Anyone have a good experience with Black & Decker lately

In my experience over the past 5 years or so, Black & Decker haven't made a decent electric tool/appliance. I have bought one of their small drills, then returned it when the motor seized up after 2 months. The replacement worked for a year, then the motor developed an open circuit. Same for a small jig saw -- the blade moved up and down at about a 5-degree angle off vertical. The same for a small electric screwdriver.
The company must have been taken over by some Wall Street group to suck the assets out of it, I don't know. Their stuff used to be quite good, but now I wouldn't touch any of their stuff, sorry to say.
Fred

  Quoted Text Here  
a
the
now
Uhhh, do you visit Earth much ??
-- Regards ..... Rheilly Phoull

  Quoted Text Here  
Hi Fred Black & Decker only mfe. light duty power tool,thus only for small litte job. If you need long lasting tool you should have buy heavy duty tool eg. AEG power tool I have one AEG 1/2"power drill use for twenty five years, which do not have any problam,untill my friend did not return back to me after he borrow from me.

  Quoted Text Here  
made a
  Quoted Text Here  
drills,
replacement
off
the
now
job.
power
not have
  Quoted Text Here  
from me.
These were all used in light duty - extra light duty. They just haven't held up to normal use. Thanks, but don't need 1/2" or larger tools.

  Quoted Text Here  
I know they often get negative press.
I push their corded electric lawn mowers to people with small yards (like myself).
I have taken my mower in twice for warranty work and was VERY well treated (they put in a new blade gratis etc.). On the second visit I asked when my warranty expired (two years theoretically) and they said it had already expired two months back but they were extending it as a courtesy. So I have to say I am quite pleased both with the mower and how warranty work was handled. Regarding the need for warranty work: the first time the motor would freewheel - I used to use the mower to mulch fairly 1/2-3/4" sized branches and am not sure if it contributed to early failure. The second visit needed new brushes.
Roland

  Quoted Text Here  
My mom has one of those B&D cordless electric mowers and it actually works very well, but when I picked it up (for free mind you) the stupid cable operated switch was all messed up. I built a little controller with some high current MOSFETs and screwed a microswitch to the handle so it's activated by the original deadman bar, been working great ever since.

  Quoted Text Here  
If it was truly good quality, it would not have to go back in for warranty service. Twice.
Good to hear they have good customer service though. B & D is no longer the quality it was years ago. Serviceable stuff the the light user, but nothing of interest for a tradesman.

  Quoted Text Here  
Which is why, I mentioned what the nature of the repairs were - I may have unintentionally caused the first mishap (freewheeling motor which did not drive the blade) by occasionally using the mower to mulch small amounts of brush (very small - generally less than 1/2 inch brush).
The second time it failed only the brushes needed replacing. If I knew it was not under warranty I would have tried to troubleshoot better and probably have discovered it myself. Assuming it was under warranty I did not bother to troubleshoot at all. Two years for a set of brushes on a mower is not really that bad. Incidentally, before I bought this mower I shared a B&D electric mower with a friend for about 5 years. It did two yards of less than 5000 sq ft for that length of time and is still in use at my friends home (now going on eight years). Over that time, the deadman switch became a bit iffy (had to pull it way past the natural stop to get the mower to run). The same service center diagnosed this problem when I took my new mower in and sold me a $10 part for the repair of the old mower). I had a generally trouble free eight years and avoided breathing gas fumes which alone is worth it to me. I seriously doubt anybody with a gas mower could have a more trouble free experience.
Based on my experience I really believe at least their corded electric mower is a good product (for smaller yards) and hope my second one continues to perform as well as the first.
The service center I went to was a DeWalt service center and they were nothing but ultra professional - did not ask me to produce a receipt, verified warranty status based on serial number, gave me a courtesy discount on other stuff, threw in a new blade on the mower. All these steps engender customer loyalty - they acknowledge the product should not have failed and make small gestures in recognition of this. So despite the torrent of negative press I am quite happy to defend Black and Decker on at least this product and their after sales service as it relates to this product.
  Quoted Text Here  
Yes but the price reflects this. If a Panasonic or Makita drill cost $150- $200 + and a B&D costs half to a third or a fourth as much it is silly to expect a premium product. If people shelled out equivalent dollars their complaints would be more credible.
Roland

