Why I don’t miss Craftsman

[petalmasher]

So it was nice to know that I could run to the nearest mall, walk into sears and get a decent, American-made tool at a reasonable price. Here is the thing; Bondhus and Eklind have always sold better hex tools for less. Channellock makes better mechanical pliers for less than craftsman. Smaller electrical pliers and cutters by Klein and xcelite are similar in Price but better, for sockets, ratchets and wrenches, Armstrong and Wright make better tools for a similar price. Most all of the aforementioned companies make decent screwdrivers at similar prices. If “made in USA” doesn’t matter to you, plenty of European made tools are significantly better and only marginally more expensive and plenty of Taiwanese made tools are of similar quality and significantly less expensive.
Thank you Sears for moving production to China and letting quality go to hell, forcing us to discover better tools and better prices elsewhere!

 

[Cato]

Well, I hope you got Amazon Prime and trust your UPS/FEDEX guy not to steal your packages.

A very good thing about Sears is that you can walk in, drop some green backs and walk out with a good tool (which may be Chinese). That's harder to do at Hobre Depot, Harbor Freight, or the Dollar Store. Those will be the only tool sources outside the internet.

 

[Hafen_Kafer]

Just like election candidates, I can't decide which post I dislike the most.

 

[theoldwizard1]

Armstrong and Wright make better tools for a similar price.

I'm calling ******** on that statement !
Without spending a ton of time this what I found

Armstrong 15-370 10 pc SAE 3/8" socket set - $62.55

Craftsman Industrial 9-34629 (Made in the USA, probably by Armstrong) 22 piece (SAE and Metric) 3/8" socket set - $47.97

Twice as many sockets, less price.

You can pick up the standard Craftsman equivalent, on sale, for $20 - $30

 

[Fedwrench]

I miss the Craftsman Holiday tool catalog. All of those cool new tools that would get added to the annual tool catalog. Those great Black Friday sales.
Back to the point, I don't really miss Craftsman because I have more of it than I'll ever use. I mean there's a point when you have most of their tool line that interests you and there's nothing left that calls to you.

On a side note, Armstrong chrome sockets are the same as Craftsman right down to that funky double detent on the female square drive end. However, you used to be able to get a rack of 10 for $9.95 on sale.

 

[gagreen]

So it was nice to know that I could run to the nearest mall, walk into sears and get a decent, American-made tool at a reasonable price. Here is the thing; Bondhus and Eklind have always sold better hex tools for less. Channellock makes better mechanical pliers for less than craftsman. Smaller electrical pliers and cutters by Klein and xcelite are similar in Price but better, for sockets, ratchets and wrenches, Armstrong and Wright make better tools for a similar price. Most all of the aforementioned companies make decent screwdrivers at similar prices. If “made in USA” doesn’t matter to you, plenty of European made tools are significantly better and only marginally more expensive and plenty of Taiwanese made tools are of similar quality and significantly less expensive.
Thank you Sears for moving production to China and letting quality go to hell, forcing us to discover better tools and better prices elsewhere!

Lots of misinformation in your rant here... Craftsman pliers were on par if not better than channellock. WF is good stuff and often times cheaper than their blue handled competition when bought in sets. Klein and xcelite are almost always more expensive.

Armstrong and wright make a better ratchet than craftsman (and now better sockets) but they are no where near the same price range. Craftsman was always cheaper by the dozen making them a good choice for the casual or beginning pro's. Wright and Armstrong require a much stronger credit card and are much harder to come by.

Euro tools are much much more expensive than even the craftsman professional line. Screwdrivers, wrenches, sockets, pliers whatever. Euro tools are generally in line if not more expensive than snap on off the truck.

Taiwanese tools are better and are cheaper. Even compared to the last era of us made craftsman.

I don't understand why you felt the need to post up, but as this site is top of any tool search it is important to put information into proper context.

 

[monomach]

So it was nice to know that I could run to the nearest mall, walk into sears and get a decent, American-made tool at a reasonable price. Here is the thing; Bondhus and Eklind have always sold better hex tools for less. Channellock makes better mechanical pliers for less than craftsman. Smaller electrical pliers and cutters by Klein and xcelite are similar in Price but better, for sockets, ratchets and wrenches, Armstrong and Wright make better tools for a similar price. Most all of the aforementioned companies make decent screwdrivers at similar prices. If “made in USA” doesn’t matter to you, plenty of European made tools are significantly better and only marginally more expensive and plenty of Taiwanese made tools are of similar quality and significantly less expensive.
Thank you Sears for moving production to China and letting quality go to hell, forcing us to discover better tools and better prices elsewhere!

