The Best Tool Warranties

Here at Cool Tools we love things that really work. But what happens when a great tool ceases to function? Do you just throw it away and buy a new one? Given how expensive this can be it is often a better investment to find a company that stands behind their product for life.

For example, I recently had a great experience with Patagonia. I bought an expensive ice climbing jacket from them several years ago. It was my favorite jacket: light, windproof, water resistant, and warm. But in the past year I found it no longer blocked the wind effectively, and didn't fare well in the elements. So I wrote to Patagonia, and asked what they could do about it. They asked me to send in my jacket for inspection along with a list of what I felt were suitable replacements. Within two weeks they had sent me a brand new jacket that is as nice if not nicer than the one I originally owned.

This kind of commitment is admirable in any company and I believe deserves to be rewarded. So we at Cool Tools are asking our readers to submit companies with stellar customer service, lifetime warranties, and a commitment to their products. Have you ever been impressed by a company's customer service or warranty? If so, we want to hear about it.

Help us compile a list of great companies so that we can make informed decisions and support those that stand behind their products. Leave your recommendations and stories in the comments, submit them through this link, or send us an email at editor@cool-tools.org.

Here are a few to get the list started:

Patagonia- Yvon Chouinard's company honors an Iron-Clad Guarantee. Simply call customer service or drop into a store in order to get your product repaired or replaced.

REI- The legendary no questions asked return policy remains one of the biggest reasons why I shop at REI. It gives me the confidence to try out new tools, and is well worth the slight premium you pay over other online retailers.

Costco- Costco has a fantastic lifetime return policy that has unfortunately been abused by many. The updated policy sets a 90-day limit for returns on high-end electronics, but almost everything else you can purchase in store is covered.

LL Bean- My parents recently returned a set of 10-year old luggage to LL Bean because of malfunctioning zippers. Customer service credited them the full purchase price within minutes. Needless to say, my parents are life-time LL Bean customers.

Check out what others are saying at Cool Tools.

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Apreche

etymotic. Their warranties are not that exciting on paper. However, I have had a pair of ER6i and a pair of hf2. They have both broken in the same way multiple times, and they have replaced them free of charge every time, even though the warranty is long expired.

Honorable mentions:

Gustbuster umbrella
LL Bean anything

Inconsistency Award:

Apple. Sometimes you get a free Macbook and sometimes you gotta pay $$$ to replace a broken screen/battery.

Shit List:

Trek Bicycle. Frame cracked from being stored outside in the winter. Not only could I not talk to them directly, I had to go through a retailer, but they totally rejected me.
Slightly Askew

Bose.

Have had a pair of Triports for about 5 years. Bose has replaced them completely twice during that time due to minor failures that many companies would attribute to “normal wear and tear” (cracked plastic near the extenders).
Anonymous

I was very pleased with the customer service at Nintendo. My son’s DS had a stuck button, and they replaced the entire unit because it was within the one-year warranty. Didn’t have to spend anything on shipping, etc.
Anonymous

Snap on hand tools, they have life time warranty and are really good to boot.
Anonymous

Snap-On. And again: Snap-On. Also: Patagonia. Returns with replacement, no questions asked. Also: Calphalon. I sent them a $50 Chinese-made pan on which the hard-anodizing was wearing off, and they sent me back a $150 American-made pan from the top of their line.
Anonymous

Backpacks: Mountainsmith customer support stinks. Osprey is acceptable or better.
Anonymous

Agree with Tilley Endurables – I took in my worn-out hat (which I had used as a bucket to carry berries, crumpled up to use as a pillow, and done many other non-hatlike things to it), and they gave me a new one, no questions.
bodenski

Big thanks to Craftsman hand tools, plus Big Green Egg smokers and Calphalon pans.
Disagree on Apple who were awful last year. They sold me a lemon MacBook and it took me (literally) 40 hours on the phone to almost sort it out.
Anonymous

I bought a Moleskin notebook that started to fall apart after a couple of years. I sent an email to them and a nice Italian lady wrote back asking for my address. Ten days later I got my replacement notebook in the post. They are more expensive than other notebooks but service like that is worth paying for.
Anonymous

Two favorites, who have handled problems especially well:

