Craftsman Tool Exchange Issues, Anybody else?

[ssdave]

^^^NO!! SBD now owns CM and since they've chosen to grandfather in the lifetime warranty, then it's incumbent on SBD to get all the CM "stocking retailers" to get in line with what's written in the official warranty terms. (the terms are very clear and unambiguous)

"Goodness of their heart" or "entitlement society" has absolutely nothing to do with it. It should be contractual between SBD and their stocking retailers. It sounds to me like SBD negotiated all this with the retailer's corp. offices (Lowes, ACE, etc) but the actual implementation has never trickled down to the actual stores.

The CM warranty process outside of Sears sounds like a cluster **** and SBD has a lot of work to do!!

What it SHOULD BE and what it is can be entirely different things. Many people would like Stanley to go back to the "good old days of free wheeling Sears warranty". How Stanley applies this is entirely discretionary, unless and until some case law is built up that supports a policy, or it is established that Stanley took on Sears warranty liabilities with purchase of the brand name.

Sears warranty terms are very clear and unambiguous. Whether the sale of a brand name to Stanley transfers the liability for a bankrupt Sears obligations onto them remains to be established, either voluntarily by Stanley or by court decision.

It is entirely an opinion that Stanley SHOULD do (fill in the blank with your opinion) about the warranty. What they choose to do, or will be required to do by law or agreement may vary a lot from what an individual opinion thinks they should do.

 

[Gvos]

I agree their warranty can be hit or miss. Not trying to play up the "drama" with my previous post. My father and I spent a great deal of time working on stuff together and both really enjoyed the time spent together. Just wanted to relay the good customer service at that particular store.

 

[ssdave]

Craftsman was sold to Black and Decker.

SPRINGFIELD -- Craftsman, the venerable tool brand Sears sold Thursday to former competitor Stanley Black & Decker, is famous for its lifetime warranty on hand tools.

The handle breaks on a screwdriver you bought when Nixon was in the White House? Take it back and get it repaired or replaced. That's the guarantee.

But will that famous guarantee remain now that Sears has been sold?

Stanley Black & Decker spokesman Tim Perra answered yes, but with some qualifiers, Thursday afternoon:

"Today, Craftsman's warranties vary by business and product lines, and in some cases are very similar to Stanley Black & Decker's existing lifetime guarantee policies on certain product lines. It is too early to speculate on the specifics, but we would expect that to continue and we are always committed to doing the right thing to support the brand and our end-users."

Details of the Craftsman warranty policy is available here. The lifetime warranty only applies to hand tools and not to things that are meant to wear out, like saw blades.

The troubled Sears Holdings sold the Craftsman line Thursday to Connecticut-based Stanley Black & Decker for $775 million. Under the agreement, the tools will still be sold at Sears and Kmart locations. They were already also available at Ace Hardware stores.

[https://image]

Sears sells Craftsman brand to Stanley

Stanley Black & Decker already purchased the the Irwin and Lenox brands from former owners Newell Brands for $1.95 billion in cash.

That sale, which is not yet final, included the 500,000-square-foot Lenox American Saw factory in East Longmeadow, with its 640 employees. A total of 900 people manufacture and market Lenox saw blades and tools in more than 70 countries.

On Thursday, Stanley said it plans to increase U.S. manufacturing to support the Craftsman brand, which is now mostly made overseas.

Stanley Black & Decker spokeswoman Shannon LaPierre said that manufacturing expansion will include at least one new factory plus the utilization of factories that already exist. But she said it is too soon to tell exactly where the work will go and what the impact will be on the East Longmeadow plant.

Danaher Inc. used to manufacture some Craftsman ratchets and wrenches in Springfield. Danaher closed its plant here in 2005.



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What has never been clear to me in their press releases is whether they will fully take on past liabilities for tools sold by Sears and Kmart and ACE, or consider a similar warranty on the future manufactured tools under the Craftsman name.

It looks like they are leaving it open for now, and judging what to do.

Based on past experiences with transferred brand names, there are several scenarios that could play out. They could honor past guarantees for a period of time, or until a dollar threshold is reached. They could honor all past policies, as traditionally done by the original owner, and extend that same warranty to their new tools. They could do a limited guarantee, or more difficult redemption on past owners tools. They could apply an entirely new policy only to their tools and entirely abandon prior manufactured tools. They may make you mail them in like they have done with Proto.

Only time will see what will evolve, we're in the try and see it phase now.

