warranty advice - craftsman

[dstblj52]

In the post above it appears to me that nbpt100's experience calling that number was the same as mine. If your tool is a Sears' era tool they put you in touch with Sears customer service.

I suspect they'll try to do that for as long as a Sears/Kmart Craftsman warranty service exists. I sorta recall this being a stipulated part of the Craftsman name sale to SBD in the first place, that Sears was still allowed to sell and warranty their own existing (diminishing) Craftsman line for at least some period of time while Stanley built up their own, but I could be misremembering about that, but seems to me it'd be kinda stupid for them not to, business-wise.

I scraped the craftsman website and that phone number isnt on it are you sure your not going directly to sears?

 

[WWheeler]

I scraped the craftsman website and that phone number isnt on it are you sure your not going directly to sears?

Wow you're a bit slow on this point.

I posted exactly what number I called only after I was turned around by my local Lowes who refused to warranty my Sears Craftsman snap ring pliers (honestly I really could have cared less about the pliers, I started out just trying to see if Lowes was going to honor a Sears Craftsman warranty and they didn't). When I got home, and being a bit disappointed and pissed off at Lowes, I googled again whether Lowes was supposed to honor my Sears Craftsman tool and I found the same article I linked before (and again below) with that statement from Lowes that gave the 'Customer Care Hotline' phone number so I called it...

FULL STATEMENT FROM LOWE'S CORPORATE COMMUNICATIONS:

"we will honor all lifetime warranties no matter where the CRAFTSMAN hand tool was purchased. We ask that customers bring in the item, and we’ll replace it if we have the product. If we do not have the product, customers can call the Customer Care Hotline (883-331-4569)."
Maureen Wallace, Lowe's

At that phone number after getting transferred around and asking and answering a few questions they emailed me a link to the form (same form I posted before - and again below) with what all was required, to SEARS/KMART. After a few weks what arrived was a pair of Craftsman locking pliers. I assume that's the closest thing they had. lol

Sears – How do I submit a Craftsman Lifetime Warranty claim?​

Answer
We appreciate that you have chosen Sears for your tool needs. Craftsman hand tools come with a lifetime warranty against product defects. If a Craftsman hand tool ever fails due to a defect in the product, simply return the item to the nearest Sears store. Some exclusions do apply which would void or do not apply to the lifetime warranty, which include but is not limited to:

• The item being altered in any way
• Lost, stolen or damaged by an act of God (such as fire, flood, etc.)
• If the item is used for any other reason than its intended purpose, including neglect
• Rust that does not affect the performance of the item (most rust is strictly cosmetic and does not justify being classified as broken)

Visit your nearest Sears, Sears Hometown, Sears Hardware or Kmart location for an in-person tool exchange under the Lifetime Warranty. Should you not have a location within 30 miles you may submit a claim by email.

Note: If a location is found within 30 miles the claim will be denied and you will be directed to the store.

To file a warranty claim, please provide the following details by email to conduct a proper assessment of your request:

• Contact Information
  • First Name
  • Last name
  • Address (City, State & Zip)
  • Phone Number
• Product/Purchase Information
  • Product Name
  • Item/Model Number
  • Salescheck Number (optional)
• Clear photo of the hand tool
• Clear photo of the hand tool showing the item number/serial number
• Copy of photo ID showing name and address
• Provide the item description and explain the reason for the replacement

Once you have gathered the necessary information, submit your claim to [email protected]

Please be aware the maximum email size we may receive (including the message and all attached files) may not exceed five Megabytes (5MB).

 

[nbpt100]

Wow you're a bit slow on this point.

I posted exactly what number I called only after I was turned around by my local Lowes who refused to warranty my Sears Craftsman snap ring pliers (honestly I really could have cared less about the pliers, I started out just trying to see if Lowes was going to honor a Sears Craftsman warranty and they didn't). When I got home, and being a bit disappointed and pissed off at Lowes, I googled again whether Lowes was supposed to honor my Sears Craftsman tool and I found the same article I linked before (and again below) with that statement from Lowes that gave the 'Customer Care Hotline' phone number so I called it...



