Sears/Craftsman/USA=ripoff

[edwardh1]

the car and driver magazine ads from weather tech, the floor mat people (good products) the owner asks the question, why do you offshore a tape measure to save $0.75.
my complaint is the lack of choice we have now, harbor freight and northern tool seem all chinese, even ace hardware is all chinese and the us companies do not monitor the quality of whats made at all, so you buy junk then buy it again in a year what a great business model, chinese must love it. maybe we need to offshore our high paid ceo s too

 

[GMZ]

A big +1 for Wright tools, Epsteins has them for good prices.

 

[67lemans]

yep that's why I now use SK, Armstrong, and Proto.

 

[morris]

my friend had two 3/8 ratchets that was broken. we took them to sears. they gave my friend two manufacturered ratchets, NO Qs asked. the ones he got back look just like the ones he gave to sears. they seamed to work very good.

 

[johnachak]

Originally Posted By: 91344George
Ever notice how in the USA that if you dare "complain" about ANYTHING you are now instantly called a whiner, unreasonable, or a troublemaker???
....
Well I can tell folks...when things aren't reasonable I will complain and be indignant too.

Then you too will be labeled like me as a dinosaur who doesn't understand "Global Economics". I understand it just fine, Our jobs for our new grads and returning heroes have been globally outsoursed. Done with many Americans blessings to save a buck so they could have the latest Stainless appliances or Ipad or whatever....

 

[johnachak]

Originally Posted By: morris
my friend had two 3/8 ratchets that was broken. we took them to sears. they gave my friend two manufacturered ratchets, NO Qs asked. the ones he got back look just like the ones he gave to sears. they seamed to work very good.


Were they the American made ones that broke?
If so, I'm sure they liked replacing 20+ dollar USA made ones for $10 Chinese made ones. Since it is not too likely that 2 USA made wrenches both broke, I am going to guess they were Chinese made ones and the replacements will probably meet the same fates.

 

[johnachak]

Originally Posted By: stephen9666
To the OP-

You also could have just had them rebuild your USA made ratchet. The kits they have are still USA made, but I don't know if it will stay that way.


I hate to disagree but they only have kits for some of the more recent models.

I recently needed to fix my Craftsman Stainless finetooth ratchet and they tried to give me a Chinese replacement because they didn't have a kit.

All that was wrong was the snap ring had worn so thin it failed. I bought a $6 set of snap rings, cleaned and relubed it and it's as good as new. I have heard from 1 or 2 other people that they didn't have any more kits for their specific models either.

 

[johnachak]

Originally Posted By: Vikas
Who is willing to raise his hands and say "$46 for 115 piece set" is "USA" price? I understand that you are getting a "USA" set today for that amount but the price is NOT "USA" price. To put it differently, if tomorrow Sears puts chinese set but still charges the same price, you really should not be outraged.

The price paid to begin with was NOT "USA" price, so you were not entitled to get "USA" product even though you got one.

Equivalent Snap-On set will run many hundreds of dollars. If you had paid few hundreds (200-300) for the Craftsman set, then you should expect "USA" quality. At $46, you can NOT expect "USA" quality. If you get it, consider it as a miracle.

- Vikas


Let me get this straight, you feel it is ok for Sears to replace an American made ratchet with a Chinese one because the person may have gotten a set that was underpriced to bring business into the store? What about me? When I bought my Craftsman tools I put my set together gradually, 10 to 12 piece set at a time. I paid good money for my 10 piece metric deep socket set(one piece being the metal case), my $29 Stainless Ratchet, etc. I also bought many SK car tools too. the prices were just a bit cheaper for the Craftsman. Are they entitled to exchange my tools which I paid good money for in good faith with a cheaper Chinese version that according to most reviews performs poorly?

 

[johnachak]

Originally Posted By: mcshooter
another store no longer have us tools is lowes. they are tiawan tools. i will have to look at wright tools. i did not know they still existed. i have a set of there sockets i got back in 1960. iam also not a guy who complains about no us made tools and drives a foreign made auto..


