[AT] Craftsman Tool Warranty

Mon Oct 28 11:27:18 PDT 2019

I had thought about that, but decided the tool was probably made out of material I wouldn’t be able to drill through.

I recently acquired another one of these handles.  It was in a tool box I bought at an auction.  It has the hole, so my round bar became usable again.  Interesting thing about the newly acquired one, it is evidently even older than the one I turned in.  The catalog number is not permanently marked on the tool, as has been Craftsman practice for a long time.  The hole in the handle goes the opposite way from what it did in the handle I turned in.  I have two other 1/2 inch breaker bars, other brands.  They both are cross drilled.  One of them has a hole in the end so it can be used as an extension.

Jim Becker

From: William Powell 
Sent: Monday, October 28, 2019 10:46 AM
To: Antique tractor email 
Subject: Re: [AT] Craftsman Tool Warranty

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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