Last week I had a craftsman ratchet crap out on me, so took it back to
Sears. Instead of a new ratchet, they had a supply of exchange tools near
the register. When I asked about those tools, the salesman told me that
they were reconditioned. Now I was under the impression that the
replacement tools were supposed to be new. Anyone else have experience with
this matter?
"Bob S." <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Steve,
>
> Your sig line doesn't work or is the server just down?
>
> Bob S.
>
> "> Penury is the Mother of Invention
> > www.apqachetrail.com/ww/
> >
Oh my and Uh Oh!
That pesky "q" snuck in there somehow and got to be the OOOOPS! from typing
on a laptop when I be used to am old-fashioned full-sized ms split
keyboard... :-(
Thanks, Bob!
www.apachetrail.com/ww/ (without the q) should do it :-)
--
-- Steve
Penury is the Mother of Invention
www.apachetrail.com/ww/
Bob Moody wrote:
> There was a time, maybe 15 or 20 years ago, when I bought ONLY Craftsman
> tools. Then, apparently, the kids in suits took over at Sears and now I buy
> anything BUT!!
<snip>
I'm with you on the power tools. Most of their hand tools (the "real"
Craftsman ones) still hold up pretty good.
I'm on the road every day and my income depends upon my tools doing what
they should. I like Craftsman over the others mainly because of the the
guarantee and the fact that Sears can be found everywhere I go. If/when
a tool fails, it seldom takes me more than a few minutes to be back in
business.
--
Larry G. Laminger
http://woodworks.laminger.com
I've always been given a new ratchet at the local Sears, but that's not the
case everywhere. This isn't a recent cost-cutting thing. Back in the '50s in
some places they'd just give you a rebuild kit for free instead of a whole
ratchet.
GTO(John)
>Last week I had a craftsman ratchet crap out on me, so took it back to
>Sears. Instead of a new ratchet, they had a supply of exchange tools near
>the register. When I asked about those tools, the salesman told me that
>they were reconditioned. Now I was under the impression that the
>replacement tools were supposed to be new. Anyone else have experience with
>this matter?
I "bought" the 2 year warranty of the 3 wheel Sears bandsaw that
included replacement blades during the annual "servicing". At pickup
time I asked "What about the blade?" and Mgr tried to wave me off but
the contract was in my pocket in anticipation. "But it says right
here in paragraph XX the blade will be replaced!" so he commented a
replacement would be mailed, it was but I'm not going back!
On Sat, 24 Jan 2004 11:54:54 -0700, "Steve"
<[email protected]> wrote:
>It appears to be that they'll (Sears) do their best to get away with the
>very least that they can when they can. Be firm, stand your ground and
>(with hope) watch them "do the right thing".
"Steve" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:%eAQb.27015$rh5.15132@okepread04...
>
> "Bob S." <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
> > Steve,
> >
> > Your sig line doesn't work or is the server just down?
> >
> > Bob S.
> >
> > "> Penury is the Mother of Invention
> > > www.apqachetrail.com/ww/
> > >
>
> Oh my and Uh Oh!
> That pesky "q" snuck in there somehow and got to be the OOOOPS! from
typing
> on a laptop when I be used to am old-fashioned full-sized ms split
> keyboard... :-(
>
> Thanks, Bob!
>
> www.apachetrail.com/ww/ (without the q) should do it :-)
> --
> -- Steve
> Penury is the Mother of Invention
> www.apachetrail.com/ww/
>
>
you must be pretty paranoid when you start munging your home page addy:)
I got mine replaced last December. They gave me a story about 3/8"
fine tooth ratchets being out of stock, I'd have to wait. Baloney. I
elected to take an ordinary 3/8" ratchet. New.
On Sat, 24 Jan 2004 18:16:14 GMT, "Wilson" <[email protected]>
wrote:
>Last week I had a craftsman ratchet crap out on me, so took it back to
>Sears. Instead of a new ratchet, they had a supply of exchange tools near
>the register. When I asked about those tools, the salesman told me that
>they were reconditioned. Now I was under the impression that the
>replacement tools were supposed to be new. Anyone else have experience with
>this matter?
>
I took a damaged socket driver in for replacement a couple of weeks a go.
The "kid" (hey, I trying to be polite!) stood a fiddled with the ratchet for
a bit and "repaired"it. He handed it back to me and acted as if that were
the end of the story.
I stood my ground and took a new one from the display rack and told the
"kid" that it was now "repaired". As I turned to leave, I nearly stepped on
the department manager who'd been watching the entire episode. She didn't
say a single word to either me or the "kid".
It appears to be that they'll (Sears) do their best to get away with the
very least that they can when they can. Be firm, stand your ground and
(with hope) watch them "do the right thing".
-- Steve
Penury is the Mother of Invention
www.apqachetrail.com/ww/
"Wilson" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Last week I had a craftsman ratchet crap out on me, so took it back to
> Sears. Instead of a new ratchet, they had a supply of exchange tools near
> the register. When I asked about those tools, the salesman told me that
> they were reconditioned. Now I was under the impression that the
> replacement tools were supposed to be new. Anyone else have experience
with
> this matter?
>
>
Wilson wrote:
> Last week I had a craftsman ratchet crap out on me, so took it back to
> Sears. Instead of a new ratchet
<SNIP> Anyone else have experience with
> this matter?
