Snap On vs. Craftsman!!!

[RobJ]

Those guys on the trucks, whether Snap-On, MAC, or Matco, are actually independent businessmen, sort of like a franchise. So you'll find a variety of personalities, knowledge, experience, etc., just as you will with tractor dealers.

Now I don't know for sure about Snap-On, but I suspect they're much like Matco when it comes to warranty on hand tools, such as screwdrivers. The company actually does not warranty them if they decide the problem was abuse rather than a defect. So the guy on the truck gives you a new one, then he sends the broken one in to the company and hopes they replace it. Some they do; some they don't. Many of the Snap-On distributors will give you a new tool regardless of why yours broke, just as my brother did with Matco tools. He warrantied them to his customer whether he lost money on the deal or not.

I know what you say to be true. That's why he wasn't happy. On the other hand I had a set stolen from my truck after I got into computers. Insurance paid off and I wanted true replacement set. Driving around I spotted a Snap-On truck and make the guys day, bought $1000+ cash that day.

 

[dullpain]

But the Snap-On guys aren't very nice if you don't deal with them regularly.

Made my living as an industrial mechanic for 25 years. Have owned all brands, and still do. Snap-On, S-K , Mac, Matco, Craftsman preferred brands. Now retired and will see a Snap-On truck in my travels , and if I need something will stop and get it. Have not been in the same truck/dealer twice since retiring. Recently broke a Snap-On 1/2" ratchet handle that I had bought prior to retiring and had never used it. Handle (18" long) snapped just below the ratchet head with about 20lbs. (very light) pressure. Obvious defect in manufacture. It can happen with anything , no bad reflection on Snap-On.

So I throw it in the car so the next time I see a dealer , I will stop and exchange for a new one. About 2 weeks later see a dealer stopped at a shop so I stop , grab my ratchet and go into truck. Only customer he has is leaving as I step on to truck, I simply hold up the broken ratchet for him to see, a piece in each hand, and he starts a RANT. "You guys don't buy tools from me, and then you bring me broken stuff to replace from my inventory" and on, and on, etc. I let him finish and get it out of his system, and then calmly asked if he had a business card I might have. He looked a little confused but gave me a card, and I stepped off the truck to leave. He asked "what's the deal" I told him that I intended to write Snap-On corporate offices , customer service dept. and inform them of the trouble I had in exchanging a faulty product and I wanted to make sure I got his name correct. He exchanged my ratchet on the spot with apology.

As Bird says "So you'll find a variety of personalities, knowledge, experience, etc" which I understand. I just expect better service than that.

 

[barticus73]

I have never taken anything Craftsman back in for switch out. Last week I had a 3/8" drive Craftsman ratchet fall apart on me. Do I simply take the broken ratchet back to the store for a swap out? No questions asked?

 

[MadReferee]

does anybody have an opinion of the John Deere tools?
I have started buying some sets of those, full warranty,
and close to!
but so far, no complaints.. the ratchets seemed good,
maybe not "snap on" good.. but much nice than
the craftsman that i have., (all of which the ratchets are junk)

Find out who makes them for John Deere. It's probably someone like Danaher who makes branded tools for many companies.

 

[jwstewar]

I have never taken anything Craftsman back in for switch out. Last week I had a 3/8" drive Craftsman ratchet fall apart on me. Do I simply take the broken ratchet back to the store for a swap out? No questions asked?

I had to exchange my 1/2" ratchet that kept slipping out of "gear" and that is what I did. Dad had trouble exchanging the first type of rachet wrenches Sears had. They had a plastic cover that kept breaking. We would take them back and they eventually redesigned the wrenches to do away with the plastic cover. The didn't sell the new ones separately for awhile. They gave him a little grief about opening a new package, but they eventually did it.

 

[Bird]

Ratchets, whether manual or air, are probably the most abused tool there is. They are made for speed, not for hard pulling to break loose tight nuts and bolts. Some people don't know that, and others just don't care and use them for more than they're designed for. As a result, part of Matco's week long training for new distributors included lessons in repairing their manual ones quickly on the truck. And of course a big part of my business of repairing air tools was ratchets. And no brand is immune; I replaced the final drive in one half inch Snap-On (their best, most expensive one) three times because body shop employees would use it for a breaker bar and actually break the anvil off the final drive.

 

[Egon]

A snipe on the ratchet works so well and is so easy for those first few hard turns. Almost irresistable to do it.

 

[Bird]

A snipe on the ratchet works so well and is so easy for those first few hard turns. Almost irresistable to do it.

A what?

 

[Mith]

Bird, I believe a snipe is a piece of pipe you put over the handle of a ratchet to get more leverage.