 

[thwaller]

What has never been clear to me in their press releases is whether they will fully take on past liabilities for tools sold by Sears and Kmart and ACE, or consider a similar warranty on the future manufactured tools under the Craftsman name.

It looks like they are leaving it open for now, and judging what to do.

Based on past experiences with transferred brand names, there are several scenarios that could play out. They could honor past guarantees for a period of time, or until a dollar threshold is reached. They could honor all past policies, as traditionally done by the original owner, and extend that same warranty to their new tools. They could do a limited guarantee, or more difficult redemption on past owners tools. They could apply an entirely new policy only to their tools and entirely abandon prior manufactured tools. They may make you mail them in like they have done with Proto.

Only time will see what will evolve, we're in the try and see it phase now.

What was explained to me by SB&D customer service is that while Sears is still operating, Sears purchased Craftsman warranty support should be directed to Sears. If the issue is not resolved, or Sears is no longer there and able to provide such service, then the SB&D side will make it right and honor all existing warranties from the brand.

What that exactly means, I am not sure. Saying you will make it right does not explain what they will or will not do. But it appears that the warranty in some similar form will continue. As you stated, we will see.

 

[jdlong]

Holy ****. I would have just gotten him a SnapOn dual drive 80 off ebay.

 

[zktk01]

You probably could have just cleaned and lubed it and got it working again.

 

[thesilverone]

You probably could have just cleaned and lubed it and got it working again.

like I said in post 19, buts lets not get in the way of the soap opera warranty drama

 

[DFB]

My buddy that owns his own motorcycle shop JUST went thru this same thing last week. Snapped the drive end on a 1/2" breaker bar. Old school he is, well even probably old enough to be ur grandfather...or least someones lol!

Local Sears is gone, no Loews, No Ace, screw it he says so ordered a new set of 3 off Amazon, Oh boy he says all 3 sizes for just $25 That was the deal. Got them almost immediately like 2 days time Wasn't impressed with new China sourced, finish was horrible he wasn't very happy.

In the meantime read on the board here about a 2 FT proto breaker bar USA under $40 gave him the link

I have like 8 Craftsman ratchets most I don't use anymore some Facom knockoffs and HF composites are my go to's now

A Craftsman RHR would be about the only one I will ever consider duplicating if it broke and no longer have the warranty service

 

[thwaller]

@DFB- What I have found, having acquired a few of the Chinese models now, is that the most common failure is on arrival. I have a few sets I got where the contents contains faulty / defective items. But the ones that were good are good and work without issue. Not sure if that will help anyone, but there appears to be a major QC issue.

I can say that in general I am ok with the Chinese variants assuming they arrive in working order and do not fail on first use. But I am not ok with the roll of the dice, especially since the warranty is difficult now. Meaning that normally, it breaks I just get a new one ... easy ... but that is no longer the case.

 

[Wanna Ride]

Well, by theory of both of you, your complaining about someone else’s experience, is a whiney waste of even more time.

See, your mouse (or touchscreen) both have “scroll right on by” capabilities, where you don’t have to run off at the pie-hole. Just like sitting through a movie you don’t like... you can exercise your right to get up and quietly walk out instead of succumbing to your uncontrollable urge to berate someone else’s post. After all... it’s a garage/tool page, and he’s discussing garage and tool stuff.

Bye, Felicia.

I guess I am failing to see why one would write a biography on a 40+ Year OLD ratchet.

It seems like everything today is a HUGE DRAMATIC event where someone tells a sob story of I was told this, then to my shock it was this, then this happened my entire life is destroyed...

I guess people need to learn how to deal with problems and/or learn life is not a 'Instant Gratification' as a search engine search.

I'm with you on that. I stripped out a 7/16" Craftsman -V- socket last week. Threw it in the trash and went on with life. My time is worth something to me. I'd not go all over town trying to warranty a $5 ratchet. Much less a $1 socket.

Of course, for the OP, it was something he had to do for his Grandfather. He didn't spend all day trying to warranty a ratchet, he spent the time doing something for an elderly grandparent that was important to them.

The obsession with warrantying stuff and the amount of time and emotional energy people will put into it on this board is impressive. Most of the stuff I'd throw in the trash and go onwards. Even with my better tools, I throw them in a bin, and when I get several accumulated (takes a couple of years, at least) then I warranty them all at once to make it worthwhile.

