As you are probably already aware of, Stanley Black & Decker now owns the Craftsman tool brand, and are selling them through Lowes. However, Sears is also still selling new and existing Craftsman products, under license.
Let’s say you have a Craftsman hand tool that you’re either not satisfied with, or has a manufacturing defect. In the past, a trip to Sears would have resulted in a replacement or even a refund. For a replacement, you didn’t even need to bring your receipt, they replaced it on the spot with an identical or equivalent tool.
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Here’s what the Craftsman Hand Tool Warranty looks like today.
Craftsman (Stanley Black & Decker)
Hand Tools continue to have a full lifetime warranty. Some hand tools are considered consumables, or might be categorized differently, but the new Craftsman website breaks it down in an easy-to-understand manner.
All of these tools are covered by the full lifetime warranty:
- Hammers & Demolition Tools
- Finishing Tools
- Hex Key
- Knives & Multi-tools
- Nut Drivers
- Pliers
- Rachets & Sockets
- Screwdrivers
- Wrenches & Wrench Sets
- Mechanics Tool Sets
- Individual Open Stock Tools
- Non-Electric Automotive Tools
Other hand tools are covered by a one year limited warranty:
- Torpedo Digital Levels
- Standard Digital Levels
- Staplers
- Miter Boxes
Electronic measuring tools, such as lasers, stud finders, and laser distance measuring tools, as well as new tape measures with model numbers starting with “CMHT,” are covered by a limited lifetime warranty.
Electric torque wrenches are covered by a 90 day limited warranty. DigiClick torque wrenches and legacy tape measures (model number starting with “9”) are covered by a one year limited warranty.
So back to the full lifetime warranty on hand tools, here’s what it says:
If the product fails to perform for any reason, we will replace it. Return damaged product to a stocking Retail Partner or call 1-888-331-4569 for details. No proof of purchase required.
Note: Same Warranty for all New Craftsman Models (Model # starting with “CMHT”) and older models (Model # starting with “9”)
Certain Exclusions: Warranty does not cover expendable parts which can wear from normal use (i.e. blade in a knife)
Here are the notable takeaways: No proof of purchase required, same warranty for new and older models. Meaning, as indicated by Craftsman at least year’s launch media event, you can replace existing Craftsman tools if you’re not happy with them.
Proof of purchase is required for certain tools covered under limited warranties, such as tape measures, electronic measuring devices, DigiClick torque wrenches, metal tool storage, power tools, air tools, and outdoor power tools. More details are found on Craftsman’s warranty information pages.
How well does Lowes handle Craftsman hand tool warranty claims? That’s something we hope learn more about. But, speaking about the policy itself, I think Craftsman is doing right.
They also emphasize:
CRAFTSMAN warranties are important to our customers. We will, of course, honor existing warranties and provide similar warranty protection for all new CRAFTSMAN products.
*Thumbs up*
More Info(via Craftsman)
PDF via Craftsman
Sears Craftsman Warranty
Sears came out with new Craftsman hand tools and “Ultimate Collection” mechanics tool sets, and I’ve been debating about whether or not to post about them. Then, I wondered if their Craftsman hand tool warranty has changed.
Yes, Craftsman and Craftsman Industrial hand tools are still covered by a Hand Tool Full Warranty, at leaast those that are labeled as such in their warranty heading.
Full hand tool warranty categories: Automotive Specialty Tools (simple design), Beam Torque Wrenches, C-Clamps, Chisels, Punches, Pry Bars, Hammers, Hex Keys, Files, Levels (other than Torpedo, Digital or Electronic), Metal Squares and Combination Squares, Planers, Pliers, Ratchets, Sockets, Extension Bars, Saws, Screwdrivers, Nut & Bit Drivers, Scrapers, Putty Knives, Snips, Bolt & Wire Cutters, Tubing Cutters, Utility Knives, Wrenches (other than Torque).
