Well, at least some things still work the way they are supposed to...

Sunday I had a 1/4 drive ratchet that came with my starter tool set in 1981(?) go south on me halfway through a big project.

I was not sure what would happen with all the changes going on at Sears and the Craftsman brand being sold to Stanley but I jumped in the car and drove the local Sears. Imagine my surprise when the cashier in the tool section took a look and said hold on then came back with a shiny new ratchet!

No hassles, no issues and I was in and out in 5 minutes!

Ace Hardware is a Craftsman dealer also, and I have had the same experience when I split a socket open.

Where was the replacement tool made?

Kevmo You do realize that the ratchet you gave up lasted for over 30 years because it was made in America. The one you were given in exchange was made in China. doubt you'll be lucky enough to get anywhere near that time out of the new one. I always make them give me a rebuild kit and install it myself. Just sayin

Our local Ace stopped doing the exchange but the Sears store further out handled a couple Craftsman screwdriver exchanges no problem. And since there is no longer a Craftsman tape measure, they exchanged with a nice Stanley tape measure, but that was it.

Still a bargain.

After hearing the Craftsman line of screwdrivers may be discontinued or outsourced, I stocked up on a few each my most-used sizes from a great Brooklyn vendor. Still US manufacture.

⅜"x 8", ⅜" x 12" (17" overall length), and the handy ⅛" x 2".

Ive have them exchange my broken ratchets with rebuilt units. Initially I was pretty turned off by this but perhaps Im better off than getting newer, probably lower quality replacements.

Wow. You have a local Sears?

Unfortunately, the new Chinese Craftsman ratchet that you got won't last 36 years, like its better quality predecessor.

I eventually had to replace the last of my Craftsman screwdrivers with Klein. I really liked my Craftsman tools, but that era is over.

quote:

I always make them give me a rebuild kit and install it myself. Just sayin

Fortunately, if push comes to shove somewhere down the road, the kits are plentiful and cheap on ebay. Much better than a rebuilt ratchet handle from Sears in my opinion.

Had a probably 35 year old Craftsman 1/2" ratchet go out. (Broke it big time and would rather have rebuilt it but they have no parts, they said). Old school heavy.



Here's what I got as a gratis replacement-

After 36 years of use, it never would've occurred to me to bring it back for a free new one. I would've headed to The Home Depot and bought a brand new quality ratchet. But I'm really terrible about returning stuff for warranty. More laziness than anything else I think.

I'm an amateur regarding returning stuff and don't always remember to do it myself.

But the record in our family for a return/replacement has to go to my Uncle who had up until about five years ago a Chevy custom van. It was set up as handicap wheelchair-accessible. Because the person eventually didn't need the wheelchair the van didn't get driven much. They used it when their daughter was young but it was seldom driven after that.

In our family we tend to keep some vehicles a long time. This van was twenty years old and only had 33,000 miles. Looked like brand new (Southern car).

One day my Uncle notices that the tires have cracks. They also almost look like new with virtually no tread loss. This van was always in a garage so he takes it back to the place where he bought the tires. (Goodyear, I think).

So the staff at the tire place look at the tires and admit that they are cracked. Probably dry rot, they say. My Uncle proceeds to pull out the original paperwork/warranty for the tires which guaranteed them against dry dot. (He had replaced the original tires with an all-weather radial for travel).

They search through the paperwork and sure enough, he bought the $3.00 extra coverage that says they are guaranteed against dry rot and other failures. But, they say, the guarantee is only good for the first 12,000 miles. (No time limit back then, evidently).

Then the staff realizes that the vehicle has only had 8,000 miles over the fifteen years since the tires were installed. They almost cried but ended up replacing the twenty-year old entire set of tires for free.

Last year I returned a ratchet and socket. They where about 20 years old. The offered a newer longer ratchet which was nice but the larger size would fit in my case. Lucky they looked around and found one like mine.

I've hit the pawn shops and grabbed USA Craftsman ratchet handles. Usually about 1/3 of new and I have spares.

They will not replace torque wrenches.

I knew a guy who found a Craftsman crescent wrench in an alley (telephone company lineman). It was missing the screw adjustment. He took it to a Sears and they replaced it. No wonder they have financial problems.

I knew a guy that was going to garage sales in the 80's and ask for broken sockets/wrenches and turn them in for new ones. Scored some great tools that way.

quote:

Originally posted by RogueJSK:
Unfortunately, the new Chinese Craftsman ratchet that you got won't last 36 years, like its better quality predecessor.

Yeah, but it's a heck of a lot better than the 36 year old BROKEN rachet that he had!!!