Lee Valley/Veritas tools; I once had a shipment caught in an express service strike. When I called to check on on its progress, they said, “Sorry, we’ll ship the same stuff by another service, just send back the original tools when they arrive.” And they paid the return postage…

Rotring writing instruments: A favorite mechanical pencil broke down. I sent it back with a request for a repair estimate. The response was, “Sorry, but we don’t have parts for that model any more. But we figure it’s worth about $40, so here’s our catalog, just pick out any other pencil up to that value, and here’s an order form…”
Anonymous

Here in BC, Canada, we have a climbing/camping store called Mountain Equipment Co-Op. Best warranty I’ve ever experienced.

About 6 years ago someone bought me a laptop bag from there. It was well designed, and served me well for years and years, until one day the zipper broke. I was happy with the quality, so I dropped by one of their stores to buy a new one. I happened to be carrying my sorta-broken one at the time. When I went to buy a new one, the clerk noticed I was carrying an old one of theirs. She said something like “Oh, you must like your old one if you’re thinking of buying two!”, and I said “Ah, no, I’m just buying a new one because the zipper broke.” She refused to sell me the new one, instead gave it to me for free, taking my old one. Apparently they have a very generous lifetime warranty that’s honoured with no questions asked, no receipt needed. Even though this was a 5 year old bag and I’d certainly got the $60 out of it that it originally cost, and even though I never got a receipt from the person who gave me it as a gift, an exchange for a new model was given on the spot with no questions asked. I was seriously impressed.

Anyone in BC, Canada, looking for a new laptop bag, or for that matter, a tent or backpack, I suggest checking out MEC. They’re good people with a good product.
Anonymous

I’ll add another positive comment for REI.

I’ve seen things returned that hadn’t been purchased at REI, and I’ve seen things returned where the failure of the item caused the majority of the item to be missing. It is a truly incredible return policy.

That said, some REI stores don’t subscribe to the corporate standard of return anything, anytime, even with proof of purchase.
coastalbliss

I’ll echo #26-MEC (Mountain Equipment Coop) in Canada is awesome!
henry44

I vote for Vernier Software. I am working on a grant where we use temperature, light and motion detectors in classroom settings with middle school students. Vernier has been great with replacing probes that get damaged. Their replacement policy makes it possible for us to put meaningful scientific technology into the hands of kids that wouldn’t otherwise get to explore their world.
Anonymous

Good: Fiskars Scissors. I broke a blade on a pair cutting some carpet (probably shouldn’ta done that). They replaced them without question and even declined my offer to return the broken pair.

Also Good: Outdoor Products. Replaced a well-used backpack I had received as a gift when the zipper went bad. The old one was a discontinued model, but I had the choice of several models for replacement.

Bad: Farberware. The rim of a saucepan split vertically after only about a dozen uses. Sent it back to the “authorized repair center”, and got the runaround for several months before I gave up. I think the shady outfit responsible for the warranty program eventually went bust. No great loss. Farberware appears to be a classic case of a company bought out and ruined.
Anonymous

Definitely, Sears Craftsman tools.
fletcher_katherine

Chariot, makers of high-end bike trailers. I wouldn’t normally have shelled out for the nice one, but they make the only ones with built-in capability to take two tiny babies at once (I’ve got twins). I called them to find out if I could get a replacement for a piece of hardware that I lost, and without even asking about my warranty status, they put the part in the mail to me — sending it from Canada to the UK — at no charge, the same day. And the person I spoke to was just so… friendly and nice. They’ve definitely got my business.
Anonymous

