For me, total accident, ... really. First, I work on HVAC so I need lots of tools. I started with Milwaukee and used them for a few years. Then my son the contractor, gave me some Flex tools, and I gave my work pal the Milwaukee stuff. I hated the Flex, too heavy and unwieldy. I sold the Flex, and bought a 12V Makita drill and driver which I love. Then I needed a portable work light, so I bought a Bauer, and ended up buying three batteries for it. Then I needed a cutoff saw and bought a Bauer, then a Bauer brushless drill and driver. I've had Milwaukee, Makita, Ryobi, DeWalt and Hercules and Bauer. To be honest, I like the Hercules best, but somehow things worked out that I have a bunch of Bauer and it works fine. I've used a cordless Bauer sheetmetal shear since it first hit HF shelves and it cuts like a razor and hasn't given us any trouble at all.
I know a lot of folks don't like HF, and there's probably better tools out there, but we get the work done, don't have any issues, and I've yet to have a battery go bad. Our original thinking was that hey, if they don't last, we can just throw them away and move on. Well, we haven't thrown any away, and my work pal used to think Milwaukee was the ONLY tools made.