Ebay purchase, chrome is badly pitted what would you do?

[Strouty]

So I bought some 4 way angle wrenches the other day, they were listed as having some mild pits, but otherwise almost perfect. The pictures were a bit too far away to tell anything for sure so I took a chance. They are pretty pitted, all the way through the chrome in lots of places on ALL of the wrenches and you can see they are rusty on those spots. The areas that have it the worst are almost sharp to the touch. The easy answer is return them, the problem I have is they are a discontinued wrench that I have been looking for for a while and I don't want to just give them up. Anyone know of a way to seal them? The seller is talking to me (may even be a member), but they are asking what I think is fair. Wrench set was $500, what do you think would be a fair discount, or would you just return them?

Some example pictures, all wrenches are pretty similar in condition.

 

[wasabiboys]

how much is actually surface rust and how much is pitted? A couple of those pits are bad and no coming back.
Some of those pits look like paint almost?

 

[metaldad]

how were they listed? gc, vgc, new?
what does that set retail at?
and then, at least 50% off that

 

[chruler]

Tough call. If they work well and the pitting isn't going to annoy you, it might be best to at least ask for a partial refund and keep them.

 

[48548]

Make snapon stand behind them and replace them so you can sell them and make a profit, hahahaha

 

[md21722]

What is so special about these that they cannot be easily replaced? They are worth what you want to pay for them. For me the answer would depend on how many wrenches I got and needed but from the picture my response would be probably better for us to go through with a return because they aren't worth more than $100 to me in their current condition.

 

[Strouty]

All the black marks are pits that are through the chrome, some are rusting all ready, retail is about $1000 after taxes for me.

The main reason I am even interested in keeping them is that up to 15/16" are all flank drive plus, those are discontinued, they do pop up on eBay, but not up to 15/16" (at least not that I have seen). I found another set that goes to 3/4" and that is probably all I will ever need in the flank drive plus, for those that don't know it is an anti slip open end and these have two open ends per wrench, so working on old equipment it can come in very handy.

As for the warranty, my driver would do it, but I would lose the entire reason for buying them.

So as far as pits, would a chrome polish keep them from rusting more or would it need to be WD40? Would a clear coat do it? I am not sure what I want to do, most of these sets go for a bit over half or more on eBay and I don't recall ever seeing them local.

 

[drtyler]

If you keep oil on them, they should be fine. I would think chrome polish wouldn't help much.

 

[Rossco]

I'de take them to work and put them into service. None of that matters when they perform.

If they are like my stuff, always covered in oil, grease and grime anyways.

 

[M6erfan]

So as far as pits, would a chrome polish keep them from rusting more or would it need to be WD40? Would a clear coat do it? I am not sure what I want to do, most of these sets go for a bit over half or more on eBay and I don't recall ever seeing them local.

You do realize that you're going to get flamed with "tool polisher" jokes, right?

If you decide to keep them a good cleaning then protect with an automotive wax, or maybe even something like fluid film. I don't think good old regular WD40 wil do a whole lot for protection

GL

 

[Thumper68]

I think I would ask for $100 back that would cover my costs to spend an hour on the buffing wheel cleaning them up, as long as there is no peeling chrome I would keep and use them.

 

[leg17]

Did you say that they were listed as "pitted" and when you got them they were pitted?

 

[Strouty]

Chrome is not peeling, but pits are to bare steel. I was thinking of $100 as well, the seller is offering other tools or a discount, also said they would take them back.

The flank drive plus versions are pulling essentially retail price, even used, all because Snap On thought it was a good idea to discontinue them. I can understand not wanting to mar up a new hydraulic fitting, but most of the stuff I work on is not new and I know the owner, he is a real Ahole.

 

[rsanter]

There is no such this is pitting that is not all the way through the Crome.
The Crome is actually like a paint that is meant to prevent the base metal from rusting.
I would dip them in Evaporust. Once they are out I would try to shine them up a bit and then you will know the real condition.
For me if I have a rust pit that I can feel a scratch from I hit it with the wire wheel

Bob

 

[Strouty]

Did you say that they were listed as "pitted" and when you got them they were pitted?

