Pay attention if you buy Craftsman these days

[Duck tape Bill]

So I got a Sears gift certificate for Christmas, and went by my local store today to pick up a 3-set of "next generation ratchets." I had noticed they had a couple sets the other day, and the package said "made in the USA," so I figured I pick them up while they had them since I knew they were now making these ratchets in the peoples republic of....

...But!... when I got home and looked at the ratchets, to my surprise, they were the F-ing Chinese made ratchets...

Take a look at these pictures and tell me how pissed off I need to be on a scale of 1-10 where 1 is I just forget about it and use the ratchets, and 10 is I contact the BBB and file a complaint of false advertising.

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[amlv20]

"tools made in USA"

"PACKAGING made in china"

i think you confused your self a bit.

 

[softailgarage]

Where do you see that the tool is made in China?

 

[Duck tape Bill]

Where do you see that the tool is made in China?

Well, I talked to a Sears customer service rep, explained what the wrenches had stamped on them, and he told me that they were made in china...

Plus I read this:
http://www.svtperformance.com/forums/front-page-news-143/833524-craftsman-hand-tools-now-made-china.html

 

[ajchien]

I believe the L-AA mark is a made in Taiwan ratchet?

And I think D-AA would be made in China...

 

[Tarheelgarage]

 

[tyheuser]

The USA ones have it stamped on the back side of them, and amlv20 I think you confused YOURSELF a bit! I would be really pissed there pretty nice ratchets I dont care for the 1/2 inch one so much its to short and heavy the 84t is alot nicer. Hopefully you get it straightend out.

 

[jjjrmx5]

Where do you see that the tool is made in China?

Because it is NOT stamped USA. But, sadly, it's not likey made in China.

Hmmmmm....

USA made slim profiles have teh USA stamp on the same side as the part number.

e.g.: U.S.A Pat Pend VW-44995

THAT is what is stamped on the ratchet.
On the side opposite of the Craftsman stamp on the other side of the handle.

The new slim handles seem to be Taiwan made or at least all of the ones I still see and now with Chinese made packaging.

Thus the confusion and the further slide C'man goes into the abysss.

Every day I stop by sears makes me cry. Boo.

 

[Duck tape Bill]

The new slim handles seem to be Taiwan made and now with Chinese made packaging.

...I guess somebody should tell the guy in China who is making the packaging to stop putting "made in USA" on there... needless to say, these are going back to the store.

 

[Bull]

I have a pretty favorable impression of Taiwanese tools overall.

That's not to say I would not be disappointed if labeling indicated USA and it wasn't; that's just not cool.

 

[NoNN37]

Here's the USA ones for those wondering

 

[Ironhorse]

...I guess somebody should tell the guy in China who is making the packaging to stop putting "made in USA" on there... needless to say, these are going back to the store.

Maybe the pat. went thru so they are made in the US but with just the model number as the pat. Pending ones? Or you just got dupped into buying a shinny new Made in China ratchet...ooohh Shiny, Chrome...aahh.....

 

[tweedlestan]

Those are the new Taiwanese made ones. Why they're in packaging that says "Made in USA", I have no clue...

 

[Fastbird]

I'd be pretty pissed off. The packaging advertising the ratchets are USA made, and obviously by the stamping on the handles, they're not. That's grounds for a 10 out of 10 pissed level right there IMO.

 

[Duck tape Bill]

Those are the new Taiwanese made ones. Why they're in packaging that says "Made in USA", I have no clue...

The only thing I can figure is either the assembly plant had extra "made in USA" packages, and had run out of the USA ratchets, so they just used the USA packages to package the Taiwan ratchets...

...or, some jackass stole the "made in USA" ratchets out of the package and the store employees just replaced them with what they had on hand.


Either way it's wrong, and I'm going back to the store to talk to a manager after tomorrow... maybe they will do something to keep me from causing a stink. I do like the feel of the ratchets, but the non-USA thing has me conflicted as far as keeping them or not.

 

[Boost Creep]

i'd go with a 1. you only have yourself to blame for going in to sears and buying craftsman when its been shown time and again how horribly run of a place it is

 

[softailgarage]

Ok, so on a level of 1 - 10, 10 being crazy pissed off... 10
Ever see the Discount Tire commercial where the old lady tosses the tire thru the window?

 

[Ironhorse]

Ok, so on a level of 1 - 10, 10 being crazy pissed off... 10
Ever see the Discount Tire commercial where the old lady tosses the tire thru the window?

Love that one...I used to shop at that store in Tucson AZ...the org. Discount tire...Funny I think they did have someone put a tire thru the window after the commerical...

 

[pfarber]

So did the ratchets not ratchet? Did the socket not stay on? Did it not reverse?

What the problem other than thinking that USA made stuff is better?

Oh, wait, you wanted a cheap tool so you bought one. That's right.

So if any random 'chinese junk' has the three letters U S A on them they are magically better?

You are a tool and a fool.

Wait for the SnapOn truck to roll by.. they never have any returns ever.

 

[Bull]

So did the ratchets not ratchet? Did the socket not stay on? Did it not reverse?