>
>
Yep, just keep finding things wrong with the replacement...eventually
they'll give in a get you a new one. Once they tried replacing my
ratchet with one that had somebody's name engraved on it. When I
wouldn't accept it, they tried getting me to take one that was similar
to the one I returned. No deal sez I. They offered to take mine and
mail it to me after they re-built it. They finally gave in and let me
get a new one.
Another time. A seven year old pair of aviation snips gave up the
ghost. I returned them for a new pair with no problem. The first time
I used them, the handles bent together making them useless. I returned
these and it went kinda like this:
"We no longer guarantee the handles on these things."
"What?"
"Too many have been getting returned."
"But the warranty says..."
"Sir, the warranty specifically says that we don't guarantee the blades
will stay sharp."
"The blades are sharp...I guess. I never got to cut anything with them,
the handles bent together the first time I tried using them."
"Well, we don't cover the handles either."
"Oh, well just what is covered."
Picking up the snips, the clerk looked them over and found that the
little swing lock still worked. "This thingy is what's covered."
"Kindly get your manager over here."
Manager picks up snips looks at me "Nope, not covered, sorry."
I began reading the warranty out loud and s-l-o-w-l-y (so they could
understand.) They finally gave me a replacement pair, but only after
realizing that nothing short of police action would get me out of the
store. I left with a warning from the manager that should this pair
fail, they will not replace them. I've been abusing those snips just
dying for the chance to take them back.
--
Larry G. Laminger
http://woodworks.laminger.com
I've had a couple hand tools go bad and I've always been given new tools
(matched as close as possible) with no questions asked. I didn't even have
to hit the register. I ONLY but Craftsman hand tools for this reason.
On a side note, anyone ever miss a tool they traded in for a new one. Even
though they didn't work that well, I was partial to a pair of vise grips I
had. They used to be my moms.. oh well.
"Wilson" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Last week I had a craftsman ratchet crap out on me, so took it back to
> Sears. Instead of a new ratchet, they had a supply of exchange tools near
> the register. When I asked about those tools, the salesman told me that
> they were reconditioned. Now I was under the impression that the
> replacement tools were supposed to be new. Anyone else have experience
with
> this matter?
>
>
That's what happens when you let the bean counters run things.
"Jim Giblin" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> I have a similar experience. When I first got into woodworking I bought
> Craftsman tools, hand and power, exclusively. I still use most of the
hand
> tools but, as the power tools failed or wore out, I purchased
> Delta/Jet/Porter-Cable/etc replacements. Not only has Craftsman tool
> quality gone down but the replacement parts no longer match the original
> specs. I went into Sears to purchase a replacement hose for my Craftsman
> shop vac. The original hose was molded on a metal spring-like core and
had
> hard plastic fitting on both ends. The replacement was a flimsy, extruded
> contraption that was of unbelievable poor quality. I continue to use the
> old hose with a little duct tape. Sears seems to have worked very hard to
> drive the quality of their tools and the Craftsman name into the ground.
>
> .
> "Bob Moody" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
> > There was a time, maybe 15 or 20 years ago, when I bought ONLY Craftsman
> > tools. Then, apparently, the kids in suits took over at Sears and now I
> buy
> > anything BUT!! The list of failures is long. Routers in particular,
> > sanders also. The list goes far beyond ratchet tools.
> >
> > Bob Moody
> >
> >
>
>
On Sun, 25 Jan 2004 07:31:22 GMT, "Subw00er" <[email protected]>
wrote:
>I've had a couple hand tools go bad and I've always been given new tools
>(matched as close as possible) with no questions asked. I didn't even have
>to hit the register. I ONLY but Craftsman hand tools for this reason.
>
>On a side note, anyone ever miss a tool they traded in for a new one. Even
>though they didn't work that well, I was partial to a pair of vise grips I
>had. They used to be my moms.. oh well.
>
I have never BOUGHT any sears tools new. I have a bunch I inherited
from both grandfathers and some uncles and such. I did exchange a
busted breaker bar for a new one.
I don't do much auto mechanicing anymore. for the amount I do, the
craftsman stuff is adequate, although I hate how sloppy the ratchets
are and the ridges and edges on the open end wrenches. some of my
stuff is SK, wright and snapon. those are good tools.
for anything other than automotive hand tools the stuff at sears seems
to be overpriced junk. the car tools are barely adequate.
Bridger
I have a similar experience. When I first got into woodworking I bought
Craftsman tools, hand and power, exclusively. I still use most of the hand
tools but, as the power tools failed or wore out, I purchased
Delta/Jet/Porter-Cable/etc replacements. Not only has Craftsman tool
quality gone down but the replacement parts no longer match the original
specs. I went into Sears to purchase a replacement hose for my Craftsman
shop vac. The original hose was molded on a metal spring-like core and had
hard plastic fitting on both ends. The replacement was a flimsy, extruded
contraption that was of unbelievable poor quality. I continue to use the
old hose with a little duct tape. Sears seems to have worked very hard to
drive the quality of their tools and the Craftsman name into the ground.
.
"Bob Moody" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> There was a time, maybe 15 or 20 years ago, when I bought ONLY Craftsman
> tools. Then, apparently, the kids in suits took over at Sears and now I
buy
> anything BUT!! The list of failures is long. Routers in particular,
> sanders also. The list goes far beyond ratchet tools.
>
> Bob Moody
>
>