I have a 18" long chrome plated pipe for my 1/2" drive ratchet, and a 6' long scaffold pole for my 3/4". Works nice for breaking blade bolts. And I can do them up real tight too
Yet to break a ratchet I seem to eat screwdrivers, going to buy snap-on so I can get the warrenty so I get a new one every time one wears out. Its the stainless steel screws that do it.

 

[Bird]

I think you're probably right, Mith, although I never heard a "cheater" called a "snipe" before. And of course, knowing how ratchets are made, there's no way I'd ever do that to a ratchet of any kind. I'd use my break over handle instead.

 

[Egon]

Different locations, different terminology Bird.

We cal a cheater a snipe. It's well know not to use them on ratchets or aluminum pipe wrenches.

They are handy on the ratchets if you are using a long cheater. Means you don't have to go to all the fuss of getting the socket back on the bolt in tight spots.

We also used one combination wrench on another one for extra leverage.

 

[Bird]

We also used one combination wrench on another one for extra leverage.

I've done that; just never used a cheater or snipe on a ratchet. And of course, I've never broken or repaired a ratchet of my own.

 

[RobJ]

All this talk about ratchets, wonder if people still know you can get a find tooth ratchet and a regular tooth. The fine(more gear teeth) is nice for tight places where you only have a little wiggle room.

 

[escavader]

I have broke snap on,i have broke craftsman,i see no difference other than the craftsman are easier to return.I hate chasing down the snap on truck ,just to get a wrench replaced.
I LOVE MY OLDER SK TOOLS
,however ive bought several set of harbor freight wrench rolls,for camp,the cars,addition sets for work,at home.I gotta tell ya the chinese have come a long way in quality.Ive never broke one ,and i use them wrench on wrench alot at work,even used a cheater pipe on them.Darn good buy when they go on sale3/8 to 11/4 9.99 in a roll.Sounds to good to be true dont it?Might seem unamerican to buy them,but i cant see spending mega bucks on additional sets.
ALAN

 

[ridgerunnerinwv]

I have never taken anything Craftsman back in for switch out. Last week I had a 3/8" drive Craftsman ratchet fall apart on me. Do I simply take the broken ratchet back to the store for a swap out? No questions asked?

Yep,thats al you should need to do.

 

[barticus73]

Yep,thats al you should need to do.

Great, thanx!

 

[Jagmandave]

I've had good luck getting replacements on Craftsman tools, I just walk into the Sears store, pick out what I want from the shelf and take it to the checkout counter. The people they have working the checkouts don't know what they're doing, so they just ring it up. If you get one of the old pro's you might get some hassle about how you broke it, but if you just go pick it out, they don't even look twice.

If I've broken a Craftsman tool, it's usually because I've done something inappropriate with it, like use a 5 ft pipe on a 1/2 breaker bar (did that the other day, had to get a new 15/16 socket on that one..........)

When I made my living with my tools, as others have said, everything I used was pretty much Snap-On, no contest.

If I hit the big Lotto tomorrow, I'd make some Snap-On dealers day!

 

[scott_vt]

Most of my tools are Craftsman, but like Alan I have some older SK tools and they are IMO very good tools.

As one of the other posters mentioned, it all depends if your using the tools to make a living or just a hobbyist ! I think that statement says alot

 

[rogdan]

I have never taken anything Craftsman back in for switch out. Last week I had a 3/8" drive Craftsman ratchet fall apart on me. Do I simply take the broken ratchet back to the store for a swap out? No questions asked?

I returned a Craftman 3/8" ratchet about 10 years ago with a broken switch being and was given a rebuild kit that woked just fine.

 

[Marlowe]

I was a Snap On dealer for a few absolutely miserable years of my life. The tools are great, generally speaking. Snap On does not manufacture tools though. They market tools with the Snap On name on them. The tools are built to Snap On specs and, of course, Snap On stands behind the tools with various warranties, all of which are not necessarily life time. I also used tools for a long time as a professional mechanic. In that application there was no comparison between the Snap On and Craftsman hand tools.

As a dealer I had a customer challenge me to a contest between a Craftsman wrench and a old used one one of his mechanics had. He didn't want the advantage of a brand new one off my truck against a used Craftsman. We found a steel nut big enough for two wrenches to go back to back on and then had Big John pull untill something gave. Neither wrench rounded off the nut. It was some pretty hard stuff the nut was made of. What finally gave though was the Craftsman wrench. John actually bent it into a pretzel with his bare hands. A half inch wrench. Try that at home!

The lesson I learned; DON'T mess with Big John. And Snap On markets a pretty good hand tool. You can buy stuff of pretty near equal value for way less though.

Tom, happily and EX Snap On man.