misshapen sockets from SK, should I warranty them?

[General Geoff]

I was so impressed with the quality of the first 60-piece 1/4" drive superset I got, I got another one to keep at home vs the garage, but when the second set came in, I was somewhat disappointed by the lack of quality control. Here are a few pictures of the sockets, from noncentered forgings (1, 2 and 3) to lots of tooling marks (3), to RUST (4 and 5), straight out of the box. A lot of the drive detents are nonuniform as well.

Warning: pictures are a few MB each, so if you're on a slow connection they'll take a while to load.

image 1

image 2

image 3

image 4

image 5

That's just a a few of the flaws in the set, I'd say probably half of the sockets in the set are flawed in a noticeable way. If the worst was like picture 2, I could live with them, but stuff like pics 3, 4 and 5 make me question why I spent a premium over craftsman sockets, which I've never seen in this poor of condition out of the box.

I suspect this set was from before Ideal took over. To warranty, or not to warranty?

 

[I van putski]

Send the whole thing back if you are unhappy.

 

[Hiball]

Send the whole thing back if you are unhappy.

Agreed... Lots of good Sk stories in regards to recent warranty service... But if the entire set is bunk. Contact the vendor and let them know your unhappy and request a return shipping label. On the other hand... Maybe contact Sk and inform them of the problems and they may just send out replacements.

 

[NHBandit]

I would definately send them back. That's unacceptable.

 

[General Geoff]

Should I contact the vendor (Tooltopia), or SK directly? I don't really want a refund, I just want nice tools.

 

[Rico.]

If you keep that set it will bug you everytime you use it, and that same disappointed
feeling that you have now will come over you everytime you use it. You know yourself
that the set is perfectly functional, and some people wouldn't care about those flaws,
but you do..... So do yourself a favour and go through the hassle of getting it swapped
then it will bug you no more and you will enjoy using it everytime it has a little job to do.

 

[dsmnickk90]

Pics 1,4 and 5 I would send back. I don't really see flaws in 2 and 3 maybe I'm not looking close enough.
1 and 5 are horrible though. Is it actually rust on the extension? Try taking some mineral spirits and cleaning it. I had some wrench that had what looked like rust but it came right of with mineral spirits.

 

[General Geoff]

I confirmed that it is indeed rust on the 6mm deep socket, as I dipped the drive side of it in some CLR, and the rust dissolved, leaving bare steel (obviously the chrome missed a few spots). I did not CLR the fastener end so as to preserve the rust, in the event I send it back.

 

[dsmnickk90]

I confirmed that it is indeed rust on the 6mm deep socket, as I dipped the drive side of it in some CLR, and the rust dissolved, leaving bare steel (obviously the chrome missed a few spots). I did not CLR the fastener end so as to preserve the rust, in the event I send it back.

I'd send them back before you start using them. I read SK is pretty hard to get to replace used tools with chrome and rust problems.

 

[General Geoff]

I would not expect them to warranty tools with obvious use, for cosmetic issues like rust specks. I'm honestly more concerned with the off-center forgings, as they might actually pose functionality problems if I try to use them on fasteners which are right up against something else.

 

[General Geoff]

I'm thinking I want to send the entire kit back to SK and have them inspect all the pieces to see what passes/fails their new QC under Ideal.

 

[Givl Reggin]

I wonder if we're seeing pre and post Ideal sets? And this quality control problem is the result of cost cutting by Ideal?

 

[Skin]

I wonder if we're seeing pre and post Ideal sets? And this quality control problem is the result of cost cutting by Ideal?

I've yet to see an SK product from Ideal that was confirmed to have a serious quality issue. On the contrary they seem to scrutinize everything and treat quality control issues on a very personal level that I've never seen a tool company do before. Nobody has said so but i'd also think Ideal would have their name on their SK packaging somewhere like "SK tools, a subsidiary of Ideal"

 

[Bullitt427]

The first one is sketchy the rest are fine. Tools are made to be used not stared at.

Those look to be Pre-Ideal. Everythign I have gotten during the Ideal Era is in fantastic condition, but again doesn't matter to me as they get banged up and slid across the floor.

