Snap-On Warranty Denied
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When I was a younger lad in high school, I used to check pawn shops for Craftsman tools and buy them there. Several times I'd find something that was broken and take it back to Sears who would replace it with a new one no questions asked.
Now, in my case, I was abusing the system but they always stood by their products. Fast forward to today. The Craftsman name has been sold (to ACE I believe) and it appears they are moving away from the lifetime warranty, partly because of warranty abuse.
I understand why Snap On would reply the way they did... but I would have expected them to offer a comparable replacement. With that said, my tools mostly come from Harbor Freight as I'm not a full blown mechanic. They work for my hobbyist needs and I've only had to swap a broken item out once.
That said, if you want a high quality tool AND someone who will always honor the warranty, might I suggest buying from Grainger. When I used to work for them, we replaced everything no questions asked. Even Dewalt power tools that were obviously NOT purchased from us but were the cheaper versions from Home Depot. We also replaced obviously abused tools and one time, we replaced a lost tool the customer claimed we never gave him and he came back 4 months after his purchase to get it.
Now, in my case, I was abusing the system but they always stood by their products. Fast forward to today. The Craftsman name has been sold (to ACE I believe) and it appears they are moving away from the lifetime warranty, partly because of warranty abuse.
I understand why Snap On would reply the way they did... but I would have expected them to offer a comparable replacement. With that said, my tools mostly come from Harbor Freight as I'm not a full blown mechanic. They work for my hobbyist needs and I've only had to swap a broken item out once.
That said, if you want a high quality tool AND someone who will always honor the warranty, might I suggest buying from Grainger. When I used to work for them, we replaced everything no questions asked. Even Dewalt power tools that were obviously NOT purchased from us but were the cheaper versions from Home Depot. We also replaced obviously abused tools and one time, we replaced a lost tool the customer claimed we never gave him and he came back 4 months after his purchase to get it.
How old was the wrench and was it ratcheting?
I'm my experience, Snap-On warranty is pretty good and even replaced tools with the closest "equivalent". Their lifetime warranty is NOT the same as Craftsman's (which included the concept of customer satisfaction).
For an older tool, the failure is likely wear/life vs. manufacturing defect.... thus the warranty in part is at the discretion of the company. Getting a warranty from a driver is different as well, as most customers/mechanics buy more tools and thus incentive for the driver to keep them happy (to a degree).
Next time I'd recommend calling and actually speaking with someone vs. emailing.
I'm my experience, Snap-On warranty is pretty good and even replaced tools with the closest "equivalent". Their lifetime warranty is NOT the same as Craftsman's (which included the concept of customer satisfaction).
For an older tool, the failure is likely wear/life vs. manufacturing defect.... thus the warranty in part is at the discretion of the company. Getting a warranty from a driver is different as well, as most customers/mechanics buy more tools and thus incentive for the driver to keep them happy (to a degree).
Next time I'd recommend calling and actually speaking with someone vs. emailing.
Craftsman brand got sold to Stanley, but they are being sold in Ace Hardware, Lowes, and a few other places now. The Craftsman tools are still lifetime warranty, just make sure you are buying the Craftsman line and not one of the cheaper Evolve lines or something. Sears is all kinds of screwed up and might as well shut down, but I have never had a problem with Craftsman tools. Hopefully Stanley can improve and keep the line going.
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I bought a Craftsman toolset almost 50 yrs ago. Anytime anything broke or wore out, I returned to Sears and got a replacement. When I needed to buy a tool, they used to be my first stop.
Lifetime warranty should be to the original owner with retail receipt only. Craftsman would probably be still be made in USA if they had that. People buying in yard sales, thrift shops, or ebay worn out tools and exchanging for new Armstrong USA made Craftsman wasn't going to last in this new age. In a case like this they would refund the original purchase price if there is no replacement. It isn't Sears the bad guy here.
Craftsman's lifetime warranty is unique and was a major selling point. They basically would exchange/warranty anything if your not satisfied, tools broken, hate the color, etc... I won't miss them.
