[AT] Craftsman Tool Warranty

[Jim Becker]

Several years ago, I had the identical failure of a 15" breaker bar.  The 
length is the only difference between this and the 18" bar.  I managed to 
trade for a new one before the local Sears store went away.  My replacement 
had all the differences noted on the 18" tool.  But there was one more 
(which may apply to the 18" as well).  My original had a hole drilled 
crosswise through the end of the handle.  It came with a plain round bar 
that fit through the handle so it could be used as a T-handle.  The 
replacement breaker bar is not drilled for the round bar.  So now I have 
this nice round bar with no place to put it.  At least they didn't give me 
any suggestions.

More recently (I was cutting it close on the store closing), I took back a 
couple garden tools, a rake and a potato fork.  They didn't have equivalent 
tools on hand.  They gave me tools that I would describe as upgrades for 
both of them.

Jim Becker

-----Original Message----- 
From: szabelski at wildblue.net
Sent: Sunday, October 27, 2019 11:15 AM
To: Antique Tractor Email Discussion Group
Subject: Re: [AT] Craftsman Tool Warranty

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.