warranty on box store hand tools HD/Lowes/HF

[motofool33]

Do you guys encounter trouble getting box store items warrantied?

im talking about pliers, screw drivers and basic tools you would get at Lowes, Home Depot, and HF

ive never tried and have been trying to figure out which brand to start buying that stands behind their product.

i travel alot, dont have any snap on dealers, or matco or any others i can view on any kind of basis. So looking around at what my options are.

 

[Mohawk Dave]

Husky, Kobalt, and Pittsburgh are all pretty simple to deal with. But if (for example) you buy Channellocks at HD or Lowes, they prob will not help you if the need for warranty arises. (They have and they are supposed to, but they don't know that).

Just read reviews on here about which items you want, and pick them up. Should be a piece of cake.

 

[jim1987]

Just scan your receipt so the heat sensitive ink doesn't fad away if you need it.

 

[motofool33]

Just scan your receipt so the heat sensitive ink doesn't fad away if you need it.

ahh so if you dont have the receipt your not getting these warrantied.

 

[jim1987]

ahh so if you dont have the receipt your not getting these warrantied.

Its very ymmv situation. I've never needed it the few times at Lowes. But I always chose in store credit as that's just how I roll lol..my warrantied items were never for broken tools, just tools I wasn't satisfied with. Receipt required for money back, and some stores ***** if you don't have it.

 

[motofool33]

likely what id be trying to warranty is a broken screw driver or broken end of some pliers. etc.

 

[jim1987]

Still, if you haven't tried these stores in your area id save the receipt by making a real copy of it. Lowes has a card that electronically saves them too.

 

[motofool33]

Still, if you haven't tried these stores in your area id save the receipt by making a real copy of it. Lowes has a card that electronically saves them too.

i have a my lowes card, and ive got a few kobalt tools i just havent broken any yet, but i havent used em much either.

 

[jim1987]

The credit card is different then the Card that saves your receipt

 

[motofool33]

The credit card is different then the Card that saves your receipt

i have a My Lowes account ( not credit card) that was free to sign up for. im guessing this is what you mean correct?

 

[jim1987]

i have a My Lowes account ( not credit card) that was free to sign up for. im guessing this is what you mean correct?

Yep. Sorry I misunderstood

 

[Hootbro]

The box store house brands I.E Husky = Home Depot, Kobalt = Lowes and Craftsman = Sears, I have had no problems getting un receipted warranty exchanges. Bringing in non house brands that you may have purchased like Channellock or Knipex, they are not setup to warranty and have to go through the respective manufacturer warranty process.

 

[KaHuNaZ]

Cool story: I was carrying my kobalt table saw down some steps when the fence came loose from its holder and tumbled down the steps. The push stick is stored inside the fence rail and ended up shattering along with part of the fence. I called Kobalt cust service to price some replacement parts and was on hold for just under an hour. A lady answered and took down my info and said the parts will ship out the next day. I told her I was just trying to price out the parts first and she told me that the saw is still under warranty as it is only a few months old so the parts are free. I was happy to receive the new fence and push stick about a week later, then yesterday I get a letter in the mail from Kobalt. I opened it up and there is a $10 lowes gift card with a note saying "Thank you for your patience during our busy call time". This is my first Kobalt/Lowes warranty experience and I have to say that their Customer service was freaking awesome.

 

[Danglerb]

House brands, usually no problems, even with no receipt. I took a bag full of bad CFL bulbs to HD and got new ones with receipt or much issue.

*** bag full was 1 3way 150 watt and 6x 60watt, only got 1 pack of 60 watt, but stepped me up to the newest, best models.

 

[bareass172]

As much as people here whine about Sears, their employees seem to mostly know the Craftsman hand tool warranty.

I wish the stores I frequent were like this, this is a large reason why I stopped buying Sears (that and the move to China for production). I've been told every weird story you can imagine. They're closing the store by me right now, so I took some old stuff in for warranty before I don't have the option locally. The department manager told me that they didn't have to warranty my stuff if they didn't want to, but she'd "be nice" and take care of it for me this time.

Sometimes it seems like a ******* contest with them - if you're going to do it, why even say you wouldn't?

If I had to choose I'd go Home Depot, I almost never have any issues with stuff there. Both Sears and Lowes have given me trouble before. Sears with tools, Lowes with other stuff.

 

[Loscaldazar]

I've never had a warranty issue with a single company before: Lowes, Sears, HD, Snap-On, SK, and Gearwrench. It's mostly a YMMV on a store to store basis.

 

[slyonedoofy]

I used to be a Manager at Sears and understand the frustration with tool exchanges at Sears when employees do not understand the return policy for Craftsman tools.

The policy states.... "If this Craftsman hand tool ever fails to provide complete satisfaction, return it to any Sears store or outlet in the United States for free repair or replacement."

This means ANY REASON!

Basically, you could buy a tool and say "this one doesn't make me happy so replace it", and they have to replace it.

Sears rebuilds ratchets. I have rebuilt 1000's myself. The only part that is used on a refurb ratchet is the handle. The main-gear, switch, springs and rockers are all replaced.

Now, what you don't get to do is bring in half a screwdriver one day and bring the other half in the next day and get a 2 for 1 deal.

I was really nice on exchanges. I gave a guy a free socket when he said he was working on his boat and the socket broke and dropped into the water.

I was of the opinion it wasn't worth losing a customer over a 5 dollar item.

Clicker-type torque wrenches at Sears are not lifetime warranty. I have seen the paperwork from as far back as 1971 stating the warranty is "90 days calibration and 1 year breakage". You can't make a lifetime warranty for something that needs to be recalibrated. So don't try and return those without a receipt. The "beam style" torque wrenches are lifetime. So no worries on those.

Hope this helps.