... 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

 

I agree with you, they are a top service.
No doubt there are "horror" story's out there lol

 

That is very good service to be fair, still out of my price range though

 

what is? £1.68p

 

To be fair you can't compare a broken Halfords ratchet to a Snap on Screwdriver. Halfords should have told you the mechanism wasn't covered. They did when i bought one.

Good service from Snap on but so it should be for the additional premium you pay for their tools

 

halfords sorted all my tools out when they broke, including an extension bar and torx bits

 

Like anything in life " you get what you pay for "

I spend a fortune with snap on and have for over 20 years

fantastic tools and fantastic customer service

I will always only buy snap on as i value both the quality and the service

 

My old neighbour gave me a long 1/2" Snap-On ratchet about 15yr ago that slipped and took his front teeth out.

He had bought a new one and wasn't bothered about getting it repaired so just gave it to me.

I had a couple of repair kits fitted FOC by Snap-On over the years but eventually the head of the ratchet was worn inside - Snap-On man gave me a whole new ratchet FOC £90 worth. Can't beat that.

 

No silly!!!

Snap on stuff in general, seen the prices of some of their stuff? Not going to get into any sort of "are they worth that much" sort of argument, just saying its more than someone like me can currently afford.

 

Which is exactly what I used to think when I started buying tools. £18 for a screwdriver? Fuck that! But then, you buy a lesser brand one, it breaks, you buy another, it also breaks, and before you know it, 4 screwdrivers down the line, you've spent more than you would if you'd bought the expensive one in the first place

Screwdriver bits are different - generally I just lose them rather than break them. So I'm quite happy with Laser bits rather than a full set of Snap On ones. I do buy the #2 Philips ones from time to time (as I did today) as I use those the most, and they do wear less than cheaper ones. Plus they are anti-bounce, which is actually really useful. But I'll still lose it in no time

I once made the mistake of buying reeeeeeeeally cheap screw driver bits (like, pound shop style ones) and they lasted all of about 30 seconds

 

I've got a massive snapon flat blade screw driver abour 18" long that i've used as a chisel for years. Might try and get that changed then!

The end is bent, chipped, and generally fucked!

 

"Warning- should not be used as a pry-bar or chisel"

 

Ye I see what you are saying, I don't really think I will be using the tools enough mind to justify it (do fuck all at the minute) but I deffo agree with avoiding pound style ones,

saying that, I'd love one of these setups

http://buy1.snapon.com/catalog/item....re&dir=catalog

only $24,000

 

Doesnt say warrenty void if used as pry-bar or chisel tho......

 

im a mobile mechanic and i agree snap on are great, the returns policy is second to none ive never had a problem with the odd broken tool ect but if looked after they last anyway.

 

So you can imagine how shocked I was when I snapped the head off it undoing a brass wood screw

 

j6kyt - Darren Vickers must be your Snap-On man then?

 

I cant fault snap on at all.all the stuff I buy is snap on because its easy to get hold of and when things brake theyreplace them with no questions asked.i snaped a punch in half last week using it to stop somthing turning whylst I undone it.gave it back to the local dealer and he replaced it.you could see that it didnt brake by hitting it and it was abused but still replaced it the quality of the tools isnt as good as they use to be but they have a warrenty so that dosnt matter

 

My charger for my snap on impact gun broke one day and spoke to our dealer when in and showed him it. He said sorry its not covered and will have to buy a new charger. He even phoned his brother who was a snap on rep too and he said same. Needless to say I wasn't impressed so paid of my account and told him not to bother asking me if I want anything again. I phoned up the rep I got it from who had been swapped onto a different part of town.............He said no problem I will change it free for you. Goes to show that there is good and bad reps and ive not bought anything from our rep since.

 

Have a lot of snap on gear that i brought when i started out 23 years ago still going strong never had a problem with getting broken tools changed although the first dealer would always do a cash price which was good.Last one i knew wouldnt budge on price.You pays your money you get what yous pay for as my grandad use to say.

 

Some snap on reps are crap, the one at work refuses to just swop stuff but insists on sending it back and making out techs wait till its dealt wit, as a result they end up buying a replacement and have 2

They generally don't bother too much with him as a result and due to the stories nor do it,, shame as I need a new screwdriver set as I've lost a few

 

Depends how you look at it. Its had some hammer over the ten years and broke. Yet, they're top tools and its broke! I'm still using a lot of my Dads tools from when he was an apprentice and they're not broke and have had more hammer than that screw driver I bet!! Dads 68 now so over 50 years old some of them! Some are Britool which are good, but a lot are your usual Stanley, draper etc.
Snap on can afford to provide service like that as they tools are way too expensive in the first place IMO. No doubt the tools are the best quality that is for sure but I think a lot buy them just for the name.

