There is good news and bad news in this article about Craftsman Tape Measures. Be sure to read the entire article to understand how it affects you.
Do you remember these classic Craftsman tape measures?
My Grandfather's Craftsman Tape
Craftsman Yellow
Craftsman Red
Of course you remember the red case. It is the one that was sold until June 1, 2010.
Craftsman has decided to get out of the tape measure business for the time being. They will continue to sell Stanley and other brands but there will no longer be a Craftsman branded tape measure. The why is not important, but how this can benefit you is.
WAIT! I have a Craftsman tape measure and it’s guaranteed for life! Yes, all the tape measures except the red cased ones are guaranteed for life. If you ever break one just return it to your local store and Sears will gladly replace it with a comparable product. (They never said “exact model”)
The red ones have always had a limited warranty. The case and rewind mechanism have a full warranty, but the tape itself never has. You could buy a replacement tape if you cut or broke it. (read the back of the packaging the red tape came on)
SO WHAT DO I DO!
Here is where you can benefit from this change. There are three options available to you and all of them are set up by Sears so you actually get the better of the deal.
Option One: Sears does have some existing stock of the red cased tape measures so you can exchange your broken tape if you want. These tapes are not for sale, they will just be available for customers who want a replacement Craftsman tape. If the tape you have is no longer available (out of stock at the store you are at) they will gladly replace it with a comparable red tape (i.e., 25 foot lever for a 25 foot grip) Remember, the metal tape is NOT warrantied, if it is broke, cut, or cracked you can buy a replacement tape to put into your case.
Option Two: If you chose, Sears will replace your tape with a comparable Stanley Leverlock or Powerlock tape measure. You can get either a plastic or metal case Leverlock! (Be nice, if you bring in a 25 footer don’t ask for a 50 foot in return) You will get a receipt with this exchange and if the Stanley breaks you can get a replacement through Stanley. The Stanley carries a manufacture defect warranty. This warranty covers missing tape rivets, broken spring, defective case, defective lock, and blade armor coating missing.
Option Three: Here is the good news!
You can get a Sears gift card for the retail price of the Red Discontinued Tape Measure! Even though most of us bought the tape on sale (about $9.99) Sears will, if you chose, give you a gift card for the retail price plus local tax! Here are the prices you can expect. Models 37391, 37392, 37394, $14.99. Model 37393 $16.99. Model 37395 $11.99 and Model 37396 $8.99
Summary: I like what Sears is doing here. Even though they are getting out of the tape measure business, they are putting the customer first. This is a great example of being positive, being proactive, and being responsible to the customer.
Paul my problem with this whole situation is two fold, first when I bought my first tape it was a metal case when they quit making the metal the replaced it with a yellow case then a red case, so it went from a lifetime guarantee to limited guarantee witch was a problem for me because the problem I was having was the 16ths would wearofff the tape making it useless since I build cabinets for a living. The second issue I have is I bought the tape with a lifetime warranty now I have no warranty. I tried to call sears about this problem after 35 minutes on the phone with about 4 different people and finally being disconnected. I sent an e-mail and have not got a response back its been about 10 months ago.(I know they are busy). They will not sell me or any of my customers anything again.
@Roy, unfortunately you and I were not the customers who caused Sears/Craftsman to quit making tapes. I was in my local Sears one day and witnessed a guy bring in a 5 gallon bucket full of red tape measures.
They were all smashed with a sledge hammer and full of concrete. They were not broke….they were destroyed. I asked him how they got that way and he stated.”Sears won’t warranty them if the tape is just broke. They want us to buy new tapes. So we make sure they are broke.” And he laughed as he said it. Simple, blatant abuse of a good warranty, and you wonder why Sears quit making them.
I asked the sales associate, and he stated the biggest issue was the customer did not read the warranty statement on the package when they bought the tape. The case and spring are warrantied, the tape itself is not. So there was always a big issue when someone would cut their tape with a saw and then EXPECT Sears to replace it for free.
The problem now is you can buy a tape that will last from the world’s largest tape manufacture (Komelon) for $7 dollars or so that has the same warranty as the red Craftsman’s. Why would you want to spend $15 on a Craftsman tape?
