Kobalt Tools

[TX OMFS]

Anyone know the story on Kobalt tools? I can't find any official info from Lowes but it seems that Craftsman is going to replace Kobalt at Lowes.

I like my Kobalt hand tools. I like the older Craftsman. The newer Sears Craftsman junk didn't interest me. I don't know anything about Stanley Craftsman.

I switched to Kobalt when Sears Craftsman started going downhill. Kobalt had the same warranty and I thought they would be around longer than Sears.

Second question, will Lowes or other Stanely Craftsman retailers honor the lifetime warranty on a Sears Craftsman tool?

 

[TX OMFS]

Here's the answer about the Craftsman warranty. Stanley Craftsman has a lifetime warranty on most hand tools & will honor the lifetime warranty on all Craftsman hand tools, even the Sears ones, at a stocking retailer.

https://www.craftsman.com/customer-care/warranty-information

 

[Dawico]

Lowes has a good supply of both brands on the shelves. I have yet to see a store moving Kobalt off the shelves.

Kobalt has been a good brand for Lowes and I couldn't imagine Lowes would just ditch them.

We shall see though.

 

[Shotgun Jeremy]

I wouldn't know who to go to for tools if Kobalt left the market. I avoid Craftsman and Husky.

*Shudder*

Sent from my VS996 using Tapatalk

 

[JCC]

I worked at Lowe's briefly while between AV Project Manager positions. I would not see them ever getting rid of Kobalt. I have seen that some or the Kobalt warranties have changed from lifetime. After leaving Lowes and still being a regular shopper, I noticed Craftsman on the shelves. My understanding was that Sears sold Craftsman and they were going to be available at other retailers. Maybe Lowes has them exclusively. Not sure on that. I am a Kobalt fan and liked Craftsman a lot before that. Not a fan of Husky or Rigid.

Sent from my mobile device using Tapatalk

 

[rusty tweezers]

I know here in Tulsa when the craftsman shenanigans began they started telling people when you would bring a screwdriver or tool in to warranty it they almost always had one if any of the particular item on the shelf and tell you that they would have to order it in I got so tired of the bs I just quit buying there tools. Then as of a year ago they started bsing people telling them that ace hardware had the tools and they would have it in stock bullcorn! I would get the same results one or two on the shelf if any. And ya had to give them three squirts of blood and a set of fingerprints to get it done IF they had the warranty item. I can totally see why they are or have gone out of business. I truly miss the 70-80s when life was so much better and easier going. Haven’t tried a warranty replacement on kobalt I figure since Jimmy J isn’t killing it anymore they’ll probably go out of business too! Lol


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Shotgun Jeremy]

Kobslt warranty replacement is SOOOO easy!

Sent from my VS996 using Tapatalk

 

[vmax]

Has anyone see anything officially saying the Lowes is ditching Kobalt for Craftsman or is this just OPs guess?

 

[TxStetson]

Has anyone see anything officially saying the Lowes is ditching Kobalt for Craftsman or is this just OPs guess?

I was at Lowe’s yesterday, and there was a shitload of Craftsman stuff there. Of course there wasn’t any less Kobalt stuff there than normal.

 

[Lonesome Dove]

Kobalt is their house brand same as Husky for Home Depot. Both are here to stay. I own a little of both but Kobalt Chanel locks suck!

 

[grasshopperglock]

Craftsman was sold to Stanley. Craftsman is no longer a Sears brand. Neither is Kenmore. They sold that too.

The Lowe's here is loaded up with Craftsman.

 

[TxStetson]

Kobalt is their house brand same as Husky for Home Depot. Both are here to stay. I own a little of both but Kobalt Chanel locks suck!

I took a Kobalt ratcheting screwdriver back once to get replaced. What a PITA. After that ordeal I stopped buying Kobalt hand tools. They can call it a lifetime warranty all they want, but when it takes 2-1/2 hours to replace a $12 screwdriver, they can forget about me being a repeat customer. Customer service kept telling me that some of their hand tools have a lifetime warranty, and some don’t. So I finally went to the hand tools section, found a new one, and brought it back to customer service to show them that the tag on it says lifetime warranty.

No matter how bad Sears got, I could take any broken Craftsman tool in there, they look at it, throw it in a tub of broken tools, and say OK, go grab you another one.

 

[vmax]

I was at Lowe’s yesterday, and there was a shitload of Craftsman stuff there. Of course there wasn’t any less Kobalt stuff there than normal.

that's what I noticed yesterday also.
I quit buying craftsman when it was at sears, now I get to not buy Craftsman at Lowes also

 

[SloppyShooter]

The Lowe's here is loaded up with Craftsman.

Not really, they just tell you they are...... (they're really just wanna be DIY's.)

A story I heard: A guy was telling me he used to dumpster dive at a Sears. He would find broken Craftsmen tools that had been replaced and chunked in the dumpster. He took them in for brand new ones.

I don't know whether it was true or not, but I had to admire a guy with a similarly evil mind.

 

[grasshopperglock]

I have some craftsman. Smaller wrenches like 8mm. Then big wrenches like 13/16, 7/8, 15/16. 1/2" drive ratchet.

And some 1/4" sockets.

Other then that. The only Kobalt I have are the ones made by Williams Tool Company. They were American made. The first production stuff. Now kobalt is China made. The American wrenches are still floating around.

Other then that. It's Snap-On as the majority of tools. With Proto and S-K mixed in those. Ratchets are Snap-On, S-K and Proto.

Sears was lying about where some of their stuff was made. It said USA but it wasn't. It was China. I'd only deal with Craftsman that's at least 15-20 years old.

Then again. Stanley doesn't mess around. They own lots of tool companies. I wouldn't doubt if the quality went up.

 

[V-Tach]

Our local Ace Hardware has more Craftsman tools than our local Sears.....noticed all the Craftsman in Lowe's yesterday...it did surprise me.....

 

[SloppyShooter]

Just a bit off....but, many years ago the wife and I bought a Filter Queen vaccumn for $1500.

For one thing, my wife was looking into an air filtration system and the vaccumn doubled as that with it's HEPA filter. (This was a long time ago when HEPAs and air purifiers were new.)

For a second, the vaccumn had a lifetime warranty. It was actually a very good vaccumn.

So, 2 years later, we have a problem, and the company that sold it to us (and the warranty), was out of business!!!

Didn't see that coming.....

 

[grasshopperglock]

Neither will all the people who bought a Sears warranty. They say there's money to cover them after Sears go's titty up.

I wouldn't bet on that. Nobody is gonna give a F' when the doors close. Your fridge gets to stay busted.

 

[JCC]

Neither will all the people who bought a Sears warranty. They say there's money to cover them after Sears go's titty up.

I would bet on that. Nobody is gonna give a F' when the doors close. Your fridge gets to stay busted.

Better get a home warranty.

Sent from my mobile device using Tapatalk

 

[robertc1024]

I have a few of their socket sets I bought a long time ago and they are quite good. I think they screwed the pooch when Danaher started supplying them around 2003 - the same corporate parent that bought Craftsman and screwed them up. Danaher is only about making money, quality is down the list with them. I was quite involved in being a vendor to them and they basically told us to move our production off shore to "low labor cost" areas. I can pretty much guarantee you that's why Kobalt moved production to China. The sockets I have were made in Taiwan, and are better quality than the new ones.