Sears hand tool warranty

[Allen Bookout]

I have been mad at Sears for the last twenty years over a few things that I will not go into and have been pretty bad about saying bad things about them. So now, in all fairness this is what happened today.

I have had two small Sears ratchet wrenches for thirty years that never worked right. I have not been in a Sears store for years and years but today I decided to take them in just to see what would happen. I showed them to a person at the check out desk and they said to go pick out two new ones and they would take care of it. Sure enough, I walked out with two new ones at zero cost to me. It took all of about five minutes. I may have to reconsider my feelings about Sears and eat a little crow.

Allen

[Bob Noles]

Allen,

I did business with Sears once almost 40 years ago and had a bad experience also. Haven't given them a dollar since and don't plan to in the next 40 either :)

[Todd Davidson]

Allen ~

Being a carpenter I love the Sears/Craftsman lifetime hand tool guarantee - from speed square to T-square, levels, quick-grip style clamps, and a long list of others - when they fail just trade 'em in for new ones. I've even had good luck with Craftsman power tools over the last 20+ years. Sears has its problems and the Craftsman name gets branded on a lot of junk (anything gas powered IMHO) but they still sell US made hand tools with a lifetime guarantee so that's good enough for me.

In peace, Todd

[John Shuk]

I haven't had much luck with Sears at all. I still buy small stuff there and I buy stuff I know I might abuse for the replacement policy.

[William Daly]

The Sears/Craftsman lifetinme guarantee only works on hand tools actuially labelled "CRAFTSMAN".

It does not apply to any power tools or anything with an electric or gas motor.

It also does not apply to anything that does not have the "CRAFTSMAN" logo on it.

They have a choice ( not your choice) of giving you a btrand new repalcement or a "reconditioned" tool

Just because you bought a hand tool at Sears, does not bnecessarily mean that it has a lifetime warranty.

It also does not apply to "edge" tools.

I had bought two lathe chisels at a garage sale and they would not giv me a free replacement beacuse the lathe chisels are considiered "edge tools"

I find old tools, Sears and non Sears, at flea markets, garage sales, etc and take the old moldy Sears ones back and get a brand new replacement.

[Brian Buckley]

William,
I dont think that is what Sears had in mind when they said "lifetime guarantee".

Brian

[skip coyne]

At one time home depot was honoring the craftsman warranty and replacing with a like Husky tool which are also Guaranteed Forever I dont know if they still are .

I too am no sears fan .

[Michael Adelong]

I took a pair of actual Wiss branded snips back to Sears because they were dull. Walked out with a brand new snipper. No charge. Learned this one from the guys at the body shop who have apparently doing it for years.

Mike

[Frank Fusco]

William,
I dont think that is what Sears had in mind when they said "lifetime guarantee".

Brian


Actually, that is exactly what it used to mean. There was a time when Sears "satisfaction guaranteed" meant exactly that. I used to own a Sears franchise store. People bought Sears products because they could rely on them and knew if they weren't happy the product could be returned. While I was in business, Sears modified the guarantee and customer confidence (and sales) plumetted immediately. Sears almost vanished from the retail scene as a result. Today it is owned by K-Mart. To me, that is not reassuring. Our local store won't honor warranties without a stressful, blood-pressure raising argument. And often even that doesn't work. No more Sears for me.

[Allen Bookout]

Frank,

That is interesting. You are one certainly in the know. I had such a unexpected pleasant experience that I thought that I should share it hopeing that Sears was in for a turn around. May be it was just this store and it's management that made the difference.

Allen

[Randy Denby]

Whew, I thought it was only me with a bad taste concerning Sears. When I was young, Sears Craftsman name meant quality. That was in the late 60's, early 70's. So I bought plenty of their goods. But, I started having problems...router collets slipping, radial arm saw motor burning up, etc, and I started seeing a BIG decline in their response and quality. The straw that broke me? A few years ago my wife bought me a power washer for Christmas....not knowing my disdain for anything craftsman. I used it a couple of times then one day it shelled on me. Of course it was 3 days out of warranty. The manager said, well take it to the repair shop and we'll see what we can do.It cost me 80 dollars to find out they wouldnt help or give me a discount on a new machine, and it would be 450 dollars to repair a 275 dollar machine.....arrgghhh! No More!

[John Gregory]

As a kid, my mom worked for Sears, and in the 60's 70's Sears would bend over backwards to keep a customer happy. She worked in the electrical dept. They sold appliances too. Once a woman brought back a new can opener because it would not open cat food cans. The customer immediately got a refund. NO HASSEL! Mom bought the can opener from the department manager for $1 and it opened every can we tried for 15 years. Over the years she bought a lot of nice items for a dollar or two (customer returns).
Growing up, Sears/Craftsman used to mean quality, That is not the case today. It has been sad to see the decline of this retail giant.

