The short version:
Sent it in, got a new one.
The long version:
In 2005 - 2006 I went shopping on-line for a set of stubby offset SK Superchrome box wrenches. I found a place in Las Vegas that had them. They also had a bunch of Facom stuff on close out. As I recall, the salesman told me since SK was no longer part of Facom, they were blowing out their Facom stuff. So I bought a few items including a J.153A flex head 3/8" drive ratchet.
It was probably a year before I even took it out of the wrapper. And I've probably used it less than half a dozen times in total since I've owned it. Last Fall I was changing out a couple broken springs on my car and used the Facom to access the strut nuts on top of the shock towers. These are small 13mm nuts and only have a few ft-lbs of torque. The ratchet started skipping. WTF?
I remembered some discussion on GarageJournal regarding skipping and reversing Facom ratchets. The issue is sometimes down to dried up lube. So before reinstalling the struts I disassembled and cleaned the ratchet and lubed it with Permatex "red lube of love". The ratchet was noticeably smoother (if that's possible for a Facom ratchet) with the fresh lube. Upon reinstalling the strut nuts - damn if the ratchet didn't skip EVEN MORE. Fawk. With Facom's relative rarity in the US I didn't hold out much hope of getting a warranty. I've bought some Facom from Steve/UltGar, but I wasn't going to ask him to warranty something I didn't get from him. He's a one-man show and can't be expected to carry the water for Facom across the states.
Fast forward to this spring. I hear about Stanley's takeover of Facom and wonder to myself, "Self, with Stanley's presence in the US you should call them and see if they'll warranty the ratchet." I made a few calls and eventually ended up routed to Stanley Proto in Conyers, GA. I spoke to a very nice southern lady there who said, "Send it in!" So I did. Today I got a new Facom ratchet via UPS.
For those who care about this stuff, no COO markings on the package or wrench itself. I don't think there were any on the original ratchet either. That one would definitely have been France based on when I bought it.
Anyway, here's the timeline for replacement. And some pics of the delivery:
05/01: Called Stanley Proto and they told me to, "send it in!"
05/02: Sent it in! via USPS Small Priority FRB. It was tight, but it fit!
05/04: Delivered to Stanley Proto in Conyers, GA
05/18: I called Standley Proto for status of my return. The woman who took my call couldn't find my info (Uh, oh). And she suggested the ratchet may have to go back to France for exchange (double-Uh, oh). Then she put me on hold to talk to someone else. When she came back on the line she says, "We replaced it and it shipped today."
05/22: New ratchet arrived via UPS.
Sent it in, got a new one.
The long version:
In 2005 - 2006 I went shopping on-line for a set of stubby offset SK Superchrome box wrenches. I found a place in Las Vegas that had them. They also had a bunch of Facom stuff on close out. As I recall, the salesman told me since SK was no longer part of Facom, they were blowing out their Facom stuff. So I bought a few items including a J.153A flex head 3/8" drive ratchet.
It was probably a year before I even took it out of the wrapper. And I've probably used it less than half a dozen times in total since I've owned it. Last Fall I was changing out a couple broken springs on my car and used the Facom to access the strut nuts on top of the shock towers. These are small 13mm nuts and only have a few ft-lbs of torque. The ratchet started skipping. WTF?
I remembered some discussion on GarageJournal regarding skipping and reversing Facom ratchets. The issue is sometimes down to dried up lube. So before reinstalling the struts I disassembled and cleaned the ratchet and lubed it with Permatex "red lube of love". The ratchet was noticeably smoother (if that's possible for a Facom ratchet) with the fresh lube. Upon reinstalling the strut nuts - damn if the ratchet didn't skip EVEN MORE. Fawk. With Facom's relative rarity in the US I didn't hold out much hope of getting a warranty. I've bought some Facom from Steve/UltGar, but I wasn't going to ask him to warranty something I didn't get from him. He's a one-man show and can't be expected to carry the water for Facom across the states.
Fast forward to this spring. I hear about Stanley's takeover of Facom and wonder to myself, "Self, with Stanley's presence in the US you should call them and see if they'll warranty the ratchet." I made a few calls and eventually ended up routed to Stanley Proto in Conyers, GA. I spoke to a very nice southern lady there who said, "Send it in!" So I did. Today I got a new Facom ratchet via UPS.
For those who care about this stuff, no COO markings on the package or wrench itself. I don't think there were any on the original ratchet either. That one would definitely have been France based on when I bought it.
Anyway, here's the timeline for replacement. And some pics of the delivery:
05/01: Called Stanley Proto and they told me to, "send it in!"
05/02: Sent it in! via USPS Small Priority FRB. It was tight, but it fit!
05/04: Delivered to Stanley Proto in Conyers, GA
05/18: I called Standley Proto for status of my return. The woman who took my call couldn't find my info (Uh, oh). And she suggested the ratchet may have to go back to France for exchange (double-Uh, oh). Then she put me on hold to talk to someone else. When she came back on the line she says, "We replaced it and it shipped today."
05/22: New ratchet arrived via UPS.
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