Reddit - Warranty Abuse

[zendriver]

Who gives a ****?

Ah, the words that make 2016 America great.

Retailers offer warranties to attract (and keep) customers, to buy their products - new from them. Maybe some will be returned for warranty replacement - maybe they wont.

Whenever I see ancient Cman tools at an estate auction, they look pretty worn, like they were actually used - for decades, verses rushed back to the store, every time a slight nick or finish discoloration, appeared.

Sears honors those warranties, because they said they would, but since they are doing nothing but losing money on the deal, the costs are just being passed along, to those of us who buy their tools.

 

[gdocktor3]

That lifetime warranty is meant to get you to come back to the store. When you come back to the store, you buy something else. That something else pays for that $2 pos tool you just replaced. Last time I replaced something they took my name and had me sign the receipt. not sure why.

 

[Richard Cranium]

I worked for sears for years, They ship out a 55 gal barrel of broken tools just about every month. Management would not let us buy any thing that was replaced. I am told that the new management will let them trade like kind tools for old ones.

 

[Citation]

You do realize that using common sense economics has NO meaning when discussing swapping someone elses warranty purchase by others.

Yes, but I was replying to a comment about Sears moving production due to "greed", not swapping out old tools.

 

[CJM8515]

I dont see an issue. Sears tools **** and have sucked for decades now anyways.

But the warranty doesnt state you have to be the original purchaser (or if it does they dont enforce it), they have a no questions asked policy and exchange anything. Be it rusted, broken, damaged or abused they will take the tool back. There are people who make a second job of exchanging stuff. Course if the damn stuff was actually decent they wouldnt break. I still cant figure out how I broke a 1/4 and 3/8 ratchet right out of the box rebuilding a dirtbike. But amazingly my husky stuff didnt have the issue. How did I get 6 (including 2 brand new in the locked case) 1/4 ratchets to break? All sears stuff..

Is it wrong to warranty it, no. Is it wrong to buy the item, use it (like so many do) use it for whatever you need then take it back. Thats where companies lose the money.

 

[thebeekeeper1]

Yep its warranty abuse, if you didn't buy it new or undamaged in working condition, then why should you be entitled to receive a new one if you brought it broken on purpose?

But if the original owner, or his widow, took it back and exchanged it under warranty, that would be okay--right? Right?

Cuz that costs Sears less--right?

 

[gdocktor3]

I dont see an issue. Sears tools **** and have sucked for decades now anyways.

How did I get 6 (including 2 brand new in the locked case) 1/4 ratchets to break? All sears stuff..

.

Anyone who breaks 6 of the same thing simply isn't using the proper tool for the job. It just shouldn't happen. I mean after breaking one tool I realize I need to do something differently and I don't remember the last time I broke a tool. I'm usually careful about that. It doesn't pay to force or break things. I don't think it's the quality of the tool in this case.

 

[jd_1138]

I dont see an issue. Sears tools **** and have sucked for decades now anyways.

But the warranty doesnt state you have to be the original purchaser (or if it does they dont enforce it), they have a no questions asked policy and exchange anything. Be it rusted, broken, damaged or abused they will take the tool back. There are people who make a second job of exchanging stuff. Course if the damn stuff was actually decent they wouldnt break. I still cant figure out how I broke a 1/4 and 3/8 ratchet right out of the box rebuilding a dirtbike. But amazingly my husky stuff didnt have the issue. How did I get 6 (including 2 brand new in the locked case) 1/4 ratchets to break? All sears stuff..

Is it wrong to warranty it, no. Is it wrong to buy the item, use it (like so many do) use it for whatever you need then take it back. Thats where companies lose the money.

Are you using a ratchet like a breaker bar? For really stubborn fasteners, a breaker bar is a better choice. They come in all drive sizes -- 1/4, 3/8, 1/2, etc. and all lengths. My SK socket sets all came with them along with a ratchet. And you can stick a pipe on them to increase leverage.

http://www.circlecsupply.com/sk-1-4-drive-5-4-flex-drive-handle.html?gclid=Cj0KEQjwz-i3BRDtn53Z5Z7t4PUBEiQA23q2AK9j1RYic1XQ-_Ygs1b9gKmukQtZifnV6ReXxsBGb4caApPO8P8HAQ

 

[CJM8515]

Anyone who breaks 6 of the same thing simply isn't using the proper tool for the job. It just shouldn't happen. I mean after breaking one tool I realize I need to do something differently and I don't remember the last time I broke a tool. I'm usually careful about that. It doesn't pay to force or break things. I don't think it's the quality of the tool in this case.

Actually broke them removing 10mm battery terminal bolts on the job

 

[jd_1138]

Actually broke them removing 10mm battery terminal bolts on the job

Wow, that shouldn't break a ratchet. I kinda avoid CM stuff. I bought CM tools in the late 90's when I first started buying tools. Sold them all off like 10 years ago. They're like training wheels. There are way better tools for only twice as much $$$$.

 

[Citation]

This is one of those things where I can see why people think it's questionable but I can also see that Sears's warranty didn't say you couldn't. I tend to frown on the idea of swapping out a socket because it was rusted since I see letting your tools rust as abuse. Then again I swapped out my 1/4 Craftsman ratchet because I sheared the output. I guess I should have known that was a risk when I added a foot long pipe to the handle...

