My background: I do not make any money by turning a wrench but I do enjoy doing my own work because I like the process and knowledge gained. I do all my own installs, a bunch of stuff for friends, as well as a full vehicle restoration/build.

The product: About 2.5 years ago I bought a 100 piece Husky "mechanic" tool set at Home Depot which met most of my needs at the time. These tools carry a lifetime warranty like a lot of other popular brands. As I have outgrown the set in the last 18 months, I have been buying Craftsman tools due to their larger selection, especially for metric.

The problem: A month ago I was working on my s2k and broke the gear inside the 3/8" drive rachet. I think, oh no problem, it has a lifetime warranty. I will just drive 5 mins to Home Depot, get a new one, and keep working on my car. I get to HD and they tell me that they do in fact have a lifetime warranty but I need to mail the rachet to the service center which would leave me rachet-less for 3-4 weeks. After much discussion with 2 people at customer dis-service, who even tried to sell me another, I left the store with my broken rachet.

The answer: Buy tools from stores that replace them when you want, not when they want. I replaced the rachet with a 3/8" teardrop from Craftsman and plan on sending a letter to Home Depot about their weasel warranty policy.


/rant

 

If you intend to write Home Depot, here's the guy to write:

Mr. Francis S. Blake
CEO
The Home Depot, Inc
2455 Paces Ferry Road NW
Atlanta, GA 30339

 

I should mail him a rachet in a box filled with refried beans.

 

IIRC for Craftsman, if you bring the broken tool into Sears they'll replace it on the spot.

Was this a Husky policy or a Home Depot policy?

 

Husky is Chinese crap, IIRC. Home Depot sells them, but they are not an in house brand like Craftsman or Snap-On. You got a cheap tool at a cheap price with a cheap warranty.

I think Lowes Chinese brand is Kobalt. Same deal.

 

Sears replaces the Craftsman tools right away, as you mentioned.

Husky is a Home Depot brand so the replacement policy is one in the same.

Husky = Home Depot
Kobalt = Lowes
Craftsman = Sears

 

the issue is Home Depot. The reason every other store just replaces the tool is because they know the company will replace it, so they assume the shipping hassle for you. Home Depot won't, so the take-away is don't buy tools from Home Depot, I'd say.

The reason people buy "lifetime warrantee" tools is because the tools will last, not because they get replaced, BTW.

Rachets break occasionally, so it's no surprise that's what you needed fixed. The test is whether the tools were well-designed and easy to use, not whether Home Depot was easy to deal with. I could care less about replacing a rachet that was easy to work with. I'd rather not get a warrantee replacement for a tool that was a hassle.

 

What I am getting at is that Craftsman is a Sears brand. A wholly owned subsidiary. Kobalt and Husky are rebranded tools that Lowes/HD buy from another source. Therefore that warranties they carry (the tool manufacturers) are honered by the distributor. That is why you have to send it back to the tool manufacturer. Whereas Sears will give you anew one off the shelf.

 

GT 2003 - I completely agree. I still buy other stuff from Home Depot but will no longer be buying tools there. The fact that they give a replacement warranty is almost implied that the fix/replace it on the spot. This would be like buying a Honda, breaking the transmission under warranty, and having the dealer tell you that they need to send the car back to Japan to fix it.

 

Stupid Hondas....oh wait.