To obtain the warranty coverage stated below, return the product to the Sears Brands Management Corporation authorized retailer from which it was purchased. Coverage will be fulfilled according to the retailer warranty exchange procedure and may be subject to a limitation on the number of items allowed per exchange.
CRAFTSMAN (or CRAFTSMAN INDUSTRIAL) HAND TOOL FULL WARRANTY
If this Craftsman (or Craftsman Industrial) hand tool ever fails to provide complete satisfaction, it will be repaired or replaced free of charge.This warranty does not cover expendable parts that can wear out from normal use within the warranty period.*
Other hand tool categories not covered by this warranty receive a limited warranty, which requires proof of purchase.
NOTE: All product warranties are LIMITED except for the Hand Tool Full Warranty. To receive LIMITED warranty coverage, you must provide proof of original sale from Sears, Kmart or another Sears Brands Management Corporation authorized retailer.
So, from the language above, if it’s a Craftsman tool eligible for the full hand tools warranty, you can only return it to the “Sears Brand Management Corporation authorized retailer from which it was purchased,” and if it’s eligible for limited warranty coverage, you must provide proof that it was purchased from Sears, Kmart, or anther Sears corporation authorized retailer.
What is a “Sears Brands Management Corporation authorized retailer?” They don’t say, but it could mean Ace Hardware or Amazon, which sold or are still selling legacy Sears Craftsman tools.
More Info(via Sears)
I am liking the direction that Stanley Black & Decker and their relaunched Craftsman tool brand are going towards, and think it’s great that they’re honoring existing Craftsman tool warranties and extending the historically strong warranty coverage to new products.
Gordon says
Lowe’s was happy to replace my burnt out Kobalt power strip with a similar, but not exact match, Craftsman version. Their website said they had Kobalt versions, but there were only Craftsman versions on the shelf. I did need to wait around for a manager, but he said as long as I was happy, he was happy. I asked what would happen with other Kobalt tools that were no longer stocked. He said it was sort of a case by case basis, but a lot of the discretion was left up to the managers.
Unfortunately, that makes me think it’s going to be completely hit or miss. Sounds like there isn’t a lot of top down communication yet.
PETE says
Of course, SBD/craftsman wouldn’t even entertain the idea. BUT They should have the craftsman tools that don’t have a lifetime warranty to have a different color craftsman logo or something.
Dean in Des Moines says
Thank goodness. I have a few hundred dollars worth of ratchets, sockets, and drivers all purchased from a Sears store. The stores are gone and I figured my forever warranty was gone with them. But this statement by SBD, particularly the phrase “model number starting with “9””, includes my tools. I’m happy as a clam to hear this even though I’ve only had to replace 4 tools in 20 years.
Jalopy_J says
That’s probably good news for most people for whom a tool is a tool. I personally don’t want the cheap stuff SBD is selling at Lowe’s as Craftsman. It’s no better than the Chinese Craftsman Sears started selling a few years ago. I plan on continuing to keep replacing any broke sockets or whatever with a better brand.
Jim Felt says
Good on Stanley for publicly committing to do the right thing.
Fortunately, as a itinerant collector, I’m always seeing “real” USA made Craftsman tools in the same Craigslist/Swap-meet/even eBay environments as my actual hobbies.
So I’ve cached a few NOS sets of wrenches, sockets etc. more then I’ll ever manage to loan/lose/destroy. (My wife thinks I’m a hoarder)…
But I love the hunt.
Nathan says
Is this good on SBD or Good on Lowe’s – or both. I’m going to go with both at the moment but I like this news.
Don says
Ive been steadily moving away from Craftsman to other brands as I need to replace things. The love is gone.
OldDominionDIYer says
My sentiments and recent trend as well. I’m over Craftsman and there dwindling quality and wondering whether they will be around next week or not. I have a several wonderful sets of the Craftsman Professional series hand tools and I love them but I will never likely ever be able to get a real replacement just some “suitable substitute”. I haven’t had a need and hope I never do need to get a replacement but still it does sadden me that they have gone extinct.
