Craftsman Tools

We have a LARGE Sears store near here in Mishawaka In. Went there yesterday the exchange a couple ratchets I had that failed to work. They had a really large selection of tools from saws screwdrivers to table saws lathes Air compressors. You name it they had it ben going there 25 years. Anyway yesterday the tool section was down to about 400 sq. ft. No exchange on the ratchets instead they gave me two repair kits for them. Don't know what they would have done with broken hand tools. Guess Sears is getting ready to close

Officially Stanley Black & Decker owns the Craftsman brand now and have gone full swing on promoting a once respected brand in other venues, though there's still some presence in the remaining Sears stores. Like your experience the tool owning world is going through some "sorting out" on how the "lifetime" warrantee thing is going to play out. There have been conflicting reports about how it's done, one person gets a replacement in one location another isn't able to repeat an identical outcome in another. SBD has aligned with Lowes to be their largest marketer in the brick and mortar world and even there the replacement thing is spotty. It appears it's up to individual store managers to approve replacements of older Craftsman stuff, though the official Lowes policy speaks in a bit of mumbo jumbo that sounds like they are more likely to say no than yes. If there's any good news in all of the changes it's that SBD appears to be more interested in selling higher quality tools than Sears did in their waning years of ownership of the brand. There are even some genuine Made in USA tools for those who believe that is a positive difference.

Charlie, in this area Craftsman tools are now carried by the ACE Hardware stores and the LOWE"S big box stores (like Home Depot, Menards, etc). There's only a couple of Sears Outlet's and a Sears Home & Life (??) left in the immediate area.

A bit more information..

In March 2017, Stanley Black & Decker acquired the Craftsman brand from Sears Holdings, which retained a limited license for Craftsman products. Sears maintains the right to manufacture and sell tools using existing supply channels under the Craftsman name for 15 years after the deal closed however, Sears filed bankruptcy which would indicate they were finished. In January of this year, Sears Holdings (which owns Kmart)—accepted a $5.2 billion takeover bid from ESL Investments, the hedge fund run by 56-year-old billionaire Eddie Lampert, who is also the current Sears chairman.

From all accounts, Lowes will the only “big-box” store selling Craftsman tools on a national level. Lowes may replace some of their Kobalt tools with Craftsman on a per-product basis but is very unlikely that Lowes will allow Craftsman tools to eclipse their Kobalt offerings. Interestingly, Kobalt tools are made by the J.H. Williams Tool Group which is a division of American Hand Tool – the manufacturer of Snap-on tools.

Ace hardware as well as the remaining Sears Outlet stores are also selling Craftsman tools.

As to quality and guarantee? Varies by store and location – my local Ace assures me that they will replace any defective hand tool with an “equal value” tool – emphasis on “equal value” as they reserve the right to substitute a Stanley brand if in their opinion they are equal. This is a store-by-store policy.

I have several brands of tools and rarely have to replace one due to breakage but do remember destroying a 1/2" breaker bar in the 1970's (using a 3' cheater pipe!) and having the friendly Sears people giving me one off the shelf with no questions asked.

In the past the Craftsman warranty was almost better than the Snap On warranty. Sears would warranty things like wood hammer handles and Torx bits, Snap On and Mac would not warranty those “normal wear” items.

I have a fairly large set of Craftsman specialty automotive tools. I’ve noticed that Lowe’s and Ace don’t carry any of that stuff. My local Lowe’s carries quite a few Craftsman tool sets, but they don’t have any individual sockets, screwdrivers etc. I don’t see how they would warranty a broken socket or something.

I didn't need these 2 ratchets as I have probably a dozen anyway just thought as long as we were going hat far I'd exchange them. When I was using a lot of tools and lost a socket or 2 it was cheaper to buy sets than just missing sockets that's why I have many ratchets.

Glenn

Our local Sears closed shop, and Lowe's is full tilt featuring crapman and completely phasing out kobalt.

Is it my imagination or is the red not even the correct shade?

I will grudgingly admit that crapman is upping its game, but too late. They lost my loyalty when they ran quality into the ground shamelessly profiting off the brand, and sticking an entire generation with sub standard tools.

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Originally Posted by firebird77clone

Glenn

Our local Sears closed shop, and Lowe's is full tilt featuring crapman and completely phasing out kobalt..... They lost my loyalty when they ran quality into the ground shamelessly profiting off the brand, and sticking an entire generation with sub standard tools.

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I hear ya - seems like the Craftsman of old is long gone. I have a set of long box wrenches - 3/8 up to 1-1/8 from my father (probably bought in the '50s?) and I still use them a lot. Points are nice and still sharp. Look at some recently and they just look cheep. I have tons of tools but occasionally, I need a one time/one off and I'll go to Harbor Freight.

Too bad about your Lowe's dumping Kobalt - they seem like decent quality at a reasonable price. I have also bought some Husky tools (Home Depot) and they're not bad.