What the problem other than thinking that USA made stuff is better?

Oh, wait, you wanted a cheap tool so you bought one. That's right.

So if any random 'chinese junk' has the three letters U S A on them they are magically better?

You are a tool and a fool.

Wait for the SnapOn truck to roll by.. they never have any returns ever.

Perhaps you could disagree without using ad hominem attacks.

Personal insults are not allowed here.

 

[John316]

Really not an issue of what was purchased.... just plain, dishonest advertising ..whether incompetence is the cause or not.

 

[ChevyEFI]

I just wanted to check in and let you know I've never purchased a Craftsman socket, ratchet, nor ratchet extension.

It's a great feeling. Ever watch Coming to America when the bathers are done and he sighs? JUST like that.

 

[fivespdcat]

I personally would be pissed off too, regardless if they work or not. The package says "made in USA" that means the ratchets should be made in the USA. If not then he got duped, and man would that piss me off. It's not about if they work or not, it's about buying something based on the package and not getting that. If the package said "made in Taiwan" then there is really no reason to get mad. It is after all what you bought. As of now, he bought something and was mislead by the packaging.

 

[franzdom]

t.e.n.

 

[pipsters]

Someone bought that set on super discount and a full priced USA set and replaced the ratchets and returned that set. Pretty easy to see. No way to blame the store they looked brand new in the packaging.

 

[03protege]

So if any random 'chinese junk' has the three letters U S A on them they are magically better?

USA signifies the items country of orgin, if it was Chinese it would not say USA as that would clearly not be where it was from.

 

[SC-AW11]

Someone bought that set on super discount and a full priced USA set and replaced the ratchets and returned that set. Pretty easy to see. No way to blame the store they looked brand new in the packaging.

Nice, thinking outside the box. bet no one thought of that, and its very likely.

 

[rshadd]

Someone bought that set on super discount and a full priced USA set and replaced the ratchets and returned that set. Pretty easy to see. No way to blame the store they looked brand new in the packaging.

This makes sense. Return 'em and get a USA set.

 

[NC-Fordguy]

Someone bought that set on super discount and a full priced USA set and replaced the ratchets and returned that set. Pretty easy to see. No way to blame the store they looked brand new in the packaging.

^This

I've seen people do this with TVs. Vizeo TV in a Sony box or a TV that is a couple years old that is broken in box with a newer model number. The things some people will pull is saddening.

 

[SC-AW11]

The things some people will pull is saddening.

Lol it really is.


I think the only way to get usa sets now is ebay? Theres a buy it now for 90, but Im currently winning a bid at 76. Looking forward to finally upgrading my favorite and most used hand tool. I want the 84s as well but I think next up are some Snap Ons with my newly acquired student discount : )

 

[camarotoolman]

That them back, get a gift card, sell the gift card on feebay, buy some used snap ons on feebay, bee happy.

 

[MoToys]

I bought a 3/8 stubby flex head ratchet a month or so ago. The lady at the register tried to keep the packaging. I asked her why, and she said they put the new and sometimes rebuilt ratchets in it.
I said I've never heard of that and it was wrong. She kept asking till I refused enough.
What Im saying is this could have been perpetrated and packed like that in the store.

 

[warmpancakes]

theres a pending class action suit about this , sears pulled a large amount of product off the shelves and used a marker to block out the made in USA

 

[thesilverone]

return them!

 

[kythri]

theres a pending class action suit about this , sears pulled a large amount of product off the shelves and used a marker to block out the made in USA

Got a link?

The only class action attempts I've seen have failed, been denied by a judge, and it wasn't due to actual false claims of domestic production for imported gear.

Both that I've seen were either accusing Sears of attempting to deceive by lauding the items that are made in the USA in such a manner as to confuse folks
on the imports, or by attempting to deceive by building up the "Made in the USA" reputation of Craftsman, then quietly putting imports into the sales chain.

Neither of them had much merit, and the judge in both cases smacked them down.

I'd love to read up on something that actually had merit.

 

[warmpancakes]

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=177421&highlight=sears+lawsuit

 

[kythri]

Ah - yeah, that's one of the smacked-down attempts.

That's the one where the guy says that Sears has, via the Craftsman brand name, built up a reputation for being US-made, and has purposely used that reputation to pull the wool over people's eyes by quietly replacing them with Chinese-made tools.

While Sears is quite evidently hoping to trade on the good reputation of Craftsman, they've done nothing wrong as far as what this clown was claiming, and the case was rightfully dismissed.

Now, if Sears was actually dumping import product in packaging that said "Made in the USA" (and isolated incidents like this post need to be backed-up by multiple other instances, instead of being, as pointed out, likely a customer return to get the US-made version), then they need to be hammered, but there's really no evidence of that.

As far as the marking out "Made in the USA", we've really only got the ambulance-chaser's word for that, and no photographic evidence.

 

[metaldad]

Return them

 

[loranger]

Return them and buy my 1/2" ratchet in the classifieds for less! That's my pic that was posted earlier.

 

[brownbagg]

i dont see anything wrong with them being made in china