TheSamba.com :: View topic - What happened to our tools lifetime warranty from Craftsman

Mon Oct 09, 2023 5:38 pm

Cleaning out my garage I fround some damaged Craftsman tools and put them in a box waiting to return to Sears. Guess I waited too long . So I call the Craftsman company on the net. Lots of BS but no info.
Craftman made great tools.

Take the tools into Home Depot. They do not honor the original factory warranty. They give 4 month warranty.

Harbor Freight gives a lifetime warrenty. Some of their tools work fine and their tools are returnable.

SNAP-ON still have their lifetime warrenty and I have many of their tools and tool boxes from my days in the elevator industry. Most likely because their tools don't break.

Mon Oct 09, 2023 6:12 pm

Try Lowe’s, they have lots of craftsmen tools.

Mon Oct 09, 2023 6:13 pm

Lowes (not Home Depot) and Ace Hardware now sell Craftsman tools.

Mon Oct 09, 2023 6:18 pm

Look here:

https://www.craftsman.com/pages/warranty

Mon Oct 09, 2023 6:24 pm

Huskey at HD and Duralast at Autozone are both lifetime warranty.

Mon Oct 09, 2023 6:47 pm

vwracerdave wrote: Lowes (not Home Depot) and Ace Hardware now sell Craftsman tools.

This is my understanding of where to take it.

Mon Oct 09, 2023 6:50 pm

Yo Dale, thanks for that site. They asked for my part numbers which I sent and they did not find them.

Which I would means they only are doing warrants after Sears closed.

Rich, thanks yes I know about the other companies.

Harbor Freight is a mile away and I had to get a new breaker bar to get at some bolts on my Solara engine. I see a Adjustible Bar for $14.00 on sale. When the video was made it cost $29.00

I had to have it ha. works great, got right in the hard spots. Feels geat in the hand. Hey comes with a life time warrinty, ha.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jTLsGLOVyVg

Mon Oct 09, 2023 7:13 pm

Ace/Lowes should give you an equivalent Craftsman tool. The part numbers change all the time. I have some old post-WW2 non-chrome/non-polished and I get crappy new laser etched (bearly readable) ones in exchange. That 250 ft/lb 36 mm rear axel nut is a 1/2 breaker bar breaker. Life-time is Life-time.

Mon Oct 09, 2023 7:19 pm

Wolfgang good to know, thanks.

Mon Oct 09, 2023 7:26 pm

Sorry I answered too quickly - with Lowes you are correct on the matching # BUT Lowes says to:

k.According to Lowe’s corporate office, their stores do honor the Craftsman warranty. The parts need to be available, however. The part numbers at Lowe’s differ from those sold at Sears, so they aren’t interchangeable. Lowe’s recommends calling Craftsman Customer Care if they don’t have the part in stock

The number is 888-331-4569

ACE seems to be even less supportive - at only 12 month if bought from them.

I've lost faith!

Mon Oct 09, 2023 7:33 pm

Craftsman has been goofball quality and declining the last 20 years.
They tried to improve a little. Look up what happened to the Texas plant, they failed to make ratchets and gave up.
Warranties are a joke in this situation.
If it wasn't good enough in the first place then I don't want a replacement that's even worse.
Or rather warranties are good if the company is on the way UP, because the new one could be improved. If a company is on the decline then the new one will be worse than the old, you'd be better off to fix the old one rather than exchange it.
I have a few waiting for return too, but probably just weld them into something useful someday.
If you need one part to complete your set check ebay.

Mon Oct 09, 2023 11:19 pm

NOW-A-DAYS when something breaks, I replace it with a better tool thats less likely to break. Snap on, Stanley- Proto, MAC, etc. Warranties are a joke any more, even 10 years ago when you could still find a Craftsman hardware store, the tool quality was well into the toilet, so your replacement tool was usually worse than the one you broke. After you take an hour out of your day to return it and fuel is $4 a gallon, what exactly did the warranty get you?
Old tools from when stuff was well made can still be found, I buy second hand sets here and there to have spares sometimes.
True story: the last new Craftsman tool I bought was a 1/2" breaker bar and it came from Lowes. It lasted less than an hour, and I had already spilled coffee on the receipt so it went right into the scrap pile. We didn't even put a pipe over the handle to break it. Lesson learned

Tue Oct 10, 2023 4:43 am

I broke a craftsman breaker bar so, being a Super Beetle guy, I made this out of it. It's for turning the top nut that holds the strut together.

Tue Oct 10, 2023 6:25 am

I've gone to Lowe's and had them replace a couple of Craftsman 1/4" drive ratchets. No questions asked. The action on the new Craftsman ratchets feels better than the previous generation they replaced. Maybe some things are improving.

Tue Oct 10, 2023 6:40 am

For what is worth in 2011 Stanley -Black and Decker took over the Craftsman line for the tidy sum of 900 million dollars..... That is basically when things about the warranty changed....

Tue Oct 10, 2023 6:53 am

What about my JC Penney Penncraft lifetime warranty metric combination wrenches I purchased in 1971???? So far, none have broken !

Tue Oct 10, 2023 8:22 am

Cusser wrote: What about my JC Penney Penncraft lifetime warranty metric combination wrenches I purchased in 1971???? So far, none have broken !

Got a couple of these (JC Penny -Penncraft) ....

About my THORSON socket set (from around 1972), broke the wall out of one socket and its lifetime warranted, contacted whoever owns THORSEN line and was told to send socket in to be inspected to see if it was covered by warranty... Sadly shipping cost more to send socket in than it was to just replace it with something from a local tool supplier....

Tue Oct 10, 2023 8:42 am

Ok now to the crazy part of us Car Guys.

How many tools did we buy just because we had to have them.

Tue Oct 10, 2023 9:09 am

Had a Craftsman spanner that was skipping on me (quick way to a sore knuckle). Local Ace swapped it out no hassle.

Tue Oct 10, 2023 10:00 am

Cusser wrote: What about my JC Penney Penncraft lifetime warranty metric combination wrenches I purchased in 1971???? So far, none have broken !

Can't say that I've ever broken any of my combination wrenches (regardless of make) -- and can't see how you could without using a long 'cheater bar' on it. Ratchets, sockets and screwdrivers are another story. :wink: