Griot's Torque Wrenches - No More Free Calibration

Amphicar770 · Mar 9, 2011

As noted in other postings, Griot's Garage offers some decent torque wrenches made in the UK by Norbar.

One of the big selling points of the Griot torque wrenches has always been that you could send it in annually for a free calibration. Unfortunately, this is no longer the case as I just learned in an email reply from them on this topic.

They said,

Hi Mike,

Thank you so much for your email. Unfortunately we no longer have the equipment available or the option to test the calibrations on the Torque Wrenches. I apologize for any inconvenience that this may cause. Your wrench will continue to be covered for life under our Lifetime Warranty against defect.

If you have any additional questions, please feel free to reply to this email or call our Customer Service Department at (800) 345-5789 6:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m. PST Monday through Friday, 7:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Saturday.

Unfortunately, this has not resulted in any lower pricing on their torque wrenches, and their shipping costs remain inexcusably high. Makes them much less of a contender versus the Snap On torque wrenches and certainly lowers the value proposition considerably.

t100 · Mar 9, 2011

I guess they finally realized liability is a *****.

autobon7 · Mar 9, 2011

Is it me or does Griots offer lots less tools than they used to?

Toolhorder · Mar 9, 2011

Never heard of them

SoCal Garage · Mar 9, 2011

Griot's now ships all their products from their distribution warehouse in Plainfield, Indiana. Their Washington office is the headquarters and sales office. Essentially, they are following the Amazon model of distribution, and no service. This can be a big headache when you have an issue with their products, as I have found out, since there is a major disconnect between both offices; poor way to run a business. Having purchased goods from Griot's Garage for almost two decades, I buy less and less each year.

PT Doc · Mar 9, 2011

Griots goodies= overpriced stuff that is easily identified as relabelled product. But I guess there are purple paying top dollar for the stuff. Their polisher was rumored to be porter cable but at a much higher price.

SoCal Garage · Mar 9, 2011

PT Doc said:
Griots goodies= overpriced stuff that is easily identified as relabelled product. But I guess there are purple paying top dollar for the stuff. Their polisher was rumored to be porter cable but at a much higher price.

Most, if not all, is re-boxed goods. Their detailing polishes/waxes, etc. is theirs. Some of their re-box is at better pricing, but that is a minority of goods.

SpiderGearsMan · Mar 9, 2011

welcome to Garage Journal

Theloniousmonk · Mar 9, 2011

SoCal Garage said:
Most, if not all, is re-boxed goods. Their detailing polishes/waxes, etc. is theirs. Some of their re-box is at better pricing, but that is a minority of goods.

I always thought (heard) their detail chems were actually Malco products.

autobon7 · Mar 9, 2011

I bought some Facom tools from them 10-15 years ago when they were clearing them out at good prices. Recently looked them up on the net to find hardly any tools in their catalog, sad.

SoCal Garage · Mar 9, 2011

Theloniousmonk said:
I always thought (heard) their detail chems were actually Malco products.

Nowadays, that could very well be true.

SoCal Garage · Mar 9, 2011

autobon7 said:
I bought some Facom tools from them 10-15 years ago when they were clearing them out at good prices. Recently looked them up on the net to find hardly any tools in their catalog, sad.

I should have bought the Facom Ferrari tool setup they were washing out a little more than a decade ago.

jjjrmx5 · Mar 9, 2011

autobon7 said:
Is it me or does Griots offer lots less tools than they used to?

Yep.

Like the rest of you I bought a ton of Facom tools thru them many years ago when they had pages and pages of them. Then they switched over to selling Beta tools (then was the official supplier to Scuderia Ferrari) but far less of them.

Now it's hit or miss with the old usuals and the odd good or neato tool thrown in.

I think the money for them is in cleaners, fluids and concourse type goods.

glenmore · Mar 9, 2011

I just got my torque wrench back from Snap-On. Took about 1 1/2 weeks. If it was a simple calibration it would have been 30ish (for this model QD2FR75) other models can be more. Mine needed a new pivot so it was $60. If it needs any repair or parts, and then calibration then it is $60 max which seems like a good deal.

Moose-LandTran · Mar 9, 2011

I have a number of Norbar torque wrenches, they're really good..

Amphicar770 · Mar 9, 2011

Moose-LandTran said:
I have a number of Norbar torque wrenches, they're really good..

I agree, the Norbar (or Griott branded Norbars) are excellent. It is just a shame that Griott did away with one of the main incentives for buying from them. The service is often just as important as the product itself.

Vinko · Mar 10, 2011

Thank you so much for your email. Unfortunately we no longer have the equipment available or the option to test the calibrations on the Torque Wrenches. I apologize for any inconvenience that this may cause. Your wrench will continue to be covered for life under our Lifetime Warranty against defect.

So what did they do with their equipment? When did they do away with this service?

The testing and calibration equipment isn't expensive to have or to maintain. I have the whole set up for our Sturtevant torque wrenches.

Amphicar770 · Mar 10, 2011

Vinko said:
So what did they do with their equipment? When did they do away with this service?

The testing and calibration equipment isn't expensive to have or to maintain. I have the whole set up for our Sturtevant torque wrenches.

I have no idea. It did not make a lot of sense to me either. Heck, some of the SnapOn Trucks have the calibration equipment on board. Someone in accounting probably decided it would save them $500 a year.

jjjrmx5 · Mar 14, 2011

SoCal Garage said:
I should have bought the Facom Ferrari tool setup they were washing out a little more than a decade ago.

LOL

> I just came across a 1995 Griots catalog while cleaning yesterday. 19 pages of Facom and USAG tools.

I remember when this Ferrari USAG roller was sold at 75% off when they were doing away with most of the tools.
Sad indeed.

autobon7 · Mar 14, 2011

jjjrmx5 said:
LOL > I just came across a 1995 Griots catalog while cleaning yesterday. 19 pages of Facom and USAG tools.

I remember when this Ferrari USAG roller was sold at 75% off when they were doing away with most of the tools.
Sad indeed.

I remember this box from their catalog, WOW, still think its fantastic all these years later.

Griot's Torque Wrenches - No More Free Calibration

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Member

Well-known member

Member

Banned

Well-known member

Well-known member

Member

Member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member