... with lifetime warranties
Thursday, my trusty Snap On screwdriver broke; part of the tip just sheared off (undoing a self-tapper in a picnic table, of all things!).
This screwdriver has to be 8, if not 10, years old. It's used nearly everyday, and get's some abuse (They're not designed to be hit with hammers
)
So today, I met up with a Snap On dealer I've never met, and never bought anything from (I don't have a regular Snap On man anymore, since moving companies and not having a fixed place of work anymore) and he swapped the blade out, for free of course, with no questions, and no quibble. No inspecting it to see if there's a sign of anything he can use to get out of swapping it out, no "have you done x with it" - just took it in the van, removed the old blade, and fitted a new one.
While I was there, I pushed the boat out and bought a £1.68 screwdriver bit too
Now I know other companies claim to have lifetime warranties on their tools, including Halfords (and I've got some Halfords Pro tools, and they're very good) but how many can say the same about the no quibble, hassle free, exchange/replacement when you break one? I had to return a ratchet to Halfords once, as the mechanism broke inside it after about 14 months. At first it was all roses; but then the guy reappears from the back saying it can't be changed as even though it is covered under the lifetime warranty, the ratchet mechanism itself isn't covered for life, and since it's older than a year, there's nothing they can do with it. Not to mention there was having to provide a receipt of where it was bought (duh, it says HALFORDS on the damn ratchet), and when it was bought (duh, it's a LIFETIME warranty). The Snap On man didn't ask either of those questions; because he doesn't have to! Which is good, cos I'm fucked if I know where the receipt is for an 8-10 year old screwdriver
I expect the usual barrage of anti-Snap On posters, but ask yourselves this - if a tool breaks, that you don't have the receipt for, and you're somewhere in the UK, miles from where, and who, you bought it from, would you get the same level of service as you do with Snap On? I could buy a screwdriver from a Snap On man in Wales, then have it changed by a Snap On man in Scotland; no fuss, no hassle, just service