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View Full Version : My 'Lifetime' warranty story...A Novella



Rick Potter
02-04-2015, 10:06 PM
In April '09 I bought a Ridgid 12V drill, and registered it for the Lifetime Warranty. A few days later, one of the two batteries would not take a charge, so I went back the HD, and they just gave me a new kit. On 2-9-10 I took it to HD in Phoenix, where I was using it, with one of the batteries not charging again. That store was nice enough to take it back and exchange it for another whole new kit. If you are keeping score, this is kit #3.

I keep this kit in a condo in Phoenix, where it gets very light use, and it gets charged up every 4 months or so. It has been great about keeping a charge, and has always worked well before charging.

Last month, one battery would not take a charge again, and the Phoenix store said they didn't handle warranty issues, so I brought it home and took it to another store, who said that I needed to go to a store that had rental tools, and they would handle warranties. At that store, they said they did handle lifetime battery warranties, and found my warranty registered properly, but naturally, the batteries registered were the original ones from way back when I bought it.

The person at HD was very helpful, and spent over an hour trying to figure out how to help me, finally managing to do it. He took back the batteries and charger, and gave me new ones, then spent half a hour re-registering the battery and charger serial numbers so that I would not have this problem again. Serious props to HD for customer service.


OK, here I am now with my fourth set of batteries, fourth charger, and third drill. The store told me the lifetime warranty procedure is that even though the new battery numbers were in the system, I still had to phone them and confirm that I had them. So, I did. I called the number and confirmed the numbers.

Now, here is where the story takes a twist, as the Village Idiot just had to say more than he needed to. The numbers are confirmed, the warranty is updated, and Mr. Big Mouth just had to ask if he should change the numbers on the drill also. This resulted in a 20 minute explanation of the above, which resulted in the nice lady putting my entire warranty on the disabled list, including the new batteries that were just entered. Silly me, thinking that reason would prevail. Now they want me to write a letter including all paperwork (which I do have), explaining how my entire set of tools is still original, just replaced piece by piece.

That is not gonna happen. Why? Because, I am done. Right after talking to the nice lady, I went out and charged up my new pair of batteries. Guess what happened. One new battery took a charge, the other would not. Ironically, if I had charged them before calling, I never would have called. In spite of great service from all stores involved, the fact remains that I have had four pairs of batteries, and one battery of each pair has been bad.

I did go back to my HD store, and asked if I could have my old battery that was good in trade for the new bad one, and the store gave me back my old one, telling me to keep the new one, so I do have two useable batteries. So, next trip it goes back to Phoenix.

Rick P

A final irony. After all this, with nothing to lose, I just rapped the bad new battery hard on the cast iron shaper table, and it is now taking a charge. Who knows for how long.

Wade Lippman
02-04-2015, 11:34 PM
I tried to register two Rigid sanders I bought at HD but Rigid said the HD receipts were invalid. But at least my sanders haven't failed.

Kent A Bathurst
02-05-2015, 12:35 AM
My lifetime wtty -

Just had left hip replaced - all good. Same cutter did my right hip 10 yrs ago - got the matched set.

At teh 4-week post-op appt. they took a new x-ray. Doc checked it out, discussed it. I asked -"What does my long-term future look like? THe first one is now 10 years old?"

He looks at me, glances over at LOML and then back at me, smiles, and says: "You can safely assume you have a lifetime wtty on both."

cue the rim-shot...............

John McClanahan
02-05-2015, 8:05 AM
I considered buying a Ridgid 12V drill kit, but this warranty deal seems to be ongoing, so when I found a Milwaukee on sale for less I went for it. I have never had to test their warranty.


John

glenn bradley
02-05-2015, 8:27 AM
That is an experience that would have me changing brands :). Remember this is a Lifetime SERVICE Agreement, not a lifetime warranty.

Just for the other side of the coin . . . The LSA does state that anytime you receive replacement items they have to be re-registered. From the website:

"If you have ever had anything replaced under LSA status, call 1-866-539-1710 to have your new equipment re-registered."

I have done this each time and have had trouble-free new batteries for years. I do leave Home Depot out of the loop though and go to a Ridgid service center (Tool-r-Us in Montclair, CA). This doesn't help if there are no service centers near you or if Home Depot is trying to act as one, which in my area they are not. It sounds like in their effort to be helpful, HD got you out of sync with the program and Ridgid was too inflexible (yes, that was a pun) to deal with any anomaly :(

Phil Thien
02-05-2015, 9:23 AM
A lifetime warranty on a battery seems almost too good to be true.

I've had terrible luck with things that seem almost too good to be true.