 

[WittHay]

^^^NO!! SBD now owns CM and since they've chosen to grandfather in the lifetime warranty, then it's incumbent on SBD to get all the CM "stocking retailers" to get in line with what's written in the official warranty terms. (the terms are very clear and unambiguous)

"Goodness of their heart" or "entitlement society" has absolutely nothing to do with it. It should be contractual between SBD and their stocking retailers. It sounds to me like SBD negotiated all this with the retailer's corp. offices (Lowes, ACE, etc) but the actual implementation has never trickled down to the actual stores.

The CM warranty process outside of Sears sounds like a cluster **** and SBD has a lot of work to do!!

The only thing SBD has to do is make and sell Craftsman tools. Individual Lowes and Ace stores are under no legal obligation to carry open stock tools for warranty purposes. If Lowes, Ace, or eventually Amazon only want to carry mechanics sets or part of the new Craftsman line thats their business choice. How do you force stores to carry every new Craftsman tool made or a equivalent Stanley brand so they can warranty 40 and 50 year old Craftsman stuff?

The Craftsman at Ace is most likely bought from Sears and not SBD yet. Of course if your particular Lowes store has new ratchets on display, yes they should warranty an old Craftsman ratchet without a receipt.

My opinion is a lot of stores might not carry open stock because of so much old Craftsman out there. Checked on the Lowes website, they have 3 styles of Craftsman 1/2 ratchets sold online but none are available for pickup at the Bellingham, WA location. Smart way for Lowes to avoid warranty problems

 

[WittHay]

They are NOT following thru if they haven't notified their "stocking retail partners" to cover the CM lifetime warranty w/o a receipt.

I dont get the criticism for SBD. Rona is never going to be a full stocking distributor in Canada, Up here Proto, DeWalt and Stanley Fatmax all come from the same warehouse in Ontario.

Whats wrong if somebody takes there old Craftsman tool to a local DeWalt factory service centre and gets a Proto replacement?

Beats crossing the border and driving a 100 miles to find the nearest Sears store that might not have the tool in stock. Craftsman tools sold in Canada were different than the US version anyways

 

[hx214]

like I said in post 19, buts lets not get in the way of the soap opera warranty drama

Ratchet was taken apart for cleaning by my grandfather years ago. Internal gear was cracked and broken.

Guess I should have posted that in my original post so I'd be allowed to share my tool warranty exchange story with other people, who own similar tools, and have similar stores in their town, while on the garage journal site, in the tool section of a forum that was created to talk about tools.

I'll be sure to send you a private message with my all my future comments for approval before I post so we don't waste server space.

Holy ****. I would have just gotten him a SnapOn dual drive 80 off ebay.

Man, what a great idea!

Spend money for a tool that he already owns that has a lifetime warranty.

 

[xin]

Ratchet was taken apart for cleaning by my grandfather years ago. Internal gear was cracked and broken.

Guess I should have posted that in my original post so I'd be allowed to share my tool warranty exchange story with other people, who own similar tools, and have similar stores in their town, while on the garage journal site, in the tool section of a forum that was created to talk about tools.

I'll be sure to send you a private message with my all my future comments for approval before I post so we don't waste server space.



Man, what a great idea!

Spend money for a tool that he already owns that has a lifetime warranty.

The company was bought out and they have not even got the retail outlets geared up.



Possibly try contacting like 'Craftsman' directly? There have been numerous tool companies go out of business and bought/sold. Sometimes you have to buy a New Ratchet and move on.

 

[hx214]

I guess I am failing to see why one would write a biography on a 40+ Year OLD ratchet.

It seems like everything today is a HUGE DRAMATIC event where someone tells a sob story of I was told this, then to my shock it was this, then this happened my entire life is destroyed...

I guess people need to learn how to deal with problems and/or learn life is not a 'Instant Gratification' as a search engine search.

I'll be sure to send you a private message with my all my future comments for approval before I post so you don't have to volunteer to click on every thread that's posted, read through the BIOGRAPHY that's a whole half of a page.... and decide whether or not it's allowed to be on internet.

 

[doublearon98]

I'll be sure to send you a private message with my all my future comments for approval before I post so you don't have to volunteer to click on every thread that's posted, read through the BIOGRAPHY that's a whole half of a page.... and decide whether or not it's allowed to be on internet.

[emoji1787]

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[Ryan]

Guys... you are arguing over a ratchet. Think about that for a moment. How does that make either side look?