Tool Brands you cannot stand . . .

[darkzero]

Knipex is a mixed bag depending on trade, some stuff is absolutely awesome for particular jobs, other stuff is pretty generic.

We really need a Hit/Miss thread for Knipex!!!

I don't like Kuh-ni-pex but I do like the ni-pex stuff that I have.

There have been items I have bought from them that I was really unhappy with, returned right away. I have noticed a decline in quality control also, mainly cosmetic, but enough to bother me.

I felt their prices were on the high side back when but I was ok with what I bought. Now a days their prices are pretty steep IMO. Luckily there's nothing else I really want from them. In the past months there were a few items that I wanted duplicates of to keep at work. But I waited on price drops & amz warehouse deals to get them.

 

[FigN⋅m]

Maybe not brand-specific, but I usually find most of the high-end EDC gizmos kind of cringy.

 

[Zewnten]

Carlyle and everything matco sells other than their ratchets.

 

[seber]

Craftsman. I always thought their tools were overpriced and over hyped poor quality. Now they have gone to China. Believe it or not, I think that was an improvement. Especially with ratchets. Craftsman ratchets always sucked.

 

[dchawk81]

Craftsman. I always thought their tools were overpriced and over hyped poor quality. Now they have gone to China. Believe it or not, I think that was an improvement. Especially with ratchets. Craftsman ratchets always sucked.

Overpriced?

 

[bcradio]

Craftsman. I always thought their tools were overpriced and over hyped poor quality. Now they have gone to China. Believe it or not, I think that was an improvement. Especially with ratchets. Craftsman ratchets always sucked.

You must have never seen the Craftsman tools that were Armstrong/Matco rebrands for wayyyyyy cheaper.

 

[Pig_Pen]

I have yet to be disappointed with ICON. I've got five Pliers wrenches from Knipex and one from ICON and I can't tell the difference. Also the Doyle line of pliers is outstanding value for dollar. Bash HF all you want they are the tool version of THE BORG: “Resistance is Futile you will be Assimilated.”

The difference is they ripped off somebody else’s intellectual property and outsourced the labor to Asia so they can undersell the company who spent the time and money engineering it. Not saying Taiwan made tools can’t have their place but the way Harbor Freight goes about it is no bueno.

 

[08h3]

Never cared for SK myself, growing up in a shadetree garage craftsman was the go to but one of my uncles had some SK sets and I alway thought they were cheesy. More of a mental block I suppose.

 

[CHI_Tool&Die]

Bollmann locking pliers just made the list. Those jaws are stupid soft. I’m tired of grabbing a dowel pin and the teeth just getting smooshed. It’s definitely their material as my coworker’s Irwin’s do not deform.

 

[Hohn]

I'll type VEVOR just because I'm tired of seeing them everywhere.

 

[IRQVET]

I'll type VEVOR just because I'm tired if seeing them everywhere.

I got a hose reel from them, pretty decent for the price, but I totally get what your saying, lol.

 

[dchawk81]

I have a vevor branded air bag jack. I just put it together today so I don't know how it'll perform yet.

I bought it in spite of that gaw forsaken "brand" rather than because of it.

 

[6869704X4]

^ WEN made some great stuff. My late step-father passed on a few WEN power tools that were fine. I think I sold them at a garage sale years ago. One was an electrically-powered knife sharpener, which was a real hoot - kind of like a miniature bench grinder.

Sounds like the one I bought in the 80s. Had a little reservoir with a wick that would keep oil or water on the stone. Low RPM. I used the hell out of that thing. Lost it somewhere along the way.

 

[pl_silverado]

Everything other than Snap-on. I don't need an earful when I break a tool or grind/bend/modify one to get the job done and want a warranty replacement. My SO dealer hands me a new one no questions asked, everyone else, not so much.

 

[Notgrownup]

Are they bad because I can’t afford them and I just trash talk them cuz my poor A$$ won’t buy or just bad enough to pass as tools or bad like breaking all the time?

 

[Bubba Fett]

Everything other than Snap-on. I don't need an earful when I break a tool or grind/bend/modify one to get the job done and want a warranty replacement. My SO dealer hands me a new one no questions asked, everyone else, not so much.

That's because you already paid for the replacements.

 

[Hohn]

I'll type VEVOR just because I'm tired if seeing them everywhere.

I don't like Kuh-ni-pex but I do like the ni-pex stuff that I have.

There have been items I have bought from them that I was really unhappy with, returned right away. I have noticed a decline in quality control also, mainly cosmetic, but enough to bother me.

