Cheap lifetime warranty tools

[lincolnjoe]

I've used most companies hand tools and I broke in every tool from every company except 1, proto tools. I found a complete deep impact six sided set at a garage sale years ago and they never failed me. It started being mainly used in heavy steel mills and other industrial applications. Especially tools you need only four or five times your whole career but you have to pay a buttload of money for them, it's worth it because when you do have to use them and they work it saves your ****. The big 3 (snap-on, Mac and matco used to cell and warranty six-point combo wrenches. If you come in with a six-point broken wrench they will try to give you a 12-point combination wrench. They haven't made any for a long time

 

[PugetDude]

That used to be the case with Craftsman, but no longer.
3500 Sears stores at one time, now down to 12.
Lifetime warranty is for all intents and purposes, now worthless.
If you're lucky and catch someone in the right mood, Lowes MIGHT exchange your broken Made in USA ratchet for a cheap POS Chineseium
raised panel gravel shaker.

 

[M635_Guy]

That used to be the case with Craftsman, but no longer.
3500 Sears stores at one time, now down to 12.
Lifetime warranty is for all intents and purposes, now worthless.
If you're lucky and catch someone in the right mood, Lowes MIGHT exchange your broken Made in USA ratchet for a cheap POS Chineseium
raised panel gravel shaker.

It's not lucky @ HF... (at least from what I've heard).

I do not understand people who seem to think breaking their tools is normal.

 

[Fedwrench]

I've always said that a lifetime warranty gives you a lifetime of failed tools.

Take Craftsman Torx bit sockets for example. I think they would shatter if I just looked at them the wrong way. Yes, back in the day, I could bebop into sears on the way home and swap it out if they had it in stock. Using the craftsman bit required me to accept risk, which meant I'd pick the ones I broke most at flea markets for pennies on the piece to have a few extra to hold me over until I next visited Sears. This was a long time ago when the bit sockets were made in the USA.

I've had the same issue with truck brand tools. Sometimes it might take awhile to get something replaced if my driver didn't have it in stock. lately, more things seem to be out of stock.

 

[2ndGearRubber]

I've always said that a lifetime warranty gives you a lifetime of failed tools.

Take Craftsman Torx bit sockets for example. I think they would shatter if I just looked at them the wrong way. Yes, back in the day, I could bebop into sears on the way home and swap it out if they had it in stock. Using the craftsman bit required me to accept risk, which meant I'd pick the ones I broke most at flea markets for pennies on the piece to have a few extra to hold me over until I next visited Sears. This was a long time ago when the bit sockets were made in the USA.

I've had the same issue with truck brand tools. Sometimes it might take awhile to get something replaced if my driver didn't have it in stock. lately, more things seem to be out of stock.

Yup - my goal is to never use a warranty. That means my tool failed to do the job. As you said, that's why one has duplicates.

 

[zendriver]

Paying a **** load of money for a tool that you use four times and it doesn’t break is a win.

I’ll never understand why so many tools are broken.

I still use the same cheap *** thorsen wrenches from 50 years ago. Chrome is all chipped off he is but they still work.

 

[Wamsutta]

If you come in with a six-point broken wrench they will try to give you a 12-point combination wrench. They haven't made any for a long time

They're still making 6-point in standard length metric combination wrenches from 7mm-19mm.

 

[yellowbox]

Paying a **** load of money for a tool that you use four times and it doesn’t break is a win.

I’ll never understand why so many tools are broken.

I still use the same cheap *** thorsen wrenches from 50 years ago. Chrome is all chipped off he is but they still work.

lol, i bought a whole set of thorsen tools back in the early 80s .
still have a few wrenches left over , dont know when they quit making tools thou

 

[slowtwitch73]

HF is the new Sears as far as walk in hassle free warranty.

As has been discussed before, there is some discrepancy as to if you need to bring in just the broken wrench or the whole set (I have been told whole set a few times).

 

[JeepYJ]

HF is the new Sears as far as walk in hassle free warranty.

