Ridgid ROS warranty (rant)

[Jason Hallowell]

I bought a ridgid 6" random orbital sander a few months ago from the borg. The other day I turned it on and started sanding a table top. About a minute later it suddenly started making a horrible grinding noise and gave off an odor of something burning. The tool has only had a few months of light use.

I had gone online and registered the tool for the warranty when I bought it, but ridgid claims to have no record of me doing so. They said without the registration info I would need to provide the original receipt, which I no longer have. I went down to home depot thinking maybe they could pull up a copy of the reciept for me using the card I used to buy it. Turns out they only keep records for 3 months, and I purchased it about 3.5 months ago.

Buying another ROS is no big deal, but it just really ticks me off that a company won't honor their warranty for a defective tool. I briefly considered buying another one and then using the reciept to return the defective one, but even though I feel like I've been screwed, my conscience won't let me do it. Besides that, I'm not sure I want another ridgid sander after this experience.

[Dave Lehnert]

I have read about problems with their "Lifetime warranty" and on-line registration.

Not sure why you would not keep your receipt. I work in retail and customers seem so surprised they need a receipt.

[glenn bradley]

I have a file for all my shop tool receipts and another for supplies. I am just a hobbyist but these items can be expensive. I'm just not very trusting in that respect (read potentially obsessive behavior).

I also did not receive what I felt was an adequate "receipt" for my LSA registration so I emailed them. Their reply contained the info that showed that I was in their system. They could really improve this offering and more than half of me believes they make it painful so people will make errors or just not do it.

Kinda like store rebates; initial response to any inquirey about the payment is that you didn't include something or other; as soon as I fax them a copy of exactly what I sent them, the check is in the mail. I have just grown to expect this.

If you are not in their system then the registration was not completed (easy to do as their notification of sucessful completion is weak). The tossed receipt compounds your problem. Any chance that you didn't pay by cash? Any paper trail at all should quickly resolve this.

[Eric Larsen]

I have read about problems with their "Lifetime warranty" and on-line registration.

Not sure why you would not keep your receipt. I work in retail and customers seem so surprised they need a receipt.

I give my credit card to the cashier at most of the places I shop, and they can tell me exactly what I have bought and how much I have spent going back several months. That's good enough for me. I shred my receipts after a week or two. There's enough paper in my life.

I buy most of my tools used. A sadly dwindling number of good companies aside, warranties offer nothing other than piece of mind at the time of the sale. (And endless frustration if the product is defective.)

When the tool dies, I try to fix it. If I cannot, I have it fixed or replace it. It's better than being placed on hold for two hours to a call center in Mumbai. It's also better than writing futile letters to CEOs who drive their companies into the ground while making millions in salary.

If a company has a solid reputation for quality products and real customer service -- they keep my business. I don't mind paying extra for that. (Lee Valley, Zippo, Hammacher Schlemmer et al, don't change a thing...)

And I do not believe that the customer is always right. (I've worked retail and I've seen what some customers are willing to do.) But I do believe in getting what I pay for. Sadly, with a majority of corporations I believe I'm not getting it, and I haven't in quite some time. (Are you listening, General Electric?)

[Rick Fisher]

That "keeping records for 3 months" is bogus.. If that sander burned down your house, Borg could find the records.

There should be a date stamped on the tool. A manufacturing date.. I dont own any Rigid stuff, (because I dont shop at BORG) but everything has a date stamp.

Most building supply stores could find the receipt for you in a few minutes..

[Scott Kuykendall]

I have several tool from Ridge and it states in the warranty that you have to register it with them. On all the tool I bought they have sent me a email stating that they receive the registration. Another place is on there web site they have it where you list all the Ridge tools you own and it says is they have been registered under the lifetime warranty. They have certain steps they make you take because a lot of people don't do all the steps and then they don't have to cover it, plus they give you 90 days to register it. You still should be covered under the 3 year warranty. I didn't see anything about have to show a sales receipt. You might want to see if there is a service center close to you and try to drop it off.
http://www.ridgid.com/Manuals/RidgidLSA.pdf
Scott

[Garth Keel]

I sent in all the paperwork for the lifetime warranty on a Ridgid Drill Press I purchased online (New). 6 months later Ridgid sent back my registration and said I didn't include a Home Depot receipt. Of course not. I bought it from another retailer. The "lifetime Warrenty" says nothing, on either side about a requirement to buy from Home Depot (I just checked). Also, they didn't send back the UPC code, the delivery receipt from the CC. So now I couldn't have the warrenty because I don't have the proper documentation. I have 3 Ridgid tools. I'll never buy another.