Josh

 

[BJ42LX]

I have a 1/4" drive, 1/4" deep SK socket similar to your #1 - swaged off center. It cracked right at the skinny point without excessive force. I'm sending it back to SK for replacement.

 

[NHBandit]

The first one is sketchy the rest are fine. Tools are made to be used not stared at.

Those look to be Pre-Ideal. Everythign I have gotten during the Ideal Era is in fantastic condition, but again doesn't matter to me as they get banged up and slid across the floor.

Josh

Been turning wrenches for 40 years and all my stuff is well used. But.. While I agree completely that tools are made to be used, not looked at, if I'm paying good money for what is supposed to be a quality brand I want to be the one to mess them up. Brand new tools should not look like that. Accepting inferior quality just encourages the tool companies to produce **** because there are no repercussions. Getting a bunch of it back when it's not up to par makes them take a look at their QC procedures and to make a better product. Yes it really is that simple..

 

[woody 73]

You worked hard for your money and you expect the best from any product that you will purchase in the future nothing wrong with that. Send it back with a nice note about the flaws, along with information where to send the replacement set.

 

[Toolhorder]

SK isn't exactly a premium brand in my eyes. C-man quality and you get what you pay for. I would get a refund and buy a truck brand

 

[socket_wrench]

If you keep that set it will bug you everytime you use it, and that same disappointed
feeling that you have now will come over you everytime you use it. You know yourself
that the set is perfectly functional, and some people wouldn't care about those flaws,
but you do..... So do yourself a favour and go through the hassle of getting it swapped
then it will bug you no more and you will enjoy using it everytime it has a little job to do.

^^this^^

 

[steelespeed]

Send them back.

I have been patiently waiting and hoping that the Ideal takeover of SK would lead to an increase in quality control. I figured by now that the pre-Ideal stock would be exhausted and we would start seeing a consistent product. Guess not.

 

[tube_guy]

I've run into similar problems with SK stuff bought from ToolTopia. Not that I blame ToolTopia at all, I'm just mentioning my experience. Like you, I thought I'd send the tools back to SK for warrantee. I contacted ToolTopia right up front and told them about the problems and my intention to send the tools back to the manufacturer. It took maybe 3 months to get my tools back from SK. Some of the tools, the packaging let me see that the tools I got back were no better than the tools I sent to SK to begin with. Some of the others, I would have had to open the packaging to see if the same sort of defects were present or not. I contacted ToolTopia about the problems again and they told me they would not be able to take any tools back if I open the packaging. So I just sent everything back unopened to ToolTopia for a refund. There was maybe a month of back and forth because so much time had passed since my purchase. However, in the end, they did refund my money. This was before Ideal bought SK. Before you send brand new tools back to SK, I would certainly call them up and ask them some questions, like the turnaround time for your specific tools. If it were me, I would just send the tools back to ToolTopia now and get a refund so I could go buy something else.

 

[Bullitt427]

Brand new tools should not look like that. Accepting inferior quality just encourages the tool companies to produce **** because there are no repercussions. Getting a bunch of it back when it's not up to par makes them take a look at their QC procedures and to make a better product. Yes it really is that simple..

Ideal produced SK is excellent and their QC is perfectly fine. Comparing old stock pre-ideal to current day produced SK tools is a wash.

Josh

 

[General Geoff]

I called SK today, and a very helpful woman emailed me a UPS label to send back my kit to them, and she said they would send out a new replacement set as soon as they receive the defective set. I made a quick list of flaws I could see at a glance from the old set and sent it with the package.

I just dropped off the package at UPS a little while ago, so we'll see what their turnaround time is. So far I've had nothing but good experiences with SK's customer service, and this will give them a chance to reinforce that image.

 

[Jure]

If you keep that set it will bug you everytime you use it, and that same disappointed
feeling that you have now will come over you everytime you use it. You know yourself
that the set is perfectly functional, and some people wouldn't care about those flaws,
but you do..... So do yourself a favour and go through the hassle of getting it swapped
then it will bug you no more and you will enjoy using it everytime it has a little job to do.

this! well said

 

[Flash21]

I would definately send them back. That's unacceptable.

X2 .... No question, unacceptable, I wouldn't keep those even if they were super cheap