The digital display on my oven started getting dim a few months ago, and then finally went kaput, so that there was no numerical display at all. The oven works fine, but you had to know which
buttons to push, and in what order, and push them DECISIVELY; there was just no visual key that said you are in convect baking mode and have preheated to 275 so far, at 3:00 in the afternoon, etc. Generally okay, except when I want to do something out of the ordinary, like run the self-clean function, and need the visual cues. So, anyway, I gets on that Internet-thingie.
Most posts in the DIY fora say “just replace the control panel, no biggie.” Cost for part: $165-$225, depending, AND virtually everybody says “you buy it, it’s yours, even if you guessed wrong.” Another post says they had this identical problem on their identical oven fixed professionally for $385, including parts. But ONE post says, “there’s several capacitors on the circuit board. The one that is 68 mf 35 volts usually goes out causing this problem.” There are virtually no over-the-counter parts stores left. Radio Shlock did not have a capacitor with compatible specs. An engineer friend of mine turned me on to Digikey, in the charmingly named Thief River Falls, MN. I called them. Not only were they willing to sell me ONE 32-cent capacitor (plus shipping), but the customer service guy showed me how to find its image on their website (to see if it would physically work), AND gave me advice on wiring it onto the circuit board as to polarity, etc. (very good, as my soldering skills are extremely rusty). He treated my 32-cent order as though it were a $5,000 order. It was really stunning.
telcom59

Needed two replacement parts for a folding rocker we use for camping. Was prepared to pay for parts if I could even find them. MAC Sports of La Verne ,CA provided them free of charge as part of their warranty. Even the shipping was covered. Best customer service I have ever received…
roberts

Otterbox offered a replacement for a cell phone case (with a design flaw) w/o hesitation.

Specialized Bicycle. Had a pair of early SPD shoes, brand new, hit by a car, ripped the entire heel clean off of one. I wrote them, told them the story, and the fellow mailed me a brand new pair of the top of the line model.
Anonymous

No mention of Leatherman?!

I had the Wave. I snapped one of the plier tips doing something stupid with it. I then ground down the other plier tip so they were the same length. The blade got some rust in the hinges when I left it outside for a week in the snow.

So one day I go on the website, filled out the form and got a shipping box in a week to send back to them. They didn’t fix the Leatherman. They replaced it with the newer-model Wave that was miles above the old version. For nothing. :-D

And Dunlop did the same thing when I beat the bag out of a Slash Wah guitar effect pedal – I tried to fix it, broke it worse, then they just replaced the whole thing w/ a new model. Both worthy companies!
Anonymous

I’ll also second the recommendation of Craftsman tools. You can bring in a decades-old broken wrench and Sears will replace it on the spot. Note that *only* applies to the Craftsman brand, not their other brands (Champion, etc).

Not exactly a “tool”, and this is definitely outside the norm (so it probably doesn’t qualify), but I took an out-of-warranty dead iPhone 3GS into my local Apple Store last week. The Genius looked at it, and despite my telling him it was not under AppleCare, he just said “it’s covered” and got a new one out. Walked out 20 minutes later with a new iPhone, and the work order listed “for CS [customer service]“. Had to share.
shannigans

Columbia Sportsware- I had a boyfriend who sent in a ten year old jacket because the zipper wore out. Unfortunately they fixed it and sent it back.
roberts

Wenger swiss army watch band rotted, they replaced it for free, after I explained how hard it was to get any feedback from customer support. Ronstan regatta watch, stripped screw on case back, N.American office mailed replacement screws.
Anonymous

Texas Instruments. I had bought a second hand Ti86 which had no manual. I called them looking to purchase one (they’re considerable, size-wise…) they sent me one for free.
A couple of years later, I had one of their solar calculators that the display had gone bonkers. I called to see if there was a fix I could perform, aside from removing the battery. They told me to send it to them, and they replaced it.
Glad to see so many responses to this. It’s nice being able to laud a company for once, rather than complain.
Anonymous

Snap-on. The absolute pillar of the tool business.
El Mariachi

Pelican cases. I got a beat-up used one missing the gasket and pressure-release valve, which they promptly sent me replacements for with zero warranty, paperwork, etc.
Nawel

Site’s been hacked again?
mdh

also, Zippo lighters.
BikerRay

Black & Decker convection oven heater element burned out after a few months. They FedExed a new oven as soon as I phoned them with the serial number – told me to toss the old one in the trash.
unfocused

Koss Headphones. Lifetime warranty. No questions asked.

I’ve had my PortaPro headphones wore out under hard use and replaced four times under warranty since I purchased them back in 1984. Never once the slightest hassle.
Anonymous

Doc Martins now has a lifetime warranty(as in guaranteed for your natural life) on some of their boots and shoes (note that this excludes “industrial use”).

