There’s a good reason why mechanics keep their boxes locked; even during lunchtime. It’s not unheard of for some service writer, parts dept, clerk, or even a car salesman to go back into the shop with the honest intention of borrowing a tool out of someone’s box and returning it.
Unfortunately, in the majority of cases the honest intention fades away quickly.
In my experience, it’s usually other mechanics that are the thieves. It’s no secret that there are some shady characters in the business, and turnover can be quite high, depending on circumstances
There were a few instances where stuff went missing, and we STRONGLY suspected a couple of guys. Since we didn’t have a smoking gun, so to speak, we didn’t say anything. Didn’t want to accuse somebody with no proof
Interesting thing, though . . . when they left to go to another dealer, things stopped disappearing 
"There’s a good reason why mechanics keep their boxes locked; even during lunchtime. It’s not unheard of for some service writer, parts dept, clerk, or even a car salesman to go back into the shop with the honest intention of borrowing a tool out of someone’s box and returning it."
True. I don’t lock my tool box at home, but I have had family members borrow tools without informing me which I guess comes with having a family, eh?
The tools usually get put back, but sometimes where they weren’t taken from and I have to look all over when I need it. Also, not everybody uses tools for the job they were designed to handle. Screwdrivers are not pry bars. I have pry bars to use as pry bars.
CSA
I have a big sign over my tool boxes (I have 3… 26inch roller cabinets, with mid boxes and top boxes). one set i have to stand on a 4X6 to see into the top.
The sign reads “If you need to borrow a tool, please bring it back that same day ASAP.
If you don’t remember what drawer it came from…leave it on the bench and I will put it away”.
Followed by my phone numbers.
There is nothing worse that hunting all over for that special tool when someone put it in the wrong drawer.
There are only two other guys that have access to my tools. One still has my 24 foot ladder from cleaning gutters last fall. The other one still has a motor on my engine stand from two yeas ago. When I asked for it back, he brought his from his house and I’ve had that for a year.
I’m ahead…it’s newer, but why borrow mine when you have one 20 minutes away…round trip.
I was tempted to just tip his motor motor on the ground and take my stand, but he showed up with his stand for me.
Yosemite
I remember being at the junk yard who also had a couple repair bays having an air conditioner compressor put on. The guy had to flush the system and called a buddy at another shop to borrow the unit. It seemed like it was just a normal thing for him to do. Maybe it was a quid pro quo or something and got speedy service on used parts delivery. Evidently the unit was a little pricey and not used a lot so sharing seemed to make some sense.
“I don’t lock my tool box at home, but I have had family members borrow tools without informing me which I guess comes with having a family, eh?”
Many years ago, I was friendly with a guy who was very handy around the house, and who had a really nice collection of expensive tools. Well, along came the boyfriend of his niece, and the boyfriend asked to “borrow” a few hundred dollars worth of tools. My friend didn’t really want to loan his tools to this young guy (who looked very sketchy to him), but wifey told him that this tool loan was “a must” if they wanted to stay on their niece’s good side. So, reluctantly, the tools were loaned.
A couple of years later, after multiple attempts to collect the loaned tools were rebuffed, my friend and his wife received an invitation to the wedding of that niece and her neer-do-well boyfriend. Wifey asked my friend, “What should we get them for their wedding?”, and my friend responded, “They already got their gift two years ago when that jerk took my tools, and they are not getting anything additional from me”. And, no gift was given, in light of what amounted to theft of some very nice and very expensive tools.
“Well, along came the boyfriend of his niece, and the boyfriend asked to “borrow” a few hundred dollars worth of tools.”
I’ve been in that situation a few times. I have thousands of dollars invested in tools that I’ve gathered over more than 50 years. I try and repair nearly everything I own. Since I figure it takes quite a bit of “nerve” to ask for such a big favor, I’ve explained that over the years I’ve had to stop letting my tools leave my property without me, nothing personal.