I felt their prices were on the high side back when but I was ok with what I bought. Now a days their prices are pretty steep IMO. Luckily there's nothing else I really want from them. In the past months there were a few items that I wanted duplicates of to keep at work. But I waited on price drops & amz warehouse deals to get them.

The K is not silent. There's a clip on YT of someone asking a German Knipex rep at the trade show and they pronounced the K.

 

[darkzero]

The K is not silent. There's a clip on YT of someone asking a German Knipex rep at the trade show and they pronounced the K.

Yep I know that & it was a joke in relation to a post on another recent thread. Which is why I said what I posted.

Americans (and others) knowingly mispronounce words all the time. I do the same for Knipex in person to those who aren't that familiar with the brand.

 

[pl_silverado]

That's because you already paid for the replacements.

Yea what's your point? Every other brand you're basically buying a throwaway and paying for scrap.

 

[Downwindtracker 2]

In the 1970's Black and Decker was a TOP OF THE LINE PROFESSIONAL PRODUCT on the level with anybody including Milwaukee USA, Makita and German Bosch. And then **** went to hell in a basket.

No the professional line wasn't, but they were cheaper than the other industrial brands like Milwaukee or Rockwell/ Porter Cable. They changed the case colour of the Professional line to yellow. I have bunch of the dark grey ones from the early '80s, BTW. I would say Makita was below the B & D pro line in quality.

 

[Downwindtracker 2]

Powerfist is Princess Auto house brand . Their step up is Powerpoint brand or something like that.( the impacts are good) Harbor Freight type marketing.

Great Neck, my gawd they were bad. I bought a bunch at pennies on the dollar. They got stolen from my truck. I was more annoyed at having to go to the trouble to replace them than the cost of the loss.

 

[Al Borland]

Powerfist is Princess Auto house brand . Their step up is Powerpoint brand or something like that.( the impacts are good) Harbor Freight type marketing.

Great Neck, my gawd they were bad. I bought a bunch at pennies on the dollar. They got stolen from my truck. I was more annoyed at having to go to the trouble to replace them than the cost of the loss.

Powerfist...Seriously, what a name. Definitely sounds ****... I don't think I want to Google that... Imagine sitting in HR because you were looking for a tool called "Powerfist", "Did you plan on Powerfisting at work?" Good god, if that's not obscene, it should be.
Great Neck, the tool of Pencilnecks everywhere.

 

[Downwindtracker 2]

Princess Auto is a Canadian institution . They advertise you never know what you'll find. I might add if you'll find it again. It's little bit Harbor Freight, a farming supply mart, and a liquidator all rolled into one . All at a very good price. It's hard to walk out without spending $100, like Costco in that regard. Their customer satisfaction level is second to none. So we can understand some prairie farmer coming up with a silly name like Powerfist. It's Princess Auto after all. It started as an auto wrecker on Princess street and after the war did mail order surplus.

 

[jayemm]

So we got "Powerfist and Princess and Great Neck". Difficult to not make some naughty associations.

 

[TheDuckBuster]

Everything other than Snap-on. I don't need an earful when I break a tool or grind/bend/modify one to get the job done and want a warranty replacement. My SO dealer hands me a new one no questions asked, everyone else, not so much.

I've quite honestly had the opposite experience.... with 2 different SO dealers so it wasn't "just that dealer" both of them questioned me(interrogated is probably a more fitting term) on how I was using the tool when it broke putting emphasis on "if you were misusing/abusing the tool it's not covered under warranty" it was like pulling teeth to get it warrantied, and on top of that once I finally convinced him it broke under normal use conditions he wanted to give me a used/refurbished tool, so I then had to plead my case to get a brand new one. Never had that issue with Matco, Mac, or Harbor freight, it's broken get a new one it's that simple. Heck with HF I've even had instances where the tool wasn't visibly broken and by all appearances looked perfectly fine. I assumed I would have to show them/demonstrate how and why it's broken. Nope no questions asked go get a new one they tell me and a quick process and then out the door I go.

So I guess ultimately feel fortunate you have a good and generous Snap On dealer cuz they aren't all like that. I had a buddy who was a Matco dealer so I understand the ins and outs of the tool truck world to an extent and ultimately a majority of the time when dealers warranty an item they are taking a loss, they are giving you a new tool off the truck that they could have sold and put money in their pocket in exchange for a broken tool that they either throw away, repair themselves and resell at a lesser price than the new one they gave you, and then also depending on the tool are typically taking a rebuild kit they could have sold out of stock as well. So theres another loss they potentially are taking. Lastly the least likely option depending on the tool in question....warranty it through the company...the kicker to this option tho is its an extensive amount of paperwork on their end to send it back to their franchise company and they typically have to cover shipping costs as well. So as they say time is money, and alot of times depending on the tool it's not worth their time to send it back. Just FYI.