[Paul Ryan]

I own 2 rigid tools. I have never had a warranty issue with either of them. But if you log into rigids web site you can see if you tools are reistered yet. I also keep all of my recipts for tools, and material purchased for wood working. The warranties vary for each maufacturer and it never hurts to hang on to your recipt. I staple all of my recipts on to the owners manual, and store them in a drawer in my shop.

[Dave Sweeney]

Sorry but the problem is with your record keeping and not with Ridgid. Any product, no matter what it is, that requires service under the warranty period also requires that a dated receipt be provided to prove that the product is indeed still under warranty. If the customer can't provide that information then there is little the manufacturer can do for that customer.

[Eric DeSilva]

If a company has a solid reputation for quality products and real customer service -- they keep my business. I don't mind paying extra for that. (Lee Valley, Zippo, Hammacher Schlemmer et al, don't change a thing...)

Hammacher Schlemmer? Seriously? The Skymall people?

It would not have occurred to me to put Lee Valley in the same category.

[Eric Larsen]

Hammacher Schlemmer? Seriously? The Skymall people?

It would not have occurred to me to put Lee Valley in the same category.


They'll take anything back for any reason for the life of the product. If something purchased from H&S breaks, the only question in the customer's mind is, "Do I have any ethical problems asking them to replace/refund this item?" There are people out there that abuse the policy, sure. But their customer service is top notch.

Kind of like Zippo lighters. It's guaranteed to work for generations. Broken Zippo? Send it back and they will fix it, free. Forever. The only reason to buy more than one Zippo is if you lose one, or if you collect them.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

I don't think it's unreasonable for a retailer to require a receipt for either warrantee or refund situations.

If no receipt was required, one could easily steal one and then return it saying "I'm unhappy, I want my money back in cash, please."

There was a time when folks could do business and a handshake was the only contract needed. Those days are gone. Too many dishonest or immoral people out there.

A couple of years ago I bought a carpet steam cleaner at a local borg. While looking at the available models and trying to decide which one to buy some guy said "Psssst. Buy it...use it.....bring it back and get your money back....I do it all the time" Folks....if that's not illegal it surely is immoral.

Receipt needed? Yup most everywhere.

[Eric Larsen]

A couple of years ago I bought a carpet steam cleaner at a local borg. While looking at the available models and trying to decide which one to buy some guy said "Psssst. Buy it...use it.....bring it back and get your money back....I do it all the time" Folks....if that's not illegal it surely is immoral.


Not a legal scholar, but I'm sure that's fraud. It's also the reason we pay too much.

Any person or company where a handshake is still a deal gets my loyal business. They're still out there, look hard for them. It's something we really ought to try to resurrect.

[Jason Hallowell]

Maybe I should have kept better records, but I live in a 440 square foot house, and don't save anything that's not absolutely neccesary. I mistakenly thought that when I registered the product online, and recieved a confirmation e-mail, that it was safe to toss the reciept. I don't currently have access to the e-mail as my company is in the process of switching e-mail systems. If I really wanted to I could probably get a copy of the confirmation e-mail from my IT dept, and use it to pursue getting the sander replaced. I'm not going to sweat it, just going to buy another sander elsewhere, and stay away from ridgid in the future. If they want to make a product that won't last 4 months, and then make warranty replacement a huge hassle, I'd rather not have their tools in my shop anyways. There are plenty of companies out there that make quality tools and provide some form of customer service.

[Joel Goodman]

Jason I'm with you -- they are in the wrong. You might try looking on the website for the company -- not for shopping and contact the CEO's office. Sometimes that does work. The point is that you bought their tool expecting they would honor their commitment and the "failure" to keep the receipt is not material. Contrast that to LV, LN and a few other folks. I had a problem with a repair two weeks after the warranty expired on a Viking stove and I wrote to the CEO explaining that I expected better on a top quality item and he agreed and sent me a check for the repair bill with his letter.

[Bruce Wrenn]

Unfortunately, One World Tech. (owner of the Ridgid brand) has set itself up for a class action suit, IMHO. I have registered two different tools (by mail). Only after having problems with one (which they fixed) did I receive my registration letter, again by mail. Second tool was registered last December, and now it is seven months later, and nothing back yet. They either didn't anticipate people actually registering lifetime service agreements, or cut back on staffing to process them. So right now, you can only hope that they will honor their commitment. Bad thing about first lifetime service agreement is it's on a tool which they replaced with a refurbished unit which only carries a one year warranty. Borg (HD) only keeps sales info long enough for returns. A third party (Citi Bank- remember them, they got BILLIONS of tax payer dollars) processes their credit, so they dont care about your warranty issues. .