[Dave Falkenstein]

I find old tools, Sears and non Sears, at flea markets, garage sales, etc and take the old moldy Sears ones back and get a brand new replacement.

William - As your signature says, "God made money so we can go out and buy more tools!" Don't you think it is just a bit inappropriate to take advantage of the Sears policy by exchanging old, cast-off tools for new ones???

I have used Sears hand tools for a long time. Not too long ago I had what I considered a legitimate beef with several Craftsman sanding belts - the glue had released, making the belts useless. I took them into the local Sears store, and the clerk would not make them good. Seems Sears had changed the packaging, and he could not find an exact replacement. I took the problem to Sears Customer Service via the Internet and they fixed the problem for me. A bad situation turned good. They are trying - at least in some instances.

[Lee Schierer]

I've returned a few Craftsmand hand tools at our local store and never had any problems. They usually get a new one right of the shelf and had it to you. The warranty on other Craftsman articles such as power tools is worded considerably different and you are out of luck 30 days after you walk out the door with it in some cases and then only if you have your receipt.

[Daniel Heine]

Hello,

I am not a big Sears fan either. My father would never buy any other brand of tool. He does not unbderstand that they are not the same quality now that they were 30 years ago when he bought his power tools. I went to the local Sears a few years ago, looking for a new lawn mower. I looked, and neede help. I had to get someone to help me, and when I asked him to explain the difference between 2 mowers, he studied for a few minutes, and said, " that one is $299.99 and the other one is $399.99". I left and bought a new TORO at the local, privately owned small engine shop. He still will not take a nickel from me for the minor repairs I have needed, and when it's time for another new motor, he has my business guaranteed.
I think one of the things wrong in this country is peoples loyalty to the Home Depots, and WalMarts instead of business owned by humans that live in your town, and have knowledge of the products they sell. Try to find someone in the corporate stores that has a clue about what they are trying to sell.

My $0.02 worth.

Thanks,
Dan Heine

[Bruce Benjamin]

While I don't buy a lot from Sears anymore I do own a few Craftsman-badged major power tools I bought within the past 10 to 15 years as well as 2 or 3 small hand held power tools. Most of my wrenches and screwdrivers are Craftsman as well and I've never had a problem getting them to replace any hand tool, even when I melted a screwdriver with electricity. But the best example of great customer service I've received from them was with my 12" CMS. I've had it for about 10 years or more and sometimes I'd put an abrasive wheel on it and abuse the heck out of it cutting all sorts of mild steel. I'm talking pushing it until the motor makes a weird noise and almost stops. I'd replaced all of the plastic parts with fabricated metal ones so it didn't melt. Finally a couple of years ago I was cutting some metal and it gave up the ghost. It actually caught on fire! I unplugged it, extinguished the small flames and called the Sears customer service hotline. I spoke to a very nice lady and explained that I needed a new motor. She had to figure out if it was still available and how much it would cost and said she'd call me back first thing in the morning. Guess what. She called me back at 8:00 AM with the info. She told me the new motor came with a new handle and switch assembly and was about $225 or so plus shipping. I wasn't interested in that since for another hundred bucks or less I could get a whole new saw and it would be better. She said she'd see what she could do and call me back. She called me back in less than an hour and said they'd ship me one for just over $100. I don't remember the exact price but it was about that. I decided that was a great deal and ordered it and that price included shipping. The very next *MORNING* before 10:00 AM I had the new motor on my doorstep! That had to cost them a bundle to ship. The only difference between this one and the old one is the lack of Craftsman labels. The saw is still as accurate as any CMS I've ever used and it works great. I don't use it to cut metal anymore though.

I think the people who constantly whine about Sears customer service are the exception. How is it that myself, my dad, my brother and a few of my local friends have had such good luck with the customer service and so many other people have had such bad luck? I think that you usually only hear about the bad experiences and don't hear about the good ones. You've heard about mine. I know that the quality of many of their power tools has declined compared to years past but that can apply to many different tool companies as well. Many people love their newer line of table saws and their 14" band saw and I'm sure some other tools they sell as well. You just have to pick and choose. It sure is easy to dog-pile onto Sears and Craftsman on these WW forums but I don't really think it's fair to just single them out. The worst customer service experience I've ever had by far was with Jointech, not Sears. http://groups.google.com/group/Jointechwoodworking/browse_thread/thread/0493ae1dba64fe55

Long, ugly story but 100% true. I think I'll gather up a few Craftsman screw drivers that are sort of trashed, a rusty adjustable wrench I found in the backyard, and a sloppy 3/8" ratchet and drive over to Sears and see how they treat me. I'll let ya know...

Bruce

[Larry Norton]

I have taken several Craftsman tape measures back to them. One I got caught in my RAS blade, it was missing a chunk in the blade, they gave me a new one. One had a line worn to bare metal and I couldn't see the Sixteenth markings, they gave me a new one.

I haven't tried in the last few years, hopefully it's still the same