On Sun, 20 Apr 2008 17:51:47 -0500, dpb you wrote:



How picky are they in accepting them? Require receipts, throw out cases
of what would obviously have been abuse, etc., etc., etc., ...?

...in another life, I worked part time at a local True Value. Their
policy is, if it's broke, replace it. No receipt is required.



Sears has a track record, not so sure how the others' stands up in
comparison is all...

....what track record is that? That they will replace a defective
and/or broken item? They're not unique in that market, just the best
marketing.


Craftsman/K-Mart are now one and the same FWIW.

Not a thing in this context...

The point is, for a hand tool that would meet the objective of OP,
there's no doubt Craftsman will do the job at a reasonable price point.


...I wouldn't necessarily jump to that conclusion. Just because
Craftsman has a "no questions asked warranty", that doesn't mean
they're better, or even good. Personally, I'd rather buy *really*
good tools over one with a great warranty.

Working on something that *must* be fixed *right now*, doesn't give me
the warm fuzzies when a critical tool snaps on me and I have to drive
across town for a (free) replacement. I've had three Craftsman box
wrenches and two socket wrenches crap out on me. Murhphys Law, it was
a Sunday evening and the local Sears store was closed. Fat lot of good
a replacement warranty did for me then.


There may be others w/ the combination of variety, warranty and value
that meet or come close; if so, recommend them. There's no reason to
try to denigrate Sears/Craftsman in the process--in this case its
unwarranted.

I already did mention one. You tried to discredit it by inferring that
their warranty isn't a good or as flexible. Hey, if you're partial to
Craftsman, knock yourself out. I personally don' t have anything
against Craftsman, but they're not the only tool in town. It's
apparent you have a soft spot for them to defend them so blindly.

Me, I like to keep an open mind.

Incidentally, if Craftsman were *that* good, you'd see more of them in
professional mechanics toolsets but you don't. They have to use those
tools *every day* and time down running across town to replace a tool
is money lost. Snap On tools are some of the *best*. MUCH more
expensive yes, but some day, I'd like replace everything (except my
Proto socket set), with Snap Ons.