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more SK QC troubles

kwyjibo

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Apr 8, 2008
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I just got my package from the last Sears clearance deals (thanks forum!!)... I'll save my Sears rant for another thread since that ordeal is still going on. Back to the SK: the 33 pc bit socket set had a couple of problems. The set didn't come with either the 5 or 6 mm hex bit sockets, in their place came a 2 and a 2.5 mm. Some of the bits didn't look like they were pressed in far enough either. Since I had duplicates of the 2 and 2.5, I put them side-by-side and you could see that in both cases the bits were pressed into the holder to different depths. I would think that the automated presses would set them pretty uniformly :headscrat I'll press in the ones that aren't pinned and look like they're ready to pop out myself just because I know that'll be less work than trying to get someone else to reach onto a shelf and send one. :wtf:
anyway, wrote to SK to see if they'll at least exchange the duplicates for the correct sizes because the Sears operator was not helpful - at all. Failing that, I'll just have to return it to Sears (4th return in the last six orders... all for their mistakes).
 
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64merc

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Totally inexcusable of course, but to be fair, I had a couple duplicates/incorrect pieces in a Craftsman set I bought over the holidays. I guess it happens sometimes.

kwyjibo, just want to mention that I'm selling the same set for about 20 bucks cheaper than the clearance price (see the Classifieds section). Just thought I'd throw that out there :)
 
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ToolGlutton

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Man, do not feel upset, that's a common problem. The packaging was usually done by robots. They do make mistakes sometimes.

Just call them, they will usually ship you the missed ones in an envelope immediately.
 
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Nealcrenshaw

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Mar 20, 2008
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I'm seemingly having a problem with QC myself,except mine is with Craftsman products.I recently bought the 1/2" Flex head ratchet from sears and the gears were stripped out before i even use it(they did replace it with no hassle).I bought the Black and red Professional screwdriver set and one of the wrenches was stripped(Haven't taken it back yet). Whats' going on?
 

Mike83

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Jan 24, 2008
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I'm seemingly having a problem with QC myself,except mine is with Craftsman products.I recently bought the 1/2" Flex head ratchet from sears and the gears were stripped out before i even use it(they did replace it with no hassle).I bought the Black and red Professional screwdriver set and one of the wrenches was stripped(Haven't taken it back yet). Whats' going on?

You got a wrench in a screwdriver set?! What IS going on? :lol_hitti
 

billymade

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Apr 2, 2008
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QC does seem to be slipping but I guess no one is perfect. Sometimes we have gotten Craftsman screwdrivers that had the machined side in the handle and the opposite end on the driving side! LOL! Tool miss-machined, poor chrome applications, finish grinding/sanding/shape grinding really rough (ratchets); things like the ratchets, the finish is really hit or miss. Some look pretty good, some have a different size casting (maybe not shape ground down enough), occasionally we get one that the chrome application is way more then the others and it smoothed out the whole surface of the wrench and others look like the chrome is thin; they look more "silver" then "chrome". They seem to show quite a bit of variation in the finish quality; makes you wonder if the QC is getting sloppy or the quality levels vary from different tool foundry locations. Who knows?!!
 
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Joe B.

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Jan 2, 2007
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Is there a year on the box? I'm curious if these are as old as the stubbies in the other thread. My box of the stubbies has 1998 on the package.
 
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kwyjibo

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quick update:
got an email back from SK: they'll be mailing me the missing sockets - as ToolGlutton predicted.
 

64merc

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quick update:
got an email back from SK: they'll be mailing me the missing sockets - as ToolGlutton predicted.

Great, I knew they'd come through for you. Even Danaher has done the same for me before. BTW, just curious, was it Maria that helped you?
 
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kwyjibo

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Yup! it was Maria.
With customer service like this, they can keep counting on my business. :thumbup:
(ahem, hear that Sears???)
 

eschoendorff

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Even so... these slips shouldn't be happening as frequently as we hear about them on this board.

When was the last time anyone had a QC complaint about a Taiwanese GearWrench product????
 

64merc

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Even so... these slips shouldn't be happening as frequently as we hear about them on this board.

When was the last time anyone had a QC complaint about a Taiwanese GearWrench product????

I agree 100%, but every company can have a bad batch or two. I think the general concensus is that most or all of the sets in question are old stock. They should never have let those bad batches get out, so only SK is to blame. I guess I would just like to think that they have fixed these QC issues already. In which case, everyone should forgive and forget as much as possible.
 

hamburglar

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Mar 10, 2008
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Even so... these slips shouldn't be happening as frequently as we hear about them on this board.

When was the last time anyone had a QC complaint about a Taiwanese GearWrench product????


Me. I thought their ratcheting screwdriver set was junk.
 

MAD

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Jan 27, 2007
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There has always been occasional quality control problems with every tool company. One of the reasons that it seems more common now is that online shopping has essentially removed the last step in the quality control process-the dealer/salesman. When you get a flawed tool off the truck or from any retail dealer it is easy to hand the tool right back for replacement often right on the spot at the time of purchase. A knowledgeable tool dealer would then be on the lookout for that problem to occur again and intercept bad product before it reached the end user. As an example, there were some recent complaints of Snap-on flare nut wrenches that were broached off center. If I recall correctly, these were all purchased from the Snap-on online site. If this happened with a dealer, every wrench would then be checked before reaching the customer. I remember around 1995 one of my tool truck dealers sold an SK metric combination wrench set that had a Craftsman professional 9/16" wrench in the package instead of a 14 mm. The wrench was cheerfully exchanged and everyone had a good chuckle about it. I think if the guy had bought it online and had to mail it back and wait he would have been pissed off. I think online shopping is great but it is not without its drawbacks.
 

Merkava_4

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Yeah... you can't walk in some place and buy S*K tools anymore can you? They have to be purchased off an internet site.

Fresno Ag Hardware used to stock S*K tools as recent as 5 years ago; they quit having them and moved to an import line.

Orchards Supply & Harware used to stock Bonney tools as late as the early 1990s, but they've since been bought out by Sears and now all they have is Craftsman. :cool:
 

MAD

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Yeah... you can't walk in some place and buy S*K tools anymore can you? They have to be purchased off an internet site.

Fresno Ag Hardware used to stock S*K tools as recent as 5 years ago; they quit having them and moved to an import line.

Orchards Supply & Harware used to stock Bonney tools as late as the early 1990s, but they've since been bought out by Sears and now all they have is Craftsman. :cool:

I have a couple of auto parts stores and a fastener dealer near me that that sell SK over the counter. There were a couple of mobile dealers that sold SK when I worked at a repair shop. Even the Matco dealer sold SK on the side. There is no real official dealer network,all SK dealers are independent. If you can open an account with one of the big wholesale tool suppliers you can sell SK.
 
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