty home depot problems

hi just wanted to post a followup to the rigid tool threads that have died. i bought a rigid 4 pack of cordless 18v tools back in september, all have been working well except the following.

i do have the lifetime tool warranty, copied and a laminated copy (donot laminate the original, it will turn black.), as the original home depot reciept will fade to nothing in a matter of months.

a month after having the 18v X2 cordless drill R841150 the low variable speed went out. so all it would do is full speed, like pulling the trigger all the way. i took it back to home depot and they gave me a new one, but said that it was only because it was less than

90 days old.

next a battery went bad after taking a 8 foot drop, the batts have taken that kind of drop before with no problem. i got the run around with a local shop that was an "authorized" repair dealer. finally i called rigid back and said i would like another dealer, so they gave me a different one. that dealer said to send the defective battery to them and they would take care of it. i waited a month for my battery replacement. it did come, but oddly enough it came from a RYOBI fufilment center, HMMMMM.... i did notice the RYOBI serial stickers on thier drills have the same date code serial configuration as the rigid.

so currently, tonight... i was doing alot of drilling, particularly mediun speed drilling, trigger spends alot of time half pulled, the low trigger speed range went bad, and now its all or nothing, no variable speed. i will be sending the drill in, so we will see how long this takes and what they do to fix it or get me another.....

anybody else have any problems with the rigid tools or the rigid lifetime warranty of thier cordless and power hand tools?

Reply to
jack smith
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As for the battery if you know it has taken an 8ft drop what can you expect??? inside a connection between the cells has probably disconnected / broken (they are not designed to withstand that kind of treatment, when they survive an 8ft drop onto a hard surface you are lucky), we are a Ridgid warranty service center & if there were no obvious signs of the drop & you did not openly confess to dropping it we would replace or repair it under warranty without question.....(if within the warranty period).

As for the switch it should get replaced promptly no question...but read the small print, the warranty is clear..as mud...Dated receipt / proof of purchase is required...Ask Home Depot or your local Ridgid service center for copies of the Service announcements related to Ridgid's expressed warranty policies to know exactly where you stand.

As a clue (The Lifetime warranty relates to defects in manufacturing not wearing out during normal use).

Ridgid / Ryobi Tech / Emerson / One World Tech / Techtronic Ind..........one & the same.(at the moment)

Regards & good luck.

Jon~

Reply to
P©WÉ®T©©LMAN

variable speed >went out...

drilling, >trigger spends alot of time half pulled, the low trigger speed range went >bad, and now its all or nothing, no variable speed.

To me, this chain of events doesn't scream out that they are working well. 2 bad triggers on 2 different drills. Sounds like more than a fluke.

Chuck

Reply to
WoodChuck34

Sorry to hear about your bad luck and or to be expected luck. I too considered getting one of the drills during the period that offered the lifetime warranty on all parts. Then I got to thinking of why the tools would not have a lifetime warranty if bought after 1/1/2004. Your experience may explain the lack of a lifetime warranty now. I do agree though that an 8' drop for the battery pack can be considered abuse. The triggers on the drills seems to indicate a product that is not intended to be used very often.

Reply to
Leon

If the serial/date codes are same as Ryobi, Nuff Said!

Ryobi is nothing but absolute total JUNK!

My Ryobi router quit functioning as designed after less than 4 hours continuous use - I now have to duct tape the lock into the run position to keep it going. My Ryobi radial arm saw died after a few months use because the plastic housing mounting screw molds in the swivel head broke out and the entire saw motor head fell out off the arm. Of course, I didn't discover the problems until well after the warranty periods.

If Home Depot starts giving them away, and they'll provide more than one so when the first one dies, I May take them home. Otherwise, I never want to see another Ryobi POS again as long as I live!

I decided on their brand back when it was being featured on PBS home improvement shows. It's no surprise now that I never see their products used by the likes of Norm and others on PBS. Good to know I'm not the only one got duped by them.

If Rigid is indeed being manufactured by the same people, I'm thankful to know. At least I can avoid getting a huge one up the wazu again.

Thanks for your post!

Bubba

PS- If you're looking for a replacement 18V kit, I highly recommend the Milwaukee ones. I have worked the crap out of these tools and they just keep on going! I'm very impressed and that's hard to do anymore. Don't ya just love how Home Depot & Lowes gives out those "Disappearing" ink receipts?

Reply to
007

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Please turn off the HTML settings in your newsreader, 007.

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for an explanation of how and why.

Reply to
Doug Miller

They're not the only ones. Best Buy, Circuit City, ect. ect.

Reply to
Lazarus Long

But how do you really feel?

Reply to
Jules

Not exactly a warranty problem, but ...