Description:

4 way wrench set 1-1/2 1-14 1-1/8 1-1/16 and 1" are vsxxb (** denotes size)
The others are 15/16 7/8 13/16 3/4 11/16 5/8 9/16 1/2 7/16 3/8 are svs series which are the anti slip variety. Had to do some minor cleanup some very mild pits tools otherwise in almost perfect condition.
No previous owner markings thank you very much

I guess when someone says very minor pits, I was not thinking that they meant so bad that they will cause rust and scratch your fingers.

Here is the auction with the pictures:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/142073884370?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT

 

[Rossco]

$499 I wouldn't complain at all. The larger wrenches (1 1/2 for example) are $150 a pop up here.

I got the smaller size set industrial finish. As long as they perform I couldn't care less about the finish.

 

[Strouty]

I passed on another set that had more wrenches but had owner's marks for $379, I would rather have owners marks than rust.

If I was selling these, I would have stated chrome is pitted in multiple areas on each wrench, please see pictures. I then would have shown close ups of the wrenches like what I showed you guys. I don't think the seller was trying to be dishonest, but I think adding that the wrenches are otherwise in almost perfect condition is where the truth was massaged a bit.

 

[Gmonkee]

Adjust the price in a friendly manner and flog them making money.

Cosmetic issues aside they work, right ?

Most tool users worldwide use stuff a lot worse than that to get paid. It only matters the repair was done in the end, not the chrome finish on the tools used.

 

[Rossco]

It's the age old question on these boards.

Did you buy them because you need them? Or buy because you might need them? For me they are a 100% must and have saved me many a night @ -20C buried inside a D11.

Again. You have the right to be upset by the finish but it's purely cosmetic.

 

[Strouty]

I don't get paid to do any of my work. I am leaning towards returning them, but I may put an offer out there. To me this is worse than owners marks and I know that takes away form most eBay sales.

 

[Al Borland]

Barkeeper's friend. Like Comet or Ajax, but works wonders on rust. Wax when done and rust shouldn't come back. (Especially if the wrenches are used regularly)

 

[Strouty]

It's the age old question on these boards.

Did you buy them because you need them? Or buy because you might need them? For me they are a 100% must and have saved me many a night @ -20C buried inside a D11.

Again. You have the right to be upset by the finish but it's purely cosmetic.

The larger sizes are for doing some work on my excavator soon, the smaller sizes were a wish I had them every so often scenario.

 

[Strouty]

Silly question, anyone ever used clear nail polish? I have used colors of it in the past to mark tools and I seem to remember it holding up well.

 

[zendriver]

They looked pretty rough to me from the pictures, but I'm not an expert on buying vintage wrenches at price.

Stating that they required "minor cleanup', would tell me that the wrenches were rusty, so yes they will have pits. I would have taken "otherwise near perfect" with a grain of salt, for sure. What does that even men?

If you are going to cringe every time you use them, I would return them. Otherwise, use them and wipe with WD40 ( which I would do anyway), or whatever, when you are done with them.

IMO asking for some money back is just lame, on any auction. They seemed described pretty well and had several pics.

 

[48548]

Have them re-chromed, hahaha.

 

[Strouty]

The pictures are the problem, to my eyes the pictures they showed just didn't cover the condition well enough. I sell things so I know what needs to be shown to make a buyer happy. Maybe that makes me more picky? As for the money, they offered a partial refund, but asked me what I thought was fair. I came here to see what other like minded people thought before moving forward. I made them an offer, so the ball is in their court.

 

[joseph.a.owens.9]

Have them re-chromed, hahaha.

If there that hard to find and you want top notch quality here's what to do.

Sent from my SM-G530R4 using Tapatalk

 

[dnschmidt]

A buffing wheel with white rouge would remove most of that stuff. Mother's chrome polish would remove most of that stuff. I don't think it's much of an issue at all.

 

[Rossco]

The larger sizes are for doing some work on my excavator soon, the smaller sizes were a wish I had them every so often scenario.

Right on. The larger wrenches are a class act.

Hope the seller offer's you some decent coin back as you obviously take pride in tools.

