dqdave1
Veteran Member
I could nort remember where I heard it but read this today;
Craftsman hand tools are guaranteed forever. If any Craftsman hand tool ever fails to give complete satisfaction, return it to Sears for free repair or replacement. This warranty gives you specific rights and you may also have other rights which vary from state to state. Other Craftsman tools are covered by limited warranties.
What we should (as toolaholics) be asking is, 展hat leeway does this provide stores or Sears itself in terms of interpreting the warranty痴 wording, and how is the application of the warranty changing over time?
First and foremost you値l notice that the warranty says 途epair or replacement not å*µive you a new tool off the shelf. Granted, many stores will indeed just grab a new tool off the shelf for you when you come in with your very worn, broken Craftsman hand tool. However, theyæ±*e certainly not required to. Some stores keep a cabinet full of 途epaired tools which they値l trade out to you whenever possible.
Note: We shouldn稚 have to tell you this, but since the individual salesperson will likely have the opportunity to either give you a 途epaired tool or a new one, you値l definitely increase your chance of receiving a new tool by being nice. Seriously, try it.
But what if you really read the above warranty statement like a lawyer billing hourly? What痴 a 塗and tool? Is a hammer a hand tool, or are we just talking about mechanics tools? While we haven稚 done the specific research to be able to tell you exactly which tools have been included and excluded over the years, we do know from first hand experience that Sears has indeed varied the definition of 塗and tool from time to time. And one can稚 help but notice the proliferation of 任ompanion and other-branded tools on Sears tool shelves. We致e even heard that Sears uses tool color (to some extent) to help identify which Craftsman tools are lifetime-warrantied and which ones aren稚.
Also, note that the warranty doesn稚 say anything at all about how long they値l take to provide you your repaired or replaced tool. Our experience has always been that they do so on the spot, but there痴 certainly no written requirement that they do so.
So, in summary: The Craftsman lifetime warranty isn稚 changing. The application of it, however, varies, as does the locus of tools covered under it. If you致e got a box full of Craftsman tools, you値l want to pay attention to this. And, if youæ±*e considering the purchase of a Craftsman tool, it never hurts to check around a bit to make sure that the tool youæ±*e purchasing is indeed covered under the lifetime warranty. (Or, if not, find out the specifics of the particular limited warranty under which the tool is covered.)
With that kind of information in hand, you can actually shop smart, comparing apples to apples or warranties to warranties. It痴 important to note that there are now a number of different consumer 塗and tool lines available which offer lifetime warranties, each of which apply the warranty in slightly different ways i.e. which tools they cover, how you go about getting your 途eplacement or repair, and so on.
Remember, it痴 like �l Joe says, �nowing is half the battle.
From Reader Comments: According to one reader who worked at Sears, ratchets are the only tools Sears commonly offers as a repair instead of an exchange. That壇 also make sense to us as all of the emails we致e received regarding replacement with used tools were about ratchets. Check out the comment for more info.