A couple years ago I bought a Ridgid shop vacuum. It's been working just fine, I have no complaints about it. But about 2 months ago I used up the last of the filters that I had so I went to HD to buy some more. What I found is that they carry only one size/model filter and it doesn't fit my vac. (I checked at 3 different HDs. Same story in all 3)

Inquiries as to where/how I could get a filter to fit my model produced only shrugs and comments along the line of "That's the only one we stock."

Three e-mails to Home Depot via their web site's "contact us" link (or whatever it's called) asking where I might find this part produced absolutely no response.

Apparently HD switched vendors (Emerson to Ryobi?) and gave no thought to stocking even routine replacement parts for customers who owned the older models. As far as they're concerned, I should simply toss out my perfectly-good vac and go buy a new one, to save them the bother of stocking replacement service parts.

Based on this experience, I would never again buy anything from HD that might ever need service or replacement parts. I might consider a Ridgid-brand hammer, screwdriver or crowbar, but nothing more complicated.

(The story does have a happy ending, no thanks to HD: Recalling that Emerson used to be the supplier of Craftsman power tools, I checked out the local Sears and found a whole shelf full of filters in exactly the right size. I bought half a dozen.)

-- jc Published e-mail address is strictly for spam collection. If e-mailing me, please use jc631 at optonline dot net

Reply to
John Carlson

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this site a call/e-mail. They may be able to help you.

Marc. Remove NOJUNK in address.

Reply to
Marc Rheaume

hi guys, several you have commented on the dissapearing ink reciepts, i bet ridgid and HD are banking on that in the lifetime warranty deal, what i did was to copy the reciept, with the lifetime warranty insert and credit card statement , then laminate it with the cut out of the upc on the ridgid box. the original reciepts have all but faded now.

as for the warranty, some of you are concerned with the end of the promotional lifetime warranty of january 2004 it ending. it is possible that some people mis unsderstand that. it seems that some people are taking that as the end of the lifetime warranty? (i get that impression from some of the posts here, and elsewhere) if you bought before jan 2004 you lock in the lifetime warranty, period. that will be obvious to most, but wanted to explain it anyway.

i have pulled out my laminated warranty card,

some key things it states,

"LIMITED TIME OFFER: On all purchases of RIDGID hand and stationary power tools from september 1st to december 31, 2003!"

"dont miss this chance to recieve a lifetime of service* on these power tools designed to be used day after day"

"this lifetime service warranty covers all defects iin workmanship or materials AND normal wear items"

"that means free battery packs for life."

"remember to hold on to your reciept! proof of purchase MUST be presented when requesting the limited lifetime warranty service and to participate in the 90 day satisfaction guarentee" "see details by visiting

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or calling 1-866-539-1710"

------------

i also think some people might be confusing the regular lifetime warranty that ridgid has offered on all thier large electric power tools for a long time, that warranty does not cover normal wear and tear.

hope that helps clarify..

Reply to
jack smith

Contact Ryobi. My dad used to get stuffed fixed all the time after warranties had expired. Call the company.

007 wrote:
Reply to
Mapdude

just an update to keep the thread alive,

i have not had a chance to send in my drill yet as i am still involved with some projects with it. i have noticed that now its all or no speed, at first sign of speed failure it was no speed/90%/full. i have been using it recently for alot of concrete drilling with a 1/2 concrete bit, the drill is holding up quite well, although i did use it so much yesterday that some kind of thermal cutoff happened, the drill acted dead, but later that night, i squeezed the trigger again and it worked all or nothing like before. im still looking for people to give me feedback on thier ridgid cordless tool sucesses and failures. even storys of how the cordless tools survived something terrible, would be cool.

Reply to
jack smith

replying to jack smith, Marty wrote: After you purchase the item, make a photo copy. Regular home/office printers normally do not use heat (thermo-copy) to make copies. No home printer? Go to the local library, Office Max/Depot etc. Copied receipts do not fade while in a file or attached to your owners manual even if you keep it in the garage.

Reply to
Marty

A timeless suggestion, which is a good thing considering that this thread is over 14 years old.

Reply to
DerbyDad03

Sometimes inexperience and ignorance go hand in hand. I shake my head in d isbelief remembering at how some people thought a dastardly scheme had been perpetrated by big business with their disappearing ink. I used to think. .. "am I the only one that //owns// a fax machine?" Really? Am I the only one that has seen all images disappear from thermal paper in an afternoon in my hot truck? Seemed so at the time. I laughed my ass off at the consp iracy theory guys that professed from their bar stool throne that the lifet ime warranty was nothing but a scam by big business.