But I'm surprised by your failure rate. I wonder if this is a charger issue. The reason I ask is, I have Ryobi 18V lithium gear and had some problems with batteries. I think I finally figured out that the chargers wouldn't work on a battery that was depleted past a certain point (like really dead). You aren't supposed to let lithium ion batteries fully deplete, but some chargers certainly handle this condition better than others.

Well a year or two ago, Ryobi had a recall on chargers and the replacements seem better. I've accidentally allowed a battery or two to completely run out of juice (I had a radio that even when off seems to suck the batteries dry in a couple of weeks). But these new chargers seem to be able to charge the battery still.

Larry Frank
02-05-2015, 9:56 AM
Should have asked about the warranty on my hip. It wore out in seven years and had some different parts put in and they have lasted much longer. Glad the insurance paid for the replacement parts.

I have the Makita 18 volt for years and batteries still going strong.

Jim Koepke
02-05-2015, 10:15 AM
A final irony. After all this, with nothing to lose, I just rapped the bad new battery hard on the cast iron shaper table, and it is now taking a charge. Who knows for how long.

Was this something about getting batteries to work that slipped by me?

My first thought was something loose inside the battery case.


A lifetime warranty on a battery seems almost too good to be true.

A friend of mine had a life time battery warranty on a car battery that was in a 1956 Chevy his father gave him. He was able to keep getting replacements since he was named after his father. He was able to keep pulling it off until the chain went out of business. He was told a few times they make their money on these because most cars are sold before the battery dies or at least dies twice.

jtk

Wade Lippman
02-05-2015, 10:57 AM
A lifetime warranty on a battery seems almost too good to be true.



I bought 7 pair of socks at a local shoe store with a lifetime guaranty. I told the clerk they obviously won't last very long; what do I do when they wear out. He said I bring them back and get replacements. I did that 4 times and was then told they didn't have that policy anymore. I assured the clerk they can't just cancel a lifetime guaranty; he assured me they could, it came directly from their president! The manager refunded my original purchase price. Not exactly a lifetime guaranty, but the best I was going to get.

Brad Adams
02-05-2015, 11:10 AM
I wouldn't buy anything just based on a "lifetime warranty". Most things now are obsolete after ten years anyway.

Andrew Joiner
02-05-2015, 11:42 AM
A lifetime warranty on a battery seems almost too good to be true.



My thought as well Phil, but I have several top brand tools sitting idle that need expensive batteries. That seems to bad to be true!

Ridgid is better than any warranty on the market for me. Even with all the LSA sign up hassles. Now that my nearest HD does the warranty I'm like:) . The Ridgid service center is 3 hours away round trip and that made the warranty very iffy when I first bought Ridgid. I used the warranty once, smiled through the whole deal and I love the Ridgid 12v drill.

Jim Koepke
02-05-2015, 11:42 AM
I wouldn't buy anything just based on a "lifetime warranty". Most things now are obsolete after ten years anyway.

Or the company is acquired or goes out of business. Often the lifetime of the seller is less than the lifetime of the product.

jtk

John McClanahan
02-05-2015, 12:40 PM
I bought a hat one time with a lifetime warranty. The warranty even went as far as to say "We dare you to try to wear it out." Well, the front of the bill is worn out and the inner cardboard stiffener is showing, so I looked the company up online. They merged with another company and the lifetime warranty is no longer good. :mad:


John

Rick Potter
02-05-2015, 12:50 PM
I don't think it was a charger problem. After all, I have had four of them. As far as I know, there was nothing wrong with any, they just kept giving me the whole kit. The big problem was that one battery out of each pair went bad.

I didn't really buy it for the warranty, actually. At the time of original purchase, there was not much choice in 12V drills, and I liked this one best. I also have a set of Makita 18V that I use mostly working on rentals, with no trouble in about 5 or 6 years. My go to set at home is the Milwaukee M12 set, which I use every day, again with no trouble after 3 years or so. The Ridgid, having only the drill, and being the oddball battery, is kept at a condo in AZ.

Personally, I like the feel of the M12 drill set best. It is well balanced, and fits my hand, where the Ridgid is a bit front heavy. No big deal, just a preference. They both work well.

Brian Elfert
02-05-2015, 3:02 PM
I remember when the lifetime guarantee on Ridgid tools was announced. I had just bought a 12 volt Ridgid drill, but it was too early for the lifetime guarantee by a few weeks. The batteries are long dead since I ended up getting a Makita 18 volt combo kit maybe a year later and never used the Ridgid again. I should have asked Home Depot to return the drill and then re-sell it me to get the guarantee.

Anyhow, I thought the lifetime guarantee required taking the tool to an authorized Ridgid service center?

Andrew Joiner
02-05-2015, 5:15 PM
Anyhow, I thought the lifetime guarantee required taking the tool to an authorized Ridgid service center?
The LSA has gotten easier. Some HD's will do it. I think only the stores with tool rental departments.