Nice +1

 

[johnachak]

Originally Posted By: Vikas
Not Evolve but USA Craftsman; I have not personally purchased that kit but I did purchase a bigger and better 153 piece USA Craftsman kit for $55 year or so ago.

..... All of us having been paying non-USA prices for Craftsman stuff for a while.
- Vikas


You need to rethink that "All of us" Statement. If you got a deal and feel guilty about it doesn't mean we all did. If I saw something like that I would have purchased a set for all my kids and nieces and nephews.

 

[johnachak]

[/quote]

Jealousy of what pray tell? Anyone who thinks that Unions are not a contributing factor in the U.S. inability to compete on the world market is in dream land.
[/quote]

Do you actually believe that US factory workers (Except maybe for the many in UAW) are actually in unions? You have to be kidding.

 

[nomochevys]

I try my best to buy American made stuff but it does not always work out. Fortunately, I have mostly craftsman tools but they are old and made in America and will last me a lifetime. My friend ironically has been breaking ratchets left and right that are the new style.

I have had a terrible run of luck of late with stuff made in China that I didnt even know I bought. Im talking buying an American made brand only to find out half of the dang thing is Chinese. It just makes me furious but what do you do?

 

[Charlie1935]

I believe what we are experiencing is the degrading of the United States into a third world country.

 

[TurboLuver]

Originally Posted By: Charlie1935
I believe what we are experiencing is the degrading of the United States into a third world country.


I would agree and add that it is by design.

 

[JHZR2]

Originally Posted By: Charlie1935
I believe what we are experiencing is the degrading of the United States into a third world country.


Absolutely. However we have nobody but ourselves to blame. We all made conscious decisions to buy something from a third world country in order to save a few dimes, with no real care for the person in the USA who was working to make the same thing. Meanwhile likely appreciating the job or paycheck that we were getting from here in the USA. Then when those folks go on unemployment, we complain about that too.

Originally Posted By: johnachak
I understand it just fine, Our jobs for our new grads and returning heroes have been globally outsoursed. Done with many Americans blessings to save a buck so they could have the latest Stainless appliances or Ipad or whatever....


Agreed. Some things may just be sensible to make elsewhere, or it may be the only source, but for stuff where there is (was at this point) a domestic variant available, it really is a shame. What's worse was when someone labeled the action as treacherous, they almost got their head ripped off! But we really all just do what is best for us without caring for the next guy/generation/situation, so what do you expect?

 

[Trav]

Quote:
I believe what we are experiencing is the degrading of the United States into a third world country.

Sad but true.

 

[jcwit]

[/quote]
However we have nobody but ourselves to blame. We all made conscious decisions to buy something from a third world country in order to save a few dimes, with no real care for the person in the USA who was working to make the same thing. [/quote]

Sadly in almost all cases it amounted to much more than just a few dimes. The price spread is huge.

 

[JHZR2]

Depends upon what it is. Result is still the same regardless. Im not getting into that discussion again.

 

[OVERKILL]

Originally Posted By: JHZR2
Depends upon what it is. Result is still the same regardless. Im not getting into that discussion again.


Yes, it never ends well unfortunately

 

[Sayjac]

Originally Posted By: jcwit
Sadly in almost all cases it amounted to much more than just a few dimes. The price spread is huge.

True in many cases. Thirty cents difference wouldn't keep 'most' from buying made in the US, but hyperbole exaggerates to make a point. And as shown in past similar discussions, even those that preach buy in the US, buy made in China when it suits their individual price point, needs, specs and/or requirements. Which is fine with me, however others with different affordable price point, need, spec and/or requirement should be granted the same judgement free opportunity. That only seems fair to me, because it's all relative to the individual. One persons thirty cents, may be another person's thirty dollars or more.