Channellock pliers are not cheaper than Craftsman; they're a hell of a lot more expensive. Kleins are not a similar price to Craftsman; they're a hell of a lot more expensive. Armstrong and Wright are not a similar price to Craftsman; they're a hell of a lot more expensive...in many cases, the Armstrong costs twice as much but is the exact same tool.

Good lord, son. I have two Wright wrench sets. I got them at the lowest price I've ever seen, and I still paid enough to buy twelve Craftsman full polish sets. Similar, my ***.

When will these terrible Sears posts stop? We know the Chinese Craftsman stuff *****...that doesn't mean we should all act like morons and pretend that everything Craftsman ***** or that the website is impossible to navigate or that the prices are high.

They have plenty of good US tools, the website is fine if you aren't a tech-idiot and can read English, and the prices are low. It's not going to be the end of the world when they go, but it'll still **** a little bit.

 

[petalmasher]

Euro tools are much much more expensive than even the craftsman professional line. Screwdrivers, wrenches, sockets, pliers whatever. Euro tools are generally in line if not more expensive than snap on off the truck.

You don't say? http://store.snapon.com/Instinct-17...ct-153-Soft-Handle-Orange-6-pcs--P645277.aspx

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0001NQQCM/?tag=atomicindus08-20

Can't imagine how cheap the Craftsmans would have to be for the Euro drivers to be closer in price to snap on. Or how about prices of comparable sets of pliers?

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0006698XI/?tag=atomicindus08-20
http://m.craftsman.com/craftsman-2-pc-adjustable-pliers-set-7-in/p-00945433000P

I'll take the Channellocks for $23, thanks

 

[petalmasher]

I'm calling ******** on that statement !
Without spending a ton of time this what I found

Armstrong 15-370 10 pc SAE 3/8" socket set - $62.55

Craftsman Industrial 9-34629 (Made in the USA, probably by Armstrong) 22 piece (SAE and Metric) 3/8" socket set - $47.97

Twice as many sockets, less price.

You can pick up the standard Craftsman equivalent, on sale, for $20 - $30

I suppose it depends on which tool you look at. I was recently in the market combination wrenches, and this is what I saw;

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00ATGH45Y/?tag=atomicindus08-20

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001HW8AMK/?tag=atomicindus08-20

http://www.all-spec.com/products/Armstrong/Tools|Wrenches_and_Sockets|TOL-51/25-608.html

 

[gagreen]

Why do you keep using craftsman's oem page for your price comparison. THe prices there will be msrp. There is no way that craftsman combo sets average around $10 a wrench. Im not a craftsman fan boy but you keep trying to put their prices in line with industrial brands and that is simply not the case. It may be the exception when you find a good sale going but it is not the standard.

Euro drivers range from cheap to hazet/stahlwille/gedore/facom prices. I don't generally think quality when i see wera attached. Don't think quality when craftsman is attached either.

I would put money on it that if you went to a sears you could walk out with a two set of pump pliers craftsman branded for around 20 bucks. But pump pliers are such a small part of the story start comparing duckbills, needlenose, chain nose.... etc.... channellock falls short of western forge imo.

 

[petalmasher]

I'm calling ******** on that statement !
Without spending a ton of time this what I found

Armstrong 15-370 10 pc SAE 3/8" socket set - $62.55

Craftsman Industrial 9-34629 (Made in the USA, probably by Armstrong) 22 piece (SAE and Metric) 3/8" socket set - $47.97

Twice as many sockets, less price.

You can pick up the standard Craftsman equivalent, on sale, for $20 - $30

I suppose it depends on which tool you look at. I was recently in the market combination wrenches, and this is what I saw;

http://m.craftsman.com/craftsman-2-pc-adjustable-pliers-set-7-in/p-00945433000P

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001HW8AMK/?tag=atomicindus08-20

http://www.all-spec.com/products/Armstrong/Tools|Wrenches_and_Sockets|TOL-51/25-608.html

 

[rednotch]

I suppose it depends on which tool you look at. I was recently in the market combination wrenches, and this is what I saw;

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00ATGH45Y/?tag=atomicindus08-20

Those prices really are not fair comparisons, the craftsman is someone who bought them on clearance from sears for 11 bucks and is now reselling them on amazon. lots of times the resellers will jack the price once there is no other option for them, note how you can buy one set for 40 while the other is 80 for the same thing.

