Date: Mon, 3 Feb 1997 11:58:00 -0800 (PST)
From: crussell@San-Jose.ate.slb.com (Christopher Russell)
Subject: craftsman guarantee...
A little story about craftsman tools. Be forwarned that basically
only the handtools which are lifetime guarenteed. Other more complicated
devices with the craftsman name do not have the same guarentee... I
would suggest you read the guarantees carefully.
When I bought the wrench, I didn't like the look of the plastic handle,
although the wrachet looked heavy duty enough. It was the best wrench
they had (in the store), so I figured it was OK. Also I figured, hey
its craftsman, I can take it back if it breaks.
This weekend I took my craftsman torque wrench back to sears to get
it replaced. I only use the wrench as intended but the "handle" came
loose, I took it apart a little bit and I could see how it went together
(not very well - a couple of nuts are jammed together to hold
the handle in place), but it would need to be recalibrated for sure.
Anyway, it was a bad omen when I saw somebody else walking out of the
store with basically the same model wrench, and it looked like it
was still broken.
When I went in they told me that only the "wrachet" part was guarenteed
for life. The cheap plastic part which came apart was not. They told
me that I can take it to a repair center and see how much it will cost
to fix it -- or get this -- I could buy a new one! They thought it
was amazing that somebody else had just come it with the same problem
(not so amazing to me, they probably all break after a while).
I'm hoping that if I can basically get it put back together (I can see
where it came apart), that I can get it recalibrated for free. They
did mention that calibration may be free.
...Chris
P.S. Oh yah, can anybody suggest a source for a good torque wrench, that
reliable enough for a home mechanic to use (i.e. I know a snap-on would do
it but it would probably cost $400 or something).
>
> My personal opinion is, at least for the regular type sockets and wrenches,
> to go with Craftsman. They are guaranteed for life, you have available
> replacements everywhere a Sears store is located and they are more than
> adequate for us part time hobbyist mechanics. My first set
> of craftsman tools was a 3/8 drive with ratchets. Cost at the time was
> something like $19.99. I've replaced the 3/8 breaker drive at least
> three times. If I bought just a ratchet today
> I'd pay almost the same cost as the whole set originally
> cost me.
>
> Anyway, they've served me well for the 30+ years I've used
> them (shoot, it's now almost 40 years...God I'm getting
> old :-(
>
>
> Cheers,
> Bill Sohl Budd Lake, NJ billsohl@planet.net
--
Christopher L. Russell Sr. Software Engineer -- Schlumberger ATE
email:chrisr@cs.stanford.edu WWW: http://www-cs-students.stanford.edu/~chrisr
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