sberry
Banned
I agree they were more expensive than today, tool competition is so fierce right now prices and values have never been better for a consumer.
Why Craftsman is dying...or is dead
- Thread starter SC-AW11
- Start date
ishiboo
Well-known member
Fortuately the fact of these "no questions asked lifetime" warranties is that not enough people act like this to cause a substantial difference. Most of us only use a warranty if something breaks, or an item has a particular fit/finish problem that significantly bothers us. It's once they add verbiage like "reasonable" and limits and things, that the people in the stores get the idea to save Corporate 3 bucks by quizzing Joe Blow who broke his ratchet on how he did it, where he was and what he was doing... and make it a pain for the rest of us.
Craftsman can survive almost solely based on its excellent warranty and satisfaction guarantee... the current China tools are probably as-good if not better than the last Danaher US pieces. Craftsman's decline will be because unfortunately the Sears stores are going down around it, and not having a significant local corporate-owned network of dealers and the foot traffic going to them will mean Craftsman looses all the valuable cards in its hand.
Not sure if there's hope for Craftsman as the outlook for Sears stores seems fairly bleak... soon, Craftsman will be just a name they license and throw on ****.
Craftsman can survive almost solely based on its excellent warranty and satisfaction guarantee... the current China tools are probably as-good if not better than the last Danaher US pieces. Craftsman's decline will be because unfortunately the Sears stores are going down around it, and not having a significant local corporate-owned network of dealers and the foot traffic going to them will mean Craftsman looses all the valuable cards in its hand.
Not sure if there's hope for Craftsman as the outlook for Sears stores seems fairly bleak... soon, Craftsman will be just a name they license and throw on ****.
sberry
Banned
I also agree that the warranty abuse is not substantial, they just cheapened the brand so bad, the milk is sour cant go back.
SKAutomotive
Well-known member
Well if it makes you all happy, if I break a Craftsman tool, I usually just toss it, and buy a new one at a later time. Their stuff is dirtball cheap thanks to Chinafacturing.
Armstrong1720
Well-known member
How about this i know a guy that helped tear down a really old sear building in fort worth. He told me it had a big basement with a few little tunnels.then he told me When someone would turn in broken or rusty tools they employees would just through them in the basement. Now after all these years of them doing this the broken tools piled up. Now a crew is hired to tear it down and the guy told me they would go in with 5 gallon buckets and fill them up bucket after bucket day after day to take home and then turn them back in !!!
fm2176
Well-known member
I'm no angel when it comes to taking advantage of the C-Man warranty. These days I hardly, if ever, exchange them. My Mac box has a dedicated drawer for broken tools which is only rummaged through for exchanges every five or so years.
Years ago, as a road tech, I'd stop into Sears on the rare occasion I lacked a needed tool. I recall having to buy a large socket once to remove some odd-sized forklift lugnuts--no impact socket was in stock, so I bought a couple of standard sockets and subsequently exchanged them when they cracked. That was the action of a desperate 23-year-old looking to get the job done without having to drive miles out of the way.
I can't view the now-private video, but I can imagine what transpired in it. It may not be abuse in terms of the warranty, but the person making the exchanges must be unscrupulous and full of himself to post the video online.
As for warranty changes, I've still got a few yellow C-Man tape measures from when they were fully warranted. Ten or so years ago Sears stopped warrantying the tapes (but not the housing) , and when I last went into Sears even the red tape measures seemed to have been discontinued in favor of Stanley. So, where fifteen years ago I could snap a tape and get a new tape measure, now I'll probably be lucky to find a replacement tape to buy.
Years ago, as a road tech, I'd stop into Sears on the rare occasion I lacked a needed tool. I recall having to buy a large socket once to remove some odd-sized forklift lugnuts--no impact socket was in stock, so I bought a couple of standard sockets and subsequently exchanged them when they cracked. That was the action of a desperate 23-year-old looking to get the job done without having to drive miles out of the way.
I can't view the now-private video, but I can imagine what transpired in it. It may not be abuse in terms of the warranty, but the person making the exchanges must be unscrupulous and full of himself to post the video online.
As for warranty changes, I've still got a few yellow C-Man tape measures from when they were fully warranted. Ten or so years ago Sears stopped warrantying the tapes (but not the housing) , and when I last went into Sears even the red tape measures seemed to have been discontinued in favor of Stanley. So, where fifteen years ago I could snap a tape and get a new tape measure, now I'll probably be lucky to find a replacement tape to buy.
cburnscrx
Well-known member
Yep, they've got other problems too. I finally went into Sears hoping to get a 26pc 12pt combination wrench set...but when I looked at it I was not impressed with the quality. I thought maybe I was being biased since it wasn't the made in the USA set I was hoping for, so I grabbed a single USA made wrench off the shelf. I compared the USA vs. the import, and what a difference. It was like they weren't made by the same company (technically they are Craftsman). For the record, I couldn't care less about COO, but I do care about quality. I didn't buy the Craftsman set because they were imported, I didn't buy them because I didn't feel they were a good value.
Conductor562
Well-known member
I guess I'm just still a little sour over the whole "outsourcing thing". I don't actually believe that warranty obligations were a major factor in Sears' decision, but they did cite it as a contributing factor. 
kevin47
Well-known member
I did have a rachet-wrench that didn't work right from the git go...I still have it...Didn't ever get around to returning it...This guy must have way to much time on his hands...Probably never been laid...lol
. Guess the guy can't take criticism well.MN Falcon
Well-known member
1. Take yours apart clean and lube it, that's usually all that's wrong with them
2. Ask for a rebuild kit.
3. Ask them to rebuild yours.
Those would be my first suggestions. If you have followed the threads about the outsourcing (you will get a China one if exchanged for new) is that the new China tools are bigger and bulkier. The last thing I want to do is keep adding weight to my portable tool box as I get older especially if I don't get more tools with the added weight, just added weight.
Those three options will give you the best used ratchet since the others were not to your satisfaction. If you still want the new one off the shelf they will give it to you, you just have to insist, I wouldn't insist though I would rather have the older model.
You need to elevate your issue with store management. They are suppose to first offer a refurb, if that is not to your "satisfaction", then a new one is suppose to be given.