 

[IRQVET]

So we got "Powerfist and Princess and Great Neck". Difficult to not make some naughty associations.

Sounds like you spend entirely too much time on adult websites, rofl.

 

[jayemm]

Sounds like you spend entirely too much time on adult websites, rofl.

Now wait a minute, I have BOTH hands on the table. "IRQVET"?, you spyin' on me with one of them drones. LOL. It looks like some of the other posters above have comments too.

 

[Bubba Fett]

 

[chevy.stroker]

I think most brands have good and bad.

Harbor Freight is pricing itself out of the market. If I want Chinese I can often find 10 other vendors selling it from the same factory cheaper on Amazon. Yet, HF has some gems like their oil drain when on sale.

Pliers you are paying for the hardness of the teeth, especially vise grips. Nothing worse than rounding teeth and having junk pliers during a repair.

I use to love the old Mac 1/4" sockets with the stepdown near the base. They just looked cool.

Junk wrenches are made for heating up and bending to get to strange locations.

I still use Craftsman from the 1970's. Their specialty tools back then were big name US manufacturers. I wouldn't buy them today.

But I'm old school. I don't own many tools with batteries. I stick with air and fender covers.

 

[pl_silverado]

I've quite honestly had the opposite experience.... with 2 different SO dealers so it wasn't "just that dealer" both of them questioned me(interrogated is probably a more fitting term) on how I was using the tool when it broke putting emphasis on "if you were misusing/abusing the tool it's not covered under warranty" it was like pulling teeth to get it warrantied, and on top of that once I finally convinced him it broke under normal use conditions he wanted to give me a used/refurbished tool, so I then had to plead my case to get a brand new one. Never had that issue with Matco, Mac, or Harbor freight, it's broken get a new one it's that simple. Heck with HF I've even had instances where the tool wasn't visibly broken and by all appearances looked perfectly fine. I assumed I would have to show them/demonstrate how and why it's broken. Nope no questions asked go get a new one they tell me and a quick process and then out the door I go.

So I guess ultimately feel fortunate you have a good and generous Snap On dealer cuz they aren't all like that. I had a buddy who was a Matco dealer so I understand the ins and outs of the tool truck world to an extent and ultimately a majority of the time when dealers warranty an item they are taking a loss, they are giving you a new tool off the truck that they could have sold and put money in their pocket in exchange for a broken tool that they either throw away, repair themselves and resell at a lesser price than the new one they gave you, and then also depending on the tool are typically taking a rebuild kit they could have sold out of stock as well. So theres another loss they potentially are taking. Lastly the least likely option depending on the tool in question....warranty it through the company...the kicker to this option tho is its an extensive amount of paperwork on their end to send it back to their franchise company and they typically have to cover shipping costs as well. So as they say time is money, and alot of times depending on the tool it's not worth their time to send it back. Just FYI.

You really have no idea what you're talking about. Two paragraphs of bs from someone who joined the site 2 weeks ago. I used to be a dealer myself. Dealers lose no money on warrantying hard tools whatsoever. Theres no extensive amounts of paperwork to send back warranty replacements, software tracks everything and you simply print out an inventory of what's in the warranty drawer. Shipping labels are heavily subsidized by corporate. Time is money, just like boxing up warranties once a month and sending them back is part of the job. No dealer has the time to deny something covered under warranty, nor listen to you convince him its broken and why it should be replaced under warranty.

If your dealer won't warranty something you hand him, he's either on hold and literally can't pay his bills and on his way out the door or you simply are a customer that he doesn't want....ie you don't spend any money with him or simply put aren't one of his customers. If you are jumping on a random dealers truck trying to get stuff warrantied, theres no surprise they don't want to deal with you.

 

[guitarbutt]

New era Craftsman and anything I've used by Milwaukee

 

[MBfreak]

Any UK spanners that are labelled with the size of the bolt, not the hex on the head.

Ola

 

[cycle61]

Any UK spanners that are labelled with the size of the bolt, not the hex on the head.

Ola

I didn’t know that existed and now I hate it.

Can’t just be a metric thing either. I have 10mm bolts in my hardware bin right now with at least three different head sizes.

 

[2ndGearRubber]

Any UK spanners that are labelled with the size of the bolt, not the hex on the head.

Ola

Isn't that the standard for Whitworth?

 

[darkzero]

Isn't that the standard for Whitworth?

That's what I thought too, never heard of wrenches like that otherwise.

