Are any brands still offering decent lifetime warranties?

[500e]

I have wondered that as well @angellonewolf
Had some refusals from van man sent them back after phone call with SO UK had replacements by return.
Did not seam happy very apologetic on phone.
Only ever bought the popular sizes new from them all the rest Second hand
Never liked their Allen keys, cant beat Unbrako

 

[Joe 90]

I had a few teng ratchets lying about, they were about 20 years old and took 3 into town to see if I could get them repaired. I was told that only the handle was guaranteed and they could try and repair 2 of them. The most expensive one they said was discontinued and it was a different model now and had no guarantee on it at all as the guarantee is only for the life of the tool.
I said you didn't tell me that when I bought them. I said on that theory if I bought a ratchet today and teng changed the model tomorrow then it has 1 day guarantee, not a lifetime.
He then got snottery and said he had training on it and knew more than I knew.
They were so old I didn't think they would cover them but his cheeky attitude got me wound up so I sent teng headquarters an email to tell them what I think of their warranty.
They emailed me back, then phoned me and told me to go back to the dealer and tell them I was in contact with them and they should be repaired or replaced. They couldn't understand why they wouldn't.
They did repair the 2 smaller ones but still said couldn't do anything with the more expensive one as different model now.
I contacted teng again and they sent me a brand new, new model one without seeing the old one.
They have a good lifetime warranty. No ******** like the shop said.

 

[Mick Annick]

I was in my steel supplier / ironmonger today, big new sign up saying there’s a one euro charge per tool for any Facom warranty claims

 

[bert]

My snap on rep rebladed a screwdriver for me that was rusted and damaged. He knew it was originally my dad's and easily 40 years old. I spend about £1500 a year with him but don't use credit and he is mint about all my claims

 

[graffian]

The best snap-on story has to be a mates wife's. Friday afternoons the snap-on man used to plot up in the car park of where she worked and take her wages.

 

[Turbo]

Were replaced a broken pozi screwdriver for me once I sent them the old one, at my own expense unfortunately.

LED-Lenser are great at honouring their 7 year warranty. I had a head torch that I forgot to register when I bought it but I did have the original receipt. After 6 years it developed a break in the wiring & only worked intermittently. Sent them an e-mail & they replaced it once I returned the broken one!

 

[sickpup]

Warranties seem to be getting harder and harder to use. The world has changed with the internet so people no longer just use one supplier for their tools, we buy off who has the best prices and the warranties haven't kept up with this.
A lot of companies still expect you to return tools to the point of purchase to facilitate a warranty but of course remembering where you bought a tool 15 years ago can be a bit difficult. Some also expect you to retain the receipt for the whole time you own the tool that may or may not have the description of the tools on it.

10 years or so ago you could phone Facom and get a prepaid return address for warranties, put your stuff in a padded envelope and two weeks later you receive replacement tools no original purchase receipt needed, now they want things done through a dealer and don't have a process for consumer returns.

Tool trucks in my experience often don't like taking returns as they have to pay for the return postage and are charged for the new tools until the return is accepted so this affects the level of their credit. I have been told by one that they can also be penalised for too many returns.
Shops don't like taking other retailers returns as again they get charged for postage on the return not to mention staff costs.

Bahco's comments to the OP are odd. The life of a tool is as long as it lasts, in the case off cutters as long as they cut not a specific time. It's life is dictated by how often and how it is used not by a specific time so for them to say 5 years is more than a bit off and as this wasn't specifically stated at the time off purchase, not even their website explains what the life of a tool is well it's pretty much rubbish. If the warranty is for 5 years say it is for 5 years, don't say for the life of the tool, that is misleading.

This isn't just limited to Bahco, I've seen it with Facom as well which is annoying as most of my tools are Facom and were bought for the lifetime warranty.
Take a look on Youtube and there is a Facom company video that tells you the .161 ratchets have a lifetime warranty and the repair kits are free, talk to Facom and they say no they're not and never have been.
A salesman at Prime told me on the phone that the latest sealed ratchets don't have a lifetime warranty, they only have a 2 year warranty and yet the Facom website says everything is lifetime.

The best warranty service I have ever received was from Machine mart. Take tool into store, they ask if the tools were bought in your name and if so they search their database so they can return it and give you a new tool on the spot. If not in your name they just give you the new tool. Halfords from what I have been told are pretty much the same.