At that phone number after getting transferred around and asking and answering a few questions they emailed me a link to the form (same form I posted before - and again below) with what all was required, to SEARS/KMART. After a few weks what arrived was a pair of Craftsman locking pliers. I assume that's the closest thing they had. lol

WWheeler. Did you have to provide them with a picture ID?

 

[WWheeler]

WWheeler. Did you have to provide them with a picture ID?

Yes, and a picture of the broken pliers.

 

[PugetDude]

No way I am sending a copy of my photo ID to a Pakistani Call Center in exchange for a Chinese wrench...
FEL.

 

[nbpt100]

Block out all info but your name and adress. Which they need anyway.

 

[dnschmidt]

Are you guys serious? (in the immortal words of the great Sammy Farha.) You would go through this amount of effort for something that's a ************* anyway.

 

[WWheeler]

Are you guys serious? (in the immortal words of the great Sammy Farha.) You would go through this amount of effort for something that's a ************* anyway.

To each their own. I wouldn't trade my USA Craftsman tools for ten of every tool with a Toptul name on it ever made. Many were left to me by my grandfather and to me, are priceless. Literally priceless. If Elon Musk wants to trade me Space X AND Tesla AND Twitter for them, I might consider it.

 

[Hiball]

Curious? Did you pick up all the pieces and attempt to put it back together? I had a ratcheting wrench that would come apart and the circlip groove was fouled up with grease and wouldn’t allow it to seat and under load would twist out.

 

[woody 73]

A post I did some time back hopes it helps you out some:

News From The grapevine...Craftsman warranty process.

Some news from the Grapevine as they say, I thought some of you might like to hear about the Warranty process for a broken craftsman tool. I broke my old craftsman wire nippers doing something stupid that I should have known better, that is cutting a wire hardened piece of metal, something that...

www.garagejournal.com

 

[nbpt100]

I got a reply today from a human from my original Craftsman inquiry on their website. They wanted my mailing address and phone number. I will see what happens next.

 

[nbpt100]

Are you guys serious? (in the immortal words of the great Sammy Farha.) You would go through this amount of effort for something that's a ************* anyway.

Dennis, Spoken like a true retired tool salesman. I would not expect anything less from you!!!!!

How is your golf game?

 

[dnschmidt]

Dennis, Spoken like a true retired tool salesman. I would not expect anything less from you!!!!!

How is your golf game?

Can't play anymore. Threw my shoulder out and I can't swing a club. Weird part is that for a guy that literally played every day (I was an annual member at the 500 Club a really nice course here in Phoenix) I don't miss it at all which surprises me. Once I couldn't play as well as I once did (shoot in the high 70's to low 80's) the game completely lost appeal to me. I never played golf to kill time or socialize (I'm anti-social to begin with, why do you think I spent 40 years in a semiconductor cleanroom) and once I was in the 90-100 range just said "**** it." I don't believe in looking back only forward which is why attachment to something for sentimental reasons doesn't occur with me. I still cherish my dad's Starrett, Lufkin and Brown and Sharpe machinist tools since they are pristine and exactly the same as what you can buy now but all of his old corded tools and other stuff I just threw out or sold as it was valueless to me. If Milwaukee introduces a new generation of tool I dump the previous generation without a thought. That's the way I am. Probably explains why I never got married.

 

[nbpt100]

Update: Craftsman SBD said they will be sending me a 19mm ratcheting box wrench. It is the reversing type and not flex head. I sent them the link to the Napa website that Knurled Nut shared showing the exact set that I bought years back. They replied that set has been discontinued and that this would be the closest they now have to my broken wrench. I thought about it and looked at their flex head option. I said ok. The reversing ratcheting box wrench is longer than their flex head which is neither reversing or locking.

At least I do not have to spend money and mail the broken wrench back to them.

We shall see how long it takes for it to show up. It is a bit of a compromise, but overall I am happy enough. I would add the process is easy but slow.

That link on NAPA is either NOS they are trying to move or just old info. It would not be the first time NAPA had something unavailable on their website.

