[AT] Craftsman Tool Warranty

Mon Oct 28 08:46:06 PDT 2019

Could you drill a hole though it? Would that void the warrent? I doubt it
will snap at the hole.

On Mon, Oct 28, 2019, 10:10 AM Jim Becker <mr.jebecker at gmail.com> wrote:

> 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.
>
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