Snap-On at work and Craftsman at home for me...

have not heard about the reciept thing with craftsman, if that is how it is that is gonna suck!!!

 

I just swapped two Craftsman tools today no questions asked, and very polite. A broken ratchet and a 3/8" extension that was made wrong. I had some tools stolen recently, so I started to replace some and bought an adjustable wrench set for $30. I then went to Lowes and saw a similar set for $10. Moral is Nothing is Perfect. I have bought Craftsman for the same reasons as everyone. My experience with quality for Craftsman and Kobalt have been similar.

 

Depends on the store too, I got some craftsman tools from a friend and went to exchange them b/c they were rusty and busted. Local store said no, period-store in the next town over said nothing.

 

i try to stick with matco. i have some other stuff but i try have important tools like ratchets, impacts, etc. of high quality. i have alot of cheap sockets and wrenches that stay in the trail truck.

 

i am currently going to college trying to become a diesel mechanic... but i need to but all my own tools and i went to both sears and lowes i went to the customer service desk at sears and asked for help i had a big tool list i needed because this is my first time buying tools... they said that someone would be with me soon i waited for a good amount of time and when i finally left all the employees were standing around talking... i went to lowes and they had two people helping me so i was out of there pretty soon... and the tools at lowes were priced way less then sears... and they only had socets in groups of five or six and because i needed quite a bit more then it was pointless to go that route where as lowes had a kobalt set of tools in a package of 227 for two hundred dollars... so lowes has better prices and better customer service...

 

I run alot of old Craftsman tools (10+ years old) and I dont even bother returning them because the tool steel they are using now is horrible. I usually buy replacements (when I have to, it's not like I only have 1 of every socket or wrench) from S&K or Snap-on (only trucks that come to the shop). I have a Stanley set from wally world in the back of the truck and it'll get me back to one of my boxes (work or home).

BTW M.I.T. makes a very nice set of wrenches. more comfy than a Craftsman in my hand, long as a Snap-on, and priced well below ($45 for a set from 3/8" to 1-1/4")

 

Not long ago I went to Lowes and purchased A set of Kobalt tools, and one of my sockets was marked 11/16 Kobalt and under that it was also marked 17mm Craftsman. So to me this means that they are made by the exact same manufacturer. So I would say to anyone going to buy tools pick the least expensive of the two.

 

My experiance with Craftsmen was in the summer of 2008 I bought a 1/2" drive Craftsmen socket set with ratchet. I was trying to get a nut off a bolt. I broke the socket. So I bought a 1/2 drive socket set from Carquest called Blackhawk brought it home put the blackhawk socket on the craftsmen ratchet and broke the ratchet. I put the blackhawk socket on the blackhawk ratchet and took the nut off the bolt. I threw everything with the name craftsmen in the trash. I will never use Craftsmen junk again.

 

One thing i like about snap-on is their exchange of tools.. last week i had one of my small center punches that i used to line a bolt up in my truck last summer and bent it.. found it on my toolbox, showed my snapon dealer and the next thing you know i have a new punch.. no question asked, no need for a receipt...

 

hahahaha.... both are made by the same company.. come on guys.. danaher tools makes kobalt, craftsman, matco, KD and a few others..

and yes, kobalt used to be made by snap on, but sold the name to danaher after snap on wanted more money due to the success of kobalt tools, but lowes said no..

 

did anyone know that the brand of tools that they sell at autozone are actually man by craftsman. i think its duralast.. way cheaper than sears... any tool will last aslong as you dont abuse it.. i found pleanty of wrench from harbor frieght tools that are crapp and some that are right up there with proto matco and snap-on... it just depends on the grade your getting. any retard can break a wrench and break a ratchet...

 

Old thread resurrection! I've never bought any tools from autozone, but I bought a nice pulley puller kit from Kragen for $10 with a lifetime warranty. powerbuilt is the brand, it worked nicely ha I have a pic in my build up

 

i look at it this way. th cheaper you buy the better, aslong as you are not going to wear the tool out by using it everyday use.. then i say spend the money on good stuff. but some time a brand name is just a name that is a reason for a high price...

 

I like Craftsman, and I will take it over Snap-on or Matco or whatever. It is a great brand with a great history. Sears is great about returns. The tools work great and are built well. And, if you need serious pro stuff, they have Craftsman Professional.

I guess I kind of have a problem with Snap-On because they were simply the best at one time... but then they had money problems and started getting tight with their lifetime warranty. For the cost of Snap-On, they better kiss your a$$ if something brakes. Then if it does you gotta find a truck. And to top that off I have had a few truck owners that were total jerk offs. Funny how easy it was to forget how great their reputation was with crap like this--I will never buy anything from Snap-On again.

On the flip side I have worked with Craftsman corporate people driectly. Their goal is simply to figure out what people want and offer it in the best quality, most desirable, and most affordable way. Honestly, I think the fact they they used to lose a lot of business to Snap-On's reputation drove them to be the very best.

Anyway, Craftsman is the way to go IMHO. And you can get it on-line as well as at K-Mart.

 

i have had pleanty of tools that said made in taiwana that have taken as much or if no more than any other craftsman or snap wrench of mine... and they just keep on taking the abuse.... just like a cheap whore...

 

just picked up a 14 piece metric impact socket set from harbor freight popular sizes from 10 mm to 32 but no 12mm? work great for me use them on my thundergun all the time with no issues and on sale for 18$ cant beat that and has anyone seen the commercials that craftsman tools will be available at ace hardware soon?

 

Don't know if this is a repost or it has been mentioned in this thread and I didn't see it but you can now buy Craftsman at ACE Hardware. For those of us who live in really small rural areas that is a BIG deal.

 

My dad was using Craftsman over 30 years ago when I was little and I remember him melting a Craftsman wrench when his welder got a little close to it when it was holding a bolt in place and he returned it and got a new wrench no questions asked so that sold me on their return policy right then.

 

Does Sear's still replace broken Craftsman tools no receipt?


Never mind..

I'm going to have to try that with my 1/2 rachet

 

never have ever abused my tools to the point where i had to take them back to sears,
when in doubt get a wrench made in taiwan that was purscased from kmart over 20 years ago... it will never let you down. and keep your craftsman still looking nice