Most of my Cman tools were bought at Sears in the 80's and 90's. Back then, I would have never thought I would be put in this situation. I bet I am not alone.

 

[WWheeler]

Most of my Cman tools were bought at Sears in the 80's and 90's. Back then, I would have never thought I would be put in this situation. I bet I am not alone.

Oh you're definitely not alone.

Back then this seemed unfathomable to me that Sears and Craftsman as we knew it would be gone in my lifetime. Younger people who weren't around and compare Craftsman old and new to all the offerings available to everyone now that there's an internet just don't understand. For the majority of working class men in the US at least back then that weren't otherwise turning wrenches for a living with a tool truck coming by all the time, Craftsman was great. Having Craftsman hand tools meant something. A nice set of craftsman tools would draw nothing but compliments, usually envious. Craftsman quality back then was waay better than other retail offerings at department stores, hardware stores, auto parts, etc, basically everywhere else in town, and it was no small matter back then that Craftsman had the patent (which they basically stole but no one knew that, and most still don't) for the quick release ratchet and AFAIK were the only ones with it for a good so many years there.

BUT MOST importantly, Sears were nearby almost everywhere and Craftsman hand tools had the best most well-promoted no questions asked lifetime warranty that everyone knew that anyone could walk in any Sears and hand them a broken tool and walk out with a new (or sometimes rebuilt) one just as fast or faster than you could have bought a new one. I've had the tools dept clerk really busy with a line of customers and instead of waiting in line I'd slip in and set my broken screwdriver or whatnot on the counter while holding up the new one just like it I'd already grabbed from the shelf just so they could see it was the same tool and they'd smile and wave me on my way. There was nothing else like it back then that I know of, or since, except for maybe the tool truck experience. Certainly nothing in retail accessible to everyone.

A lot of us bought our appliances and bedroom sets and a lot of clothes and more from Sears BECAUSE they had Craftsman and us husbands would at least get to wander through the tools dept while we were there and explain to the Mrs why we needed this or that. When the new idiots in charge failed to realize that much about their meat and bread and butter of their customer base and traded away the 'Made in USA' in the tools dept for lower quality tools and what they thought would be a higher profit margin, that was the real end of Sears before Eddie Lampert showed up to part out whatever was leftover at that point to maximize the lining of his pockets.

You can still see on their website today all the reviews, and there are LOTS of them, from people who bought a Craftsman tool and got it home before they realized it didn't say 'Made in USA' on it like it used to. Every bad review that says that was a burned bridge, and I'd venture 99% of the people who went through that same experience didn't waste time with a review. They just started looking elsewhere at other brands of tools, and appliances, etc, something the internet now was making such comparative shopping so much easier to do, and something they likely would never have even thought to do otherwise. Sears didn't just lose the guy wanting to buy more socket and wrench sets. They lost the guy that was also going to buy his appliances and matresses and so on while he was there. And that was everything they had spent what, a century building up? Sears was well positioned to be what Amazon is today. They should have taken that 'Made in USA' and lifetime guarantee and started transitioning their catalogue to become the biggest online retailer before Bezos had even sold his first book out of his garage. But instead they were playing a fiddle while they were losing sight of what they even were at their core.

I could go on and on about it. ... I just did.

 

[nbpt100]

To close the loop on this topic. I received the warranty box wrench on Saturday from SBD. The process took about 5 weeks from my first inquiry to receive the replacement. It is just like the reversing ratcheting wrenches with 15 degree offsets thatI have seen at Lowes. Made in China. Not a 1 for 1 replacement for my flex head, but much better than nothing.

 

[Jtels85]

There are probably three people left in 2022 running the whole Sears company and the warranty guy is Milton from Office Space.

 

[nbpt100]

I do not think they were working for Sears. I started the inquiry off of the Craftsman Website which is run by SBD. About a week afterwards I received an email from someone with a [email protected] email. Likely someone overseas as the emails arrived very late at night or very early in the morning. Even on Sundays.
My guess is Sears can not even support something like this any longer. Sadly.