Craftsman warranty - tape measure

I have a Craftsman tape measure that has seen better days. Does anyone know if it is covered by their lifetime warranty? Thanks Jack

What color is it?

myers likely asked about the color since the newer black and red tape measures are only warrntied if the case breaks. The tape measure blade itself is not covered. Of course, this might vary depending on which store you go to and who you speak with.

Thanks guys, it is black and red with a yellow tape.

Yeah, worst they can say is no. Give it a shot.

If you read the back of the package on the tape it states the "tape" itself isn't covered; the body itself is; e.g. tape won't retract etc. They sell replacement tapes for around $2-$6 depending on the length; if you really use your tapes in a hard working environment, do yourself a favor and get a FatMax or something more durable. I consider these to be light to medium duty tapes and don't handle allot of abuse well, IMHO! As long as the tape has broken and sucked in (lost spring tension); they are really easy to replace the tape. Just pull it out all the way to the end; lock the last part, remove the old one (instructions on back of new tape) and unlock the tape; then slowly let the tape back in the body, let the tension catch up to itself and your good to go! The days of the black/yellow tape full warranty are gone; you could throw it off a cliff, run it over with a Mac truck and Sears would give you a new one; not any more, frankly I think they should just stop selling tapes under the Craftsman name because they are not offering a "full" warranty but just a "limited" lifetime warranty. This happened in the post Kmart buyout, reducing costs, lowering long standing return policies etc.



Craftsman 30 ft. Replacement Tape Blade
Sears item# 00939520000 Mfr. model# 39520 You Pay: $5.99
http://www.sears.com/shc/s/search_1...+tape&gobutton.x=0&gobutton.y=0&gobutton=find

I would think so but here is a trick I onced used and a little story to go with it. Many years ago when I was just starting out I had all and only Craftsman tools. On a certain day I happened to have most in a large tools chest in the back of an old off-road truck. On that particular day some bad things happened and to make a long story short...the truck caught on fire. The chest and tools inside burned yet were still recognizible. I made a call to my local Sears and got connected to the tool department. It turned out that I was talking to a new employee (a young kid to boot). I explained what happened to him, told him the truth. He was very nice and told me "No problem, Craftsman tools carry a lifetime guarantee no matter what." Kick *** I thought...(I remembered the kids name too)

I showed up at the Sears I called no more than an hour later with the burned chest full of blackened tools. The first fella I talked to was not the one I talked to on the phone. He said NO WAY!!! I told him how I had just called and the name of the kid I talked to and how he told me to just bring them in and we'll fix ya right up. He paged the kid. The kid came to the check out and told the other guy "Yes, I told him he could exchange everything."

The man was very pissed and rounded up 3 other employees. They dumped the entire contents of my chest onto the counter and ran around rounding up every ratchet, socket, screwdriver, and every other tool that had craftsman still recognizable on it. It took them maybe 1/2 an hour. The exchange receipt rang up over $800. I wondered if the kid got fired over that one.

They didn't exchange the chest itself though. That was a long time ago. Looking back I don't quite feel right about it but, it happened and it made me very happy at the time. I know better now and guess I would just eat the loss. If your tape measure is exchanged perhaps depends on how you present it to them or who you present it to.

You could always break the case and then return it couldn't you. You could say it is a little dishonest but broken is broken.

For what it's worth, I keep getting told that the policy changed since people started intentionally breaking the tapes just to trade for new tape measures.