will they stand behind the tools still

I seriously doubt SS will ever default. The government has run out of money on numerous occasions and elected to go further in debt to continue business.

The government and or SS will never run out of money, so to speak, it will simply borrow or circulate more money to pay off debt. This is how the dollar has been loosing value for decades. Every one pays that debt by loosing buying power.

Leon wrote in news:R4qdnXxYi9GcouHFnZ2dnUU7-I snipped-for-privacy@giganews.com:

That's exactly what happened to my Craftsman tape measure. Last month, I took it in for warranty replacement, and since Craftsman no longer brands tape measures, the guy at Sears exchanged it for a 30' Stanley. He did explain it was a one-time exchange, and the Stanely wasn't covered under the Craftsman warranty.

Puckdropper

Try to make it back. The problem is that there is more than one way to try.

I suspect this did happen in the past, pre depression era time. But there are regulations that prevent this and in the case of default, FDIC.

Yes, but the new owner does not necessarily have to assume the liability on past sales, know as the warranty. But some one does, and that may be a required acquisition of a third party insurance to cover that detail.

That's why we have FDIC (insurance).

I own a GM car. GM (Government Motors) is sold to Ford. I suffer damages due to a crash determined to caused by something GM did in their manufacturing process prior to selling to Ford. My claim and any damages provided by the courts are the responsibility now of Ford. When you buy a corporation you buy the corporation - the good, the bad and the ugly. If that were not the case, don't you think Volkswagen would have turned around and sold to a quickly formed shell corporation called PeopleScooter to avoid paying the $1,000,000,000 fine?

Corporations can enter into all sorts of agreements in the sales process but they cannot legally do something that affects certain contractual rights of third parties who have done business with them to those parties detriment.

Frankly, all of our discussion is much ado about nothing, IMO. Stanley/B&D bought Craftsman because they want to continue to make money off the brand loyalty. The last thing they want is a black eye because you or I take a ratchet back for replacement under the Craftsman Lifetime Warranty and we're told to pound sand.

Guess again. FDIC covers the depositors if the bank FAILS. Do you believe for a moment that if I own the bank and I have $100M on deposit, that I can sell it to you for $25M, transfer only $50M of the assets to you and walk away from the table with $75M in my pocket? Can't happen legally.

I think Bill is right on with his analogy. The bankruptcy, some time back, was exactly analogous to the probate of a will. The company died and its assets were bought by another.

But someone coming to court with a bill for the new furnace, after probate, is out of luck. The person is dead and his assets transferred to someone else. A bankruptcy is much the same.

...and when people stop buying the debt, we just buy another tanker of ink and do QE(N+1).

Not necessarily. In a banruptcy, the assets may be sold off without selling the company itself and any liabilities killed with the business. It's not only the debtors that get screwed.

No, FDIC does not cover that. FDIC covers depositors in the event that the bank defaults. Bank regulations prevent a bank from buying another and refusing give the depositors their money.

According to wiki Sears bought the rights to the name "Craftsman" from Marion-Craftsman Tool Company in 1927 for 500 bucks. It's not clear whether Marion-Craftsman ever actually produced any tools that were sold by Sears.

Lein holders have first shot at the assets in Texas. Probate takes time most, lien holders will have filed before the probate is finalized.

If they bought the company, i.e. obtained a majority of the shares of stock, then the liability with regard to contracts and guarantees would be unchanged I believe.

However it is common to buy the _assets_ from the corporation, not the corporation itself, leaving the corporation cash rich but with no products, manufacturing facilities, staff or anything else except cash and liabilities. In that case the new owners would be under no obligation to honor warranties, as those warranties were issued by the corporation, which still exists. You could sue the corporation but the courts would tell you to get in line behind the rest of the creditors.

In the case of Craftsman, it appears that Craftsman was an asset of Sears, not a corporation its own right, so any warranty claims should be against Sears--as long as there's a Sears store you should be able to walk in and demand satisfaction, however if they no longer sell tools there's precious little satisfaction to be had--they might give you the cash value of it or something. And if Sears goes away it's unlikely that you're going to have any recourse at all.

Virtually impossible in 1968/69.

Depends what the new company buys. If they buy the company, they buy everything. If they buy just the name, or just named assets, they do not. They can also buy all assets and liabilities.

The computer manufacturer I formerly worked for went broke, and a distributor bought all assetts and liabilities for $1, but technically did NOT buy the corporation.

The conversation is about the sale of Craftsman and the liabilities that go with it, not bankruptcy.

What, photocopying packaging? Maybe you didn't work anywhere that there was a Xerox but a lot of people did.

No, Xerox was making photo copiers at least as bar back as 1962. My dad went to work for Coastal States Gas then and they had "Xerox Machines"/photo copiers. It was the first time my dad ever used one. I recall him taking me to work with him on a weekend and showing me.

But I imagine they were few and far in between.

LOL