SOG multitool warranty

[Mallen]

Apperantly they have been bought by a company galled GSM outdoors. My SOG powerlock needs a little love so i called them up. The original warranty stated that sog of course covers manufacturer defects. They also stated that their lifetime warranty also covered labor and that they would adjust ot and replace any broken tools in it for life.

GSM now says they "only have to honor the warranty as it was when it was sold" then refuse to do anything because they say it was "normal wear and tear" and offer a discount on a new tool. So basically, they do NOT honor the original warranty. (And its mot like i wasn't prepared to pay for the broken pieces)

Ive heard leatherman actually honors their warranty. Maybe ill give them a try.



Edit: the discount code they emailed me is for 40% off. While i can find the tools on the web for the same price, making the code pointless for a new tool, i just figured out that its good for multiple items and works on replacement parts. So i can just order the parts i need and fix it myself. Sort of irritating i really just wanted to pay full price for the parts and have it all done without having to waste my time on it, but I would not have been quite as irritated if they simply SAID that they no longer offered that service and offered to send me the parts i need for 40% off. If they really wanted happy customers maybe they could have even emailed me an instruction sheet.

So the final verdict is, they DID more or less honor their commitment, but that fact was obfuscated by their poor customer service.

 

[930dreamer]

40% off isn't a bad deal if your issue is from normal use!

 

[Ton ton]

Those multi tool companies don't care about customer service. But I do appreciate the heads up.

 

[wtn1271]

Leatherman has great customer service in my experience. I have sent in worn and/or broken multi tools and received back a refreshed tool that was given a through cleaning, adjustment, and replacement of any broken/damaged items. Turn around time was quick and I think I only paid to ship the tools to them, return shipping was on their dime. Haven't sent anything in recently but I believe their coverage is still the same.
I have a SOG multi tool that I carried for many years at work, never a problem but it only saw occasional use. Thanks for the info on their current warranty process.

 

[Mallen]

40% off isn't a bad deal if your issue is from normal use!

Your are correct. But the original commitment was that i was supposed to send it in, and they would replace the broken parts for the cost of the parts. It should have cost me about 20 bucks. While i certainly can just order the parts and do it myself, that's not what i wanted. I wanted to just send it in, forget about it and get back the repaired tool. I felt i was entitled to that as they promisee exactly that in the package insert that came with it.

In the end i have found that the situation isn't quite as bad as it first appeared. The 40% coupon works on an entire order of multiple items including parts. That's a pretty good coupon. So i can just fix it myself.

My overall complaint now isn't that they didn't honor the warranty. While they didn't do exactly what they said they would, there was a reasonable alternative provided.

The ultimate problem was, i called their customer support, waited a half hour to talk to someone. Spent another half hour emailing pictures and waiting for them to be received. And then was told that best they could do was 40% off a new tool. Which sounds pretty good but i can get one off amazon for close to that.

Now, it turns out that i can use the coupon for the parts. That actually IS a pretty good compromise. The problem is now terrible customer service. After spending over an hour on the phone, my problem should have been solved.

Good customer service would have something like "we no longer provide that service, however as an alternative we can offer you 40% off the price of the replacement parts you need if they are still made or 40% off a new tool" Then i would tell her what parts i need and she would either put the order through right there, or better still send me an email with a quote and links to the website so i could see that they were what i needed. Maybe if they were really on the ball they would even send instructions on how to get it back together. (The scissors were a pain in the ***)


Instead i had to spend ANOTHER hour on the terrible website figuring out what i needed. For some of the parts i had to actually go to the wayback machine, find the website from 2012, look up the part number and search on that. (Which brings up another minor complaint that their website *****.)

So my complaint is no longer the warranty. Its terrible customer service.

 

[neophyte]

Customer Service costs money.
It really should be considered “advertising” or “marketing”, but many companies don’t really look at customer service that way, especially since it’s hard to gage the success of “good customer service” to sales.
“Lifetime Guarantees” are essentially the same thing.
Sears could probably gage how successful their lifetime guarantee for Craftsman tools was, by whether the customer purchased other tools, or other items from Sears when a person came in with a Craftsman warrantee item.
Many other companies are not set up well to track things like this.

 

[Mallen]

In recent times Sears has seen it as a millstone arond their neck. I throw the broken tools in a box in my trunk. They live there until I either get enough to make a trip specifically for that purpose worthwhile,go there for some other reason, or break something i really need for what im currently working on. The latter happens infrequently as I have a quite a bit of various things ranging in quality from good stuff like old Proto to absolute junk like the Mulpa Wrench (i tried to use the Mulpa Wrench once. The quality wasnt even at issue. Its just a really bad idea).

