So I don’t feel so bad now getting a battery from AA. Dead, was trying to figure out the logistics of jumping it and getting like 25mi to a Sears, prying out the battery in the parking lot (or paying who knows how much for their auto-center to do it), then getting it back in.
Saw the AA sticker on the side of the battery, called, got a price, nice guy came in the pouring rain to test the whole system and do the swap, and got a nice multi-year no-questions warranty.
150 and change after tax, gave him 170 for his trouble (and my lack thereof), over and done-with in less than 2hrs from when I first called. Well worth it.
not even their going out of business sales were good. We went there the last week the Augusta Maine store was open. A bathing suit for our daughter was still going to be $18 after the 40-80% discount. and it was nothing special
I mentioned that to my gf, wondered aloud why a company that’s on the ropes and NEEDS business would do something screwy like that, and her only reaction was a stunned “Amazing…”.
I didn’t go into my Rat Shack diatribe, did I? I just mentioned in a PM here a while ago, wil dig it up vs retyping it.
Lol, reminds me of about 20yrs ago. I used to own a 1948 Chris Craft Mahogany runabout boat. It had the original Flat head straight 6 engine. A buddy of mine who was an expert on flathead engines was helping me rebuild it. He was over at my house and I had my trusty Craftsman wrenchs we were using. A couple of the head bolts you had to use an open end wrench vs a box end. The bolt rounded out the inside of my craftsman wrench and my friend looked at and said “this F…… Piece of S…” and threw my damaged wrench out in the bushes. Walked to his truck and brought back his Snap-on wrenches and the bolts came out no problem.
Not Craftsman, but some generic “buy 10bux worth off crap and get a free set of sockets” garbage. Literally one-use.
Was underneath my car trying to undo the bolt holding the muffler on the hanger. Obviously rusted. Giving it a good slow pull… finally it’s giving, as I feel the resistance give way as I’m pulling on the handle-part… and then the handle unceremoniously separated.
It’s as if the handle were made of lead, that it just bent and, I guess that’s it, not even “snapped” off, but just pulled and felt like taffy.
Imaging the look on my mug as I’m just looking in absolute disbelief at the meringue-peak of metal on the handle where the head used to be.
I had a $90+ ratchet break on me trying to swap the blades on my mower. It was an 1/2” Armstrong ratcheting spud wrench. Going, going, gears strip… they dont make them no more so they offered me a regular ratchet… but its my precious spud ratchet… I got a 1/2” Armstrong ratchet I need to get around to seeing if the guts are the same though. Swap the guts and get my regular ratchet replaced, if they are interchangeable that it…
good riddence.
sears has been dead to me for about 20 years.
up till then i bought nothing but craftsman tools.
sears was everywhere and it was never an issue to get a broken tool replaced what few ever failed me.
then they went flaky on warranty’s,closed lots of stores,stopped stocking stuff,ect.
the writing was on the wall….
Lately I bet, most people are only going to Sears to exchange broken tools before the store is gone. I have thought about it… getting all my screwdrivers I have received as gifts over the years Re-Newed. If you know what I mean… Sears is probably giving more tools away than they are selling. Who would buy a Lifetime warranty tool from a brand that may not be here soon? I understand the Name has been sold but not sure about the details.
Looks as if Stanley/Black and Decker now owns the name. Grrr… I haven’t been happy about anything B&D in the last 15+yrs either. My $30 Dustbuster’s battery started failing, and I couldn’t find any replacements under $50. That was my first Li Ion pack I ever made from pulled cells and converted it. That was short lived as there was something internal cutting off the motor after 1min… Something inside the motor, perhaps a heat sensor or a death timer built in. My built batt pack still lives inside a Shark vac I was given.
I work for an advertising media (newspaper). We have not received any advertising from Kmart in well over a month, Sears ads are dwindling to hardly anything. Both stores used to have several ads a week distributed to most of the subscriber list. Easily 200K pieces a week of each store ad in the past. Sears is now down to select areas and about 40K of a single ad a week. The Hometown Brand stores (hardware) are only maybe 3K. This Newspaper gives away more free papers (packs of sale ads) than are actually sold to subscribers. I have been there 30 years and our days are numbered too.
From my view its pretty easy to call what stores are in trouble without keeping up with the news.
I haven’t bought a Craftsman tool in over 20 years. Ratchet designs changed and they are junk ever since. Skipping teeth when force applied has caused me injury. I have had several 1/2in breaker bars break. The cross pins for the pivoting head was not on center making a weak point. Laminated jaws on the locking pliers are not aligned causing minimal surface grabbing force and easily slip. Screwdrivers with thin plating that rust instantly and logos that disappear with a wiff of solvent.
As you can see the etching of the logo in the pliers set above is not meant to be there very long. It will wear off with use. If the tool does not have the logo it will not be exchanged for warranty. Battery powered tools with proprietary batteries that will not be available in 3 years. Lawn equipment manufacturers that change every year. Kenmore appliances with the same… One would think a longer contract may yield a better price.
The home stores brands of Husky and Kobalt are far superior for the money and warranty service. Pittsburgh from HFT even has better ratchets than Craftsman and their ratcheting wrenches are actually pretty good. An auto mechanic friend has a set of Duralast 3/8in sockets, SAE & mm, deep and shallow that he pounds daily with impact and air tools. It really blows my mind how well they have survived, None have broke in the 10yrs I have known him.
I am really a tool snob when it comes to my personal collection. Honestly I only have a few old Snap-on brand tools. 80% of what I own and use are German hand tools. Yes Knipex is king in the pliers world. I have an 8in mini bolt cutters that will cut a clutch or parking brake cable with one hand and several others of the Knipex brand. My wrenches, sockets and ratchets are Hazet. Mostly bought while the exchange rate was good, 10-20 years ago. You may ask what about warranty on these? Yes they are warrantied and it will cost me more to ship it than I could find a replacement for… but they do not break. In 20 years I have broken one 3/8in 10mm deep socket. That was because I did not have a Long 1/2in drive 10mm hex (Allen socket) to get head bolts off. I used a cut-off 10mm Allen wrench in the socket and an adapter to 1/2in breaker bar. Yes the socket broke and it was completely my misuse of the tool. I have been on several big tool trucks. I am really amazed with the amount of rebranded tools they carry. With some research I have acquired several tools from the original manufacturers at a fraction of the price off the truck. One is my Air-Cat 3/8in drive air ratchet. Another is this Evil pliers… Snap-On version pictured
But I got the original manufacturer BAHCO made in Sweden off feebay for much less. This is a Serious tool. It grips harder and harder the more you pull.
mine is truly a “forever” battery.it is dry charged.
wound up with 2 #27 dry charged.
so my lifetime warranty is void now and i havent even tried to use them?
rather short sighted to offer such a thing.quite a few folks buy things they intend to keep forever.
a friend who works for firestone auto center told me 6 months ago they were replacing about 6 of these a month.
and most were 8-10 time replacements.
they underestimated how many customers would be able to use this warranty to the letter for their lifetime!
Here is another example of the lowering of standards for the “Craftsman” brand.
Home Depots “Ryobi” brand is their low end power tool line. It is adequate for home use, but is not considered to be of professional quality suitable for a “craftsmans” use.
Here is a tear down of both a Craftsman Li-ion tool pack and a Ryobi tool pack Craftsman = Ryobi
