Replacing Discontinued Kobalt Socket Set at Lowes

[winlinmac]

I purchased this set from Lowes a couple of years ago,
https://www.lowes.com/pd/Kobalt-Steel-Grip-8-Piece-Metric-3-8-in-Drive-6-Point-Socket-Set/1000080559

The teeth fell apart on a couple of sockets after light use. To me, these were obviously not worth buying in the first place when real spline sockets could have been the solution from the get-go.

Unfortunately, this item is no longer available,
Item # 772439 Model # 89991

Kobalt Steel Grip 8-Piece Metric 3/8-in Drive 6-Point Socket Set

Will Lowes be able to provide either replace or refund, especially on this item? Or should I just accept that I made a mistake buying this set and should not just send it off to the furnace?

 

[finn]

Ask them?

 

[Fedwrench]

You won't know until you beat feet into lowes with your receipt and ask them.

Next time stick to the basics, avoid the gimmicks, and get a no frills six point socket set.

 

[WWheeler]

You won't know until you beat feet into lowes with your receipt and ask them.

Next time stick to the basics, avoid the gimmicks, and get a no frills six point socket set.

Do you really need a receipt for a Kobalt tool at Lowes? I would hope not, but if so that's terrible. Don't they come with a lifetime guarantee on hand tools?

 

[winlinmac]

Thanks Fedwrench, I have a six point socket set as well, the only reason why I purchased this Kobalt set was that it was on sale during a Black Friday event a couple of years back and knew from the get-go that it'd be an occasionally-used yet.

I was in a hurry and needed an 8mm and 10mm socket, found this socket set in the drawer, didn't realize the gimmicky construction,

You're right, better to avoid the gimmicks from the start

You won't know until you beat feet into lowes with your receipt and ask them.

Next time stick to the basics, avoid the gimmicks, and get a no frills six point socket set.

I never had to warranty a socket socket before, but looking at past posts on the forum it would appear that store associates handle each situation on a case-by-case basis, even if the customer has a receipt. This obviously was a seasonal product, and I don't expect to see it back in stock anytime soon. I'd be more than a happy with a store credit, otherwise would need to accept the regret and just never buy gimmicky stuff like FedWrench said.

Do you really need a receipt for a Kobalt tool at Lowes? I would hope not, but if so that's terrible. Don't they come with a lifetime guarantee on hand tools?

 

[BMack37]

Give a warranty a try and let us know. I bought these when they were clearanced, figured it was worth a shot for $5 each for the Metric and SAE sets.

 

[winlinmac]

Will do, I always drive by the local Lowes here, will be interesting if they replace that set with the following one pictured below instead (by the way, the $5 clearanced set looks a lot like a typical spline socket set, but has spring loaded action on its teeth--never found anything wrong with spline socket sets in general--not sure why companies try to market such things in a new foam and shape),
https://www.lowes.com/pd/Kobalt-Universal-9-Piece-Metric-3-8-in-Drive-Spline-Socket-Set/999957486

Do you really need a receipt for a Kobalt tool at Lowes? I would hope not, but if so that's terrible. Don't they come with a lifetime guarantee on hand tools?

Give a warranty a try and let us know. I bought these when they were clearanced, figured it was worth a shot for $5 each for the Metric and SAE sets.

 

[d.mcfarland]

He's back!!!!!!!

 

[1982fxr]

Do you have the receipt?

If not your drivers license may get flagged and once that happens they won’t honor anything ever again. Yes they have a “no questions asked lifetime warranty” until you get flagged. Then nothing.

It’s a third party company several retailers use. Should probably be illegal.

They won’t tell you up front when they ask for the receipt what might happen if you don’t have it. I got flagged trying to exchange a worn kobalt ratchet.

 

[winlinmac]

I have the purchase confirmation and online receipt, hopefully that works out.

Do you have the receipt?

If not your drivers license may get flagged and once that happens they won’t honor anything ever again. Yes they have a “no questions asked lifetime warranty” until you get flagged. Then nothing.

It’s a third party company several retailers use. Should probably be illegal.

They won’t tell you up front when they ask for the receipt what might happen if you don’t have it. I got flagged trying to exchange a worn kobalt ratchet.

 

[retDAC]

AVOID the combo spline sockets where they supposedly fit:


6MM & 1/4"


3/8" & 10MM


1/2" & 13MM


14MM & 9/16"


17MM & 11/16"


Those combos don't work reliably.

 

[sberry]

Is it worth it?

 

[Strouty]

He's back!!!!!!!

You freaking read my mind.

Just throw them in the trash and go to Harbor Freight, then you can buy sockets that will clearly be better than Snap On.

 

[Pro lock]

Without receipt they may do lowest price sold meaning clearance price. They may be able to look it up via credit card used but I have no idea how far back that goes.