Most other brands will warranty against defects, not wear over a tools-life... which is at their discretion.
Most other brands will warranty against defects, not wear over a tools-life... which is at their discretion.
Originally Posted By: goodtimes
Lifetime warranty should be to the original owner with retail receipt only. Craftsman would probably be still be made in USA if they had that. People buying in yard sales, thrift shops, or ebay worn out tools and exchanging for new Armstrong USA made Craftsman wasn't going to last in this new age. In a case like this they would refund the original purchase price if there is no replacement. It isn't Sears the bad guy here.
+1
Their policy was lenient... it was their own fault.
Lifetime warranty should be to the original owner with retail receipt only. Craftsman would probably be still be made in USA if they had that. People buying in yard sales, thrift shops, or ebay worn out tools and exchanging for new Armstrong USA made Craftsman wasn't going to last in this new age. In a case like this they would refund the original purchase price if there is no replacement. It isn't Sears the bad guy here.
+1
Their policy was lenient... it was their own fault.
Originally Posted By: das_peikko
If the part number was still in production, they'd would've sent you a new wrench. Life of the tool means life of the tool and it's corresponding part number. You're being totally unreasonable.
If Snap-On had abandoned (for example) the 3/8 ratchet or 13mm open-end wrench market you’d have a legitimate point. But they haven’t and they surely have a product that will perform the same task as the OP’s broken tool.
And I bet 99% of tool buyers would interpret “Life of the tool” differently than Snap-On does. No individual’s going to litigate over the cost of a wrench, but State Attorneys General might love a case like this.
If the part number was still in production, they'd would've sent you a new wrench. Life of the tool means life of the tool and it's corresponding part number. You're being totally unreasonable.
If Snap-On had abandoned (for example) the 3/8 ratchet or 13mm open-end wrench market you’d have a legitimate point. But they haven’t and they surely have a product that will perform the same task as the OP’s broken tool.
And I bet 99% of tool buyers would interpret “Life of the tool” differently than Snap-On does. No individual’s going to litigate over the cost of a wrench, but State Attorneys General might love a case like this.
Kinda funny Sears- Craftsman story. Long time ago, I needed to swap belts on a Cummins 1710 on an Onan generator set. I needed a 1 1/2" box wrench with some crazy offset. A guy that worked for us had a 3/4" drive Craftsman set and said I could slice a section off his 1 1/2" socket to build the wrench if I got him a new one. I agreed, sliced the socket, welded a handle to it in the required offset and went and did the job.
The next day, my brother took the remainder of the socket to the closest Sears and showed it to the guy in the tool department. He said I need a socket like this. Guy went and got it and said ok, see you later. My brother said no, we cut this in a saw. I'll pay you for the new one. Guy said no, this is fine.
On the Snap On thing, I wrenched on diesels professionally for almost twenty years. I always used the correct tool for any given task. I can count the amount of times on one hand I needed a broken tool warrantied but our Snap On guy always did it, no questions, as long as there weren't marks from a pipe of any hokey type of extender.
One time, I bought their fancy double flaring tool. The cone part didn't spin freely and it would ruin the flares. I gave it to him and he gave me a different one that worked fine and I still have today. Only problem was he took mine and put it on the shelf for someone else to buy. Whatever.
Another time, I bought a soldering gun packaged as Snap On but made by Weller. Something was wrong with it so he exchanged it. Can't remember what exactly as it was a long time ago but we went through a few of them before we got one that was right AND the box wasn't cracked. Still have that today as well.
The Snap On guy probably bent over backwards for us because we spent silly money on that truck.
The next day, my brother took the remainder of the socket to the closest Sears and showed it to the guy in the tool department. He said I need a socket like this. Guy went and got it and said ok, see you later. My brother said no, we cut this in a saw. I'll pay you for the new one. Guy said no, this is fine.