 

[dobbslc]

I had a few teng ratchets lying about, they were about 20 years old and took 3 into town to see if I could get them repaired. I was told that only the handle was guaranteed and they could try and repair 2 of them. The most expensive one they said was discontinued and it was a different model now and had no guarantee on it at all as the guarantee is only for the life of the tool.
I said you didn't tell me that when I bought them. I said on that theory if I bought a ratchet today and teng changed the model tomorrow then it has 1 day guarantee, not a lifetime.
He then got snottery and said he had training on it and knew more than I knew.
They were so old I didn't think they would cover them but his cheeky attitude got me wound up so I sent teng headquarters an email to tell them what I think of their warranty.
They emailed me back, then phoned me and told me to go back to the dealer and tell them I was in contact with them and they should be repaired or replaced. They couldn't understand why they wouldn't.
They did repair the 2 smaller ones but still said couldn't do anything with the more expensive one as different model now.
I contacted teng again and they sent me a brand new, new model one without seeing the old one.
They have a good lifetime warranty. No ******** like the shop said.View attachment 289860

I've got a Teng 1/2" ratchet that I was given for my 21st birthday, the plastic hand grip started slipping off a few years ago so I wonder if it's worth asking for a new hand grip?
I'm 50 this month

 

[Cobbler]

The best warranty service I have ever received was from Machine mart. Take tool into store, they ask if the tools were bought in your name and if so they search their database so they can return it and give you a new tool on the spot. If not in your name they just give you the new tool. Halfords from what I have been told are pretty much the same.

I had a problem with Machine Mart, I bought a ball joint splitter, it broke the first time I used it, I got a replacement from them which also immediately broke. Neither managed to remove one joint. I took the second back & the manager got stroppy, misused & such like then refused to replace it. I mentioned this another time & was told that was the previous manager & to take it back in, but I had slung it in the bin by then.

 

[Munkul]

The best snap-on story has to be a mates wife's. Friday afternoons the snap-on man used to plot up in the car park of where she worked and take her wages.

Am I just dirty minded or is this an euphemism?

 

[RWD3M]

I tried to claim with a brand that has a precious metal in their name a few years back on a ratchet but they declined the “lifetime” warranty as I no longer had a receipt. I’m in the habit now slipping receipts for craftsman stuff back into the case - my understanding is Sears are pretty good at honouring it But I’ve never tried. I did swap a SO socket with my rep that I had blatantly used in emergency in an impact wrench :-( but I doubt he would have stomached that every week. I think the SO warranty largely comes down to your relationship with the rep.

Blatantly copied from a previous post of mine:

I only recall one item failing on me and that was a 1/2 SD 14mm hex socket. To be fair, I had hammered it onto a slightly rounded off 9/16" bolt head and whilst it split, it did undo the bolt!

Fair play to Craftsman (Sears) they replaced despite me telling them exactly how I broke it, and their warranty at the time limited to the USA! (I was back in the UK by then)

I do wonder how things will be now that Sears is no more and Craftsman are owbned by Stanley Black and Decker.

 

[MetalMonkey]

Do remember that the extra premium, spent on some tools, likely covers the cost entirely even if a claim were to be made the next day!

This is a good point - the cost of warranties are baked into the price of the tool. One of the many reasons Snap On is the price it is.

I've found a lot of the European brands to be fairly good at replacing items with obvious manufacturing defects, despite not offering any form of warranty.

I think the difference is that, with a warranty, people do have a tendency to abuse the tool.
You can see that a lot in America, especially with flatraters - they buy several so they can keep breaking them and still have one to use while the others are in for warranty in a never ending cycle.
The attitude is, it has a lifetime warranty therefore I'm going to use it.

The cost of all those replacements has to come from somewhere, and it is factored in to the initial purchase cost or (more typically) the finance repayments.
Often you can get an equally good, or better quality tool for a lower cost from brands which don't offer a lifetime warranty for exactly this reason.

Horses for courses though, depends a lot on the situation.

 

[8ob]

They used to hand over a bin of broken tools and be given replacements. So it wasn't costing them.
When the snap-on man was a bloke we knew he replaced anything handed to him without question.

That's why I couldn't understand the relucatance of the bloke to replace my twisted allen key.

That`s odd When I helped clear out a mates shed I happened across a really old snapon ratchet, this apparently belonged to my mates father. Gave it to my snap on guy and he dated it as 1938 (ish), he put a new mechanism in it for free and its back in use, thats good service

Bob

 

[graffian]

When I knew the snap on bloke I never replaced the ratchet mechanism in a ratshit, I handed the ratshit
over, he binned it and gave me a new one. The only variation on that was when he only had the flat back
ratshit's, then I had repair kits.

 

[HughF]

I had a problem with Machine Mart, I bought a ball joint splitter, it broke the first time I used it, I got a replacement from them which also immediately broke. Neither managed to remove one joint. I took the second back & the manager got stroppy, misused & such like then refused to replace it. I mentioned this another time & was told that was the previous manager & to take it back in, but I had slung it in the bin by then.

@sasquar would now be a good time to mention the Machine Mart trolley jack incident?

 

[Greeves246]

Lifetime warranty? At my age I don't buy long life milk or look at sell by dates.

 

[8ob]

Lifetime warranty? At my age I don't buy long life milk or look at sell by dates.

Has your quack told you not to buy any more LP`s ?

Bob

 

[My Old Landy]

Has your quack told you not to buy any more LP`s ?

Bob

My consultant said to me 'how are you still breathing'