 

[monomach]

Hang on guys, listing a pair of 7" Channellocks on Amazon at $19,000 to set that as the super official new price point.

OP has to be purposely trolling; no one could be this goofy for real.

OP picked the most expensive seller on that Amazon page, too. Right there, plain as day, it says "3 new from $39.95," but he linked to the $73 seller.

...and those were indeed $11 for a long time.

 

[Stooge]

I suppose it depends on which tool you look at. I was recently in the market combination wrenches, and this is what I saw;

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00ATGH45Y/?tag=atomicindus08-20

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001HW8AMK/?tag=atomicindus08-20

http://www.all-spec.com/products/Armstrong/Tools|Wrenches_and_Sockets|TOL-51/25-608.html

you are comparing standard combination wrenches from Wright and Armstrong with the craftsman ratcheting combination wrenches, that is most likely the only reason the prices are similar. Craftsman's never been my preference for tools, but if your going to compare a brand to a quality industrial brand, atleast make it another comparable industrial brand.

you dont like craftsman/sears? dont shop there, no one cares. these threads are pointless

 

[dlcwent]

you dont like craftsman/sears? dont shop there, no one cares. these threads are pointless

 

[nieuport17]

Why I won't miss WalMart.
Wait, what thread is this ?

 

[dnschmidt]

I'm not a fan of Craftsman but losing a source of reasonable priced fairly high quality tools is never good. All this does is make Harbor Freight even more powerful in the drive to the bottom. I don't celebrate a lack of choice. Bain Capital isn't going anywhere, Craftsman will likely live on but be much harder to acquire. Why should this make anybody happy?

 

[lilscorpion]

Meh...Internet prevented me from wanting to drive to the ghetto and stand in Sears . I can count on one hand the number of times I (1) needed a tool so urgently I had to go to the store instead of ordering it and (2) found what I really wanted without having to drive all over town to find it in stock anyway.

I buy saw blades and sand paper at HD or lowes because I always forget to order in advance. Other than that - "when I was a kid i used to go to stores".

 

[Zeroek]

I'd drive to autozone before I'd go to Sears for hand tools nowadays. That's for an emergency. Otherwise it's ebay or tool truck. I did actually buy a craftsman thread repair kit recently but I did that to burn up the rest of my craftsman reward points.

 

[Farmall450]

Just like election candidates, I can't decide which post I dislike the most.

Good analogy. OP, good luck finding US made pullers, etc at Sears prices.

 

[Jason280]

We really need a separate Sears section in this forum...

 

[BK13]

We really need a separate Sears section in this forum...

Or a DFTFT section and a mod who is quick to throw obvious trolling threads like this into it...

 

[Tripn88]

Why do people care so much buy new craftsman if it breaks get a new one. You don't like the new stuff don't buy it. Want some good old USA made craftsman. Do some leg work and go find them? Hell I just cleaned up a bucket full of old craftsman and S-K stuff I got for 20 bucks.

 

[zakmartin]

:tard:

 

[thewatusi]

Ooohh this thread again? Awesome. It's a been at least 4 days since the last time this has come up.

 

[lilscorpion]

:tard:

Now what would happen if Sears was acquired by Harbor Fright?! Would the love be rekindled?

Or, or...Sears abandons the brick and mortar model and adopts the tool truck model and brings the pain to SnapOn by introducing a fluorescent green product line...

Or (hehe) they start mfg'in all of their stuff in the US but drop their QC process and use inferior materials...

At this point ain't no one gonna let it go. Have a beer and enjoy the show.

 

[1950mercury]

Dont feed the trolls... opinions are like a$$holes everyone has ome and some people's have to make theres heard.

 

[XxToolAholicxX]

You just proved that you have very limited knowledge about tools. And I know you haven't bought any European tools which cost way more sometimes more then truck brands.Especially German tools. Yes more then truck brands. Armstrong and Wright cost much more then Craftsman Professional line which I think are same as Craftsman. Craftsman Chinese line do **** but they offer good tools for a beginner or DIY community. And there are great tools that come out of Taiwan like Blue Point,Williams,Silver Eagle,Harbor Freights Professional line just to name a few. Plus Craftsman warranty is best in the indusry hands down.