Joe framer says
Until SBD Craftsman are made in the USA I don’t think many people care.Go to Lowes ,put a sticker on a mechanic tools set and see how long g the same box is on the shelf…my Lowe’s has the same 8 boxes of Craftsman Chinese crap on the shelf for 2 months now.
Stuart says
If you want USA-made from SBD, buy Proto. They’re far away from USA-made Craftsman.
Joe framer says
Thank you, I know I own proto..I was referring to SBD Craftsman .. supposedly being made here but it’s the same junk Sears sold
Diamond Dave says
What is the ending date for Sears to finally get their greedy hands away from the Craftsman Name Completely and let SBD Control everything?
Eric says
I believe it’s 15 years far longer than Sears is going to last
Toolfreak says
All Eddie has to do is keep the name around as an entity that can receive payments, not hard to do for the amount of money SBD will be sending them each year.
Seamus says
My local Ace (actually family owned but Ace associated) painlessly replaced my 1/4” craftsman ratchet. They said as long as the part # matched something they carried, no problem. Not sure how that would play out if the item didn’t have a stamped on part # though.
It was the second time in 5 years that 1/4” ratchet exploded though. With light homeowner use. I’d happily spend money to replace it with something actually good if it wasn’t free or the drive to Ace was further out of my way.
Craig says
Check Ebay. I may have been the only one looking during the Superbowl but I scored a 3/8″ drive 10″ Snap on 80 tooth non-quick release ratchet for $32 including shipping. Barely has a scuff!
Dan says
I did the same exact thing but was disappointed to see my new ratchet was made in China.
Thom says
I’m glad to see SBD is doing the right thing.
Tom says
I would like to see a review of the Sears Craftsman Ultimate Collection ratcheting wrenches. Those actually look pretty nice, but they skip a couple of sizes in the sets.
Ben says
Would like to see review of the ultimate collection. Wondering whether that’s just marketing BS or actually decent stuff. Glad to see Lowes honoring the Craftsman warranty, much easier to go to Lowe’s since local sears closed.
The What? says
The warranty transfer was an expectation that sbd inherited when they bought the brand from Sears. The name didn’t change which should mean that the warranty still applies no matter who owns the brand. Its pretty much the same thing that Sears craftsman established years ago for hand tools with a few minor additions by sbd. I guess it’s a good thing that Lowes has plenty of craftsman hand tools (that’s been sitting on the shelf since Xmas) to honor the warranty. The likelihood of me going to lowes if I break one of my old craftsman hand tools just so it can be replaced by one of the sbd craftsman tools that’s available is slim to none. What happens if someone demands something of equal quality or they demand an American made tool to replace the American made tool they brought to lowes for the warranty? I assume that the serial numbers that begin with 9 weren’t made in America. I guess I’m SOL for the warranty. Oh well.
Stuart says
SBD was not obligated to mirror the historical gaurantee or warranty. They bought the brand, but that doesn’t mean everything gets carried over or stays the same.
Wayne R. says
On one hand, yes, of course. On the other, why buy a brand-name if you’re gonna wreck one of the signature features?
Though, I was in Lowe’s the other day, and none of the Craftsman tools I fondled gave me the same hand-feel that seems ingrained to me now.
I appreciate eBay and pawn shops ever more.
NCDubski says
Tekton, Gearwrench & Carlyle (NAPA) mechanics tools, Dewalt 20V & Milwalkee 12V fuel cordless are the only tools I’ve been buying for the last few years. When I go through Lowes, I don’t even give Craftsman a glance. I would be 10x likely to buy Husky brand over Craftsman if they were my only choices.
Bobby says
I recently called Craftsman about an old stripped out WF screwdriver I have. They sent me a brand new one, and much to my surprise it was made in USA. Must be new old stock. Nice surprise!
