Sears Tools That Suck On The Price

[Travelover]

..........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. ..........

I had a similar experience when I exchanged a bunch of Craftsman hand tools at once. They accused me of rounding up old garage sale tools and trying to take advantage of them. It wasn't true, but even if it was, their guarantee simply states "refund or exchange if not satisfied". Period, no ands, ifs or buts. Now if I have a broken tool I take it back singly rather than waiting until I have a few. And I buy new tools at HF and toss any that break.

 

[chopped]

I agree. in my latest case it was a 1/4 inch drive, ratchet
Piece of junk.Right from the git go......:laughing:
I got a new one from Lowes and its so much better..
basically the craftsman one was good from original (1970) but they slowly let quality go down hill and apparently they dont get enough returns on them to have reversed the cheapness. A Platidc part on a ratchet ??Give me a break.. No place for plastics in there except the handle covering maybe
Stil no reply from sears with my email letter.

 

[Gale Hawkins]

Seare problems today are much greater than just over priced China tools selling for half the price at HF.

They have dropped the ball and broke the handle off of it and can not pick it up again to get back into the game it seems to me.

Yesterday when I was short on time and had to leave HF because of the lines at the check out lines it was clear they were moving the China stuff out of the door and more customers were streaming in to help. That is no longer the case at the local Sears outlet.

Our Sears store should have moved out of their location when Walmart moved out because that shopping center is DEAD now.

 

[JRTJH]

The Sears store in Waterford Mi is at one end of what used to be a busy BUSY mall. Penneys on one end, sears on the other, Macy's and Dillards in the middle. Bunches of small shops, high school bands performing center court on the weekend. Hub stores were Sams, Target, Firestone, etc. Right across the parking lot were Mervyn's, Best Buy, Circuit City, etc. Harbor Freight was also across the street in a small building.

Now, the Sears is the only store in the original mall, at any given time, there might be up to 5 or 6 cars in the parking lot. Across the street, HF has moved into a bigger building, always has a full parking lot, lots of "give away" with coupon deals and a lifetime warranty on Pittsburg tools.

With the price gouging we've talked about on this forum, is it any wonder to anyone why sears has 5 or 6 customers and HF has a full house?

Seems also with the comments about the reluctance of sears to honor their lifetime warranty, they have driven the stake into their own heart !!! Only a matter of time before the sun comes up and that "blood sucking vampire" disappears back into the walls of the castle.

 

[Bird]

There's many things in this old world that I'll never understand. And this is just one more of them. People mad at Sears because they're selling cheaper stuff (at least in their opinion), but the same people like Harbor Freight. And where are more customers? Where they can buy the cheapest. And that's Sears' fault?

 

[murphy1244]

PM me and send all your junky craftsman tools to me I will even pay shipping.

 

[Sterff]

There's many things in this old world that I'll never understand. And this is just one more of them. People mad at Sears because they're selling cheaper stuff (at least in their opinion), but the same people like Harbor Freight. And where are more customers? Where they can buy the cheapest. And that's Sears' fault?

If Im going to buy chinese tools Im going to buy them at HF. Why pay twice as much at Sears? I personally only buy USA tools though.

 

[Travelover]

There's many things in this old world that I'll never understand. And this is just one more of them. People mad at Sears because they're selling cheaper stuff (at least in their opinion), but the same people like Harbor Freight. And where are more customers? Where they can buy the cheapest. And that's Sears' fault?

I bought a new refrigerator and stove at Sears in the last year. But if I could buy the exact same thing elsewhere for a lot less, yes, I'd buy it there.

 

[Bird]

If Im going to buy chinese tools Im going to buy them at HF. Why pay twice as much at Sears? I personally only buy USA tools though.

You only buy USA tools? Do you mean made in the USA? And are you talking about hand tools only ("hard iron" is what the tool distributors call them) instead of power tools?

As for why to pay twice at much at Sears? Well, it depends. I have tools from Sears and I also have some from Harbor Freight. The Harbor Freight tools are frequently good enough for my use, but the quality really is not as good as Sears tools.

I hate to see manufacturing jobs leaving the USA as much as anyone, and I know some stuff made in China isn't as good, but in many cases, it's just as good, or even better. For example I have two pair of sneakers that will be 3 years old in less than 2 months, so they've been worn a lot, and don't even show any wear yet. They're the most comfortable, longest lasting, toughest shoes I've ever owned and they were made in China. Of course, there are some cheap shoes made in China, but these cost $100 a pair, so China definitely makes some good products if you want to pay for them, but if you want the cheapest . . . well, you can get that, too. And as I said, sometimes cheap stuff is good enough for the intended use.

 

[Gale Hawkins]

There's many things in this old world that I'll never understand. And this is just one more of them. People mad at Sears because they're selling cheaper stuff (at least in their opinion), but the same people like Harbor Freight. And where are more customers? Where they can buy the cheapest. And that's Sears' fault?

Good question.

I think is is mainly because Sears is doing a worse job of what it is known for and Harbor Freight are doing a better job of what they are know for.

As in another post Sears has moved to the low rent retail spaces by default all over the USA. Trying to be stock brokers and insurance agents just did not work out for them.

Harbor Freight has a clear focus.

Sears has NO focus that is clear to me.

Can anyone think of one POSITIVE thing that Sears does well today?