[Joel Earl]

I learned a long time back - anything I value and costs me much, with a warranty that I might someday use __ I keep receipts on it all. Even scan them into a database on my 'fuser in the event the ink fades. Over-kill? Not really ...sadly

Do I enjoy doing this? - nope. Do I feel the need? - yep. The last comment about LV doing things w/o a receipt wasn't what happened to me and I had lost the thing .... but it was on my backup disk. Click-print-covered under warranty!

I am not sure if I actually can blame a company for requiring it - there are so many dishonest people who'd scam anyone if they get the chance I don't think you can just act on blind faith anymore.
I used to walk into Daytons/Target and could flip anything on the counter, used, abused whatever. Returned - no questions asked. Lousy business model at that. lol

Now today I live in a home actually built 30 years ago by one of the Dayton family members .... no chit on this .... and if I could I'd return the dang thing under warranty claim. No chit there either. It just don't work that way .... my so-called home warranty thru the real estate company is kaput. Not expired - kaput. The company honoring same with ERA went belly-up. Even a company carrying my 10 year, 100K extended warranty on my truck went belly-up. So much for warranty at that. Sometimes they not worth a heck of a lot:(

[Matt Meiser]

Stuff like this reminds me of why I like my local hardware. We bought a fairly inexpensive rake a few years ago from them and this spring it gave up the ghost. I was going to throw it away and noticed that it had a "10 year warranty" so I took it with me on my next trip. Their price tag was still clearly readable and no questions asked they gave me a refund since they don't carry the exact same rake anymore. And when I pointed out that the refund was for $9 more than the rake I was buying since the new one was on sale she just told me that was $9 toward my other purchases.

[Bill Blackburn]

Bought my Toro lawnmower 3 years ago. It came with an extended 5 year warranty which is why I bought it over a higher priced model I wanted.
I filled out the warranty, sent it in and got back a letter from Toro along with what's covered ... essentially all.

So it's blowing blue smoke - valve went south I assume. I take it along with the letter from Toro into the local repair center few weeks back. He looks at the letter, which is even dated and states on it the warranty period, then he says where's the receipt?
He needs the receipt to submit for warranty reimbursement. Toro's policy. Huh? Say what?

Let's see - I have the letter from Toro thanking me for purchasing from them mower and that requires a copy of receipt to even register it in the first place. I can't find the receipt anymore and just figured the Warranty Letter would always be enough. Wrong.

Called Toro - was told the same story. Talked to a manager-same thing. Sent a letter off to the VP of marketing - never heard a word back to date
Needless to say I'd never buy anything from Toro again. Told the shop to keep the stinking thing too - totally done with it.

These stupid companies have to spend and spend to get customers to buy and then lose us this way. Bunch of fumbling baboons is what they are. I'm still blowing smoke myself over this one.:mad::mad::mad:

Give me Harbor Freight customer service anyday over 99% of what these companies offer. Sad that the smelliest, cheapest of them all out-does most of them on any day of the year.

And all these companies actually wonder where there customers are? Babbling baboons

[David G Baker]

I keep paper. I have receipts that are 45 years old on big ticket items in case I need a verification if I have a fire and my equipment gets destroyed.
One thing I hate about types of receipts is the receipts that are printed on heat sensitive paper. The printing disappears from the paper in a short period of time and if you try to copy the receipt there is a fair chance that the light from the copier will fade the print so it can't be read. No receipt, no return.

[Paul Ryan]

Let's see - I have the letter from Toro thanking me for purchasing from them mower and that requires a copy of receipt to even register it in the first place. I can't find the receipt anymore and just figured the Warranty Letter would always be enough. Wrong.




With record keeping that is all computerized today, it is a joke that you must keep your recipt once the product is registered. As I stated earlier I keep all of my recipts. But it is still retarted that we must show a recpit once a product has been registered. Ever product that I know to qualify for a loner than a standard warranty the product must be registered with a recipt. At that point you are notified that it is registered and the warranty if in effect. Once servic is required how hard is it for the service shop to call in the machine, give them the serial number and the customers name. If it matches done deal it should be covered. I can understand needing the orginal recipt to activate the orginal warranty, but come on once it is registered that is stupid.