I have used the craftsman bottom lock tape for about 15 years. It started out with a metal case then went to a yellow case then the red plastic.About a year ago they told me they would no longer be making tape measures and would not warrant the stanley the replaced it with, that i would have to cotact stanley, what a joke.I have bought a lot of other tools when I would be in the store replacing items that were
under warranty and needed replaced. I always sent my customers there to buy appliances and other items I no longer send anybody there. I don’t trust them, you never know when they might renege on other warranties
@Derek,
Everyone has an opinion and my opinion is if we (us loyal Sears customers) only exchanged the tapes if they broke and did not abuse the warranty Sears would still be selling Craftsman branded tapes.
I was shown actual examples and for every one tape that was returned because the spring, case, or lock broke (the steel tape itself never was covered) there were 25 returned for just plain abuse. By abuse I mean and saw tapes filled with concrete, busted up with a hammer, driven over, full of dirt, and cut up.
One day I was shown a brown shopping bag full of tapes (at least 25) where a customer had methodically went through and destroyed each one with a sledge hammer. He came in and wanted all of them replaced because “they were warrantied”
To me this is the same as insisting that a car dealer replace your 1990 Chevy….because you ran it into a tree.
Myself, I grew up in a culture where you took care of your tools. And I learned that if you took care of them, they would take care of you. For example, I was taught that ratchets are NOT to be used to tighten or loosen a bolt. You break the nut/bolt loose with a “breaker bar” and you tighten it with a breaker bar or torque wrench. You only use the ratchet to remove or put on the nut/bolt after you have broke it free. Because of that fact and training my Craftsman, SK, Snap-on, and Stanley ratchets have never needed replacement. And most of them are over 40 years old. The only ratchet that has broken on me was a Metwrench. (I replaced it with a Craftsman)
Yes, I have Craftsman tools (and other brands) that get rusty. Guess what? I go through them every few years and soak them in Liquid Wrench and then clean them with steel wool and re-oil them. Because of that my great-grandfather’s tools are still with me and get used. I have a Monkey Wrench, an original Craftsman ratchet, sluggers, and many other tools that are well over 100 years old.
I also grew up in culture where if you abused the tool and broke it, you bought a new one. You didn’t expect the manufacture to give you a free replacement. Let me explain. If I used a four foot “cheater pipe” on a 1 1/4, 3/4 inch socket to loosen the axle nut on my 1953 Super H Farmall and the socket broke, I would return it to Craftsman and have it replaced. Why? because a 3/4 inch drive socket is designed to hold up to that much torque. BUT, if I did the same thing to a 1/2 inch drive socket and it broke, I would go buy another one. Why? because I know that 1/2 inch drive socket is not designed to have a 4 foot cheater pipe used. I broke it, The tool did not fail on it’s own.
If I used a screwdriver to open paint cans and the tip broke, I broke it, a screwdriver is not intended to be used as a prying device. (That’s why I have two sets of screwdrivers, one set for my wife to use and the other set to work on stuff with)
I could go on here for a long time, but I hope you understand. Sears and most of the other brands will gladly replace your tool if it fails because of a problem with the tool. Sears will even replace the hand tool for ANY reason, 100% satisfaction guaranteed. But I personally feel that we as customers should not abuse that warranty. If we do dumb things with our tools, we should take the responsibility and buy new ones, not expect a company to replace it free of charge.
They can candy coat it all they want. But this is another customer RIPOFF.
I could have purchased a Stanley Tape when I purchased my Craftsman, but try to get Stanley to do more then light the flaming hoops for you to jump through when you need it replaced.
I am planning on taking all my Craftsman’s hand tools to the Flea Market before the word gets out. You wait for Sears to replace your Craftsman ratchet with a Stanley {yea they make hand tools} And you might as well sell them for scrap steel. cost.
Yup…
We’ll miss them Craftsman tape measure tool sales.
I’m not sure what is going to be “stuffed” in people’s stockings this year.
On the bright side, in a little twist of fate, one of the resin Craftsman tool ornaments offered this year, in Sears stores, is a little… red, Craftsman tape measure, dated 2010.
A pretty good gift for hailing fair-they-well to years of Craftsman tape measure sales.
The important thing is, that as a tool collector, “I got mine”…