Eagle Creek repaired and then replaced a backpack I used regularly in college. The right shoulder strap wore out near the top, which I suppose could be expected. But I got 3x use out of the deal. :)

Saddleback Leather has a 100 year warranty on all of their products. “They’ll fight over it when you’re dead.”
Anonymous

Simple Shoes – I bought a pair of their eco-friendly shoes w/ recycled tire tread soles for $70 bucks. After about a year of heavy use, the soles were separating from the uppers. I sent them back to Simple at no charge and they replaced them free with a new pair of another style priced at 60 bucks and refunded the 10 buck difference. The second pair has lasted me over 2 years and are going strong.
stevenh

My grandfather was the manufacturer of Sears Craftsman (and other label) hand tools. he told us that he insisted that all his products were to be marked “Guaranteed Forever”. He started this policy in the 1940′s. You can look at the old Sears hand tools and see a small ‘BF’ stamped into the metal – that’s my grandfather’s initials: Bernard Fuller.
Anonymous

Blanco faucets/fixtures – I have a kitchen faucet that developed a faulty valve mechanism in the flexible sprayer assembly. I called the number, was promptly helped by someone who sounded like he designed the damn thing, and was shipped – overnight – a completely new handle, and got a call one day later asking how it worked. Pricey stuff, but well worth this kind of service IMHO.
Anonymous

Lupine, maker of dog leashes and collars, will replace the item if it’s been chewed through. When my dog chewed through her leash, I sent it in and had a brand new leash 5 days later.
Anonymous

Moog Music is personal and attentive to ANY problem. They have all the right stuff. Humor, Tech-savvy and soft or firm-ware answers.
I would take any of them to dinner. But what would you expect ? MOOG. Finest synths on Earth.
computernut

Surefire flashlights. Yes, a flashlight is a tool ;) They cost more than your average flashlight but the warranty is lifetime and their service is the best I’ve ever experienced. Even if you pick one up used (not the original owner) they still take care of you.

http://www.surefire.com

http://www.candlepowerforums.com
Anonymous

I’ve got an old backpack from Eastern Mountain Sports. A few years ago, the zippers were dying, and there was a small rip in the side. They took it in, mended the rip, and replaced the zippers at no cost. I was actually glad they mended it rather than replaced it– the rest of the pack is holding up just fine. It would have been wasteful to replace, and now my pack has an expertly applied patch on the side, which gives it character.
murray

amazon.com

Absolutely the most hassle-free return system ever. Do the whole thing online in about a minute, and UPS picks up the product from your home the next day.
Anonymous

Pelican cases.

Pelican Products, Inc. guarantees its products for a lifetime against breakage or defects in workmanship.

This guarantee does not cover shark bite, bear attack or damage caused by children under five.
Anonymous

Gravis
Had one of their super-programmable joysticks back in the day… keyboard passthrough and everything. It had gone out of production, so I purchased the floor model at an electronics store and used it for about three years. The internal flash memory finally died one day, so I contacted Gravis to see about a repair. Even though it was years out of production and I had no receipt, no box, no ANYTHING, they shipped me out a refurbished model with a prepaid postage to return the broken unit in the empty box. Amazing.

Now if I could only find some new games that require a joystick…
bcsizemo

On the tool side Rigid offers lifetime warranty on some of their models. I’ve never taken advantage of it yet, but I’ve read several accounts of people getting replacement battery packs after a couple of years….

Stickley Furniture – well for the price you pay you’d expect some good service. My wife and I purchased a small drink/end table from them and when we got it home, noticed it had a place on the back side of the leg where the finish was bubbled and raised.

They ordered us a new one, had it delivered and took the old one back no questions. They have also sent us extra hardware (keys and the like) when me couldn’t find it with a delivery.

For the most part they are top notch to begin with, so our issues where minor…

Cutco knives – well this isn’t a plug, but I used to sell them in late highschool and early college. Their lifetime warranty is pretty good, ship it back and they’ll fix or replace it. My neighbor found a Cutco hunting knife and the blade was chipped and rusted. Since it was free I told him to send it back and sure enough about 4 weeks later he gets a brand new one.