 

[BDT/NWMN]

You won't know until you beat feet into lowes with your receipt and ask them.

Next time stick to the basics, avoid the gimmicks, and get a no frills six point socket set.

no, nope, no-no. That answer lacks the BS and gimmicky features that lured the purchase in the first place

At times, I assume that I am not the only one who lacks fanfare for spline drive sockets.

 

[Fbmoose48]

Do you have the receipt?

If not your drivers license may get flagged and once that happens they won’t honor anything ever again. Yes they have a “no questions asked lifetime warranty” until you get flagged. Then nothing.

It’s a third party company several retailers use. Should probably be illegal.

They won’t tell you up front when they ask for the receipt what might happen if you don’t have it. I got flagged trying to exchange a worn kobalt ratchet.

What is this? Can you elaborate on your experience/knowledge of this flagging? This seems to defeat the purpose of all these warranties if the flagging system works to prevent claims as it seems from your post

 

[1982fxr]

What is this? Can you elaborate on your experience/knowledge of this flagging? This seems to defeat the purpose of all these warranties if the flagging system works to prevent claims as it seems from your post

https://m.yelp.com/biz/the-retail-equation-irvine

 

[Al Borland]

ANYTHING would be better than those Rube Goldberg sockets.
WHY on God's green earth would you buy something like that???
And WHY would you ADMIT to it???
On here???
To US???
Chuck 'em in the circular file and chalk it up to experience.

 

[nmantas]

Maybe they will swap it out for this, a classic American-made product:

https://www.lowes.com/pd/Gator-Grip...ion-3-8-in-Drive-6-point-Socket-Set/999949198

 

[PugetDude]

ANYTHING would be better than those Rube Goldberg sockets.
WHY on God's green earth would you buy something like that???
And WHY would you ADMIT to it???
On here???
To US???
Chuck 'em in the circular file and chalk it up to experience.

+1
Best answer in the whole thread, Al!

 

[WWheeler]

What is this? Can you elaborate on your experience/knowledge of this flagging? This seems to defeat the purpose of all these warranties if the flagging system works to prevent claims as it seems from your post

The issue I'm sure is that it is so many guys working construction related fields return unused products bought by their employer to the Borgs (Lowes, Home Depot, etc) without a receipt for store credit.

I know too many guys who built entire additions on their homes, installed hardwood floors or new carpeting, built two story garages, bought zero-turn mowers, etc, all using the never-ending supply of store credit cards they always had a stack of in their wallets. It was almost a daily routine when they got off work to gather up anything and everything leftover from the job and go get in line at customer service. It helped when they were the lead carpenter, crew foreman, etc, and had say in the purchase orders for every job they did.

Companies are not oblivious to this sort of scam, but could do little to stop it besides ***** at the Borgs about their lax return policies. I'm sure Lowes cracking down saved them some serious coin and helped convince them that was the place they prefer to do business with. The problem still is that so many other places sell so many of the exact same items that they can go return it to them instead without a receipt for store credit. The scam is rampant across many trades and still continues.

 

[Moparman390]

That thing is the gold standard in Rube Goldberg sockets but these won't steer you right either.

https://www.craftsman.com/products/craftsman-extreme-grip-5-piece-socket-set

 

[mudflap]

What is this? Can you elaborate on your experience/knowledge of this flagging? This seems to defeat the purpose of all these warranties if the flagging system works to prevent claims as it seems from your post

Yep.....thats it. I was flagged after 4 returns in 3 yrs..2 of them with no reciept.. They are done with me..so i'm done with them.. The exception is if you have a Contractors Acct. Contractors return their overages every day..A tube of caulk, a box of tile, etc.

 

[1982fxr]

The issue I'm sure is that it is so many guys working construction related fields return unused products bought by their employer to the Borgs (Lowes, Home Depot, etc) without a receipt for store credit.

I know too many guys who built entire additions on their homes, installed hardwood floors or new carpeting, built two story garages, bought zero-turn mowers, etc, all using the never-ending supply of store credit cards they always had a stack of in their wallets. It was almost a daily routine when they got off work to gather up anything and everything leftover from the job and go get in line at customer service. It helped when they were the lead carpenter, crew foreman, etc, and had say in the purchase orders for every job they did.

Companies are not oblivious to this sort of scam, but could do little to stop it besides ***** at the Borgs about their lax return policies. I'm sure Lowes cracking down saved them some serious coin and helped convince them that was the place they prefer to do business with. The problem still is that so many other places sell so many of the exact same items that they can go return it to them instead without a receipt for store credit. The scam is rampant across many trades and still continues.

Definitely truth in this post but that’s not what happened in my case. It was a warranty item brought in for exchange not a return.