They still use thermal paper in their receipt generation, as does EVERYONE else these days. Find a real, printed receipt on paper generated from an i nk printer. Not even the little businesses have those.

HD had a few problems with their lifetime warranty registrations, but in my experience they always have said to make a copy of your receipt and keep i t in a safe place. Likewise (having just registered more tools) they have a suggestion when you received conformation of registration that you print the conformation page and save that, too.

You can also go to their website any time and check your registrations (I h ave about 16 tools registered) and if you want, print their page from their website with all your information.

I have used the Ridgid warranty program 3 times, including once to replace batteries. The battery problem was easy to solve; I called Ridgid and told them the batteries wouldn't hold a charge. The looked up my account, and the lady on the other end started laughing while I told her the symptoms. S he said, "well, I guess you got good service out of them. They're over 8 y ears old!". She sent me two new batteries and I had them in about 10 days.

I have called them when I couldn't get the registration to work right, and found out that I was reading the sticker on the tool incorrectly. I can't remember which it is, they don't use a "0" or an "o" (zero or o ) or the ot her way around to keep from having typos. Cleared it up on the phone and m y registration verification was sent to me in about 10 - 12 days.

It is meticulous to have to register every single piece of a combo kit, but you only do it once. Their side of the story is that people try to regist er just a tool, and not its batteries. Or the tool and the batteries, but not the charger. Or they wait past the 90 days window of registration beca use they "meant to" do it. Or they get the information on the receipt wrong , which that information is more important than the serial numbers on the t ools. When I lost my receipt from a recent purchase I just went to the ema il account I set up to get email receipts for my company purchases, and pul led it up and registered it from the pdf I downloaded.

Doesn't seem to me that they are trying hard to get out of the whole warran ty issue. On my side, I will say that I bought two of their 5" ROS to sand down a mile or two of awful fascia. I bought them about 20 years ago base d on price, not on warranty or performance. I listened to the group here a nd my boys as well and didn't register them, so no protection as I felt lik e they warranty would never be honored. So when the velcro sanding pads we ar out and fall off, I have to buy them online for about $13 plus delivery. My amigo that bought one at the same time registered his, and about every 3-5 years he calls Ridgid as needed, and they simply send him a new one. Lesson learned.

Robert

Reply to
nailshooter41

disbelief remembering at how some people thought a dastardly scheme had be en perpetrated by big business with their disappearing ink. I used to thin k... "am I the only one that //owns// a fax machine?" Really? Am I the on ly one that has seen all images disappear from thermal paper in an afternoo n in my hot truck? Seemed so at the time. I laughed my ass off at the con spiracy theory guys that professed from their bar stool throne that the lif etime warranty was nothing but a scam by big business.

E else these days. Find a real, printed receipt on paper generated from an ink printer. Not even the little businesses have those.

my experience they always have said to make a copy of your receipt and keep it in a safe place. Likewise (having just registered more tools) they hav e a suggestion when you received conformation of registration that you prin t the conformation page and save that, too.

have about 16 tools registered) and if you want, print their page from the ir website with all your information.

e batteries. The battery problem was easy to solve; I called Ridgid and to ld them the batteries wouldn't hold a charge. The looked up my account, an d the lady on the other end started laughing while I told her the symptoms. She said, "well, I guess you got good service out of them. They're over 8 years old!". She sent me two new batteries and I had them in about 10 day s.

d found out that I was reading the sticker on the tool incorrectly. I can' t remember which it is, they don't use a "0" or an "o" (zero or o ) or the other way around to keep from having typos. Cleared it up on the phone and my registration verification was sent to me in about 10 - 12 days.

ut you only do it once. Their side of the story is that people try to regi ster just a tool, and not its batteries. Or the tool and the batteries, bu t not the charger. Or they wait past the 90 days window of registration be cause they "meant to" do it. Or they get the information on the receipt wro ng, which that information is more important than the serial numbers on the tools. When I lost my receipt from a recent purchase I just went to the e mail account I set up to get email receipts for my company purchases, and p ulled it up and registered it from the pdf I downloaded.

anty issue. On my side, I will say that I bought two of their 5" ROS to sa nd down a mile or two of awful fascia. I bought them about 20 years ago ba sed on price, not on warranty or performance. I listened to the group here and my boys as well and didn't register them, so no protection as I felt l ike they warranty would never be honored. So when the velcro sanding pads wear out and fall off, I have to buy them online for about $13 plus deliver y. My amigo that bought one at the same time registered his, and about eve ry 3-5 years he calls Ridgid as needed, and they simply send him a new one. Lesson learned.

