Home Depot/Lowes crappy hand tools

[erictrumpet]

Home Depot and Lowes have these crappy brands of Chinese-made tools ("Task Force" and "Kobalt") and they friggin suck. I bought a whole mess of them on super sale figuring, hey they have a lifetime warranty just like Craftsman. WRONG! The Craftsman warranty exists because the tools are quality and IF they should fail, Sears will replace it. The Home Depot/Lowes warranty exists because their tools totally suck and WHEN they fail, they are willing to replace them because they sell them by the ton and they are made in Chinese sweat shops for 10 cents each. And get this: you need your original receipt to make good on the warranty! Who the hell keeps a receipt for a screwdriver that they bought 2 yrs ago? The tools are garbage. The adjustable wrenches are sloppy and wobbly, the screwdriver tips barely survive one job, the tape measure has cheapass springs inside, etc. Buy quality tools fellas. Home Depot and Lowes don't deserve any more money for these crappy products.

Eric.

[SavannahLion]

Some of the tools are OK.... Wouldn't use them in a heavy duty application without expecting replacement. I bought a few of those flip open box cutting knives from HD. Both my mom and I use them exclusively now. HD calls theirs Husky, Lowes is Kobalt. Same damn company though. Um... I guess I have a wrench set that still works. 

In any case. Kobalt is a Lowes brand. Task Force is generic IIRC. Husky is Home Depot. I worked at Home Depot and here was the thing about returning products with life time warranties.

If you return Husky/Kobalt, it depends on the store because the stores generally eat the cost in some fashion, especially on the lower ticket items. Stores are supposed to get a type of credit, but this didn't always happen with the cheaper items. Some will return them (the one I worked for) without problems, others will refuse since it hurts their bottom line. Generally, if the same tool is still available (some tools are "retired" for this exact reason) and the cost is below a certain dollar amount then an exchange will take place. Don't count on a refund though.

None exclusive brands, like Task Force, Black and Decker, Sawzall, whatever. Don't count on it without the receipt. Even if they have a life time warranty. Some brands (can't recall which) have a lifetime or limited warranty of sorts but manufacturer guidelines for honoring that warranty is strict. Home Depot has this one brand of tape measure that used to be lifetime without any restrictions on the package. However, for the store to get credit, the tape measure had to have a mechanical failure not resulting from abuse. If it was deemed otherwise, the store ate the cost. Ever see a tape measure that hasn't been dropped?

That's why many stores will ask for a receipt. They know that no reasonable person will keep the receipt. 99% of the time, they get away with it because very few people throw a ---Cleveland steamer--- fit over a $5 hand tool.

---smurfing--- Wal*Mart does the same thing too. I bought a folding chair from them. Their ---smurfing--- brand and the frame collapsed under my fat ass within a month. Took it back but found it was discontinued. Tried to get a refund, but because it was "deleted" from their system, they wouldn't honor a refund. Apparently I'm not using the same ---smurfing--- dictionary as everyone else because "deleted" means the product still scans in their system. It was a major ---smurfing--- hassle especially with a hungry pissed off 9 month old in my arms. The ---smurf--- won that round and I had to return later with my GF. Still no receipt, but those ---smurfs--- gave her the refund (store credit) with no hassle.

You can play dirty by their rules though.

[erictrumpet]

Yeah Husky, that's it. I have a few of those too. Actually the Task Force tools are not quite as bad as the others. I have a few of each of these crap brands. I also have tons of Craftsman thank goodness, like all my sockets for example. From now on I am only buying Craftsman or Snap On or some other quality brand. It's not worth it to have a tool fail. I do automotive work too, not just arcade building so I like to have decent tools. I am not a professional by any stretch, but I know that an adjustable wrench should not friggin wobble and loosen and round off bolt heads during normal use. I guess I just think screwdrivers and hammers and wrenches and such should be "forever" items. I inherited a small box of hand tools from my grandfather who passed away at age 75 in 1985 (so the tools are mostly all from WWII-era or before) and these things will be used by MY grandchildren! Talk about well made stuff! Heavy, with dense hardwood handles, etc. Great stuff. I have also had good luck with Craftsman so I am loyal to them but I am sure over the last decade or so they have cheaped out as well. Basically the Wal-Mart Effect has made everyone in the world simply accept junk because it is cheaper. Wal-Mart, Sam's, Lowes, Home Depot, etc... I wish I could boycott all these stores for life, but unfortunately sometimes you need them.

Eric.

[SavannahLion]

Basically the Wal-Mart Effect has made everyone in the world simply accept junk because it is cheaper. Wal-Mart, Sam's, Lowes, Home Depot, etc... I wish I could boycott all these stores for life, but unfortunately sometimes you need them.

Yeah, it's a depressingly sad fact companies want to cut corners to save a few bucks combined with dwindling resources, world employment, etc. The wood handles for their earth tools are often foam-like. The wheelbarrows, even the top-of-the-line model, skimps on corners. A growing number of their tools are sold with no way to purchase consumable parts (eg a hand held tile grout saw with a replaceable blade but no replacement blades). For a while there Home Depot actually sold certain cordless power tools and didn't even carry spare batteries for them! Customers had to special order the batteries at about double the price than what they would've been if the store carried them. We purchased a light fixture from Lowes to find out that Lowes not only didn't carry the replacement FL bulb, but couldn't even special order them. Last I checked, they still sell that line of fixtures. The list of crap goes on and on.

The scary part is that I thought the ---Cleveland steamer--- at HD and Lowes was as low as it could get until my GF started taking me to Wal*Mart. I would love to know how much money have been lost in our economy strictly due to lost hours and defective products resulting from the ungodly low grade crap from Wally World.

[Ummon]

Keeping receipts is like having insurance, but cheaper.

[SavannahLion]

Keeping receipts is like having insurance, but cheaper.

Meanwhile, the store I worked at was looking into using a different paper manufacturer to ensure the receipts faded faster and sooner to prevent people trying to "steal merchandise and return them with founds receipts." Pfft, yeah right. I don't know what ever came of that though.