(as a side note I don’t really ever warranty clothing items unless they are new. I expect wear and tear, they aren’t going to last forever.)
Anonymous

doesn’t Jansport replace/repair any damaged backpacks for life?
Anonymous

Another vote for LL Bean. I returned a pair of 2 year old hiking boots when a metal lace hook snapped. I walked into their flagship store and walked out a short while later with a new pair of boots. In Maine, they’re kind of the official outfitter of everyday life, so I know lots of people with similar stories. There really are no questions asked.

Shure is also fantastic. I have a pair of earphones that developed a problem. I submitted a “how do I fix this?” question on Shure’s website. I’m not the original owner, and the earphones were 4 years old at the time. Shure didn’t care or even ask, they just sent me replacement parts for free.
Anonymous

I second Kershaw knives, only to note that they are also the company behind Shun kitchen knives. Same free lifetime sharpening deal and same warranty.
Thorzdad

Umpteenthing Sears and their Craftman hand tools. A rare combination of good prices, good quality, and great warranty. Almost all my hand tools are Craftsman.

Several years ago, I had an excellent experience with Sauder, the manufacturer of you-assemble-it furniture kits. We purchased a large (7-foot-tall) bookcase kit. When I started assembling it, I discovered that one of the 7-foot side panels had been routered incorrectly, so that it was not possible to fit it to the rest of the assembly (basically, the tongue that ran along the length of the panel had been routered off, so the panel could not seat into another panel.)

This was late in the day, but I called the 800 number in the instruction booklet. The woman I spoke to was very apologetic and simply took my information and a description of the problem and said they’d get a new panel to me immediately. No argument. No proof of purchase hell.

And, when she said “immediately” she meant it. A new panel was at my front door by noon the very next day. At no charge. Impressive.
Anonymous

I bought a pair of Revo sunglasses about 20 years ago and the frame broke after a couple of years of usage. I called them and they sent me a new pair for free and even expedited the shipping.
Anonymous

Waring has been *great*. We got a waffle iron as a gift 4 years ago. One day it fell on the floor & the hinge broke. When we called to ask if we could order a replacement hinge, they said no, but they’d send us a brand new replacement waffle iron at no cost. When it stopped working less than a year later, we called & they said “Oh yeah, we had some problems recently” and sent us the professional-grade waffle iron for free.
mypalmike

Baldwin door hardware. I bought a house that had a Baldwin handleset on the front door. A couple years later, the latch broke. These things are pretty expensive – probably $250 – and I’m too cheap to spend that kind of money on a new door handle. I took the thing apart and found that a small part had broken. I figured, what the heck, I might as well call Baldwin and see if they would sell me the part. Like most modern mass-manufacturing companies, they do not stock replacement parts, which sucks. Instead, however, they sent me a whole new latch, which had a new design that was less prone to breakage, free of charge. I even told them I hadn’t even bought the thing myself, and wouldn’t mind paying for the replacement, but they insisted.
Anonymous

Lee Valley Tools. http://www.leevalley.com

They make sure you are happy at the counter. If you come back, they take the same care with you as they did in the first place and sort it out. Every time I buy from them I come away happy.

Most people deal with them mail order; same thing. High quality, great warranty, epic customer service.
gellfex

Craftsman only applies to the hand tools, none of the power tools have the “lifetime”.

Williams-Sonoma used to have Lifetime, and we used it several times since we got a severely overpriced breadmaker as an engagement gift. I feel a little guilty over the last one, but these thing should last more than a couple of years, or just don’t sell them.

An EMS manager told me to take a hike when I tried to get satisfaction on a falling apart knapsack. “Don’t you think you got your money’s worth out of it? We guarantee the product’s lifetime, not yours”.

Okuma Fishing sent me new reel handles when I complained about theirs basically being designed to break.

Jet Tools sent me a free set of thrust bearings for a 20 year old mill/drill, and were very nice with tech support.
jwoods

Brittany Company wooden knitting needles: I’ve replaced a set twice, one when the dog chewed them up and the second when they got slammed in a car door and broken. For free, with no shipping charges and no questions asked, aside from “The dog? Really? Ok, then…”
racerx_is_alive

Back when I was in high school I had a pair of Merrell hiking boots with “sticky rubber” soles. After a year or so the soles had pretty much completely worn down. I called them up and they sent me a brand new pair of shoes with no hassle at all.