I try and work out a convenient time that I can go with the tools and help with a one time project. I’ve even done a few projects for people who ask to borrow tools. For instance, when asked about a circular saw, I crossed my canal in a boat and trimmed a little off the bottom of a new wooden screen door at a neighbor’s cottage. I would have hated having him cut a body part off with it.
If people balk at my offer then I have to wonder whether the request was sincere or whether or not I would have had my tools returned in a timely manner in same condition.
If I cause hurt feelings or lose friends because of this then that’s just how it goes.
CSA
I still carry a grudge against a car salesman over a borrowed tool that never made it back to me. Woe to him if we ever cross paths.
He came back into the shop right before lunch and needed a soft hammer to pound some different wheel covers on a car he had just sold.
I told him that hammer makes it back to me PDQ or he’s dead. A few minutes later some guys coaxed me into going to lunch and I clean forgot about the hammer until halfway through lunch.
When I got back to the shop I went up front and that guy was nowhere to be found. He decided to finish the deal on the car and then quit his job; apparently leaving with my less than 2 weeks old Snap-On dead blow. Bastard.
In another case the company hired a new service manager and this guy was a Class One xxxxxxx.
We got crossways right off the bat and since I was in need of back surgery I decided to take 6 weeks off and get it done. I packed my tools up, locked the box, and rolled it into a corner out of the way.
About 3 weeks later I was up on my feet and dropped in to see how things were going. The SM had rolled my box into the parts dept. which his wife ran “so he could keep an eye on it”.
He picked the locks and helped himself to a few goodies before skipping out.
He also screwed my boss over on the way out over a ton of ordered parts at full retail prices.
I hate to drop names (cough) ToXy (wheeze) CotiXlo (coughing again) but some deserve it.
Hopefully no one will ever meet or have dealings with this weasel at any level.
This is the second time in very recent times when people interpret something I wrote to suit themselves. I am talking to you, DB. If I wanted to say that cousin was a scumbag, I certainly know how to spell the word.
This is a different culture. No one denies that. They have ways of dealing with problems that do not exist in the USA. For every negative thing you can tell me about Mexico, I can tell you two or more in the USA.This is not the forum for that.
In this case, another cousin was going to try to use corruptive techniques to take part of our land for his own purposes. The other cousin stopped it, and nothing was taken from the taxpayers. In fact, they got more taxes out of us. His solution was actually a creative solution that harmed no one, including the community.
People find what they are looking for, and when you look for something negative you will usually find it.
Sgtrock, I doubt if any car manufacturer (or for that matter dealer or shop owner) gives the mechanics tools. I won mine as a door prize in a promotional seminar offered to customers. I would rather have gotten a good quality car, but at least I got a good quality socket set. 
The good news is that my ex took the new car in the divorce, and I got the eight year old high-mileage pickup truck. The car didn’t last. The truck I had for many more years, and eventually gave it to my daughter. Karma rules. 
:
“For every negative thing you can tell me about Mexico . . .”
I know you’re NOT talking about me, because I never said anything negative about Mexico
If you think I did, it’s you who’s looking to see something negative
You’re getting WAY more bent out of shape than I am
You may want to think about that 
I don’t have a problem with you. I don’t want to pick a fight with you, but I’m not sure if the opposite is true
I couldnt agree more Mountainbike… I thought we were talking about just a guy who didnt need top quality tools. Though there are different schools of thought with this…and i understand all of them.
Some guy would simply like to have the best quality when it comes to tools…i get that for sure.
But if we are talking about an occaisonal wrencher with no aspirations of being a pro nor getting into any situations that a Pro might wander into… His HF sockets and wrenches should serve him well…well enough. Paying 150+ for 5 Open end wrenches will send some guys running…away. Do I understand those 150+ wrenches…you bet I do and they do have their place…in the hands of a Pro. But a tire kicker, Vice grip on a nut user? He simply will not get it…
Yosemite makes a good point also…wall thickness… Lower quality usually begets thicker walls…and when you have space its no big deal. But when clearance is an issue…its a big issue. You have to be well made to sport thin tool walls and apexes…and pro tools excel here…no question.
