Craftsman Lifetime Warranty Issue

How do they know the ratchet is part of a set? I'd just go in with just the ratchet and explain you broke it and need to have it exchanged under the lifetime warranty, not need to explain that it is part of a set of tools.

Go to another Lowes. Take the ratchet, tell them it was a stand alone purchase. They will swap it if they have one.

They force you to be less than honest with them. I tell them and HD all of the time that they may as well refund my money because the store across town will and at the end of the day all they are doing is making me drive across town.

I bought a pressure washer from lowes once on clearance. Someone had brought it back. I asked if it did not work could I return it for a refund and they said certainly. Took it home, tried to crank it and it was almost seized up....did not try it at the store. Someone obviously forgot to put oil in it when it was taken out of the box and when I checked it it was full but it was almost seized....could just barely pull the starter rope with the plug out. I took it back. No bueno. They said it was sold as is. I reminded the person who told me this that he told me I could return it....it was like 3 hours earlier LOL. He said he had been mistaken. I told him I would simply buy another one, swap the engines, box up the bad engine and bring it back with the receipt. He said I could not do that. I assure him I was more than capable of doing it and its a shame he would force me to do it. He said that he would not take it back at that store....I told him they damn sure would at the one 3.2 miles away...and he agreed they probably would....and finally agreed to give me my money back. I would have been better off though doing what I told him I was going to do...I would have had a new pressure washer for the clearance price instead of no pressure washer....

There was a time when you could go to Sears and switch them out. Now they have all kinds of roadblocks in place so you can't switch them out.

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Go to sears and swap it?!?

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If you have an Ace hardware near you they handle craftsman tools and will honor the lifetime warranty with no problems. Are at least the one inside Rouses in Zachary did for me with a ratchet.

Warranties in general seem to throw roadblocks in your way when you have a claim. They know most people don’t keep their receipt or the warranty terms that came with the product. Now you have to search online for the warranty terms and find the one in olace theh year you bought it, if you didn’t get a paper copy or download it on purchase. Proving you bought the product however has been a condition of the warranty since forever. Check you Amazon account, your credit card history and see if Lowe’s has a record. This is not necessary if you register your warrenty/purchase with the manufacturer when you bought it as they will have a record. But always keep a copy.

Don’t give up. Tell them you will report them to the attorney general for your state, the FTC and file suit. Assuming you are right that the warranty covers what happened. They HATE governmental oversight and bad publicity.

PS. Snapon may cost a lot but I personally know that they honor their warranty w/o hassle if their dealer will vouch for yo use a customer.

How poor are you?

You should be happy they at least are willing to work with you. When most “lifetime warranty” companies go bankrupt and out of business, so does the warranty.

Most companies buy the name, but they don’t warranty product made before the original company went out of business. That is likely why they went out of business.

You are lucky.

Their warranty has gone to shat. I have a slough of their tools and miss the over the counter 5min swap at sears. Now they’re discontinuing a lot of tools and you can’t get what they once had. Recent examples, broke a 22” breaker bar now all they have is a 18”. Flat tip pliers I always called duck bills, wanted to replace with needle nose.

They told me to swap at a big box store you have to have a rfa number I believe it was called. I’ve had luck with them swapping stuff using the online chat on the craftsman website and including pictures. Then they will mail you the product. I’d maybe try that. I have lost faith in them, though.

Just take the new set or buy a new ratchet. It’s close enough and your set is 6 years old. Quit being a grifter. Chalk it up to depreciation of your old set.