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

I am a Toolaholic,Sometimes I regret it,Especially when the Toolman wont give me no credit

 

[Bigblue&Goldie]

We really need a separate Sears section in this forum...

I think the following should have their own sub forums:
-Sears/Craftsman
-Harbor Freight
-Truck Tools

Segregate the various factions and we would have a lot less of these retarded threads to sift through. No more arguments about HF vs. Premium brands, no more Craftsman warranty threads, etc. If you want to participate in that ****, you can go to that dedicated forum.

 

[bulletpruf]

I have a LOT of Craftsman stuff. Now that I'm overseas, I've tried to navigate their website. It really does blow. I mean, really, really bad.

 

[thesilverone]

OP is another attention *****

 

[hangfirew8]

But pump pliers are such a small part of the story start comparing duckbills, needlenose, chain nose.... etc.... channellock falls short of western forge imo.

Funny I see this thread this morning, I just bought a set of Channellock's last night... at a Sears!

The identical Craftsman pair set was Made in China, so I'm not sure if the Western Forge comparison is still valid. Perhaps with other plier types, but not with the typical pliers. Let me see if I can find some links....

This is what I bought: http://www.sears.com/channellock-2-pc-pliers-set/p-00945443000P?prdNo=10

Hanging just above it was a Craftsman set that looked just like this, but was Made in China: http://www.sears.com/craftsman-2-pc...p-00945410000P?prdNo=4&blockNo=4&blockType=G4

Or course I didn't bother to take a picture of it. Buying the US made Channellocks was a no-brainer.

 

[rshadd]

With Craftsman, I can replace a broken tool the same day by walking into the store and asking for a replacement. What other brands offer that?

 

[RRich]

With Craftsman, I can replace a broken tool the same day by walking into the store and asking for a replacement. What other brands offer that?

Harbor Freight

 

[hangfirew8]

With Craftsman, I can replace a broken tool the same day by walking into the store and asking for a replacement. What other brands offer that?

HF, Lowe's Kobalt and HD Husky, among others.

 

[Herod]

I have too many bad experiences with Sears and Craftsman. Issues from substandard tools, to return policy changing depending on which sears employee's mood you happen across. Final straw was them calling my USA made 3/4" drive ratchet "obsolete" and wanting to exchange it for a china one with a plastic shifter.

So for me...yeah....when sears dies....when it finally decides to go belly up and die.......inside, I will smile.

 

[dnschmidt]

I find this attitude bizarre. I have very few Craftsman tools. I haven't been in a Sears for twenty years, (apparently I'm not alone or all this talk of their closing wouldn't be relevant) However I look at it I can't imagine loosing another source of tools to be a good thing. Why the joy? Do some of you think that less choice is good? Nobody has ever forced me to buy a Craftsman tool. Why pray for their demise?

 

[Sal Bandini]

HF, Lowe's Kobalt and HD Husky, among others.

I was at HD the other day looking at Husky sockets. I asked sales lady about lifetime warranty and how to take advantage of it, if needed. She looked at the socket, read the "lifetime warranty" on the plastic holder and said I need to keep that part, otherwise how would they know it was lifetime. Is this accurate? If that's the case then it is a no go for me. Who keeps those parts? Can someone confirm or deny?

 

[panknuckshovel]

I was at HD the other day looking at Husky sockets. I asked sales lady about lifetime warranty and how to take advantage of it, if needed. She looked at the socket, read the "lifetime warranty" on the plastic holder and said I need to keep that part, otherwise how would they know it was lifetime. Is this accurate? If that's the case then it is a no go for me. Who keeps those parts? Can someone confirm or deny?

http://www.homedepot.com/hdus/en_US...Husky/Body/Docs/Husky_Warranties_07-01-13.pdf

 

[FMC1959]

I find this attitude bizarre. I have very few Craftsman tools. I haven't been in a Sears for twenty years, (apparently I'm not alone or all this talk of their closing wouldn't be relevant) However I look at it I can't imagine loosing another source of tools to be a good thing. Why the joy? Do some of you think that less choice is good? Nobody has ever forced me to buy a Craftsman tool. Why pray for their demise?

I agree, more places is more choice for us. If you don't like Sears, HF or any other place, no one has a gun to your head; buy elsewhere. I don't shop much at Sears and if they close, it won't affect my buying much. But I would find it sad if it came to be, they are an institution and part of Americana.

There are certain haters on this forum that love berating Sears, Snap On, HF and others. They repeat their rants any chance they get....get a life!