But a non pro who just wants some kick around tools? He could be well served at HF…just dont expect the best of the best …maybe its about expectations. You can expect A LOT from pro tools…and they deliver time and again in this department. You will lose a pro tool before you break it.
Blackbird
If I win the lottery I’ll never buy anything but the best again. But for most of my life, decent is all I ever needed… sometimes only inexpensive. Places like HF have allowed me to get tools when I need them and still have money left over for the really important things, like my kids.
There is truth to buying the best. Why buy 3 or 4 sets of inferior product…in the end you paid the same and had crappy tools the entire time.
Only drawback? Pro level tools grow legs and wander off like no other… Trust me on that.
I’m STILL looking for my 3ft long Snap-On swivel head 1/2 in ratchet…and I promise I didn’t lose it!
HF tools have their place…know it and use them accordingly honestly they are better than expected. Sockets and open ends primarily…other stuff is poop.
Blackbird
I’d forgotten until just now, but come to think of it I did buy one POS at HF… a chop saw. The shank of the bolt holding the blade on broke after about three uses. The shank was about 3/16" in diameter. Way too inadequate.
But I’ve bought many other things there that were fine for the intended purpose. None were the quality of the high priced stuff, but for what I paid I’m perfectly happy with all of them.
Here's the part where I contradict myself: "Shame stuff isn't built to last anymore. . . " I think a lot of it is because "we" (not so much the folks who post on this forum, but the American consumer as a whole) demand the low prices, so the manufacturers meet this demand by lowering quality. Most folks are too short-sighted to see past the purchase price.
Well, part of the problem is that a lot of the time…even when you pay for “top” quality, you wind up getting dreck. As a result, if I’m forced to purchase something cheap, that I don’t have an encyclopaedic knowledge of, I’d sooner get the cheap stuff, knowing I’m getting poor quality…than to splurge on the expensive product, and risk getting low quality anyways. (I’m that way about phone chargers and other assorted small electronics.)
Interesting and unique perspective meanjoe. I like it. 
HF has its uses… I mean who is going to drop Snap-On or MAC or MATCO type cash on something they know they’re only going to do once or twice…maybe ? Not many…
I wont endorse much from HF but I can attest to their open end wrenches and sockets exceeding my expectations…and that was pleasant. In fact I honestly have yet to break one…and they see the “I dont care what happens to it duties” Poor things…they keep on ticking though.
Blackbird
I have to agree with you @meanjoe75fan . Stuff just is not quality now days.
How many times do we buy things that should last a lifetime and a year later we are reinforcing a handle or putting bigger screws into the parts to hold better.
Last year a neighbor gave us one of those basketball hoops with a movable base for our grandson to use. I accidentally backed into it slightly a couple of times and had bent the braces at the bottom a little. One day I left the house and about 200 feet down the road I noticed something odd in my side mirror. Turned out the net had caught on my pickup bed cap and I was dragging the thing down the road.
I decided to make new braces out of 3/4 inch conduit and even though I’ve bumped them a few times…they are still straight.
Just goes to show you how cheap the metal was even though it was 3/4 inch too.
Yosemite
I’ve got some Snap-On and MAC tools that haven’t been worth a crap since the day I bought them so the name is not everything.
I’m almost dead certain the Chinese are throwing everything they can find into the smelting pots be it car bodies, dead dogs, tree limbs, and granny’s rocking chair.
Someone on YouTube even put up a video about the copper used in guitar pickups. The copper in the American made pickups such as Seymour Duncan was a nice, beautiful, dark color. The copper in the Chinese made pickups looked almost bleached out due to the junk that had been mixed with it. That in turn affects resistance through the windings and that’s critical on pickups.