I think I'm done with Sears/Craftsman.
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I'm no mechanic but I second the crappy tools coming out of sears issue. I had a tool break and they blamed me and wouldn't take it back a few years ago so now I won't buy those tools & they are suddenly overpriced. Coming soon: sears bankrupt again.
Same here, as far as smaller socket sets. For bigger sockets, I have an assortment of S-K, Snap-On and Craftsman. If I need something special, I hit the flea markets. Usually, I can find old craftsman ratchets and various sockets for pennies on the dollar.hurst1979olds said:
I used to work for home depot for almost 8 years. I was told by the main buyers for the company that the husky tool were being made at a old craftsman plant when it was closed they boult it to make husky there. That was the time craftsman started breaking alot and some of there tools are not made in the usa anymore. I have snaped a new craftsmans ratchets head off in a few hours of work. My black husky set i have had for 5 years now is still holding up. Never broke any of the scokets or rachets but the star bits are stripping. But i have never had a set of star bit that didnt. That being said i hate home depot now, wont shop there or go see my friends there when there working makes my skin craw being in the place. But i have to say you cant beat a good a snap on tool. I habe borrowed some of my dads rachets and stood on them to break a bolt loose and not broke them. Craftsman i pure garbage now would not even consider there tools now, rather but a cheepo from hf then sears these days.
Earlier post mentioned SK. I have a 1/2 drive ratchet that I use daily and have for close to 20 years. I got it when I dug a broken one from a trash can and took it to the SK dealer who replaced it no questions asked. Same story with a 15" flex handle. Have a well used but plenty of life left set of wrenches and sockets in our shop that all are 25 years old at least and still in use. Now the local store that sold SK has closed. No place around here to buy unless I special order. Just recently blew the side out of 2 SK hex bit sockets from one of the old sets. No place to get warranty on those, so I'll probably replace with another brand.
i don't know what some of you are doing to break your tools but i don't have this problem. most of my tools are craftsman and are 15+ years old. i once broke a matco ratcheting wrench but i blame that on a defect, the rest never gave me a problem.
i suspect some of you abuse your tools and we have all done it at some point so anyone who says they haven't or don't is a big fat liar who should be beaten with a bank bag full of nickels. i have put another wrench on another wrench (closed end on open end) to get more leverage, i have use bars on wrenches to get more leverage as well. not one wrench has broken, i havent had a broken ratchet, screwdriver, etc. i have matco screwdrivers that i use a lot and they don't show a lot of wear on them and i use them for everything, car, house, etc. i almost bent one (remember, they are not: pry bars, chisels or punches) but that's my fault for misusing a tool.
i get that tools do wear out and eventually fail, especially ratcheting mechanisms and the like but as i said, i think some of you are misusing and abusing your tools. so don't be surprised when a tool not designed for what you're doing with it fails on you.
i suspect some of you abuse your tools and we have all done it at some point so anyone who says they haven't or don't is a big fat liar who should be beaten with a bank bag full of nickels. i have put another wrench on another wrench (closed end on open end) to get more leverage, i have use bars on wrenches to get more leverage as well. not one wrench has broken, i havent had a broken ratchet, screwdriver, etc. i have matco screwdrivers that i use a lot and they don't show a lot of wear on them and i use them for everything, car, house, etc. i almost bent one (remember, they are not: pry bars, chisels or punches) but that's my fault for misusing a tool.
i get that tools do wear out and eventually fail, especially ratcheting mechanisms and the like but as i said, i think some of you are misusing and abusing your tools. so don't be surprised when a tool not designed for what you're doing with it fails on you.
I'm up to it with sears as well. Their customer service is terrible, it took me 10 minutes to exchange a wrench because they had to ring it all up in their fancy computer. It's terrible. The tool quality is going down the drain too, so I'm done with them. I get most of my stuff from Modern Builder's Supply.
The only Craftsman tool I have ever had a problem with was an air impact wrench. The thing was a piece of crap. Sears only warrantys power tools for one year, how convenient. Like others have said their customer service is worthless, and the employees at my local sears have the personally of a dead fish. They have always honored the warranty on the broken hand tools I have brought in, but they get pissed when you show up to just exchange broken tools. Then I found out the guys get paid commission on their sales, and thats why they were getting pissed when you just came in to exchange some broken sockets, etc.
Now when I go in with a broken tool, I go over to the $1000.00 snow blowers or other expensive items and act like I'm really interested in buying one. When the sales man comes over to try to sell me the thing, I pull out my broken tools and say I need to exchange these, and the thing it out of my price range. Plus you get help a lot faster than standing at the front counter wait for the lazy b*&^$*.
Now when I go in with a broken tool, I go over to the $1000.00 snow blowers or other expensive items and act like I'm really interested in buying one. When the sales man comes over to try to sell me the thing, I pull out my broken tools and say I need to exchange these, and the thing it out of my price range. Plus you get help a lot faster than standing at the front counter wait for the lazy b*&^$*.
I'm done with them too, I've broken the last two ratchets that I had from them and they give you a hard time when you try to get a "free lifetime" replacement one. They told me they don't make that particular style anymore so therefore they won't honor it. DUH! They obviously don't make the same style ones as they did 20 years ago or so.
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