Bill S. says
So I bought most of my Craftsman tools probably 30 years ago in SC. I live in NY now so for one obviously it wouldn’t be cost effective to drive 1200 miles to replace a ratchet or a socket and two the Sears they were purchased at may not even exist now. The “where it was purchased” clause I think was designed to exclude people that bought their tools many years ago so they didn’t have to replace them. I no longer purchase Craftsman tools for this reason. I mean really do they expect a person to still have receipts for a socket set they purchased 20 years ago? Pretty unlikely. Just another way to exclude people from getting replacements. I really do not have much faith in American companies any more. Sad but true.
Bill
Leeroy says
It doesn’t mean the same physical store. Sears has had the same clause for a while now, and all it means is the same chain. Ie, if you bought it at a Lowe’s it has to go back to a Lowe’s. My suspicion is that it was added when Ace started selling Craftsman and Sears didn’t want to get stuck with returns of stuff bought from Ace. From experience, mall Sears stores don’t really care so long as they can find something close.
Todd Novak says
I was informed locally in MN that Ace and Lowes will only replace tools they have in stock. How convenient that they seem to only want to sell kits. They ALL have the ability to put individual tools on an order, yet will not. Ace came out to me a month ago and said there were so many outstanding warranty tools they were unreimbursed for (from SBD) that they were going to drop the line. This was from an empathetic employee who may have spoken from the hip. I wish Lowes would step up to the plate and do what is right. I am done with Crapsman.
Steve says
Will Lowes replace Craftsman rakes and shovels that are broken?
Stuart says
I don’t know?
Toolfreak says
The rakes, shovels, and other Craftsman garden tools I’ve seen at Lowe’s have a “15-year warranty” sticker on them, which is different than the “Lifetime” warranty that the Craftsman yard tools at Sears had, so it’s possible they will replace something you bought within the past 15 years if you have the receipt to prove it, but far more likely they won’t since there seems to be no other mention of warranty policy with regard to those tools, just hand/mechanics tools and the limited warranty on power tools.
My experience is also that stores don’t replace shovels/rakes with broken handles or if it’s anything other than an actual failure of the tool, like the blade broke in half or rivets failed and the tool came apart. Otherwise they’d be replacing tools every time someone snapped a shovel or rake handle, which seems to happen a lot.
Leeroy says
Only the older Sears stuff had the lifetime warranty. It changed to a graduated 10-12-15-25 year thing a couple years ago. My local Sears has replaced everything that they could still order, and I was never asked for a receipt. I asked an employee about it and was told that since there isn’t a way to tell what warranty the item originally had they just replace everything as if it was lifetime. With some of the stories I’ve heard about how Lowe’s has handled warranty exchanges so far, I doubt they’d do the same.
Toolfreak says
Lowe’s had info booklets on each register last year giving details on the Craftsman warranty policy, which was pretty much as indicated above, except most stores didn’t have any open stock to warranty from for an on-the-spot exchange.
SBD is slowly sending stock to more Lowe’s stores and the ones that have it get a completely rearranged tool department, to make room for the Craftsman stuff, usually in the front.
Right now most of the open stock just looks like the same China-made stuff from Apex that Sears had , but with different numbers and stamping, with the exception of most of the ratchets, which are re-branded Stanley stuff.
I guess still having a store to warranty Craftsman stuff at in person is good, but I’m more interested in seeing what, if any USA-made Craftsman stuff SBD comes out with. Then I’ll wonder how many people are going to exchange their China-made Craftsman stuff for USA-made Craftsman stuff.
Greg says
Wright for wrenches, ratchets and sockets.
Klein or Chennelock for pliers.
Klein for screwdrivers.
Vaughan or Estwing for hammers. Vaughan or Dasco Pro for prybars.
Vaughan, Dasco Pro or Wilde for chisels.
High quality, USA made, reasonably priced.
S-K, Snap-on, etc are there, too, but pricey.
I still have some old Craftsman tools from the American made days and I miss the days when Sears was the GO TO but those days are gone. Sad but true.
You can still get American made quality tools without breaking the bank if you do the research: try Googling ” Tools made in USA” or something similar and you’ll find a lot.
