SK Customer service

[jg4660]

I came across an SK 1/4'' ratchet i didn't know i had the other day. It was pretty siezed up, cleaned and lubed it and it won't ratchet. I read here somewhere about emailing there customer service. I emailed them Sunday night and got an email back Monday morning that a rebuild kit was on the way. Great service.

Thanks
JG

 

[lardy1]

That's what I like to hear.

 

[Professional Tool User]

Rebuild kits seem to be the one thing they don't have a problem with immediately sending out. I requested a rebuild kit for the 3/4 dr SK round head ratchet I bought off craigslist and they sent me one free of charge. As for other stuff, if I had to mail it in, it would be a bit of a pain for me.

 

[Mick56]

Yeah, I have an SK 3/8 drive, 3/8" socket that cracked. I emailed a pic of the cracked socket, and they told me I'd have to send it in to get a replacement. Not worth it.

 

[Mustang1167]

I’ve had the opposite happen with SK. Gave me a bitter taste that never went away. Sk gets $0 of my money. Won’t cry when they eventually fold up.

 

[B_Bimmer]

Mailing in is totally fair to avoid abuse in my opinion. Not necessarily the most convenient, but how many of us don't have a duplicate for the rare instance a quality tool breaks.

 

[ken w.]

I have nothing but good to say about SK .

 

[M6erfan]

Mailing in is totally fair to avoid abuse in my opinion. Not necessarily the most convenient, but how many of us don't have a duplicate for the rare instance a quality tool breaks.

Agreed. If a company will warranty something site unseen great, but I don't hold it against them if they want it mailed in.

 

[tym]

Mailing in is totally fair to avoid abuse in my opinion. Not necessarily the most convenient, but how many of us don't have a duplicate for the rare instance a quality tool breaks.

Agreed. The cost of mailing a padded envelope beats having to buy a new tool. I also have found them very willing to send free rebuild kits--that gets a thumbs-up from me!

 

[redturbo]

The tool peddler that I brought all my SK impact sockets from years ago has gone to gear wrench. I have mailed in 2 broken sockets to SK, its a pain & costs enough $ to send from Alberta. Cant find anyone that is a SK dealer locally, so it my only choice.

 

[lardy1]

Nothing will replace the corner hardware store carrying SK (or other USA made tools) and warrantying them over the counter. Anyone that had that experience likely now misses it.

The majority of my wrenches & drive tools are SK. I'm a retiree maintaining my personal machines and my own projects. I've never broken an SK tool. I do like hearing reports of good warranty experience. After everything that company has been through, I'm really hoping they can turn things around. I like have American made tools easily available and competitively priced.

We live within a global economy these days. This does make a lot of things more affordable for us. But it also forces domestic companies to trim where they can to remain competitive. Unfortunately, that can lead to bad experiences and bad reviews.

Those of us in rural areas bemoan having to drive 40 or 50 miles to a brick & mortar tool store. The price we pay for our chosen lifestyle.

 

[Ton ton]

I am glad to hear about SK.

 

[CafeTools]

Mailing a socket in costs less than $3

 

[LNKMK8]

I've always been very pleased with their service. I had a ratchet that they no longer had a kit for, so they sent me a whole new ratchet. Very easy to deal with. MAC and Snap-on have also been great in that regard. I'd much rather drop something in the mail than take the time to track down a somewhat local store, drive over, where the person you are talking to may or may not know how to handle an exchange, and may or may not have the same item in stock.

 

[mekkanic1]

I had a 1/2 inch breaker bar with an end that would flop around, e mailed SK and asked what could be done and two weeks later got a brand new one delivered in the mail.
I call that great customer service. Didn't want the old one back either.
Buy American!

 

[Ton ton]

Good news.

 

[Professional Tool User]

Mailing in is totally fair to avoid abuse in my opinion. Not necessarily the most convenient, but how many of us don't have a duplicate for the rare instance a quality tool breaks.

If they expect people to mail broken tools in, they've got to at least have a decent authorized dealer network on the ground. If I already paid for the tool, I shouldn't have to pay extra to mail it in. This is especially a problem if sending in the tool from outside the US where shipping costs are high. If it were a broken socket, the cost of shipping would exceed the value of the socket.