 

this thread has just reminded me to visit a snap on man as I 1/4 drive ratchet and ratchet T handle screwdriver both given up in the last month, but to be fair I bought them in 1997

 

Talking about things with lifetime warranties, I bought an underfloor heating mat from a company called Heatmat because they had a lifetime warranty, after a year it stopped working and when I contacted them they told me it was £570 + vat to send somebody out to fix it as it is usually faulty installation but if its a faulty product they would give me my money back ! The mat didn't cost anything like £570 so I told them to stick it and bought another but not from Heatmat.

 

i wonder how much ijn total youve paid out over the years towards this customer service and all youve scored out of it is a screwdriver.

 

My tool box which is sat in my friends garage must have 80% snap on gear in it.

I had snapped loads of tips off flat blade screw drivers over the years and my snap on dealer charged me for new blades...

 

Same here Lee,

My Dad was a mechanic and has some very old tools, and I don't think any of them have ever broken and they have been severely bashed. New stuff i prefer Facom to Snap on

Rick

 

Probably far less then you've paid in inflated insurance premiums due to modifying cars

 

I just started my snap on collection recently, bought some spanners the other day, 10mm-19mm.....asked if he knocked anything off for cash he said "nah they're already down on price" So I hummed and hawed and he eventually said he'd do me a good deal, but I doubt he did...anyway £168 for ten spanners but they'll do me forever, and at £20 a week...I won't even notice.

Pry bar set, screwdriver set, 3.8 long handled ratchet, deep and shallow 3.8 sockets next.....fml

Bergen tools are v.appealing, cheap and seem to last....tempting as snap on pry bar set is £187 and bergen is £23.99 #mechanicproblems

 

yes he is and has cost me too much money lately.

 

How do peeps rate teng , lifetime cover too but had to pay for ratchet teeth twice on a 1/4 drive twice as it started jamming, fitted the third set for free but really expected a new drive at that stage.....

 

My boss had a rachet that was fucked 4-5 years ago took it to snap on dealer fix no probs

My missues bro had screw driver an that was change no probs and they went even mine as long the got snap on there fix no probs

I love snap the tool are top notch I use 3/4 on a digger no problem and th bolt were tighter than a nun mini ;p lol

Best tools I've every had draper I broke load of sockets even broke a teng tool 1/2 rachet sum how lol

 

Snap on kit now is shit , 50% of it is made in the Far East take there ratchet spanners look closely and it will say made in China ....

I buy Halfords stuff now and cheap when using a Trade card and they always take it back if broken.

 

I've long given up just buying snap on and mac!
I use my tools every day at work in a busy hgv workshop so they get some abuse as well lol
But I buy what ever the tool man has now signet britool falcom trident all sorts and there all warranted for life as well!

 

I recommend teng, I still have all my socket sets from 16 years ago, I think I had only 1 socket replaced, loads of abuse on air guns and all, ratchets broke and repaired free, last time the 1/2" one he said they've stopped making that type so gave me a new one.
set of teng spanners £30 - £35, I don't get why would you pay £160 for a set of snap on. both lifetime guarantee. When one gets lost the cheaper it was the better.
Boss bought snap on long 1/2" bar, what a piece of shit, keeps breaking and the cheap draper expert one gives hardly any trouble
He bought 20 torq screwdriver and it lasted about 2 weeks.
Next he wanted a diagnostic computer, snap on man said try it for a couple of months see what you think, boss wanted to pay for it straight but snap on man wasn't interested coz he wanted bank account details to string the whole thing out longer. Good job he didn't buy coz it wouldn't work on Renault at that stage and snap on man huffed coz he didn't buy it and wouldn't come back.
Mates blow at work about fancy snap on tool boxes at £2500. That's laughable that anybody would spend that on a box to hold tools.

 

Ive got a lot of Teng stuff that i had from a started set i bought, other than the ratchets (1/4, 3/8 and 1/2) and the ratchet spanners the rest has been trouble free.

The ratchets had at least 1 set of insides replaced so i decided to swap all 3 for Snap on, got a good deal buying all 3 and sold the Teng ones on ebay. Teng ratchet spanners will be swapped next.

 

Just don't buy the blue point ratchet spanners, mine are toss when working in a tight spot, the direction button always activates changing direction or going into a neutral position.

 

Ive always thought that with those type.

Need a set with the 'button' on the top of the spanner, like Teng ones but not Teng ones!

 

I broke a 10mm socket after 10 years of use snapon guy changed over on problem at all