 

[Jim greengo]

I’ve historically found good and bad tools from several brands that I either like or I avoid. With that said, I’m not a brand loyalist. I find what works, and if I like them, then that’s what I use. Keep in mind I’m a DIY’er not making a living off their tools, so I have always avioded tool truck brands cause they just don’t fit what I do for that price point I’m willing to spend.

I’ve only come across one tool brand where anything I bought tended to let me down. Now going down the Harbor Freight rabit hole, I’ve owned several Chicago Electric Tools that I have abused the living dog piss out of, yet they they still come back for more. One in particular, is a Chicago Electric angle grinder I picked up 15 years ago on coupon for like $7.99 I have beaten the hell out of it, and it still works anytime I pick it up.

Never expected much out of it, but I’ll admit- Its one of my better tool purchases of all time. So I remember tackling a sanding project so I picked up a Bauer orbital sander. I went through three in a single afternoon (they all burnt up) before I got pissed and popped for a Dewalt orbital sander later that night- and it has been a flawless tool.

So for me, the brand I avoid at all costs is anything made at Harbor Freight under the name Bauer. Courious what others experiences have been with tools they bought and regretted, versus what they bought and they’ve been impressed with . . .

I've got a few Bauer tools that have worked fine for me.
You just have to pick and choose what you're buying.
If you look in my service truck and my tool boxes at home,you'll find lots of different brands.
Nobody has the market cornered on the perfect tool for every job in my experiance.

 

[Jim greengo]

Irwin, it’s pretty much all overpriced rebadges from the SBD portfolio.

I like their chisels and drill bits anyway.

 

[TheDuckBuster]

You really have no idea what you're talking about. Two paragraphs of bs from someone who joined the site 2 weeks ago. I used to be a dealer myself. Dealers lose no money on warrantying hard tools whatsoever. Theres no extensive amounts of paperwork to send back warranty replacements, software tracks everything and you simply print out an inventory of what's in the warranty drawer. Shipping labels are heavily subsidized by corporate. Time is money, just like boxing up warranties once a month and sending them back is part of the job. No dealer has the time to deny something covered under warranty, nor listen to you convince him its broken and why it should be replaced under warranty.

If your dealer won't warranty something you hand him, he's either on hold and literally can't pay his bills and on his way out the door or you simply are a customer that he doesn't want....ie you don't spend any money with him or simply put aren't one of his customers. If you are jumping on a random dealers truck trying to get stuff warrantied, theres no surprise they don't want to deal with you.

I don't have the time nor desire to argue with you, so all I will say is; OK sure, you know everything because every single tool truck company has the exact same process and does the exact same thing right? I guess you're right haha have a good day and hopefully lose the attitude keyboard warrior. Good day sir.

 

[2ndGearRubber]

I don't have the time nor desire to argue with you, so all I will say is; OK sure, you know everything because every single tool truck company has the exact same process and does the exact same thing right? I guess you're right haha have a good day and hopefully lose the attitude keyboard warrior. Good day sir.

What he said is factually how snap on works. "Field repairable" warranty items are just credited to the dealer, not sure they even send the ratchet kits back? Additionally snap on will credit their account for anything sent back under warranty, and they will warranty basically anything. The dealer does have associated time and cost for logging the item, but one single warranty, or even a dozen, is basically zero time once you add in a month or more of warranty items.

Some dealers are collasal assholes about it for no reason. I don't get it either.

 

[TheDuckBuster]

you simply are a customer that he doesn't want....ie you don't spend any money with him or simply put aren't one of his customers. If you are jumping on a random dealers truck trying to get stuff warrantied, theres no surprise they don't want to deal with you.

Furthermore... to this comment all I can say is one that's a piss poor attitude for any "dealer" to have and terrible customer service. It shouldn't matter whether I spend ten thousand dollars or ten dollars I am a paying customer and it's literally that dealers job to provide me a service. And two, people move change jobs etc. Therfore they are bound to have to deal with a different dealer if they do move out of their old dealers territory and into a new ones territory. I will tell you that's the fastest way to lose a customer. I have a semi personal experience with this. We hired a new guy at the shop I worked at. He was in the market to spend bug bucks on a new larger box and wanted to go with Snap On. However the Snap On dealer that serviced our shop was a complete and total **** to him because he was "new" and hadn't spent any money on the said dealers truck and "proved he would be worth the dealers time"...so in the end the guy bought a box from the matco dealer because he was much more welcoming and friendly. It's customer service 101 and the SO dealer in this instance lost out on a huge chunk of change that the gentleman fully intended(in the beginning) to give to that SO dealer because he WAS set on a Snap-on box, the poor customer service and attitude of the SO dealer swayed him to change his mind....