Another company that has been great for me is Logitech. They replaced an out-of-warranty MX700 that lost the metal ring from the USB plug on the dock with a brand new MX1000 laser mouse. And then when that out-of-warranty mouse started only holding a charge for a couple of days rather than a couple of weeks they replaced it with a Performance Mouse MX, all for free. Also, when an MX1100 that I got on ebay was all skippy during games, they replaced it with a new one for free as well. Just fantastic.
philipb

Sennheiser – I shut a pair of their headphones in a door completely severing the cable and crushing the connector. I sent them off for repair and 4 days later got a new pair at no charge (not even shipping).

Cubavera whose shirt split, they promptly sent me a replacement and 2 additional shirts.

+1 on Patagonia, also kudos to Oakley for offering a $9 refurbishment service on their glasses.
mdh

Duluth Trading Company. Unique gear, great lifetime warranty, mostly made in the USA. Designed by / for tradesmen and craftsmen.
Anonymous

The Martin Guitar Company is the best I’ve ever known of by miles. And yes, guitars are tools!

I was (and still am, but I’m inactive as a repair tech) a Martin authorized warranty repairman, and in 1990 I worked on a 1953 guitar for the original owner; I reglued the bridge under warranty…37 years after the guitar was built. Of course it needed a bunch of normal wear and tear work, too, but Martin was happy to pay me to reglue the bridge.
Anonymous

Craftsman tools and Snap-On tools both.

Bring them the broken tool and they will just swap it out for another, no questions, no nothing. Even the old box wrench I bought at a flea market for $0.50.

One of the snaps on my REI jacket keeps falling off. I bring the jacket in and they crimp on another snap, no questions. 4 times now on both coasts.

My wife’s Mac blew out long after the warranty expired. We brought it into the Apple store, it was almost funny because the machine was so old, it looked like an antique next to the new systems. Well they fixed it up 100%, for zero charge, because they figured that it was their fault.

Big “no” for newegg. I bought defective external drive enclosures from them, and they insisted that I deal with the Chinese manufacturer.
Chris Tucker

Apple.

I was given a two year old MacBook. The battery was really swollen. REALLY swollen.

Walked into the Apple Store in Cambridge (MA.). No Genius Bar appointment.

Waited 15 minutes. The fellow behind the Bar looked at the battery, said. “Oooooh. That’s bad. Let me get you a new one.” A few moments later, I had a new battery. And, as with the mention upthread @#9, the receipt was marked Customer Service.

Yeah. Apple won a lifetime customer with that.
Anonymous

Columbia River Knife and Tool company have an excellent lifetime warranty too. They warrantied a seven+ year old knife that was wearing at the hilt, giving it a slight wobble, with out any receipts etc. All I had to do was ship it in and received a fresh knife shortly thereafter.
cmuwriter

It’s already been beat to death on here, but the Craftsman hand tool warranty is unmatched. I was at my dad’s the other day working on my truck when he wound half of an old beat up socket that be broke years ago. He gave it to me and said “take it to sears, they’ll give you a new socket.” I took it in there, and even though it was a fragment less than half of the original socket, they are shipping me a new socket. They were even apologizing because they couldn’t give me one right then and there, and they had to ship it to me.
Anonymous

I can confirm Jansport. I bought a Jansport shoulder bag back in the 1990s. After years of daily use, one of the main zippers failed. I put it away and switched to a different bag. Years after _that_, I opened the bag and discovered that the lining of the main pouch had yellowed and cracked. After reading that the company offered a lifetime warranty, I sent the bag in requesting that the zipper be fixed and the lining be replaced. Jansport not only repaired the zipper and replaced the lining, but also replaced the worn D-rings used to affix the shoulder strap, something I had _not_ requested. The bag had also been cleaned.
EH

Another classic example: I just bought a little stubby Phillips screwdriver (you know the one) at Sears and the Craftsman Warranty fit on the hang tag: “…any reason, bring into any Sears for replacement,” or words to that effect.
- Anonymous
  
  Sears is steadily weakening that warranty; first they restricted it to hand tools (yes, once upon a time it applied to power drills), then they came out with non-craftsman non-warrantied tools (companion and others) which they treacherously mix in among the warrantied tools, now they are starting to un-warranty things that were bought under warranty.
  