So if I expect a warranty on my clearly abused ratchet, why should I get mad at the person who lets their tools rust. But with that said, I wouldn't blame Sears for implementing a 5 or 10 part per day limit. Setting such a limit would make what many see as abuse of the warranty harder without denying "legitimate abuse" ( ) such as my 1/4 drive return.

 

[CJM8515]

Wow, that shouldn't break a ratchet. I kinda avoid CM stuff. I bought CM tools in the late 90's when I first started buying tools. Sold them all off like 10 years ago. They're like training wheels. There are way better tools for only twice as much $$$$.

Yea it shocked me. I actually traded in a really nice round head ratchet that the detent didn't hold sockets anymore.

Broke all of those ratchets but yet the same old husky I bought to replace it lasted 5 years same job till I lost it.

 

[jd_1138]

This is one of those things where I can see why people think it's questionable but I can also see that Sears's warranty didn't say you couldn't. I tend to frown on the idea of swapping out a socket because it was rusted since I see letting your tools rust as abuse. Then again I swapped out my 1/4 Craftsman ratchet because I sheared the output. I guess I should have known that was a risk when I added a foot long pipe to the handle...

So if I expect a warranty on my clearly abused ratchet, why should I get mad at the person who lets their tools rust. But with that said, I wouldn't blame Sears for implementing a 5 or 10 part per day limit. Setting such a limit would make what many see as abuse of the warranty harder without denying "legitimate abuse" ( ) such as my 1/4 drive return.

2 wrongs don't make a right. If you abused a ratchet and turned it in for a replacement, that doesn't mean it's OK for people to warranty rusty tools that were not taken care of.

A lot of the warranty abuse is probably due to poorly trained employees who don't really give a F. I mean -- someone making $8 an hour who is lucky if they get 15 hours a week probably are not that interested in arguing with customers over what's covered and what isn't. They just want to get to their next break so they can grab a smoke and check their texts.

Sears is like a dinosaur. They're still using those massive old cash registers that look like the same ones they had back in the mid 1970's when I started to become aware of such things. They had those things at Mervyn's, Sears, Penney's, etc.. And it takes a lot of the employees a long time to fart around with a single transaction especially for a return.

 

[TigerDude]

Further more...
Replacing broken ratchets with new ones is not the reason why they are moving things overseas.

The reason is corporate greed.

How much less greedy should Sears be to allow them to stay in business? I doubt they make it another 10 years.

Remember in the 70s TV's called Curtis Mathis? Their tag line was "we cost more because we're worth it." Can't find them today, can you?

With the exception of a relatively small subset of tool owners who tend to be craftsmen who work with their hands, no one gives a **** about made in USA, and blaming Sears is blaming the wrong person.

 

[mdtaylorjr]

The warranty issue Is because people are profiting off this. They go to estate sales and pawn shops buying broken sockets for next to nothing. Take them home and purposefully break them. Assemble a set and sell them at swap meets and flea markets.that's the real issue that most companies have with warranty its why sears has put limits on returns and snap on has changed to original purchaser in their wording. But if your a tech they know your not profiting off warranty your breaking them during use. That's where all the "new" snap on and craftsman stuff you see on eBay and flea markets exist.

 

[Parabellum]

The warranty issue Is because people are profiting off this. They go to estate sales and pawn shops buying broken sockets for next to nothing. Take them home and purposefully break them. Assemble a set and sell them at swap meets and flea markets.that's the real issue that most companies have with warranty its why sears has put limits on returns and snap on has changed to original purchaser in their wording. But if your a tech they know your not profiting off warranty your breaking them during use. That's where all the "new" snap on and craftsman stuff you see on eBay and flea markets exist.

Amen, other people ruin it for everybody

 

[bfm336]

Yeah I'm sure those abusing this are making bank, I mean used, USA even (now replaced with chicom) CM sockets are worth what, a whopping $1/piece?

 

[Roberts210]

I've used Sears tool warranty twice, and I used to guy a lot of stuff from them before I got smart and started buying better quality. First time was in the mid 1970's when a 1/2" Craftsman breaker bar cracked up near the head. I was not using a cheater bar on it, but I was using my foot on it... ok I was standing on it. The tool guy at Sears asked me if I'd been using a cheater bar, and he did inspect the breaker bar, but did end up giving me another one. Second time was a very large screwdriver I bought at Sears. The tip had gotten screwed up and I thought it should have stayed straight, so I took it in. They didn't have one that big, so he gave me the next smaller size.

 

[PSYKO_Inc]

I see no problem exchanging a legitimately broken tool under warranty. I do disagree with the idea of abusing and intentionally breaking a tool for the purpose of an exchange. I have quite a few tools purchased from yard sales, thrift stores, eBay, etc., many of which are from the 40s and 50s. I don't mind the wear, scuffs, owner's marks, and the odd bit of rust, gives 'em character. (Although I do clean them up and prevent rust from spreading.) Tools are made to work, and the old stuff seems to be made better, plus they tell a cool story. Why anyone would destroy all that history for a shiny new piece of **** is beyond me.