I do a lot of work with extended warranty companies on vehicles every week. They find reasons to deny claims all of the time. But if the serial number, miles, and customers name matches, that is all they need to consider the claim. It should be no different with equipment, mileage does not come into play, maybe hours, but not to many things have hours meters on them yet. Usually in the automotive industy if you have a factory extended warranty it is a very easy and painless warranty use. Apparently that is not the cast with tools, machines, and equipment.

[John Thompson]

Every electrical tool I have owned over the past 38 years I keep the reciept. I use a metal file box.. staple the reciept to the owners manual and file it alphabetically. And I do send in the warranty registration along with a photo-stat of reciept.

I have the Ridgid 6" and purchased it when Metabo was building it. It is now produced in China. I run heck out of it and no problem which really doesn't help you so..... I think that Ridgid in this case is taking a rather Ridgid approach and frankly.. it stinks to high heaven IMO>

Sarge..

[Ray Dockrey]

The problem with Home Depot receipts is that they will fade over time and in a hurry. Within about six months you can't read them anyway. I was told by a Home Depot employee one time to make copies of the receipts and staple the original to the copy so they can be read.

I don't buy Ridgid tools unless they are on clearance at a great price so I don't register them and just take the three year warranty. I figure if I get three years out of them I am good plus from all the negatives I have heard about service chances of getting them serviced in a timely is probably small so I just don't bother.

It is probably bad reasoning on my part but I am okay with it plus if they go out I have an excuse to get a new tool.

[Larry Browning]

Has anyone else had the ink (or whatever it is they use now, thermal paper?) fade away on a store receipt? This happened to me on a Ridgid cordless drill I bought a few years ago. They said that after registration I could get free battery replacement for life as long as I had the original receipt. This was the main reason I bought that particular brand at that particular time. I am a hobbiest and am pretty easy on my tools (for the most part). So after about 3 years of occational use the batteries went kabut. I had diligently kept the receipt stapled to the manual in the plastic case. When I looked at the receipt it had completely faded and looked like a blank piece of paper! I took it to the HD I had bought it at and was told that since the piece of paper I claimed to be the original receipt was blank they could not honor it. Plus, they said if the drill is over 3 years old the lifetime of the TOOL had expired anyway so no batteries for me. Apparently I had mistakenly assumed that it was my lifetime they were talking about, not the tool's. So apparently nowadays, a lifetime warranty is the product's expected lifetime (as determined by the manufacturer), not mine.

[Bill Blackburn]

So there still are some extecnded warranty companies that are factually in existance and paying claims it sounds like.

I was so ticked off the last 2 times when the 2 companies failed and left all hanging I could have killed the carrier. What made me even madder was when they REMAINED in business, allowed to domicile to some island since they didn't meet statuatory reserves in MN and then the State let them keep writing policies thru the Credit Unions - the belief was they would take in money, repay the first claims and in time make all whole. That one was in 2001. In 2007 they shut it down all together. Best as one can guess not a soul ever got a time and those shelling out a grand in the last few years really got screwed.
MN -- insurers have always been able to pull off whatever suits them best. The exception was the AmFam class action...a slap on the wrist at best.

HD's huh .... where in the southern part of MN you at? My 2 boys are in market

[Bill Blackburn]

Many times - I believe it's almost a worthless joke and will benefit them, not us. Make a copy or scan it. Otherwise when it is needed you'll be looking a a mostly blank piece of something-and that is what they will tell you when you plead your case at the CS desk.

[Tyler Davis]

Jason - take it down do Western Tool Inc. on South Campbell

bring whatever documentation you have - emails w/ dates, etc. They don't require a receipt. They will fix it under the LSA if possible, and if not, they will order a replacement under the LSA

[Dell Littlefield]

If you bought it with a credit card, your card company can probably verify the purchase and that should work to confirm your purchase. It has worked for me.

[Jason Hallowell]

Jason - take it down do Western Tool Inc. on South Campbell

bring whatever documentation you have - emails w/ dates, etc. They don't require a receipt. They will fix it under the LSA if possible, and if not, they will order a replacement under the LSA

Thanks Tyler, I've used Western Tool before, and they're really close to my house. Once my e-mail sytem gets fully transfered over, I'll print out the warranty registration e-mail and bring it down there.

[Ellen Benkin]

Can't you just take it back to HD and say "it doesn't work" and take a store credit? That's what I do when I lose the receipt (which happens regularly). I don't think it's worth fighting with them, just use the policies they already have in place.

[Mark Elmer]

Hi all,

More and more I am not shopping at Home Depot even though one of my sons is on their payroll.

I had an issue with an expensive pond pump a couple of years back and I had the receipt but left without satisfaction.

