Food for thought........

[FLRover]

Let me first say I have nothing against Craftsman tools, I learned to wrench with them and my first tools were Craftsman. I believe the older Craftsman tools are almost on par with truck tools in some areas. i don't want this to turn into a who is better war.

Back to the original subject, if anyone is familiar with this company http://www.colibri.com/en-us/home, then you probably understand how when they went to bankruptcy they used it as a way to dump all their existing lifetime warranty obligations to consumers. Screwing a lot of people over since their products are **** in the first place.

What makes all the Craftsman buyers of today believe Sears wouldn't do the same thing when Eddie Lampert gets done draining the life out of Sears Holding and sending it into bankruptcy??? We all know its in the future, no one wants to see it happen and people loose their jobs but their survibility is pretty bleak. It almost 100% they will shed all warranty obligations in court and leave us the consumers high and dry. Its just not worth the risk imho to buy their tools right now.

Your thoughts???

 

[chadster1]

My opinion is that the Craftsman brand name is too valuable to do that. They will continue to honor the warranty to maintain the brand so that they can continue to sell tools under that brand name wherever they decide to manufacture them.

 

[FLRover]

My opinion is that the Craftsman brand name is too valuable to do that. They will continue to honor the warranty to maintain the brand so that they can continue to sell tools under that brand name wherever they decide to manufacture them.

I see the brand being sold off if its a total resolve of Sears Holding but outside of this forum most of the consuming public is clueless and will still buy Craftsman even if the old warranties go void off brand name alone.

 

[woody 73]

I look at from a different set of eyes: For example today I was in the tool dept at lowes and the nice young man told me if the tool should break just bring it back for a replacement (Kobalt knife, the blade is not covered). Well I am old enough to have seen other big box stores go under along with their warranties; so going back to the op's post as long as the store remains open it will be business as usual.

If and when the time ever comes that sears or any other store goes under then you must move on to the next tool company.

 

[warmpancakes]

snap on could do the same thing tomorrow, any company could do it

 

[BrokewrenchLS1]

My opinion is that the Craftsman brand name is too valuable to do that. They will continue to honor the warranty to maintain the brand so that they can continue to sell tools under that brand name wherever they decide to manufacture them.

Brand names aren't worth as much now as they used to be. There's less consumer loyalty to any specific brand than there is consumer loyalty to the company that can produce goods the cheapest, especially once you get out of niche markets.

Sad as it is, the group of people who want durable, well-built tools in a minority in the US. Most mechanics won't touch Craftsman, and the DIY crowd doesn't give a damn where a tool is made, as long as it's in stock when they need it and lasts for the one job the need it for. If selling the Craftsman name to a Chinese company would net a good profit, I don't see Sears holding on to it. What's amazing is that Sears is even still in business and hasn't sold Craftsman yet.

 

[NC-Fordguy]

I don't see Sears going under.

Reason is because of Lampert. He will spend his last dime to keep the company afloat and he has plenty of dimes.

Why do you ask? Should Sears fail, he's done attracting investors into any further ventures. Given his claims of wanting to be the Apple of tools and appliances any failure will cost him credibility. Filthy rich folks are a unique breed. It's not a job so to speak for them, it's a desire to be right. It's the my way mentality and I know what I'm doing.

Sears has a long way to go, but the severe bleeding has stopped. An improved economy and housing market will definately turn the tide. Right now it's the appliance and home electronics dragging the bottom line down. Fashions and hardware(tools) have shown continued growth.

 

[RCStocker]

I know I am not all that impressed with some of the new tools form Sears. Some are very good. I like all my old Craftsman tools.

Sears plays to may games with thier advertising. They are now carry many brands of tools but the price is so high even the ignorant must laugh.

Sears has a great parts center for parts on everthing but check out every other site on the web and you will find all their parts are more expensive than the rest.

Everthing is always going on sale. That does not draw people in. Just have a good product at a fair price and the people will come. Craftsman tools have explded in price the past 4 years. You can buy many good tools elsewhere for less.

Sears has gone with a cheaper tractor manifacture and the frames are not holding up. It is across the board. I was in the store the other day with the wife and they only had $3000 refrigrators on display that you could see. I looked for a good Whirlpool which is the house brand and they had 2 and they were over priced. They had the floor stocked with high end merchandice. Little to choose form in the middle or low end.

Sears cloths are ugly as hell. I don't know who picks out thier styles. They doo carry some good tings but you can sit home and order the same thing for at least 30% less and never leave home.

I don't think the Craftsman brand will go out even if Sears does.
I am an architect and general contractor. They will hire anyone with a lisense to do thier bidding and work on home improvments. That is a disaster form what I have seen.

The world market has really changed. For just closed 3 plants in Europe because thier econemy is so bad. In the early 80's our was bad and the European market is the only thing that kept Ford going. It is a global market and where the item is made is less and less important. The quality is but not where it is made.

Sears has a new grip all in one wrench. The working jaw looks like a socket and has sliding fingers that grip. One size fits all. The only problem is there is never room to use a tool like that. Sears has has a lot of one horse show thorugh the years.

I would not recomend anyone buy Craftsman anymore because their comercial lines is priced with other good brands.

I know I don't want to turn in an old tool for one of the new ones. Eerywhere I go the Craftsman tools have been picked up. The swap meets and thrift stores just don't have them like they did several years ago. Someone is buying the old ones.

Craftsman for the home owner is still a good deal when they have a supper sale on a 300 piece set. It is hard to beat even if the quality is not as good as it once was. I can see why the professionals don't sue them but I made a good living with them through the years.