wrote:
  Quoted Text Here  
made a
  Quoted Text Here  
drills,
replacement
off
the
now
Good to hear you found a good service shop. But taking in stuff for a repair a year is not what I call good quality workmanship/design. I have a Ryobi electric mower and have never had one single trouble with it other than having to replace the lead-acid battery about 5 years ago. I can cut my grass twice on a single charge - 5,000 square feet each time. Good quality mower, excellent manual and reasonably priced parts.

  Quoted Text Here  
Good for you. I have two Ryobi tools. I'll never have another.

wrote in message
  Quoted Text Here  
I have a Dremel-like tool by Ryobi and it's definitly not as nice as the real thing. On the other hand, I got a cheap Ryobi router a few years ago and while only used lightly I've never had any trouble with it. Overall they seem to be about the same as B&D, some of their stuff is decent, some is crappy, it's all relatively low end Chinese stuff.

Which ones do you have?
wrote in message
  Quoted Text Here  

On Sun, 05 Dec 2004 03:07:42 GMT, "Fred"
  Quoted Text Here  
You were lucky to buy your Ryobi when you did. These days Ryobi does not exist except in brand name only. The Japanese company closed down their power tool manufacturing business around 1999 (I think), and sold the brand name to Techtronic Industries in Hong Kong. Prior to that they made a general purpose range of tools and also a "Tradeline" series. All of the Tradeline tools I had were excellent value for money and would give many years of troublefree service.
It was shortly after Techtronic bought the name that all the junk tools with the Ryobi brand name appeared on the scene. I had several problems with their handyman belt sander and also a cordless drill so much that I was eventually reimbursed for the cost of the sander (which I put towards a Makita), and Ryobi "gave" me one of their newer so-called "professional" or trades series cordless drills as a replacement for the junk drill. I had to direct my complaints directly back to management in Hong Kong before this occurred though.
I suspect you will find that B&D is no longer the original company (much like Ryobi) and consequently their products are now largely "junk". I remember using one of their compact aluminium framed Holgun drills back in the 1960's, and boy, could these drills take a hammering without any problems for year after year. That was when B&D was really a good power tool.

Ross Herbert posted for all of us....
  Quoted Text Here  
You will note that this same company has bought Milwaukee Tools. Can't wait to see what they do to them...

  Quoted Text Here  
*sob*

  Quoted Text Here  
a
the
now
Black & Decker hasn't been any good throughout my lifetime, or most of it anyway. Perhaps they were decent back in the 60's and 70's but I've had some of their stuff since the 80's and while some hasn't broken, it all feels cheap.

At about the time of 12/4/2004 11:04 AM, James Sweet stated the following:
  Quoted Text Here  
A co-worker of mine bought a very expensive B&D coffee maker. After 1 cup it shorted out.
As for power tools, I have a Makita angle grinder. Works great with no problems. I'd buy another Makita power tool if I needed it.

Don't know about their tools, but I like their posters. B^) "Daniel Rudy" >
  Quoted Text Here  

Fred wrote:
  Quoted Text Here  
I quit buying their stuff long ago.

| Fred wrote: | > In my experience over the past 5 years or so, Black & Decker haven't made a | > decent electric tool/appliance. I have bought one of their small drills, | > then returned it when the motor seized up after 2 months. The replacement | > worked for a year, then the motor developed an open circuit. Same for a | > small jig saw -- the blade moved up and down at about a 5-degree angle off | > vertical. The same for a small electric screwdriver. | > | > The company must have been taken over by some Wall Street group to suck the | > assets out of it, I don't know. Their stuff used to be quite good, but now | > I wouldn't touch any of their stuff, sorry to say.
| I quit buying their stuff long ago.
Is it a real company, or just a brand for "Made in China"?
N