On the Snap On thing, I wrenched on diesels professionally for almost twenty years. I always used the correct tool for any given task. I can count the amount of times on one hand I needed a broken tool warrantied but our Snap On guy always did it, no questions, as long as there weren't marks from a pipe of any hokey type of extender.
One time, I bought their fancy double flaring tool. The cone part didn't spin freely and it would ruin the flares. I gave it to him and he gave me a different one that worked fine and I still have today. Only problem was he took mine and put it on the shelf for someone else to buy. Whatever.
Another time, I bought a soldering gun packaged as Snap On but made by Weller. Something was wrong with it so he exchanged it. Can't remember what exactly as it was a long time ago but we went through a few of them before we got one that was right AND the box wasn't cracked. Still have that today as well.
The Snap On guy probably bent over backwards for us because we spent silly money on that truck.
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The end user has zero control over what does and doesn't get discontinued, and in this case Snap on is skating on a technicality, as there is some reasonable make god that could be proffered.
My experience in dealing with snap on - is that if you are an individual the letter of the rule is followed but if you are a good (read as $$$ spending commercial client) like our boat shop, "our guy" will go out of his way to do some kind of make good for us.
A couple of years ago I bought back a stolen snap on wrench set of mine from a pawn shop how do I know they were mine - my initials were still inscribed in them ... grrrrr!
UD
My experience in dealing with snap on - is that if you are an individual the letter of the rule is followed but if you are a good (read as $$$ spending commercial client) like our boat shop, "our guy" will go out of his way to do some kind of make good for us.
A couple of years ago I bought back a stolen snap on wrench set of mine from a pawn shop how do I know they were mine - my initials were still inscribed in them ... grrrrr!
UD
Originally Posted By: CKN
Buy a replacement at Harbor freight for cheap and move on. You could probably buy three for the price of one Snap-On tool.
Yep.
Buy a replacement at Harbor freight for cheap and move on. You could probably buy three for the price of one Snap-On tool.
Yep.
I totally agree that Snap-On is way to high priced for me. Unless it is some specialty tool that nobody else makes, I will buy many other makes . I started buying tools while going to trade school for diesel farm tractors in 1963. I bought a lot of S-K Wayne tools and some really off brand tools. I have broken very few over the years, and still use most of those original tools. Plus a bunch others bought along the way of course. I switched from tractors to cars, then to OPE, so not as heavy of use as original usage, but still a lot of years of use. Also, I am still using my original toolbox that I bought from Montgomery Wards for $50
Sounds like a cop out to me.
I went back to lowes with a ratchet that had broken, they didn't have the same one but told me I can get any from the shelf that are around the same price when I bought it.
I bought tools from Snap on in the 80's because of their warranty. That's how I justified the expense.
I'll bet the terms of the original purchase agreement and warranty still apply. I'll also bet they owe you a wrench.
They cannot change the terms after the fact.
They cannot change the terms after the fact.
Originally Posted By: das_peikko
If the part number was still in production, they'd would've sent you a new wrench. Life of the tool means life of the tool and it's corresponding part number. You're being totally unreasonable.
For the price of SnapOn tools, they'd better be replacing it no-questions-asked with whatever is comparable.
If the part number was still in production, they'd would've sent you a new wrench. Life of the tool means life of the tool and it's corresponding part number. You're being totally unreasonable.
For the price of SnapOn tools, they'd better be replacing it no-questions-asked with whatever is comparable.
Originally Posted By: SEMI_287
Sounds like a cop out to me.
+1
Really easy to change product numbers every so often and make slight changes to a tool to consider it a new model. The fact that they didn't offer you any kind of discount on a new comparable tool really shows their true colors.
I always thought of Snap-On as over-priced junk and this confirms that theory.
Sounds like a cop out to me.
+1
Really easy to change product numbers every so often and make slight changes to a tool to consider it a new model. The fact that they didn't offer you any kind of discount on a new comparable tool really shows their true colors.
I always thought of Snap-On as over-priced junk and this confirms that theory.
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