Wal Mart Tools, Exchanges, and Manufacturing Faults

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Alot of people knock Wal Mart I guess its easy to take shots at the big guy. Anyhow I dont mind getting cheap tools at Wal Mart. Mainly because of their relaxed return/exchange policy(goes for other things too).My grinding disk got stuck big time in my black and decker grinder. I know you are thinking yeah because its a cheap pos. Anyhow I guess its happend to a bunch of people and when I broke the tool to get it off and cracked the grinder housing in the vice I figured it was time to see if I still had the receipt. Sure enough I did and sure enough they exchanged a 4 month old tool with no questions asked. The new grinders come with 3 grinding disks I almost got those for free too because the girl forgot to put my old one in the box and just handed me the new box. Her co-worker caught it though.Getting a tool(or even electronics) at Wal Mart basically gurantees you will have it forever. I have exchanged some car audio stuff too without too big of a hassle. Electronics sometimes depends on whos working behind the service desk. If they say no then just come back when someone else is working.Another good thing is that there is usually one really close to wherever you are so if it breaks on the job odds are you can run and exchange it really quickly. If you are a little less moral about your return policies you could also buy a brand new one, get a brand new reciept, put the old one in the box and return it. I have done that a couple times when I was younger but it may just be justified if it really was the manufacturers fault(usually on cheaps tools it is their fault).I also like the skil sawzall they have I got one for $40 and it feels really solid. The only other one in that price range is ryobi and I hate them, the plastic quick connect lever breaks on me after the second blade. Rendering the tool useless unless repaired or replaced(never tried home depots exchange policy).Any other tools you guys like at Wal Mart? Whats your take on exchanging tools because of poor design/manufacturing faults?(anyone stateing "should have just got xyz and you wouldn't need to worry" is clearly missing the point)
Reply:The battery failed on my farm truck.  Charge it one day, it would be dead the next (I even disconnected the ground lead).  It was on the truck when I bought it.  I took it back to walmart mainly since they charge a fee if you don't have a battery to exchange.  I didn't have a receipt.  The manufacture sticker on the battery showed the warranty period was out the same month.  I went to the service counter and said "this battery won't hold a charge".  They said "go get a new one".  They didn't have an exact match, so I got one a little bigger.  When back to the counter to pay out and they said I owed nothing.  Granted this battery is a "never-start" and of questionable quality, but I'll take just about any crap when it's free Dynasty200DX w/coolmate1MM210MM VintageESAB miniarc161ltsLincoln AC225Victor O/A, Smith AW1ACutmaster 81IR 2475N7.5FPRage3Jancy USA1019" SBAEAD-200LE
Reply:i agree i love those Stanley tools i burned up a single speed dremel polishing stuff and went back and exchanged it with no receipt and got the 200 series which is a 2 speed. nice upgrade. you can also exchange stuff that wasnt purchased there lol as long as they have the same tool just tell them that you dont have a receipt and get store exchange or credit. lol
Reply:Originally Posted by SkeluhtorWhats your take on exchanging tools because of poor design/manufacturing faults?
Reply:I refuse to shop there for my own reasons, which aren't relevant to this post. I think if a place sells a product, and the store is worth giving business to, they will be reasonable when it comes to returns. If it's a tool flaw or if it's just been $hit-kicked, that is what makes the difference.    What I hate is the " gee, we've never had one of these returned". Which is the a-hole behind the counter's way of saying he thinks your an idiot and misused it. That really chap's my arse. I usually retort with " doesn't that just make me special" or " funny, that I'm always the first one returning something, do I get a prize?"   One thing I'd like to do is stand outside a Wallyworld and ask for union cards in return for a prize. Makes my want to puke, seeing all these union workers shopping there, instead of supporting the local shops. You're making a good wage because of your local union so spend it at a local retailer. I'm not necessarily pro union, a lot of them operate worse than the "big corporations" they rail against. But the members that don't apply their own standard to them selves really pmo. But I've got off on a tangent here......opps200amp Air Liquide MIG, Hypertherm Plasma, Harris torches, Optrel helmet, Makita angle grinders, Pre-China Delta chop saw and belt sander, Miller leathers, shop made jigs etc, North- welders backpack.
Reply:If a tool fails me and it is the tool's fault for whatever reason I don't hesitate to return it to the store I purchased it from. If it fails due to my ham handed use (which I try to avoid) I I talk to myself using terms like "dumba$$", grit my teeth, and go buy a new one.