Good luck.

 

[Skin]

You're a good customer and have spent quite a bit of money with Snap-On so speaking for myself, if I spent that sort of coin with retail snap-on, my conscious would be clean warrantying the larger ones that don't have FD+. Buff the smaller ones and give them a spray of penetrating oil and I bet the pitting will become hardly noticeable. If the day comes they start to peel warranty those as well and sell them off and seek other FD+.

My 2 cents.

 

[Strouty]

A buffing wheel with white rouge would remove most of that stuff. Mother's chrome polish would remove most of that stuff. I don't think it's much of an issue at all.

There is nothing to remove, the black marks are bare steel.

Right on. The larger wrenches are a class act.

Hope the seller offer's you some decent coin back as you obviously take pride in tools.

Looks like we have come to an agreement, so I will be messing with them a bit to try and keep them from rusting.

You're a good customer and have spent quite a bit of money with Snap-On so speaking for myself, if I spent that sort of coin with retail snap-on, my conscious would be clean warrantying the larger ones that don't have FD+. Buff the smaller ones and give them a spray of penetrating oil and I bet the pitting will become hardly noticeable. If the day comes they start to peel warranty those as well and sell them off and seek other FD+.

My 2 cents.

That will most likely be what happens. I figure my dealer will do that no problem, especially when I buy the in between sizes from him. Not sure if I need them all, but I know I need 1 5/16" for sure, would like to get up to 2". There was an auction last week that I missed, 1/4" to 2" for under $1,200, that set is $2,800 retail. They looked almost new too.

 

[Wamsutta]

They cancelled the flank drive plus angle wrenches because they're not allowed to be used on aircraft hydraulic fittings. Most of customers who buy those wrenches work in the aerospace industry.

 

[Wanna Ride]

Have them re-chromed, hahaha.

Strouty, I was going to suggest this too. The right shop would strip them, and bring them back to the way they should be. But it could cost a few coins.

 

[Strouty]

They cancelled the flank drive plus angle wrenches because they're not allowed to be used on aircraft hydraulic fittings. Most of customers who buy those wrenches work in the aerospace industry.

My ultimate plan is to have both styles, then when using them on new fittings I will stick with the plain wrenches. Sometimes I have needed the extra angles to get to regular hardware as well, so the flank drive plus will come in handy.

Strouty, I was going to suggest this too. The right shop would strip them, and bring them back to the way they should be. But it could cost a few coins.

I think the best thing is to just look for a nicer set of the smaller flank drive plus wrenches, then slowly swap the out for regular style ones. The speed of the swap depends on my driver, but I will leave that up to him.

 

[KM223]

Strouty I couldn't live with that. I'd return them and look for a better set.

 

[four.cycle]

The photos in the ad do not accurately reflect the condition of the item(s). The description of the item(s) in the ad do not accurately reflect the product you have shown in your photos above.

I would seek recourse in a manner acceptable to both parties.

 

[MattVette89]

I certainly think the ad was not 100% correct, but not intentionally misleading. People have different opinions of condition, and the pictures weren't that great.

Since it took so long to find them in the first place, I would:

1) accept a partial refund
2) clean them up the best you can and use them
3) keep searching for a nicer set
4) sell them once you find the nicer set

 

[PelicanPines]

Silly question, anyone ever used clear nail polish? I have used colors of it in the past to mark tools and I seem to remember it holding up well.

Yes... but get the rust completely and totally off first. I have five bottles of nail polish... black, white, yellow, red, clear. ...

I'd ask for $ 100 back...

 

[MattVette89]

I have five bottles of nail polish... black, white, yellow, red, clear. ...

And five more colors for the other hand!



(sorry, it was too enticing)

 

[chrisnazzy]

Strouty I have to say I looked over the original Ebay auction you posted and I too would be very disappointed. The pics provided made no attempt to show just how bad the pitting was and although it may not have been intentional, they are definitely in far worse shape that what was described/pictured. I've seen enough of your posts to infer that in the long run these probably won't be acceptable to you. Maybe returning them and continuing to stay on the look out is best. My $.02.