Ridgid warrantee made useless

junquecol

Bruce
Senior User
I bought the first generation 12V LI Ridgid drills in 2006. Batteries were replaced under LSA. Had one other battery fail, also replaced under LSA. I used these drills in my business, so most received a years worth of hobbiest use in a month. As for Dewalt tools, only own a few. 610 router (1999) that has never been used except on a dado jig building cubbies for local "Y's". Second 610 in case first failed (it hasn't). Dewalt circular saw, which used to be the B&D Super Sawcat. Two 12" miter saws, and two 10" miter saws. You ask why two of each? Simple one for each end of the board. And a Dewalt angle grinder, which is a B&D industrial tool with a different paint scheme. Finally a few Dewalt 10" saw blades.
 

chris_goris

Chris
Senior User
The truth about the type of power tools youre talking about here is they are cheap, both price and then reflective of their quality. Gone are the days of buying a ROS or cordless drill , etc from one of the aforementioned outlets (or anywhere ) and getting a tool that will last years and years. Unless it simply sits on a shelf. Personally, I never even look at warranties on this sort of thing because its not worth my time to chase it down should I need it. If a tool should fail within the first few months, I take it back to the store and raise holy hell at the service desk, youd be surprised at the level of satisfaction you can get with other customers viewing your dissatisfaction!. But again, it depends on how much it cost initially and if its even worth the effort.
 

tvrgeek

Scott
Corporate Member
Tools are made to a price point. They are somewhat disposable. Fine. My point is Home Depot has made a business decision to attempt not honor their commitment. This is about their business acumen, not the tool.
 

chris_goris

Chris
Senior User
Tools are made to a price point. They are somewhat disposable. Fine. My point is Home Depot has made a business decision to attempt not honor their commitment. This is about their business acumen, not the tool.
This is when I tend to get very vocal at the service desk....
 

23tony

New User
Tony
Tools are made to a price point. They are somewhat disposable. Fine. My point is Home Depot has made a business decision to attempt not honor their commitment. This is about their business acumen, not the tool.

Curious how many HD's you've encountered this problem with. Corporate, websites & call centers are a very different issue, and many are having problems due to unusual volume recently. Are you seeing this at multiple stores?

Basically - is it really a systemic issue with HD or is it just bad local management? Your experience doesn't match what I'm used to at all at the Wake Forest store.
 

Roy G

Roy
Senior User
Ooh, let me tell you about my Powermatic 3520A. I bought this back in early 2000's sometime and thought I was set for life. Heavy duty, smooth running, came with live center and adjustable feet. Went to buy a chuck and tried to put it on the spindle. Wouldn't go. Took the lathe faceplate to Klingspors to make sure it was the right threading. It went on the floor model, no problem. Called up Powermatic, described the problem, they sent me a new spindle. So they promoted me to machine repairman. Unfortunately, the spindle also was the wrong size. This continued for several back and forths (still have several spindles in a box). Finally got one that worked and my lathe was good to go. Quite a bit of work for a $2000 piece of machinery. Apparently the spindle machinist was off his specs a bit and made it a bit large in diameter. But it all worked out in the end.

Roy G
 

golfdad

Co-director of Outreach
Dirk
Corporate Member
Had an issue last yr with a ridgid router. Took it directly to the service center. They checked paperwok...7 weeks later Inhad a new rebuilt router.....oiginal was 3 yrs old. Like Mark said they are not speedy.
 

tvrgeek

Scott
Corporate Member
Bought the "compact" Makita kit. The bigger hammer drill was too heavy. Just did not think I would want to grab it around the shop. The premium unit is a good deal too, but MUCH bigger drill. Serious heavy duty.

It is clearly a corporate decision. The snotty kit at one store was local, but the process is corporate.
 

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