Reply:Originally Posted by timrbI don't hesitate to return a tool with a manufacturing defect.  On the other hand, if  I smash the $hit out of it clamping it in a vise, I take responsibility for my own poor repair work and eat the cost.  But I guess I'm just missing the point, too.Tim
Reply:Quite a few moons ago when I was a business student in university, I recall learning about WalMart's then ground-breaking policies on returns.  There's an old story in which an old lady mistakenly tries to return some product (I forget now, call it a coffee maker).  The kid at returns won't allow it because she doesn't have a receipt.  The store's owner/manager (might have even been old Sam himself) steps and tells the lady the store will permit the exchange for a new coffee-maker.  After she leaves, the kid tells Sam that he doesn't think she bought the old coffee maker there and Sam agrees, adding that WalMart has never even carried that brand name!  But it's about making the customer happy- because a happy customer will return and a loss of a few dollars now is nothing over a lifetime of shopping from a loyal customer. Good return policies are one of the things that separates us from the rest of the world.  Recall the posts on this forum from the poor guy in India that bought a Migatronic machine for his business and it arrived totally different from what he ordered, stripped down, and basically in poor state.  What was their return policy?  "Go pound sand, you're stuck with it and we've got your money!".   It is consumer-protection like this that we should feel very lucky to have.  What pisses me off are people that abuse a good return policy, for example returning things they know were bought elsewhere (as mentioned by an earlier poster).  Costco is another store with good return polices- A few years ago when the river here was over the hundred-year flood levels and the city thought there would be a massive disaster, they swarmed Costco to buy big gas generators so their familes would have power when it was knocked out.  I happened to be shopping there a few days after they announced the water was receding and flood was averted.  What did I see?  A line-up (literally) of people with Costco's orange flat-deck trollies carrying generators, still in the box at the return-desk.  I thought to myself, "you bastards- you essentially RENTED that for free from Costco for a month" and now the store will have to deal with an overstock of the items and likely take a loss by discounting them to make room.  I won't tell you what I wanted to do to each of them.    Keep abusing good return policies and they'll quickly disappear.Lincoln AC225 & MigPak 140, Lincoln Magnum SpoolGun, Miller Spectrum 375-X Plasma, Syncrowave 200 TIG, Millermatic 252 MIG, Miller Digital Elite, General 7x12" horiz/vert bandsaw, 3' box/pan brake, 20 ton press, milling machine, 12x28 lathe, etc.
Reply:Oh, and since that was a bit of a tangent- in reference to the OP's original intent- yes, I shop at WalMart occasionally. They do carry decent tools (for example, Stanley, which is a brand I like) and their regular price is usually cheaper than competitors.  ...And if a tool I bought broke from a defect (by defect, I mean something that really WAS a defect, not due to me misusing it) then I would be returning it in a second, either to WalMart or any other store.  A good return policy is an expection of mine and if a store is going to try to screw me on a return, I won't be back there.   FutureShop did this to me in 2001 and I haven't been back.  Here in Canada- CanadianTire is tightening up on their policies and recently, I got the run-around from them on something they should have exchanged.  Not to the point that I'll boycott them just yet, but it's getting close.      The way I see it, good warranties and good return policies allow us to transfer the cost of manufacturing defects back to the tool's manufacturer- and that results in better designed and better-built tools.Lincoln AC225 & MigPak 140, Lincoln Magnum SpoolGun, Miller Spectrum 375-X Plasma, Syncrowave 200 TIG, Millermatic 252 MIG, Miller Digital Elite, General 7x12" horiz/vert bandsaw, 3' box/pan brake, 20 ton press, milling machine, 12x28 lathe, etc.
Reply:Originally Posted by bert the welderOne thing I'd like to do is stand outside a Wallyworld and ask for union cards in return for a prize. Makes my want to puke, seeing all these union workers shopping there, instead of supporting the local shops. You're making a good wage because of your local union so spend it at a local retailer. I'm not necessarily pro union, a lot of them operate worse than the "big corporations" they rail against. But the members that don't apply their own standard to them selves really pmo. But I've got off on a tangent here......opps
Reply:Originally Posted by Aquafire Here in Canada- CanadianTire is tightening up on their policies and recently, I got the run-around from them on something they should have exchanged.  Not to the point that I'll boycott them just yet, but it's getting close.      The way I see it, good warranties and good return policies allow us to transfer the cost of manufacturing defects back to the tool's manufacturer- and that results in better designed and better-built tools.