1st visit they said the item was closed out at $8 so offered me that. I declined. Tried a different store a month or so later and came up flagged after they punched my license in.

 

[JimNC]

I return stuff all the time, mostly with a receipt but not always. Even if you are flagged I suspect that you can return or warranty anything for which you have a receipt or the CC used for the purchase. Maybe just put everything on a mylowes account, although I hate the idea of having another rewards program.

But back to the original topic, silly silly gimmick sockets.

 

[1320]

I can't recall ever being asked for my driver's license when returning something at Home Depot or Lowe's.

 

[rijndael]

I can't recall ever being asked for my driver's license when returning something at Home Depot or Lowe's.

I was asked once and I declined to provide it. She looked at me like I was crazy. I just told her it wasn't required for the transaction and the information on it was none of their business.

 

[DaveInPhilly]

I can't recall ever being asked for my driver's license when returning something at Home Depot or Lowe's.

I always over buy for a project and return what I don't need so I don't have to run back to the store in the middle of a project. I'm terrible at keeping track of receipts. Normally, I pay with a credit card, so they can just swipe the card and that's that. But if I don't have the right credit card and they need to issue me store credit, both Lowes and Home Depot ask for a drivers license.

 

[dwasifar]

The issue I'm sure is that it is so many guys working construction related fields return unused products bought by their employer to the Borgs (Lowes, Home Depot, etc) without a receipt for store credit.

I know too many guys who built entire additions on their homes, installed hardwood floors or new carpeting, built two story garages, bought zero-turn mowers, etc, all using the never-ending supply of store credit cards they always had a stack of in their wallets. It was almost a daily routine when they got off work to gather up anything and everything leftover from the job and go get in line at customer service. It helped when they were the lead carpenter, crew foreman, etc, and had say in the purchase orders for every job they did.

Other things HD and Lowe's see coming through the returns line are items stolen from the store directly, and old junk packed up in new boxes. My wife used to work service desk at HD and caught a guy trying to "return" all his old plumbing fixtures after a remodel by packing them in the boxes the new fixtures came in. He feigned ignorance of how that could have happened and blamed his son-in-law, who was conveniently not present.

The people bringing in stolen goods don't care if they can only get store credit. They just take the cards across the street to the local pawn shop and sell them for 50 cents on the dollar; the pawn shop then sells them to other customers for 75 cents on the dollar. Nice little fencing racket there.

 

[winlinmac]

Just an update, it took a good 15-20 minutes today to reach a resolution on warrantying this socket set. They gave me an option of either contacting Kobalt/Lowes customer service or opting for refund back to original mode of purchase,

Both HD and Lowes generally require State ID for purchases without receipt and original mode of purchase. I don't think they immediately flag those that return items, unless its often and suspicious.

This was clearly a seasonable item and had no business being in Lowe's inventory in the first place---essentially low-rated disposable junk.

Their customer service is great, but apparently they rarely come across customers warrantying hand tools, may be they will see a surge soon, thanks to Craftsman, lol

I think Lowes, HD, Costco, and Kohls all have decent return policies.

I return stuff all the time, mostly with a receipt but not always. Even if you are flagged I suspect that you can return or warranty anything for which you have a receipt or the CC used for the purchase. Maybe just put everything on a mylowes account, although I hate the idea of having another rewards program.

But back to the original topic, silly silly gimmick sockets.

Silly indeed Guy at the Hardware and Tool section thought it was normal for those things to pop out, later realized it was supposed to be a spline socket set but turned out it was something more than just inferior junk

 

[Strouty]

Just an update,

This was clearly a seasonable item and had no business being in Lowe's inventory in the first place---essentially low-rated disposable junk.

And you bought it anyways.

 

[winlinmac]

I thought it'd still be useful in the on-the-road emergency box. Then again, after experiencing the fate of that one socket, it became to obvious to me that price and quality were within hand-in-hand. I remember lots of us on the forum talking about this particular set earlier last year. Had a mixed batch of reviews. Probably explains why Lowes discontinued them in the first place.

Now they feature this set,

And you bought it anyways.

 

[1320]

I was asked once and I declined to provide it. She looked at me like I was crazy. I just told her it wasn't required for the transaction and the information on it was none of their business.

I always over buy for a project and return what I don't need so I don't have to run back to the store in the middle of a project. I'm terrible at keeping track of receipts. Normally, I pay with a credit card, so they can just swipe the card and that's that. But if I don't have the right credit card and they need to issue me store credit, both Lowes and Home Depot ask for a drivers license.

That must be it then, I've never returned something without a receipt. I guess I've always figured I was SOL if I needed to return something and didn't have a receipt. I've also always been a cash customer.