I was recently in the middle of a project involving my front struts, when my CRAFTSMAN ratchet expired.By expired I mean I was breaking a bolt loose, and the teeth inside the ratchet stripped. So I was covered in grease and oil, and needed that tool to keep going. I sent my wife to SEARS in Bartlesville, at the mall, to exchange my ratchet for a new one. CRAFTSMAN, you see, has a lifetime warranty on their tools. I have returned things in the past without issue. The most common incident that comes to mind is screwdrivers. I broke the tip off a screwdriver and returned it for a new one, no questions asked.
My wife returned, and handed me a ratchet, but it was not new. It had noticeable scratches on the handle, and had obviously been disassembled and had the internals greased. The one I sent her to exchange was in good condition, as I take good care of my tools. So in effect, I exchanged a shiny ratchet, for a beat up one. I asked my wife what the hell she had just handed me, and she told me that SEARS has changed their policy, and I had received a REFURBISHED ratchet! So I pay for a nice new shiny tool, which has a lifetime warranty. If it fails, I get a beat up refurbished tool. I proceeded to use the ratchet because I needed to get my car back together. I was on a truncated time schedule. The selector for tight and loosen on the ratchet was not functioning as designed. Clearly the person who rebuilt the guts of the ratchet didn't know what they were doing. I had to continually switch it back to tighten or loosen, as operating the ratchet put the selector in neutral 50% of the time. But I got the job done.
I had other things to attend to, but a couple days later I found myself in SEARS. I was there to shop for other items, but thought I would make a pit stop in the tool department to talk to them about their new policies, because they are ridiculous, to put it lightly. The young man at the counter confirmed it: they are giving out refurbished tools rather than a new one off the shelf. I asked him what would happen if I broke the tip of a screwdriver, would I get a refurbished one? He didn't have an answer. The lack of whysofors and whatnot led me to contact SEARS customer service via the telephone.
I arrived home and looked up the 800 number. I called, and had to wait 20 minutes to talk to a representative. I explained the situation, and she placed me on hold to check her policies. Twenty five minutes later, the call dropped. I called back. The process repeated. I called again, the process repeated. I called again and requested a supervisor. The supervisor went to check the policy, and I was again, disconnected. I attempted to no avail to call the manager at the local sears store. I have many things that i use my ratchet for, and I require a functional, shiny, new ratchet, to do the job with. Guess I'll flag down the CORNWELL truck next weekend. Maybe they will back their products better.
0 comments