I lost interest in Craftsman a few years ago when I needed to replace a 1/2" drive ratchet that was skipping . From the time I walked into the door , plus 50' to tool counter , till I finally walked out with new ratchet , was around 25 minutes . This after they tried to " Repair " the ratchet first , but could not find the needed parts . Drove across town to Harbor Freight with one of their ratchet's doing the same thing . 5 minutes in and out the door with a new ratchet . If I covered up the handle of both ratchet's and just showed the head , You would swear that the H.F. ratchet was the " Craftsman " , based upon the direction lever is plastic on the Craftsman , ( plus it flops around ) , and the H.F. is metal and solid .
Think they have different qualities of ratchet's at Sears , But if I brought in a ratchet with a metal direction lever , you would think I would get the same back instead of a Kmart version . Ironically between those 2 ratchets , The H.F. one was totally abused , as in like a hammer sometimes , crow bar the next , etc... . I buy based upon multiple factors including frequency of use , value , ease of return if it breaks , etc.... and for me , in my location , H.F. has for the most part been my source .
Fred H.
