[AT] Craftsman Tool Warranty

[szabelski at wildblue.net]

Previous discussion regarding warranty replacement of Craftsman tools raised some uncertainty about replacing Craftsman tools under warranty. I had the opportunity this week to get some fresh knowledge.

I was working outside in the grass, using my Craftsman 18” 1/2 drive breaker bar. After removing and putting a few bolts with the breaker bar, I grabbed the bar and realized that the square drive was missing. Looked down and found it lying by my feet. What apparently happened is that the pin that holds the drive in the handle fell out. I looked for it but being in the grass, no luck. There is also a small spring and ball bearing that lock the drive at 45 degrees in both directions, and of course they were gone to.

I went on line to Lowe’s to see if the local Lowe’s had one in stock. Turns out they didn’t, so I checked all Lowe’s within 50 miles. The closest one that indicated that they had one was 32 miles away, so I drove over and went to the tool area. All they had was the 15” breaker bar, not the 18”. I asked at the service counter about not seeing the 18” bar and was told that their inventory isn’t always correct. They gave me the number to call Craftsman and said I would have to talk to them.

When I got home I went online to Sears to see if they had one in stock. We don’t have any Sears within probably 150 miles of here since they started closing their stores, that’s why I didn’t search them first. Well I found a Sears that had one in stock, it’s in Missouri. A little too far to drive from Michigan. So I called the Craftsman number and explained my problem. 

I talked to someone with an accent who kept telling my I should try to use Sears.com to find a replacement. We went back and forth a couple of times. He used my phone number to determine that my wife had a Shop Your Way account with Sears and said he could give my a credit on my wife’s account, and that I could then use to order the breaker bar using the credit in her account. My wife closed that account when they closed the last nearest Sears. We also don’t remember the log in or the password for the account. Went back and forth on this issue a couple of times. All the time I kept telling him that nothing he was trying to do would work for me. Having a credit that I can’t get to wasn’t doing me any good.

He then gave me a phone number for a “Warranty Specialist” and said to call them. I called the number and explained everything all over again. They made the same offer again of putting credit into my wife’s account. When I told her that the account was closed, she said she could reopen the account so that we could get into it. We got this all set up on the phone. She asked me how much the bar cost and I told her it was listed at $36. She said she would give me a credit of 38000 points, which is worth $38. I told her as long as I could access the account I would go that route.

I went on line again and went to Sears.com and looked up the breaker bar. I put it in my shopping cart and went to check out. During the checkout process it indicated that the part qualified for free shipping since it was over $35. I was OK with that since I felt I shouldn’t pay for anything. I figured I’d still have a few credits left over in my wife’s account that would probably sit there forever. Completed the checkout process and noticed that I was billed for tax and shipping, which I thought wasn’t right. Then I noticed in the bill that the breaker bar qualified for a $5 discount, which brought the price down below $35, so no free shipping. I figure the tax is not covered by the credit in the account. Anyway it cost me a little over $4 to get a replacement bar.

The bar arrived yesterday and I noticed a couple of differences right away. First, the little spring and ball bearing were not there, the drive is free moving. Next the pin that holds the drive into the handle has been replaced with an Allen screw that is counter sunk on on side and threaded into the other side. Then I noticed that there is no place on the handle that says “MADE IN THE USA” like my original bar. 

I’m OK with paying the $4 since I don’t have to drive anyplace to swap the bar, and I got to keep the original bar. I think I have a spring and a ball bearing that will fit into the handle, if not I can drill the hole a little bigger to fit what I have. I’m thinking of drilling and tapping the old handle the same way the new is, instead of driving in a new pin. I may keep both, or I’ll give the new one to either my son in law or nephew.

If you have to replace a Craftsman tool don’t call the Craftsman number that the store gives you (888-331-4569). Instead call the “Warranty Specialist (1-800-479-6351). When calling, enter 6 when prompted, then enter 3 at the next prompt. I found it was easier to get results from them. You’ll probably have to open an account with them if you don’t already have one. But keep in mind that you’re probably going to have to pay something to get a replacement, tax and shipping, unless you can qualify for free shipping then only the tax.

As a side note, I found out that even if a store like Lowe’s has the tool you want to return, there is no guaranty that they will do a warranty swap. It turns out that it’s actually up to the store if they will. They may simply tell you that you have to call Sears. Also there may be a part number difference between the Sears part and the part number in the store, especially if you tool is old. This can keep you from getting a warranty swap. Another issue is that stores like Lowe’s don’t carry a large selection of individual tools like Sears used to. They carry a lot of tool sets.

Last time I took some tools into a Sears for warranty, they had one tool in stock, but not the other. On the one that they didn’t have, I was allowed to swap it for an equivalent Stanley tool. Craftsman is owned by Stanley, and the tool came with a life time warranty.