Topic: some guarantee !!

[mutters]

 HI y'all

 I recently bought a fairly good socket set (kinchrome "professional quality tools")

 "lifetime guarantee" , it says right on the box. So far so good.

 so being inquizitive I reads the fine print . guaranteed against faulty workmanship and materials blah blah blah  then..
.
 "this guarantee does not cover product that has been altered,misused ,abused (fair enough I say) or subject to normal wear and tear !"
 
 So its guaranteed for life,I'm not sure who's , as long as I don't use it 

 so what is this "guarantee" worth


 
 but they do make pretty good stuff 

[ofreen]

so what is this "guarantee" worth

I guess you'll find out if you ever have to take something back.

Here in the U.S., Sears has a lifetime guarantee on their Craftsman tools.  One day I was with my dad in his pickup when he got a flat rear tire.  It turned out there was a 7/16 in Craftsman combination wrench embedded in the tire.  It must have been in the tire for a while before it punctured the tube because it was so scuffed up you could hardly read the markings on one side.  It was still serviceable so he kept it.  Years later I found that wrench in the underseat tool box in his jeep.  The jeep had been sitting outside uncovered for a few years and everything in the toolbox was a rusted mess.  I recognised the 7/16 wrench from years before.  It was rusty, but you could still make out the Craftsman name.  As a joke, I took it with me the next time I went to Sears.  They surprised me by giving me a new one, no questions asked.  Now I wish I'd kept that wrench for the sentimental value.  sniff.

[mutters]

 Now THAT'S a guarantee, 

[Terry in Australia]

G'Day Mutty, Kingchrome was a good(ish) brand years ago, started here in Melbourne by a disgruntled Sidchrome ex-employee who was buying in quality tools mostly from Japan and offering a lifetime warrantee in competition with Sidchrome's trademark warrantee.

He sold the company a couple of years later for mega-bucks, and now most of the tools come from Taiwan, but are still reasonably good. In the meantime, Sidchrome sold out to an American company, (Turner? I can't remember) but still produce excellent quality tools. Cheers, Terry.

[rab1dwolf]

someone i know found a craftsman hammer buried in the dirt for who knows how long.  thing was rusted and broke but you could make out the company name.  took it in and bam! got a new one with no hassle....thats why i usually buy craftsman

[74cb750]

I have found several borken, rusty hammers, wrenches etc etc burried on the property of my new house.
The Craftmans were all replaced by Sears, free.
Unfortunately, they would not help me pay for the 3 tractor trailer loads of debris (non-tool junk) I removed.

[heffay]

when i bought all my tools for MMI i purchased craftsman.  except for my socket wrenches.

i purchased those at walmart of all places.  they are popular mechanics brand and the rachet mechanism and the way it is designed is/was far superior to any socket wrench i've ever used.  popular mechanics tools have the same warranty as craftsman for a fraction of the cost and i've had no trouble EVER returning something to walmart.  including two piece of #$%* hot plate/burners that i wore out, over a 2 year period, without the boxes and without the receipt.

i hate walmart and bigbox stores but, its really hard to go wrong with wally world or sears if you can get over your corporate shopping guilt.