I'm done with SK

[jteck75]

I've bought probably $800 +/- of SK this month,so needless to say,the poor warranty service claims have gotten my attention. Most of what I have is sockets,I got a great deal on a set of 3/4"dr. deep impact sockets,and some 1/2" dr impact stuff as well. I don't have any of their ratchets,I've used them and they never have appealed to me at all. There isn't an SK truck anywhere in my area that I'm aware of. The nearest SK dealer is a small industrial supply about 1hr away. Hopefully I won't have any warranty issues any time soon,I'll be quick to abandon SK if I do though.

 

[Hiball]

I've bought probably $800 +/- of SK this month,so needless to say,the poor warranty service claims have gotten my attention. Most of what I have is sockets,I got a great deal on a set of 3/4"dr. deep impact sockets,and some 1/2" dr impact stuff as well. I don't have any of their ratchets,I've used them and they never have appealed to me at all. There isn't an SK truck anywhere in my area that I'm aware of. The nearest SK dealer is a small industrial supply about 1hr away. Hopefully I won't have any warranty issues any time soon,I'll be quick to abandon SK if I do though.

I havent heard many problems with the functionality of there tools or how they hold up, Most of the complaints (here) have been on there finish.

 

[JohnFreeman]

If they treat their customers that poorly they deserve to be out of business.

 

[quneur]

Its probably competition which forced them to re-negociate. With their offers being so drastic, it usually means they are on the brink for filing for bankruptcy.

I have heard horror stories on both sides concerning unions. Boeing machinist who are on the higher wage scale (~$27/hour) yet went on strike. Now, they are upset that Boeing is going to S Carolina. Another horror story. A co-worker of mine went to pick up a delivery and didn't come back. He spent the day with a friend getting drunk at a bar. Next day, same story. We were in an union so the supervisor decided to let it pass instead of going to the hassle of firing him.

On the other hand, our client, McDonald's was building a store and the contractor was using non-union workers. Workmanship was horrible. 2" mortar infill between brick veneer; the entire playground wall had to be torn down because they forgot the rebar.

 

[stricht8]

If they treat their customers that poorly they deserve to be out of business.

Indeed they do but so did GM and Chrysler. The govt bailed them out. If we care at all about a quality US tool manufacturer with so much history and if we care about keeping tool production domestic then maybe we have to stand by their side a little to keep them in business. The govt won't bail them out but we can by supporting them. Seriously, how much are we losing by buying a ratchet or wrench and not having it warranteed for awhile? It's not like were buying a car or something.

 

[gatewaysysop]

Seriously, how much are we losing by buying a ratchet or wrench and not having it warranteed for awhile? It's not like were buying a car or something.

I see your point, but think of it this way -who is going to buy a tool brand with, at this point, well known quality control problems, knowing that they probably can't get it warrantied if they get a bad one? You can have one or the other, but both is a very bad combination.

If the quality was top notch and there were no rampant QC issues with wrenches, sockets and now ratchets, I'd be in agreement with you. Since they can't seem to put out decent product, however, they aren't getting anymore of my $$$. Only thing worse than getting a bad bad tool out of the box is not being able to warranty it.

 

[stricht8]

I see your point, but think of it this way -who is going to buy a tool brand with, at this point, well known quality control problems, knowing that they probably can't get it warrantied if they get a bad one? You can have one or the other, but both is a very bad combination.

If the quality was top notch and there were no rampant QC issues with wrenches, sockets and now ratchets, I'd be in agreement with you. Since they can't seem to put out decent product, however, they aren't getting anymore of my $$$. Only thing worse than getting a bad bad tool out of the box is not being able to warranty it.

Is their quality control really that bad? If you physically see the tool that you are buying then that at least helps.

 

[sk farmer]

I see your point, but think of it this way -who is going to buy a tool brand with, at this point, well known quality control problems, knowing that they probably can't get it warrantied if they get a bad one? You can have one or the other, but both is a very bad combination.

If the quality was top notch and there were no rampant QC issues with wrenches, sockets and now ratchets, I'd be in agreement with you. Since they can't seem to put out decent product, however, they aren't getting anymore of my $$$. Only thing worse than getting a bad bad tool out of the box is not being able to warranty it.

i will not argue with you on anything except that millions of people out there own and use sk tools. have for years and will keep on. other than those of us on some of these tool sights and in the loop know of some of these issues, and face it most issues are cosmetic and not functional. alot of us are **** about looks with function secondary. even if sk went out of business i beleive there is tons of new stock and rebuild kits out there. i know of several old hardware stores with rebuild kits on the shelf. the problem is that distibutors and sellers could not get stuff from sk. not that it does not exist. if i see any deals on sk i will still take them as i know from past experiance my failure rate has been way less than 1% so warranty does not bother me.

 

[Cumminst100]

Sears has this SK flexhead, I think 1/4'', ratchet on there racks. Does Sears warranty this item? I've been eyeing this tool.

I dont know about the warranty but i have this ratchet and use it all
the time. I have not had any problems with it. I usually keep it in my piece
of **** cub cadets tool box so it gets lots of use

 

[rhandwor]

I frequently buy their sockets as I haven't broken any. Their warranty never was as good.
This is probably how they keep down the price. I really think warranty abuse is the reason for high tool cost.

 

[Skyline]

The main reason SK is having problems is their own stupidity. They have undermined their legitimate dealer network to the point that no one wants to sell their products anymore. They have a nice web store that no one will buy anything but a missing piece from.

All you need to do to confirm the above statement is to do an eBay search for S-K. You will find a variety of sellers hawking new S-K sets for deep discounts off of list price. Typically these discounts are so big that only a huge buyer will get this pricing. So an independent truck dealer or independent autoparts store is generally competing against folks selling identical product for less than they can even buy wholesale. (You can buy new S-K sets for roughly 30-40% off list on eBay). That's the fastest way to get dealers to drop your lines. And their own web store is all at list price plus rather high shipping cost; so they are undermining themselves as well. The service issues mentioned above are the final nail in the coffin.

One way or another, a manufacturer MUST control the retail price of it's products over the Internet.

 

[rhastings80]

I think you hit the nail on the head. I have seen SK stuff on Amazon for 70%+ off retail. Who's going to buy through a traditional pruchase channel with deals like that.

The main reason SK is having problems is their own stupidity. They have undermined their legitimate dealer network to the point that no one wants to sell their products anymore. They have a nice web store that no one will buy anything but a missing piece from.

All you need to do to confirm the above statement is to do an eBay search for S-K. You will find a variety of sellers hawking new S-K sets for deep discounts off of list price. Typically these discounts are so big that only a huge buyer will get this pricing. So an independent truck dealer or independent autoparts is generally competing against folks selling identical product for less than they can even buy wholesale. (You can buy new S-K sets for roughly 30-40% off list on eBay). That's the fastest way to get dealers to drop your lines. And their own web store is all at list price plus rather high shipping cost; so they are undermining themselves as well. The service issues mentioned above are the final nail in the coffin.

One way or another, a manufacturer MUST control the retail price of it's products over the Internet.