Another option is to scan documents and create pdf's. These can printed, em ailed to oneself, stored in the cloud, on a cd, thumb drive, etc. A combination of methods pr etty much ensures that the information will be available when needed.

Yes, technologies change, but they also overlap, so even if you have to tra nsfer the docs from one type of media to another at some point, you'll be able to.

Reply to
DerbyDad03

in disbelief remembering at how some people thought a dastardly scheme had been perpetrated by big business with their disappearing ink. I used to th ink... "am I the only one that //owns// a fax machine?" Really? Am I the only one that has seen all images disappear from thermal paper in an aftern oon in my hot truck? Seemed so at the time. I laughed my ass off at the c onspiracy theory guys that professed from their bar stool throne that the l ifetime warranty was nothing but a scam by big business.

ONE else these days. Find a real, printed receipt on paper generated from an ink printer. Not even the little businesses have those.

n my experience they always have said to make a copy of your receipt and ke ep it in a safe place. Likewise (having just registered more tools) they h ave a suggestion when you received conformation of registration that you pr int the conformation page and save that, too.

(I have about 16 tools registered) and if you want, print their page from t heir website with all your information.

ace batteries. The battery problem was easy to solve; I called Ridgid and told them the batteries wouldn't hold a charge. The looked up my account, and the lady on the other end started laughing while I told her the symptom s. She said, "well, I guess you got good service out of them. They're over 8 years old!". She sent me two new batteries and I had them in about 10 d ays.

and found out that I was reading the sticker on the tool incorrectly. I ca n't remember which it is, they don't use a "0" or an "o" (zero or o ) or th e other way around to keep from having typos. Cleared it up on the phone a nd my registration verification was sent to me in about 10 - 12 days.

but you only do it once. Their side of the story is that people try to re gister just a tool, and not its batteries. Or the tool and the batteries, but not the charger. Or they wait past the 90 days window of registration because they "meant to" do it. Or they get the information on the receipt w rong, which that information is more important than the serial numbers on t he tools. When I lost my receipt from a recent purchase I just went to the email account I set up to get email receipts for my company purchases, and pulled it up and registered it from the pdf I downloaded.

rranty issue. On my side, I will say that I bought two of their 5" ROS to sand down a mile or two of awful fascia. I bought them about 20 years ago based on price, not on warranty or performance. I listened to the group he re and my boys as well and didn't register them, so no protection as I felt like they warranty would never be honored. So when the velcro sanding pad s wear out and fall off, I have to buy them online for about $13 plus deliv ery. My amigo that bought one at the same time registered his, and about e very 3-5 years he calls Ridgid as needed, and they simply send him a new on e. Lesson learned.

emailed to oneself,

pretty much ensures

ransfer the docs from

I understand why Home Depot and everyone else does their warranties and reg istrations the way they do. But I still like the simple and easy Sears Cra ftsman method. Bring your Craftsman tool back to Sears and get a new one. You brought it in, therefore you own it and its yours and you have 100% ri ght to the lifetime warranty. No messing around with registering your tool , keeping file cabinets or computer discs filled with serial numbers and re ceipts.

Reply to
russellseaton1

d in disbelief remembering at how some people thought a dastardly scheme ha d been perpetrated by big business with their disappearing ink. I used to think... "am I the only one that //owns// a fax machine?" Really? Am I th e only one that has seen all images disappear from thermal paper in an afte rnoon in my hot truck? Seemed so at the time. I laughed my ass off at the conspiracy theory guys that professed from their bar stool throne that the lifetime warranty was nothing but a scam by big business.

RYONE else these days. Find a real, printed receipt on paper generated fro m an ink printer. Not even the little businesses have those.

in my experience they always have said to make a copy of your receipt and keep it in a safe place. Likewise (having just registered more tools) they have a suggestion when you received conformation of registration that you print the conformation page and save that, too.

s (I have about 16 tools registered) and if you want, print their page from their website with all your information.

place batteries. The battery problem was easy to solve; I called Ridgid an d told them the batteries wouldn't hold a charge. The looked up my account , and the lady on the other end started laughing while I told her the sympt oms. She said, "well, I guess you got good service out of them. They're ov er 8 years old!". She sent me two new batteries and I had them in about 10 days.