As has been discussed before, there is some discrepancy as to if you need to bring in just the broken wrench or the whole set (I have been told whole set a few times).

Just go and pick up a new set, pay for it and put your broken wrench in the set and return it. Keep the good wrench and go home. Not hassle free but close enough.

 

[Dakotadadv8]

Craftsman warranty is still good. Replaced a 1/2 drive ratchet bought from Lowes but head was coming loose. Lowes did not have the same cheap model, went to Craftsman directly and they gave me the V series 1/2 drive ratchet, nice upgrade. I warranty ratchets twice in 27 years as a DIYer.

 

[Rinspeed]

I’ll never understand why so many tools are broken.

As I always say, people who are breaking quality tools are simply using the wrong size. Mostly for sockets and ratchets though, much easier to break bit tools such as Torx or Allen in my experience.

 

[JeepYJ]

As I always say, people who are breaking quality tools are simply using the wrong size. Mostly for sockets and ratchets though, much easier to break bit tools such as Torx or Allen in my experience.

A T30 is going to be the same size no matter the drive size. Those of us with old Jeeps know the pain of Torx fasteners. They all break. Usually a welder and a nut is the easiest solution.

 

[f121]

I've always said that a lifetime warranty gives you a lifetime of failed tools.

I generally buy cheap lifetime warranty tools out of (possibly incorrect) belief that if the Manufacturer puts a lifetime warranty on a $100 socket set or $25 ratchet, there’s a reasonable chance it’s strong enough that I won’t break it.

I've had the same issue with truck brand tools. Sometimes it might take awhile to get something replaced if my driver didn't have it in stock. lately, more things seem to be out of stock.

With the general flakiness of my snap on guy and the ridiculous back order waits for tools, I’m seriously considering just buying stuff off Amazon and next daying a replacement if it breaks.

 

[PelicanPines]

What is the point of having a tool warranty... really? You will buy a brand because of a warranty? Is it because you don't know how to use the tools properly so you PLAN to break it if you can instead of using the CORRECT tool CORRECTLY to get the job done. I know for a fact most Snap On ratchet users don't care about breaking their tools because they can just get a new one when the driver shows up.

Instead they should break out a breaker bar or move up to the correct drive size.

 

[seber]

I pickup broken Craftsman ratchets at almost every sale. Lowes is really good about replacing them with fine tooth made in China rats. They seem to be just fine. In fact, I much prefer the smooth handle. Raised panels always hurt my hands when they were pushed hard.

 

[dnschmidt]

Is there a point to your question? Actually I didn't even see a question in your original post. As others have said cheap warrantied tools is now the providence of Harbor Freight.

 

[slowtwitch73]

The broken tool phenom is a ***** thing. You see it in others areas.. bikes, 4x4's whatever. Guys like to beat their chest about how much broken stuff they have. Asinine.

 

[speed bump]

We break a reasonable amount of tools at work because people and there isn't a perfect tool for every job especially when the equipment gets big. Warranties are generally only as good as the effort you are willing to put into them though.

For a significant amount of applications 2-3 okay tools beats one good tool. When I plan a major job I generally order a couple of every common fastener socket size because at $100/hr+ per tradesman $300 in sockets pays off pretty quick versus 4 guys standing around while another looks for a socket that's gone because it gets used all the time.

 

[CoogarXR]

I don't think I've broken a quality tool while using it correctly.

When I was first starting to wrench in the 80s, I had some cheap k-mart/odd-lots sockets that split and ratchets that barfed their guts when I put cheater pipes on them, but again, not really "quality" tools were talkin' about here. But still, that was incorrect drive size, incorrect ratchet/breaker, all of it.

I exchanged plenty of craftsman screwdrivers and nut drivers that I wore the tips out. But that's not really breaking it, that's just wearing it out.

But yeah, my main Craftsman socket set is the same one I bought in the early 90s. I have added to it (to fill gaps the original set had), but it's still the same, and still works great. I think I only ever warrantied one socket, and that was from abusing it (pounding it over a wheel lock that had no key).