Sears Tools That Suck On The Price

[Bird]

I wouldn't argue with you regarding the ease with which a ratchet can be repaired. It's a simple gear system. But when Sears replaces all metal ratchets with tools made with plastic parts, in my mind, there's been a a reduction in quality. Replacing a chrome reverse lever with a black plastic tab just doesn't lend itself to the argument that the tool is of the same "quality" It might work the same Uuntil it's dropped or cleaned with acetone, etc, but in my experience, the replacements aren't as durable as the tools I originally bought.

Sears has been cutting corners for some time trying to stay financially solvent. With the economy as it is, some of the corners they cut are coming up as a disadvantage for the customer.

You may very well be right. I haven't looked at the ones at Sears recently enough to notice metal being replaced with plastic. Whether that's good or bad . . . I don't know. All plastics aren't the same. I remember many years being shocked to learn that our Plymouths had gone to plastic pistons in the brake calipers, but I never knew of that causing a problem. And how about all these electric tools that now have "plastic" cases or housing instead of metal like they had 50 years ago?

 

[murphy1244]

You may very well be right. I haven't looked at the ones at Sears recently enough to notice metal being replaced with plastic. Whether that's good or bad . . . I don't know. All plastics aren't the same. I remember many years being shocked to learn that our Plymouths had gone to plastic pistons in the brake calipers, but I never knew of that causing a problem. And how about all these electric tools that now have "plastic" cases or housing instead of metal like they had 50 years ago?

Bird, I have not broken a craftman rachet in how-long but I'd sooner keep my assembly than get a new one. You people fight for the cheapist price then complain about plastic parts. Are you willing to pay for a all high carbon steel tool?I must admit most of my tools are German.

 

[Builder]

Why dont these geniuses who run these giant corporations offer 2 lines of tools:
1)Chinese for those who want cheaper disposable junk to keep the landfills busy and for those who want to waste $4+/ gallon gas to inevitably return it to the store
or
2) US/Can/Euro/Japanese made for those who want to pay more for a tool they can hand down to their kids?

Would it be that hard to offer 1 non-chinese wrench of the 5 you can chose from at Sears or HD?

 

[Baby Grand]

I've had very good luck with Lowes, too. Unfortunately, their hand tool selection is still lacking depth. Their orientaion is towards the building industry, so they don't have a lot of mechanic's type gear - for instance, torque wrenches. Hopefully, this will change as they make Sears more irrelevant over time. In my area I notice a distinct difference in the HD vs Lowes stores (I have 3 of each within 20 minutes of me).

At HD, if I can actually find an employee, it's always someone I've never seen before. I always get treated like "Oh, I hope that guys doesn't ask me anything" or they look at me with a blank stare and say "An eye bolt?".

At Lowes, there's the same crew working as the last time I was there and they know their inventory. They also seem eager to help customers. Based on this, I suspect they treat their employees better.

Lowes has become my first destination in big box buying, with HD (usually right across the street) my back up, if Lowes doesn't have what I need. Sears has become a hail-Mary third (if one's nearby) for me.

 

[sixdogs]

You know, Sears is doing it to itself and the employees complicit in the demise. I just can't go there any more and deal with employees that just can't bear to have another person (boo-hoo) walk through the door. The sweet spot of all this is that Chinese tools--while still pretty sad--are getting better and are light years ahead of the junk from 10 or 20 years ago. In another few years they are going to figure it out and put out quality typical of an older Bonney or Proto tool. That's when you want to buy tools to pass on to the next generation. HF--one day--will rock.

Sears will then be forgotten and those surviving employees who could simply not bear to assist another shopper will blame something or someone else for their predicament. Oh well.

