I’ve taken back a few things to Harbor freight that did not work as they should, and I never had a problem returning things…as long as you still have the receipt.
I don’t know how they would handle someone bringing back one wrench out of a set.
About a year ago I took back a craftsman wrench that I’ve used for over 30 years. It was a 1/2’’ and 9/16 " boxed end wrench. The 1/2 inch end was so rounded off that it slipped on every bolt.
The cashier walked over, grabbed me a new one and after just taking my name and phone number, and handed me the wrench. He also gave me something free, but I can’t remember what the item was.
He had just picked up the phone as he was taking my info, and the person just could not comprehend what the salesperson was saying. Then the guy had to go over the whole thing a second time. I knew what he was telling him and I had only one side of the conversation!!!
Easy as pie.
I liked the older style though…it was a little lighter. This one you can’t get into tight spots as well.
The sears brand that our K-Mart sells is pretty cheap.
I was looking for a new set of 1/2" deep impacts as some of mine were lost or in pretty poor shape.
The lettering was stamped into the side of the sockets, but the font was so small I’d have to be grabbing the magnifying glass each time.
I need those with the inch tall lettering etched into the socket.
I also thought that I saw Craftsman at our Farm and Fleet store, but they are only here in Wisconsin…I think!!!
One positive comment for Sears.
I inherited a Craftsman heavy duty stapler from my dad that was probably 60 years old. It started to jam last year. Being as how it was all metal spot-welded, I couldn’t repair it. I took it to Sears and they replaced it with a new heavy duty stapler free of charge and with no questions asked.
Sears demise is their own doing. With 20/20 hindsight it’s easy to see…but many people saw problems with they way they ran things decades ago.
. They started to focus only on high-profit items.
. They were very late getting into the internet field. Yet they were the leader for well over 5 decades on catalog sales. Companies like LL Bean transitioned easily, but Sears didn’t - and that really hurt them.
. There use to be Customer service…Haven’t seen that in decades.
As I stated earlier - I haven’t gone there in years. Yet 20 years ago it was my go-to store for almost everything.
yep. My Craftsman ratchets are all at the bottom of my drawer. All of them are pretty new from being replaced under warranty (some multiple times.) As one who depends on my tools to make a living, I need them to work. I don’t need them failing on me. So there they sit.
But almost all of my wrenches are Craftsman, and I absolutely love them. no complaints at all there.
Sounds like Sears is now trying to sell the Kenmore brand. I’m not sure what that would be worth since to me it is a negative brand. Think maybe Sears won’t last to the end of the year.
I’m not really convinced yet what went wrong, but yeah would have been simple to convert the catalog for the internet. Used to be able to order an item in the morning and pick it up at the local catalog store in the afternoon. No big deal to drive down to the store to pick it up and certainly rivaled what Amazon is doing now (so what if you add a UPS step). I just think their brands were tired and should have been dumped years ago for standard brands. Their stores really stunk with the majority of the floor space in dry goods with stiff competition from other stores.
The Whirlpool partnership (they made Kenmore) has expired and Whirlpool has not renewed it. I imagine the Kenmore brand is sort of worthless now. There’s no vendor partnership to go with it.
Oh no, mine broke also, but it never occurred to me the hand tool warranty might apply. I think I threw that broken stapler away. I’m gonna be looking for it in my junk box this weekend though … lol …
He, Edward Lambert, hedge fund manager extraordinaire, who spearheaded the Kmart purchase of Sears and has put millions of his own investment capital into the company, who will lose millions… of his billions… but he’ll make it up elsewhere. He’ll be fine. Common stock holders and employees will “take it in the nose”.
It’s sad when it’s a matter of circumstances beyond the business’s control, but when it’s a case of mismanagement and poor customer service, it’s hard to shed a tear, especially having seen how much Sears charged for its auto service. I made the mistake of getting an oil change there once, and I won’t be sorry to see those crooks shutter their stores.
Sears had its run, and when innovative brick and mortar businesses were finding ways to stay competitive in the online economy, Sears stuck with its same old stale model. They don’t deserve to survive in the new economy.
Tester’s comment was a personal comment directed at me for having made the following suggestion/comment. He interpreted this as meaning that I thought Sears bankruptcy was funny. He was wrong, of course, but we’ve already addressed that.
I wouldn’t call that a good move. He may know a few things about Hedge Funds, but he’s proven to know NOTHING about running a business. I think he is Sears biggest problem right now.
You may be right, Mike, but Sears was in very serious trouble when he bought it. He’s been trying to save it. It may have been beyond saving. I personally think it was simply too late. Sears had already blown its chance by not aggressively adapting to the internet. By the time they tried to get on board, the ship had already left the dock.
I know we are a little off topic now , but when I read that Kmart was going to purchase Sears all I could think of was ’ why would anyone think that was good idea ’ .
Last Christmas I received a Craftsman tool that I will never use. I went to the one remaining Sears near me and just wanted to trade it for something I would use. They wanted a receipt or the card number of the person who gave it to me before they would do that . I now have something for re gifting.
Yeah, you may be right Mike. I dunno but what soured me is their dang Craftsman products all made by someone else but with Sears model numbers like 301.8765.01. Try and get a part and you had to go to the Sears repair center and who knows where they are. If they would just sell the MTD or Husk brands like everyone else and not screw with the mostly identical Craftsman brand, you could get the parts anywhere. Same thing with Kenmore. Now when you go into a home and see all Kenmore products, what do you think? I think kind of low quality and probably put on a Sears credit card. I just had no respect for the brands even though they were made by Whirlpool, etc.
So to me the brands were a negative (except the old Craftsman tool brand, which now means nothing). So the question is why would anyone go to Sears? You can buy lawn and garden equipment at the big boxes and appliances, or from the dwindling local appliance dealers like I do. So why would I go to Sears to get brands that people will laugh at? So I’m going to buy the wife a bracelet from the Sears jewelry counter? I don’t think so.
So a business has to come to terms with reality when it becomes more negative for someone to do business with you. So what fool would buy the Kenmore brand? There are no plants and little good will. Maybe some inventory. I feel sorry for those folks that bought into the Homeline stores or whatever they are called. They are private owners relying on Sears brands for merchandise to sell.
Still what gets me and is maybe an indicator but if you google an item (lawn and garden stuff), you’ll likely get a hit from Sears. But try and go any further with buying it and it is an effort in futility. I sign off. Yeah it’s too bad but the same thing is happening to other industries like the media if they don’t start to wake up and add some value to the equation.