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Trolling vendors for a laugh: sending today vintage registration cards...!

Personally I always liked those little warranty seals that say "Warranty void if broken". Which were they referring to? The seal, or the device it's glued to? :D

-Ian
 
I always slowly peel the warrenty sticker off before I open up the device. Then once I'm done messing around in the insides of it, I put the cover back on, then put the warrenty sticker on in the exact place it was. The vendor will never notice.

I've done that before and got that trick past Iomega. The hard drive in it was having write errors. I took it out and tried some techniques, but it still didn't cure it. So I sent it in to Iomega and they gave me a new hard drive. And nobody noticed the warrenty sticker. (I also changed the LED from the white one to a red one. They still didn't notice that.)
 
In regards to Sears... at least at the Sears stores in Volusia County, FL (multiple stores), they wouldn't accept a $125, 20yr old socket prybar... at least that's what I've always called it (I couldn't find an example in a quick search). Basically, it's a manual socket wrench, roughly 3' in length, has a socket knub on the end - pop your socket on and get to prying. New ones run ~$120 in the store. The knub broke in half on mine - vertically (it literally split down the middle). Bear in mind this thing is old, but has been used maybe a few dozen times at most, and always with bolts that had been treated with penetrating oil, etc, to help loosen it up prior to using the prybar.

Took to Sears... got all the way up to their tools department manager and then district manager, all of whom referred to it as being a power tool that wasn't covered by the lifetime warranty. Of course, neither of them could answer the question of how it's classified as a power tool when there is no wiring for electricity, nor motor on the tool... they just stuck to their guns and told me that I was SOL.

I've purchased Stanley tools ever since that incident. No idea whether I'll have the same problem with them should a similar problem occur, and note that I'm still quite happy with my other Craftsman tools... but a store that carries employees that outright lie and refuse to cover their warranties isn't one that deserves my business.
 
Sears has fallen on hard times.

If you're going to spend the money, go with Snap-On--they're used by professionals and they stand by their warranty--even when you do some dumb things (Like what I did once with a pair of pliers--left them resting on the rod of a 6" cylinder and then turned the air on--they caught between the clevis and the cylinder body and snapped off the handles like they were made of balsa. Snap-on replaced them, no questions.
 
On the other hand..
I used to travel with a Samsonite wheeled suitcase, and the wheels tended to break now and then. The first time it happened I went back to the shop where I bought it and they told me that those were under lifetime warranty and I could get them replaced at any shop selling Samsonite. And it seemed to be true, I got replacements, no questions asked, in a couple of other shops in totally different cities at later times. Granted, at least one of those shops just gave me some old used wheels they had kept around but that was good enough for me.

I don't know if Samsonite still follow that practice, some years ago I changed to a different type of case because there's just no end to what abuse airline baggage must have to suffer and Samsonite cases aren't tough enough. (Well, no cases are.) But that wheel thing was really nice.

-Tor
 
Chuck(G) said:
If you're going to spend the money, go with Snap-On--they're used by professionals and they stand by their warranty--even when you do some dumb things <snip> Snap-on replaced them, no questions.
Click to expand...

Do keep in mind that most weekend warriors can't justify the COST of SnapOn. Great tools with great warranty, surely. But for a price that many are unwilling to pay.
 
dorkbert said:
Do keep in mind that most weekend warriors can't justify the COST of SnapOn. Great tools with great warranty, surely. But for a price that many are unwilling to pay.
Click to expand...

One of the best quotes I've heard lately: "I can't afford cheap tools".

If you can't afford good tools new, look in the used market.

Mac Tools is another good vendor; as far as I know, many hand tools bearing the Craftsman brand are made by SK Hand Tools.

If you're interested in small hand tools for electronics, Klein Tools is pretty good about their warranty and quality is pretty good, although not what it once was.
 
A bit off topic but yeah a very common place down here are crappy little flea markets where you'll often find carts full of old tools. Not the point or purpose (your morals may vary) but I know folks who have bought craftsman bits for quite cheap there, and used them (and had them break) and were able to take it to sears and get a new one.
 
I'll vouch for the quality of S-K tools. About 2 years ago, I couldn't find my 40-year old 8716 claw hammer that I'd purchased through Sears. And then I couldn't find it. Went down to Sears and didn't see the hammer, but asked about it. The clerk excuses himself and returns with the identical mate to my 40 year old hammer. I bought three--and then subsequently discovered my old one left in a pocket between floor joists. It simply is the best claw hammer I've ever used--perfectly balanced like an extension of my arm. I've got a couple of fairly expensive Dalluge hammers that I never use because they lack the balance of the humble 8716.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that good tool design endures. Used tools, particularly if they're vintage are often someone's pride and joy and worth owning.
 
I do recall at a Makerfaire event we (The Robot Group) were building the Ponginator for the event and the brand new toolset bought quickly and cheaply at Harbor Freight broke right away. That was really the first time I'd heard of them and yeah their prices are ridiculously cheap but apparently they're built with that budget.
 
Back on topic, I'll admit I've never sent in a vintage registration card, but naturally would love to. Even more than that, though, I've wanted to call a game hint line for a vintage game, like one of the Infocom games.

I'd love to get some tech support person on the line and just open with "OK, I've found the trap door and the golden sword, but I can't figure out how to get past the waterfall..."
 
I had a look at the Warp 3 package I've got and it's still got an unused, well two, rego card along with address lables for a number of countries, a Compuserve Bonus card and a leftlet about warning Aptiva owners to contact their nearest IBM rep before even trying to install it. Anyone know what that was about?

Edit: Anyone get their MS pencil case and watch when they registered any of their programs back in the day?
 
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