 

[jpm1]

I use to do a lot of mechanical work. Dad was a heavy industry mechanic, we had boxes of Craftsman and Sears hand tools. When you use tools hard, things get broke. With the sears hand tools they went in the scrap bucket, Craftsman, returned. It finally got to the point that the Sears store would not take back the "Crapsman" tools. It all came to "head" when we rounded all the tools up and demanded a "Buy back" There was a lot of yelling and finger pointing from store and department managers but finally we were given a refund, probably to shut us up and get us out of the store. They went so far as to take our pictures, post them by the tool register and told us "never to return!" We were not welcome in their store!
At one time we would drop a couple of hundred dollars a week in their tool department. Dad went with Snap on, and i went with S & K, Yea we broke um' but. . .Both companies swaped them with no questions asked and a smile. I now have a LOT of Pittsburg forged wrenches and sockets and have good luck with them. As for Sears / Craftsman . . . IMO . . .JUNK! i will not use them. . . and would not take them if you gave them to me! . . . John

 

[stevewatr]

Just wanted to chime in on the Sears tools thread with a positive note.

Got a set of gear wrenches, the combi wrenches that have the ratcheting head on one end to make them faster to use.

I love them, and quality is good. Nice fit/finish, high polish. I've noticed sears now offers lots of tools that are cheap junk, often not branded
Craftsman, but they do still have some nicer tools if you pay the higher asking price, and that higher price is still WAY below Snap-on.

I too prefer to buy a good used tool to new, yard sales, and flea markets are great ways to score occasional "high end tools" at bargain prices. That's the only reason there is the odd SK, or Snap-on wrench in my Home Depot tool chest:thumbsup:

My main point is not all the Craftsman stuff is junk.......yet. I also picked up an electric impact driver, and boy is it handy. It is from the Craftsman "professional" line, and was on sale last Father's day. Well made, nice tool.

I also like the Craftsman socket trays, these cheap plastic racks for holding your sockets have easy to read sizes. I wish I had money to dump on the newer sockets they sell with the large size numbers lasered onto them, but I have too many good Craftsman older sockets for now.

Regards,
Steve W.

 

[Bird]

A bunch of you sure must have a different kind of Sears store than the 2 we have in our area. I don't have any problem finding a helpful employee at all. And when I went to buy a half inch drill and they couldn't find the one I wanted, except for the one on display without a box or manual, they offered a more expensive drill at the price of the one I was originally going to buy. I bought a cheap table saw, and the on/off switch went bad pretty quickly. Now I did get annoyed with the service center because they didn't have a switch in stock, and wouldn't order one for me without me first bringing in the defective one, even if I was paying for it, and for them to fix it, they wanted the entire saw without the stand it was bolted onto. So I called the store manager, and he had a new complete saw and stand assembled and exchanged it with me.

 

[LastSTRAW]

Just to defend the rebuilt ratchet comment.

Unless the body is damaged. Replacing the ratchet mechanism is all you need to do. Couple of parts and a snap ring and your back in business.

I understand though if the handle was damaged and they refused replacement.

Chuck

It was easy to fix the old ratchet but why is that my problem? The ratchet had a lifetime warranty. I want to spend my time fixing equipment not fixing tools with a lifetime warranty. If I had bought some no-name Chinese tools I would not expect service but when you pay for quality you expect to get it.

I now use the store that gives me service and honours their warranties.

 

[scoutcub]

I've had good luck with Sears tools and will continue with them until I have a horror story as well, hopefully it won't happen.
I also just purchased a set of the gear wrenches that Stevewatr mentioned, and have used them already, very impressed with the quality. Just got a new Craftsman Pro air impact, also very good quality and strong.
And, just got a new 52" tool box for 50% off, it was an internet special I just happened across, the manager of the sears store couldn't believe the price when I picked it up. I compared it against the nice boxes at Lowe's, and it was equal or better quality and less expensive.
I've had to return tools in the past, and have been given grief about the return....once I was given a re-furbished tool in replacement. A few days of use, and it broke. I was courteous but firm in asking for a new wrench, and got one.

FYI, Sears will give a 10% discount to military personnel as well, but only in the tool/outdoor dept.