Sears tools have jumped the shark

https://www.sears.com/master-forge-9-pc-combination-wrench-set-sae/p-00912342000P

I mean cmon. Could they stoop any lower?

 

What am I missing? Just because they sell something else in addition to craftsman

 

Well Craftsmen jumped the shark once you could buy them at Ace Hardware, Lowes, Farm and Fleet and now Menards.

 

They are just trying to be Amazon, stocking cheap stuff in a warehouse hoping you'll waste money with them. Walmart, Target, and even HomeDepot do it too.

 

Weren't they just acquired by someone?

 

Even in the heyday of the Sears-branded stores they sold non-Craftsman tools, usually at approximately 1/2 the Craftsman price.

 

I was at a harbor freight today and was surprised how much expensive stuff they are trying to peddle.

They had a earthquake 1/2 drive battery impact and it was around $250. I didn’t look at the specs, but when I bought my Milwaukee it had the highest specs I saw in a similar price range. Seems like harbor freight is getting to big for their britches?

 

Yeah they have been putting out a "pro" line of tools for a while. From hand tools to power tools etc. Supposed to be much higher quality and priced that way. Most of it is at or near the name brand stuff so.... I just buy name brand.

I do like they still have the el cheapo version for when you need a 1 time use item.

 

I though they jumped the shark tank back in the eighties when you had to buy a 400 piece set to get 10 sockets you could actually use....

S&K was always light years better than the sears/crapsman stuff, Shame they went out.

 

Stanley Black and Decker bought Craftsman. The former Sears CEO purchased what's left of Sears.

 

I bought my son a 400 piece "Craftsman" set for Xmas. I knew something was up as it only cost about $160. The tools were far from what I expected from Craftsman. They were Chinese crap. Nothing like the old Craftsman of years ago. But they do have a lifetime warranty, and can be exchanged at Lowe's. The Craftsman tools at Lowe's are not the same. They are actually good quality. I especially like their new ratchets. I told my son to exchange his ratchets right away, and the sockets as they go bad.

 

I needed an extra set of basic screwdrivers, so I bought a set of Craftsman from Menards about a month ago. The first time I used one of the flat blades (yes, to turn a screw wiseguys....), the tip cracked off. When I took it to Menards the Customer Service person was like "yeaahhh, we don't really know how to handle replacements on those yet, so, sorry".

Pretty much all of my current hand tools are Craftsman, but I think it's time to start looking elsewhere.

 

I don’t understand the marketing Lowe’s is doing. Yesterday I went to Lowe’s and needed to get a new set of pliers. Craftsman set was 24 bucks and the Kobalt set was 22. Same exact set ( even the packaging was exact) both lifetime warranties. Just one was red and the other was blue.

 

Try an ACE store, I had good luck exchanging a broken Craftsman a few years back.

 

Gresham's law: Cheesy shit drives out good stuff.

 

There is SK tools, not sure if it's the same. Made in USA seem to be high quality.

 

Brand new Craftsman screwdriver tip broke first use. Even the stuff at Lowe's is junk.

Kobalt stuff Lowe's no longer carries was leaps and bounds better than the new Craftsman.

I love s&k, snspon, Mac, but dam it's expensive. I hate paying for those trucks.

Since I've left the machine shop and now doing more mechanical type work, for the basic wrenches I just bought the harbour freight specials. They do have a lifetime warranty, and tools tend to get lost easy at this job. I can tell they are cheap and for now am ok with it.

I want my kobalt back.

 

Stopped buying Craftsman when they stopped being made in the usa. Took a ratchet in recently and they gave me a rebuild kit and said I was better off swapping the guts myself. Even the rebuild kit I put in was junk. Went to Home Depot and bought a Husky, it's worlds better.

 

Anyone use proto?

 

I stopped buying craftsman as well. The selling point was made in the USA, decent quality, and the warranty. The few times I had to exchange something just went to my local Sears and swapped it out, no questions asked.

Now I've been using SK or used stuff at a local tool swap in my town.