Where do tool warranties go?

[DavidtheDuke]

The amount of warranties that go through Snap On and Craftsman must be enormous.. Wasting all that metal in the trash bin seems to be a bit stupid.. Do these tool companies recycle their metal from warranties?

 

[eschoendorff]

They go to Area 51 where they are... oops, can't tell you that....

 

[Blacknwhitepit]

My father in law worked at Sears for 30 years, he told me that the Craftsman returns went into a 55 Gallon Drum and were buried in a landfill. I don't know if that came from first hand information or was just a "story".

-BWP

 

[jay50]

The grind'em up, add a batch of plastic and make Horror Freight ratchets/sockets out of 'em

 

[Fedwrench]

I don't know but, when Husky first hit home depot, the store in my area had a plexiglass coffin where people could trade in broken snap on, mac, craftsman, etc. in for a Husky tool. I was amazed at what I would see dropped in there. I would have loved to have been able to to get that little coffin.

 

[rsanter]

I always heard they were recycling the metal.
it would seem to reason.
if the bury it in a land fill, then I am going to go bribe someone at the landfill

when I was working for B&D. all the tools were sent to a factory center and nothing went into the trash unless it went into the press first. they did not want any re-warranties.

bob

 

[rjh-yota]

My buddy works at a steel mill and said that they come in on railroad cars and they melt them back down.

 

[Jbullfrog]

The smelter in Omaha used to melt flat cars of warranty tools. They also were supposed to crush Toolboxes that were sent in to be destroyed, but once in awhile a box excaped and went home with an employee.

 

[wilbilt]

Lots of them end up on eBay or in large lots of returns and are auctioned off.

Currently on Ebay, there is this lot from our favorite Chinese **** retailer.

http://cgi.ebay.com/HF-Store-Return...ryZ42340QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

I sure hope danglerb doesn't see this.

 

[Danglerb]

Scrap places often get assured destruction lots, but as a practical matter its only as good as their word, unless maybe they have some kind of bonded agreement.

I wouldn't be surprised to find out talking about the scrap warranty practices would get people fired. Or that its just a barrel in the back.

40 gal barrel of snapon sockets, my wild guess, would have a value on the used market of maybe $50k.

 

[Danglerb]

Lots of them end up on eBay or in large lots of returns and are auctioned off.

Currently on Ebay, there is this lot from our favorite Chinese **** retailer.

http://cgi.ebay.com/HF-Store-Return...ryZ42340QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

I sure hope danglerb doesn't see this.

Too late, but their prices ****, 20% of full retail for a bulk lot of return mechandise is way too high. 8 to 13% is more typical for much better grade of product like Best Buy etc.

Nothing in the bulk stuff looked like it could be warrantied, not without a receipt. I know scuzzy people that buy junk items at the swapmeet that they have also purchased new, and tried to have it warrantied, but thats just stealing.

 

[jay50]

I don't know but, when Husky first hit home depot, the store in my area had a plexiglass coffin where people could trade in broken snap on, mac, craftsman, etc. in for a Husky tool. I was amazed at what I would see dropped in there. I would have loved to have been able to to get that little coffin.

The right bribe to the right person would have opened that coffin door for you

 

[goodfellow]

My father in law worked at Sears for 30 years, he told me that the Craftsman returns went into a 55 Gallon Drum and were buried in a landfill. I don't know if that came from first hand information or was just a "story".

-BWP

They may have done that a few decades ago, but I would think that EPA rules, legal restrictions, and the current price of steel may have changed that practice.

 

[johnny1290]

This is a really interesting question! I've wondered the same thing, and also how an ebay seller like brkntool(I think that's how you spell it) get soooooo many broken Mac pliers and whatnot. It's curious. I've bought some stuff from brkntool before, the 'good' (not broken) stuff, and it's still beat pretty hard. They must have some kind of hookup.

 

[Danglerb]

At Sears tonight I noticed the tool return area has a locked bin with 3 small holes at the top for different types of tools under the counter.

Broken tools could be government surplus, or industrial, or just the bad tools out of many bulk tool purchases.

My "guess" is that its much easier to steal new tools than broken ones, so why would anybody do it unless the controls were stupid?

 

[wrenchr]

They go to tool heaven!! lol

 

[nissan_crawler]

Too late, but their prices ****, 20% of full retail for a bulk lot of return mechandise is way too high. 8 to 13% is more typical for much better grade of product like Best Buy etc.

Nothing in the bulk stuff looked like it could be warrantied, not without a receipt. I know scuzzy people that buy junk items at the swapmeet that they have also purchased new, and tried to have it warrantied, but thats just stealing.

Is it any different than you buying a snap-on ratchet from somebody, using it for 5 years, and it breaks, and you get it warrantied

I've bought boxes of tools at farm auctions before with broken snap-on, craftsman, mac, etc., tools, and have had them all warrantied, no receipt, no questions asked (although sears would probably be a pain now). I've never had to buy a new item and use the receipt from that to warranty the old item.

I was told the warranty goes with the tool, not the original buyer. *shrug*

My snap-on dealer doesn't give a damn where it came from, it's snap-on, and she'll warranty it.

 

[Danglerb]

Let me clarify what I said, the specific items sold in the bulk returns were items that did not normally have a blanket warranty. All of them are items with some limited warranty, like a year etc. and normally requiring a receipt for warranty service.

Sears is the same way with returns, BBQ's, lawn mowers, even tool chests, all get sold, but never a lifetime warranty item like a socket.

Returns will sometimes still have the "factory" warranty, but sometimes it can be a PITA to try and get warranty service, and generally varies between brands and policies.

 

[nissan_crawler]

Ah, if it's a limited warranty, and they're using a receipt for something else, I'm totally with you.