Better than Home Depot!

hobbyfarm · Oct 13, 2005

( Face it, some import products are really good. )

Yeah, I know that. But, it's a shame that the imported stuff is filtering through.
I've always bought "Made in USA" stuff whenever I can, but, with Toyota (et al) putting factories here, the lines are blurring. That money for the most part still gets turned into yen.

I was looking for a new pipe wrench, I've always been a Ridgid type of guy (they make great tools). And at the store, next to the Ridgid brand was an Irwin pipe wrench (Irwin is good stuff too), and it had a rubber grip and was cheaper, well, I picked it up, and the darned thing said CHINA on it (I dropped it like it was HOT /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif). At that point, I did not care if the Ridgid was twice the price, I bought the Ridgid.
Now, there goes another good old American brand shopping overseas. /forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif

In case you are wondering, This is some of the brands they have...some pretty well respected brands and they have their noses overseas. /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif

Farwell · Oct 13, 2005

I purchased a cheap pipe wrench set a couple of years back while waiting for my Ridgid wrenches to get to Michigan from California. The wrenches looked as good as any of my Ridgid wrenches but when I tried them on some 2 inch galvanized water pipe they would smear the metal and not grip. I ended up using a Sawzal to cut the pipe out. Later, as a test on the same pipe, I used my Ridgid wrench and it locked on the pipe and would not spin the metal off the pipe. I visually compared the two brands and still do not understand why the Ridgid worked and the cheap ones did not. Several of my Ridgid wrenches are over 40 years old and are really showing signs of serious use but still work like new.
Farwell

Farwell · Oct 13, 2005

Jim,
The "new attitude" that Sears/Kmart has towards the Craftsman Warranty is something that I have not yet experienced, can you educate me? I have thousands of dollars worth of Craftsman tools and if they are no longer going to honor the "Life Time Warranty" on their tools I will never purchase another tool from them and will enlighten everyone that I come into contact with about the change.
Farwell

Tim_in_IA · Oct 13, 2005

same here. for wrenches and other non-motorized tools I always pick craftsman since i know I can get it replaced free. If this changes I'll be going to another brand.

Tim_in_IA · Oct 13, 2005

Look towards the bottom of this page where it says forever:

Craftsman Warranty

Looks like it's still the same. If someone refused to replace a broken tool I'd seek someone higher up.

shepherd · Oct 13, 2005

HEY i have to disagree with that alot /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gifCanada isn't bad /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gifhere we have home hardware along with canadian tire and their not bad at all. /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gifi trust TSC also.but what can you do at times

sneaky_pete · Oct 13, 2005

I've bought a lot of Craftsman tools over the years, but now that the closest real Sears store is 30 miles away, it's not very handy to keep returning them. Their ratchets do break (I've got two broken ones right now), their 12-point sockets round off, and my barely-used inch-pounds torque wrench fell apart and I can't figure out how to get it back together and calibrated. No lifetime warranty on torque wrenches either.

For the last several years, I've been buying Snap-on tools as needed. Expensive, but worth it to me. Plus, you can buy them on-line and have them delivered to your door.

hobbyfarm · Oct 13, 2005

( HEY i have to disagree with that alot Canada isn't bad here we have home hardware along with canadian tire and their not bad at all. i trust TSC also.but what can you do at times )

Please don't misunderstand me.
North American (and even European) products I don't have a problem with.
It's Asian stuff that don't cut it for me. But, even that said, I took a chance on a cheap drill bit set from Sam's Club, it was from China /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif, and it had some darned good steel in them. They cut real well and they also hold an edge. My friend bought one just like it and it was sorry. Apparently they have a consistency problem. /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif (Maybe they had a Gilligan /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif working in the factory?? - walking by with a box of rejects and trips /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif and dumps them into the box of good stuff /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif - to which those are the ones they sell to the Sam's buyer??? /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif)
Yet another exception to my rule, Japanese Mitutoyo products are high quality products.
You just have to watch what you get when you buy from Asia /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif.
There are some excellent products available, but there are also some stuff that shouldn't be exported.

Bird · Oct 13, 2005

( There are some excellent products available, but there are also some stuff that shouldn't be exported )

Can that not be said about almost any country in the world, including the USA? /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

jgh · Oct 14, 2005

20051014

Let me clarify:

I took back a Craftsman grease gun (air powered, externally!) that bled grease every time I used it (run-on if you will), putting more on the ground than into the fitting. The young dudes puzzled about my problem and finally suggested Sears would replace it under their ONE YEAR warranty, since this was a POWER tool. Oh, you did not buy it that recently? Ooooooh, can't do nothing for you!

Well, I took exception since I had hardly used the tool, the box and enclosed literature do NOT mention any warranty (and the replacement I finally received is exactly the same), and, once upon a time, Sears had, in addition, an ironclad SATISFACTION GUARANTEED policy. I would not have asserted that if I had not felt the tool should reasonably had just never been right.

Note: I have only returned 2 defective tools (plus this one) to Sears in my lifetime. I've actually had pretty good luck.

The young fellows now seemed in their element when I started asserting that last policy since I had bought the hand? tool several years ago and was not going to win with them on it being guaranteed forever. They KNEW that since the merger, only your REASONABLE satisfaction was now guaranteed. They said "see the bottom of our new CR receipts" since we saw the (blue?) light after our merger". OK not an exact quotation /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif.

Politely I pointed out that asserting that was changing a contract "signed" long ago with me when I purchased. Don't think law was their thing 'cause that went right past each of them.

I asked politely to see the mgr, waited a few minutes and Mr Attitude, the MOD (mgr on duty) finally deigned to appear for an audience with lowly customer me. Arrogant SOB! He said NO NO NO until I turned back as I was walking away to ask how to spell his name! THAT seemed to get his attention! Got my new one forthwith.

What a charmer he was, get the customer mad then give them what they asked for. Might as well have let me leave MT handed for the love he left me with.

/forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif /forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif /forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif /forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif /forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif /forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif

Can you hear the growl?

Jim