They also seem to be pretty tight with GE (General Electric) who I suspect is in pretty tight with all of this "Global warming, Global cooling, Climate change, Go Green" malarky.

It is a shame that another once great company has turned into another disapointment.

[Josh Reid]

It may only be a Texas thing but businesses are required to keep copies of receipts for seven years. I have worked at numerous places where every year we would clean out the old receipts from seven years back. Plus we could go back and pull up any customers past purchases by their card. Just a thought. You might go back and press the BORG for a receipt because they should have a copy or be able to pull it up.

[Howard Acheson]

I assume all know that the Ridgid "Lifetime Service Agreement" is an offering by Ridgid, not the retailer. You must register the tool and send the tool to it to an authorized repair location to exercise the provisions of the agreement.

[David Keller NC]

Jason - Suppose this is obvious, but you might consider purchasing a replacement ROS from a company with a better rep for quality if you can't get satisfaction on your warranty.

I've had a few tools from Bosch, DeWalt and in one case, Craftsman, go South on me and they were fixed for no charge w/o the receipt. In the case of the Bosch/Dewalt tools, the factory store looked up the serial number and determined that it has been manufactured after the date where the warranty would be up, so no questions and no receipt. In the case of the Craftsman (a portable drill/driver), I had the original packaging and it was obvious to the store manager that it was new, so they cheerfully replaced it with the same model, no questions asked.

[Steve Clardy]

Has anyone else had the ink (or whatever it is they use now, thermal paper?) fade away on a store receipt? This happened to me on a Ridgid cordless drill I bought a few years ago. They said that after registration I could get free battery replacement for life as long as I had the original receipt. This was the main reason I bought that particular brand at that particular time. I am a hobbiest and am pretty easy on my tools (for the most part). So after about 3 years of occational use the batteries went kabut. I had diligently kept the receipt stapled to the manual in the plastic case. When I looked at the receipt it had completely faded and looked like a blank piece of paper! I took it to the HD I had bought it at and was told that since the piece of paper I claimed to be the original receipt was blank they could not honor it. Plus, they said if the drill is over 3 years old the lifetime of the TOOL had expired anyway so no batteries for me. Apparently I had mistakenly assumed that it was my lifetime they were talking about, not the tool's. So apparently nowadays, a lifetime warranty is the product's expected lifetime (as determined by the manufacturer), not mine.

That ink disappears amazingly fast when the receipt stays in your billfold for a month or so. :o



I keep all receipts. They go into my shop records folder.

[peter leyden]

My experience with receipts from HD is that with time the printing fades to the point where it would require a forensic team from the FBI to read. I make copies of my receipts, just in case.
BTW, I believe it is receipts printed by thermal printers that fade the worst.
Pete Leyden

[Joe Jensen]

I think you guys are missing the point. Many many companies design their customer service policies to maximize "shrinkage". That's what they call it in the industry. The idea is to offer a service that is appealing and sounds fantastic so people will buy. They hire companies who specialize in designing the system so that most people give up before reaching the finish line. I met a guy who was bidding on the concierge service for a major credit card line. The service was marketed by the credit card company as a major benefit to their card holders. The guy I met with had designed the phone system to by so hard to navigate that 99.5% of customers who tried gave up. In the end the utilization was so low that the total cost to the card company for the service was less than $.50 per year per card holder.

Rigid sound like a company who has done this with their warranty system. Offer lifetime warranty, have registation required, but then also require the reciept. Rebates are like this. The rule of thumb is that only 22% of rebates are actually redeemed.

[Mike Rodick]

I had a similiar issue when I purchased their Contractor Table saw last year.

I bought it, went online and filled out all the warranty information for the LSA and waited for the status to change.

After 3 months, I e-mailed them and told them I had sent in and set up all the necessary info required for the LSA.

I got a reply back stating that it was not on record and that I would have to resubmit it.

About 3 days later when I was trying to round up the paperwork again, I looked on their site and it showed my Table Saw warranty was now under a LSA agreement instead of 3 years.

All I can assume is it's a known issue and you may just have to ask and hope they update your info.

I know it shouldn't be necessary but seems like every action has to be followed up these days to ensure it's completed.

[Greg McClurg]

Jason,

IMO the Borg is not telling you the truth. The next time you are at the check out register (if you ever go again), look up and you will see a camera pointed at you. If they wanted to they can actually pull up a picture of you buying the tool based on your credit card number with the exact date and the skew number of every item you purchased. I used to work for the company that developed the software that the Borg uses, and they have the information for a lot farther back than 3 months. Your type of experience is one of the many reasons I only use them when I have to.