A few years ago, I purchase a Kobalt ratchet set from Lowe’s. At the time, it was advertised to have a lifetime warranty. I was told that if the set were to stop functioning properly, I can just take it back and get a new one. If you go to the Kobalt website, this warranty is still in effect.
“You should never have a problem with your Kobalt tool. However, if you do, return the item to the place of purchase for a free replacement. No questions asked.”
Well, after years of use, the ratchet set no longer functions at 100%. Some of the teeth on the sockets were worn and rounded. They would often slip and damage bolt heads. I figured, since it was covered, I might as well try to take advantage of the lifetime warranty.
I took the tool set back to Lowe’s and ran into my first problem, the toolset was no longer made and wasn’t even in Lowe’s system. I was told that there wasn’t anything that they could do for me and that I would have to contact Kobalt.
I went home and did just that. Unfortunately, it didn’t get me anywhere because Kobalt told me the same thing, but about Lowe’s. Kobalt said that they couldn’t do anything because I bought it at Lowe’s and only Lowe’s can replace it. They would have to give me a voucher or deal with it another way.
So, it was back to Lowe’s. I explained what Kobalt said and this time, Lowe’s took a little more initiative. Funny enough, the ratchet set now shows up in their system. The problem now is that it was showing up with the clearance/closeout price when the set was last in the system. When I purchased the set, it was $30/$40. The latest suggested price was $9.99 and this is what they offered me. There’s something that they didn’t make clear at the time of purchase, that the value at the time of warranty claim is determined by the current/final value of the product. So in my case, the product lost possibly 75% of its value and I had to take that cost rather than the companies involved taking initiative, understanding the situation and take it upon themselves.
At this point, I really had no choice. What I had wasn’t working so keeping it wouldn’t do any good. I was willing to take the $10 but even this wasn’t straight forward. It turns out you don’t just get that credit towards something else, you have to get the most comparable product. Because I had a 14 piece ratchet set, I had to get another 14 piece ratchet set. There was no option to move up/down, no option to get another type of tool, not even if I was willing to pay for a more expensive product. Just think about it, what kind of backward thinking is that for a company? If someone is willing to spend more, let them! It’s increasing your profit! Well, getting something similar proved to be impossible to do because no such thing existed. Instead of trying to work with me to get something I actually wanted, they really went out of their way to get me something that doesn’t exist.
Because they didn’t have the set at this particular Lowe’s, now it was time to see if anyone else did. Their system showed that another store had one in stock. As someone who’s worked in retail and understand how inventory works, I knew that the one displayed as available didn’t exist. It may have at one time, but it is more than likely that the inventory count is just wrong. The associate who was working with me knew this too but his manager was adamant about contacting the other store and making them look for it. This wasn’t surprising considering that the manager was giving push back throughout the entire process and seemed to not want to help me warranty this product out at all. She really made it a lot harder than it should’ve been. Anyways, the associate contacted the other Lowe’s and guess what? They didn’t actually have it in stock. Shocker.
Well, now we’re just back to where we started. At this point, the manager had no choice but to just give me the $10 towards something else. Again, it’s $10. I should’ve been given the full amount that I paid. I took the $10 and they still went out of their way to try and not give it. I bought another tool and that was that.
So what did I learn from this situation? Well, Kobalt tools may have a lifetime warranty, but it’s going to be one hell of a process to try and use it. My case is a bit different because my tool is no longer made, but this is something that should’ve been expected. I doubt that Kobalt plans to produce any one of their products for the rest of the company’s existence so they should expect to deal with some out of production warranty claims and this process should be a lot more straight forward. Customers should be given credit equivalent to what they paid and they should be able to use this credit towards any new Kobalt tool. Don’t force the customer into the same thing. I mean, if it malfunctioned on them in the first place, they may not even want it anymore so why force it on them?
There’s something else that I want to note. My original socket set actually came with a “Sockets for Life” guarantee. This means that if I were to lose a socket, I can contact Kobalt and I’d be sent a new one. How would they do that in this situation? These sockets are no longer made. Would I get something different? Would I be out of luck? These are not questions that I should have to ask. The guarantee/warranty process should be a lot more transparent and straight forward.
Needless to say, I’m now a lot more weary of the Kobalt brand in general. I now question all their warranties because I don’t know if I’d actually be able to take advantage of them when the time calls for it. This makes me think that the lifetime warranty is just marketing fluff to help sell more products. I actually like Kobalt tools and have been using them for years. But after this experience, I can’t say that I’ll be purchasing any more.
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