, and found out that I was reading the sticker on the tool incorrectly. I can't remember which it is, they don't use a "0" or an "o" (zero or o ) or the other way around to keep from having typos. Cleared it up on the phone and my registration verification was sent to me in about 10 - 12 days.

t, but you only do it once. Their side of the story is that people try to register just a tool, and not its batteries. Or the tool and the batteries , but not the charger. Or they wait past the 90 days window of registratio n because they "meant to" do it. Or they get the information on the receipt wrong, which that information is more important than the serial numbers on the tools. When I lost my receipt from a recent purchase I just went to t he email account I set up to get email receipts for my company purchases, a nd pulled it up and registered it from the pdf I downloaded.

warranty issue. On my side, I will say that I bought two of their 5" ROS t o sand down a mile or two of awful fascia. I bought them about 20 years ag o based on price, not on warranty or performance. I listened to the group here and my boys as well and didn't register them, so no protection as I fe lt like they warranty would never be honored. So when the velcro sanding p ads wear out and fall off, I have to buy them online for about $13 plus del ivery. My amigo that bought one at the same time registered his, and about every 3-5 years he calls Ridgid as needed, and they simply send him a new one. Lesson learned.

, emailed to oneself,

s pretty much ensures

transfer the docs from

Apples and forklifts.

Have you tried that with anything other than a Craftsman screwdriver or hammer, such as a power tool? For Husky hand tools, Home Depot does the sam e thing as Sears. There's no registration and no receipt required.

"If your Husky hand tool ever fails, bring it back and we will replace it free."

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-99c4-06b87722274f.pdf

On the flip side, Craftsman doesn't even guarantee their power tools for life, so there is no comparison to be made there.

IOW, Home Depot wins:

1 - Same process for Husky hand tools as Craftsman 2 - Life guarantee on Rigid power tools, even if the customer has to do a little work.

True Story:

I had a Husky labeled torque wrench that went bad. When I tried to exchange it at a local store, HD no longer carried that model and the store is only allowed to do a "same item swap". The CSR suggested that I call Husky.

When I called Husky, they said that they no longer carry that tool. 3/8" dr ive with in-lb increments. In fact, they didn't supply HD with *any* in-lb torque wrenches, only ft-lb. They suggested I call Home Depot customer serv ice.

I called HD and the CSR located a 1/4" drive in-lb wrench by a different manufacturer for $40. "If you'd like, I can send you check for $40 and you can go buy the other wrench." I said OK.

Sure, I lost the lifetime warranty on the replacement tool, but HD did thei r best to honor their commitment, so I was satisfied.

Reply to
DerbyDad03

d in disbelief remembering at how some people thought a dastardly scheme ha d been perpetrated by big business with their disappearing ink. I used to think... "am I the only one that //owns// a fax machine?" Really? Am I th e only one that has seen all images disappear from thermal paper in an afte rnoon in my hot truck? Seemed so at the time. I laughed my ass off at the conspiracy theory guys that professed from their bar stool throne that the lifetime warranty was nothing but a scam by big business.

RYONE else these days. Find a real, printed receipt on paper generated fro m an ink printer. Not even the little businesses have those.

in my experience they always have said to make a copy of your receipt and keep it in a safe place. Likewise (having just registered more tools) they have a suggestion when you received conformation of registration that you print the conformation page and save that, too.

s (I have about 16 tools registered) and if you want, print their page from their website with all your information.

place batteries. The battery problem was easy to solve; I called Ridgid an d told them the batteries wouldn't hold a charge. The looked up my account , and the lady on the other end started laughing while I told her the sympt oms. She said, "well, I guess you got good service out of them. They're ov er 8 years old!". She sent me two new batteries and I had them in about 10 days.

, and found out that I was reading the sticker on the tool incorrectly. I can't remember which it is, they don't use a "0" or an "o" (zero or o ) or the other way around to keep from having typos. Cleared it up on the phone and my registration verification was sent to me in about 10 - 12 days.

t, but you only do it once. Their side of the story is that people try to register just a tool, and not its batteries. Or the tool and the batteries , but not the charger. Or they wait past the 90 days window of registratio n because they "meant to" do it. Or they get the information on the receipt wrong, which that information is more important than the serial numbers on the tools. When I lost my receipt from a recent purchase I just went to t he email account I set up to get email receipts for my company purchases, a nd pulled it up and registered it from the pdf I downloaded.

warranty issue. On my side, I will say that I bought two of their 5" ROS t o sand down a mile or two of awful fascia. I bought them about 20 years ag o based on price, not on warranty or performance. I listened to the group here and my boys as well and didn't register them, so no protection as I fe lt like they warranty would never be honored. So when the velcro sanding p ads wear out and fall off, I have to buy them online for about $13 plus del ivery. My amigo that bought one at the same time registered his, and about every 3-5 years he calls Ridgid as needed, and they simply send him a new one. Lesson learned.

, emailed to oneself,

s pretty much ensures

transfer the docs from

BTW I'm pretty sure that "You brought it in, therefore you own it" would not hold up in court.

Possession doesn't not equate to ownership.

Reply to
DerbyDad03

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