I miss the good old days My favorite store of all was Central Hardware in Kirkwood, MO. It’s long gone but I still have several tools, in great shape, that I bought there. It was the predecessor to the Home Depots and Lowes but it was much better. The tools were American made and it had even more: I bought my first bicycle there. Oh, the memories.
Ray CR says
The new owner of Craftsman needs to learn how to make their Craftsman sockets without rust already inside the sockets in the case. I have seen two examples of that at a local Lowes. Even Sears are rust free from the store.
I am also not a fan of universal sockets which can strip 6 kinds of fasteners . Give me 6 point sockets any day of the week.
Nathan says
you know that’s a subject for another day but I’d like to do a comparison or see one with some of these universal or spline style box ends or sockets.
I see a few mechanics using them and claim to have no issues with them.
Matt says
Good on Craftsman/Lowes… Our Lowe’s is slowly becoming a Craftsman superstore. I hadn’t been in there in a month or so until this weekend. There’s tons of Craftsman stuff in there I haven’t even seen as available on the Craftsman website. It’s also seemed to lit a fire under their butt to get the store into a better organized fashion. Either that or orders simply came down from up top. Things were just tidier than my last visit. The tool world department is still a cluster but perhaps they’re still trying to sell old stock before setting up a Craftsman power tool area? I don’t know. I’m loving the new outdoor stuff they had. I’m curious about the new v12 stuff and hopeful more brushless power tools are in the works for v20.
Concerning hand tools here though, I’m just unimpressed. The warranty stuff is great but like another poster commented, it appears to be no better than the Chinese stuff Sears tried to peddle. I hope there’s a higher end line coming. Like Craftsman Professional or something. Like these screwdrivers shown above, I cringe when I see those. They look so toy like cheap. Same with the pliers and stuff. And if Sears is going to stay in business now even with a small footprint, SBD needs to be the supplier for their Craftsman stuff. That way the brand isn’t damaged further and everyone’s on the same page. Craftsman is Craftsman wherever you go. Lowe’s, Ace, Sears, it shouldn’t matter. It should all be the same product.
Loup68 says
SBD should have gotten together with Western Forge and had them make the classic Craftsman acetate screwdrivers for them, instead of issuing cheap China copies of them. The tooling for them has to be there and they would be made in the USA. But obviously greed got in the way.
I thought that I read on Toolguyd that SBD had used Western Forge in the past to make them some screwdrivers.
Tc says
Good luck with this! Just talked to Lowe’s, they said they will only replace tools bought from them, if it’s from Sears it has to go back there. No sears within about 100 miles so guess I’m out of luck. Tried the number on the craftsman website, prompts ask where you bought it. It you say sears, it takes you to sears.
Mark C. says
Real nice to say warranted for life, Lowes in Columbus Ohio Georgesville Rd. will replace for you but only exact same part number, my ratchet is probably 30 some years old and not made anymore so not getting replaced at Lowes. The man there was nice not his fault and he did give me the 888-331-4569 to call, 1st call 28 minutes counting on hold then disconnected, 2nd call basically same deal finally got a rep gave her part # and then disconnected, only an hour wasted total. I suppose this a way to keep from having to honor their warranty just aggravate people until they give up and quit calling. I guess I’ll have to fly to India and talk to someone face to face to actually get some help. LOL What a joke.
steve dickess says
returned broken craftmans screwdriver to Lowes 6/1/19 was told to call the phone # an get code # I wish I could return the $25000 craftsman tools own if they can not replace $10.screwdriver
donald galloway, jr says
I registered a hedge trimmer cmcht5820d1 earlier this year but failed to print out the registration from the computer – is there any way to trace this. Phone number was [redacted]
Stuart says
I wish I could help, but this is something you will have to contact Craftsman about.
Dennis says
Unfortunately, Lowes nor Ace stock 6 point deep sockets in SAE or metric sizes.
Even if you have the Sears part # you can not get replacements. “No longer in stock”