I know of two places locally where I can get my broken Proto tools replaced no questions asked though the replacement has to be ordered in. If Snap on wanted you to send anything in, they pay for the shipping. They usually don't even bother with telling you to send in low value items. And then you have brands like Tekton who tell you to send them an email with a photo of the broken tool attached. SK needs to step up its game if it wants to continue to be in business.

 

[Professional Tool User]

The tool peddler that I brought all my SK impact sockets from years ago has gone to gear wrench. I have mailed in 2 broken sockets to SK, its a pain & costs enough $ to send from Alberta. Cant find anyone that is a SK dealer locally, so it my only choice.

If you happen to be in Edmonton, trying contacting G2S distributors and/or Ackland Grainger and see if they are willing to help you.

G2S Equipment
5645, 70th Street NW
Edmonton, Alberta
T6B 3P6, Canada
Tel.: (780) 461-5717 • 1-888-771-9009
Fax: (780) 461-5726 • 1-888-773-9009

 

[The Fall]

Nothing will replace the corner hardware store carrying SK (or other USA made tools) and warrantying them over the counter. Anyone that had that experience likely now misses it.

That's the truth. A 1/2" combo wrench opened up and I sent it back. It was a long pattern I had purchased in a 9-piece set a couple years earlier; they sent me their standard length wrench. I called them the next day and received the correct long pattern a few days later. They were easy to deal with. That's why I purchase SK. Most of it is from the Ideal period, although I inherited a couple SK tools from the 1980s.

If auto-parts stores or ACE carried SK that'd be awesome.

 

[Professional Tool User]

Nothing will replace the corner hardware store carrying SK (or other USA made tools) and warrantying them over the counter. Anyone that had that experience likely now misses it.

The majority of my wrenches & drive tools are SK. I'm a retiree maintaining my personal machines and my own projects. I've never broken an SK tool. I do like hearing reports of good warranty experience. After everything that company has been through, I'm really hoping they can turn things around. I like have American made tools easily available and competitively priced.

We live within a global economy these days. This does make a lot of things more affordable for us. But it also forces domestic companies to trim where they can to remain competitive. Unfortunately, that can lead to bad experiences and bad reviews.

Those of us in rural areas bemoan having to drive 40 or 50 miles to a brick & mortar tool store. The price we pay for our chosen lifestyle.

Having a strong authorized dealer network is indeed important. The problem with SK is that they've had questionable quality control since before they went under. Combine that with weak on the ground customer service and I have little to no reason to buy SK over other USA made or other options. For just about any product, once you charge above a certain price, there's very high minimum quality and customer service expectations. Cutting corners and cheapening out the brand will not be tolerated by those who pay top dollar. If Made in USA brands want to do that, I may as well go buy made in Taiwan tools where quality control is generally excellent.

 

[The Fall]

"Cutting corners and cheapening out the brand will not be tolerated by those who pay top dollar."

Dollars to donuts no one who buys SK feels differently. That's just not been my experience with SK whatsoever. I've purchased a little over $1,000 worth of SK tools in the past four years. I've had to warranty one wrench. I use them "professionally."

I've got lots of Snap-on. I like their ratchets and flare-nut wrenches (although SK's are comparable), plenty of Mac and Matco bought off the truck too. But here's the deal: SK makes tools equivalent to the trucks at a fraction of the price. Do they compete in all divisions? No. But I'm not looking to purchase from only one tool company. You couldn't get me to trade in my long-handled Matco 88-tooth 1/4" ratchet. It's the best. For me, they own that ratchet. Snap-on's got the F-80, although I really like the 45170.

I'm proud of my SK tools. If I wasn't, I'd have sold them. You can spend more, but why?

The only thing they really lack is distribution. But their tools last. It's not that big of a deterrent, especially when you work in a small garage and your drivers -- who always say they're gonna show up every week -- start dropping by sporadically, then just disappear. Then their distribution mirrors SK's.

 

[mikebaker1129]

I like SK !
I have mailed in a few warranty items in, they have been painless.
The Facom era stuff is my favorite, but purchase Ideal era stuff from HJE when the need arises.

 

[vssjim]

I'm sure SK would like to have a bigger sales network like they used to have but it takes time and a lot of the dealer networks they used to have consolidated or went under in the last years of the recession. The customer service has been fine to deal with for me. I know things are different in Canada but what if I had more Gray Tools and needed service all the suppliers around here stopped carrying them and they don't list US dealers anymore either.

 

[isb cornbinder]

Vintage SK