But before the only remaining Sears anywhere near me went out of buisiness they started refusing to exchange more than 4 tools at a time and looking for excuses to refuse to exchange them. They also severely reduced the number of tools they carry and were usually out of much of what they did still carry. So it became very difficult to exchange things there.

I started going to lowes with mixed success. Its really a coin toss whether they will exchange something. Some employees on some days refuse to exchange things that are not absolutely identical. Other times they tell you it must have been bought there. They often try to say you have to send to Craftsman (which is now Stanley-Black and Decker). Id say its about a 75% chance of getting an exchange if they have an equivalent tool in stock. I had a pair of pliers I took in along with a couple of screwdrivers. They exjanged one screwdriver, did not carry the 6" flat screwdriver in that size and they told me that they specifically were not supposed to exchange the pliers and that their computer specifically said that I had to send it in. It often works to say that the last clerk told me that same thing and i called Craftsman and they told me to take it to Lowes. But this time they insisted that the computer would not even let them do the transaction and that I had to send it in. The next time I came in, I exchanged a broken 72 tooth ratchet and the very same pair of pliers without any argument. (Apperantly the register COULD process the transaction)

Im not sure whats going on at Lowes. Maybe there is poor training. Maybe there are people at different levels with different opinions as to the wisdom of taking on Craftsman warranty obligations and there is infighting going on. But its a headache.

I have not tried Napa yet. But they carry Craftsman now and should honor the warranty.

SK stuff I've returned it to Grainger. Ive heard that they sometimes exchange it and sometimes ask if you bought it there and refuse to exchange it if you didnt. It was a bit of a hassel. I had to email customer service and send a picture. They couldnt find an 8" extension in their system and said they couldnt exchange it. I had to go look it up on the website. I tried putting the number in and it didnt come up, but when i looked up all of the extentions i found it and it did in fact have the correct number. They asked me "Was it purchased from us" I said "Probably. We buy all of our stuff from you". (The theory being that most of their corporate customers probably have multiple accounts for multiple departments and its probably impossible to find an invoice for anything thats not a piece of capital equipment thats tracked by serial number). They had the tools shipped to the nearest Grainger location and it took a three days to get there. Then i had to drive over and wait in line tor 20 minutes.

Then oddly enough there is Harbor Freight. Their written warranty used to say you need a receipt. I dont know if they changed that but i recently exchanged a bunch of broken stuff rathet than tossing it like I used to, because ... Well... Why not... And they did it just like Sears. Well, just like Sears used to back in the before times. No questions. No arguments, they just gave me new stuff. Those packages of tools on the clearance rack like socket sets missing one socket or an a pack of accessories missing an extension or screwdriver sets missing a screwdriver are actually packages from which they gave somone a replacement tool. I try to be nice and check to see if they have the replacement tool that i need on the clearance rack rather than grabbing a fresh one one off the shelf if i can. The only time I had a problem was a hand riveter. They looked at the package and told me it did not have a lifetime warranty. The cashier said "I guess thats one of the few that dont" I didnt really care as it was a $5 tool that was going in the Harbor Freight loaner bucket. But I was curious if all riveters didnt have the lifetime warranty, or just that particular super cheap one, so i checked the website, and i found it did have it after all. I showed them that and the apologized for the error and gave me a replacement. They even gave me the rivets that came in the kit. (They could have just given me the tool like they usually do)


So the long and the short is, the world is going to hell in a handbasket. There a gobal pandemic caused by a previously unknown virus. Politicians cant even agree on where to go for lunch. Theres a war in Europe again, the likes of which has not been seen in 75 years. And Harbor Freight has one of the best toop warranties around.

Truely these must be "The End Times"

And the hand basket we are all going to hell in was made in China, but at least we can take it back to Harbor Freight for an effortless and free replacement should we have a problem.

 

[Tonymanx]

I do a lot of business at my local NAPA. They don't stock much Craftsman, and refuse to honor the warrantee. BUT, they are great about replacing NAPA tools under warrantee. Just about every town has a NAPA store, so..............you decide.

 

[woody 73]

Op I do not know much about SOG warranty, although I do own several of their tools I have yet to use their warranty. But I have heard that the Leatherman warranty is very good from several other people.