  I took my old craftsman tape measure in when it broke, and was told that it was not warrantied. I insisted on speaking to the store manager, and showed him the old worn sticker on the tape that said “guaranteed” right on it, and he gave me a new red one – which is specifically not warrantied for anything other than manufacturer’s defects, and then only if you return it before using it.
  
  I have many fine old craftsman tools, including a 1959 table saw that is better than anything they sell today. But craftman’s star is falling fast.
  - Seraphim_72
    
    Ah yes it is….sad really and part of it is abuse. Why buy hardened air sockets when you can buy and snap the cheaper hand ones and get them replaced for free.
    
    My Father had his Craftsman hand drill die on him. It was a handsome gift to him on his wedding day. The dang thing had been a trooper for years, but it finally gave up the ghost. As it was a Craftsman, Dad took it back to the store…
    
    “Sorry Sir, our Lifetime guarantee does not cover power tools.”
    
    “Um, it says here,” He pulls out the *original* warranty *AND* receipt from 1953. “That it is guaranteed for life.”
    
    …To their credit they gave him his pick of drills, asked if they could show the paper work and old drill around the staff – - and then gave it all (including the drill) back to him saying…
    
    “Lifetime is lifetime, if that new drill gives you a problem the original papers still are in force, just let us know.”
    
    If he wears that one out, I will buy him a new one.
    
    The Craftsman brand has gone to the dogs for many years now. To my knowledge, none of it is USA made any more at all.
Anonymous

Simple Human. (No, not a snarky comment — that’s the company’s name.) I bought a step-on kitchen trash can from them a few years back. It looked great & worked fabulously well, although I was a bit miffed at having to spend a premium price (~$90); nobody seems to sell lower-end models these days.

Fast forward to this year. Owing to a mishap involving a cherry pit (hardest substance on earth, or at least in my kitchen) being carelessly deposited in an odd spot on the lip of the can, the plastic lid cracked, taking out one of the two hinges. After limping along for a while, I took a look to see if it might be possible to replace the lid — and found no obvious way to detach it. At the brink of resigning myself to buying another one, and generating several pounds of gratutious plastic landfill, I called Simple Human to see if they would sell me a new lid.

No, they wouldn’t. They GAVE me the lid free, under the 5-year warranty. Free shipping too. And when the sucker arrived, it included detailed instructions on how to remove & reinsert the cleverly designed (read: hidden) hinge pins. I CAN HAZ TRASHCAN.
Anonymous

Shure – cracked headphone cables after more than the one year warranty on their low end models. Called customer service and they replaced them no charge – next day shipping and free replacement.

Apple – bought refurb iPod nano, but mistakenly had it sent to the old address. Apple resent a new one to us for free. Totally my mistake, but Apple covered us.

NavPress – guaranteed binding for life on their Bibles, even if your two year old rips out chapters. Called the 800 number and they sent a new one for free – no questions asked.
Anonymous

North face replaced a zipper in a shell I have had for 10/12 years. Now the liner is tearing a bit so it will be interesting if they still honor the lifetime warranty. It’s still waterproof and windproof.
I bet they fix or replace it
Anonymous

The Lego company will gladly replace any piece you are missing as long as they’re still making it. They even have an online system where you can enter the set number and see the entire inventory of the set and select which parts were lost, missing, or damaged (including discolorations or any other quality issues).
zartan

allen edmonds shoes! And they’re one of the very few shoe companies still manufacturing in america. Only shoes I wear.
Anonymous

Nix on Sears-I tried to return a broken 1/2″ drive Craftsman ratchet and got handed a bag of used parts and was told I’d have to repair it myself.
aileinduinn

Gerber.
Broke a blade on my six year old multi-tool. Disassembled it and sent them the broken part. Received replacement part in the mail two weeks later along with new assembly hardware, hex wrench, washers, and a tiny illustrated re-assembly guide.

I too love Duluth Trading Co.

and Stormy Kromer Hats
http://www.stormykromer.com/lifetime-warranty
technogeek

Kensington (manufacturer of mice and trackballs). Had one of the photosensors die in an old shaft-encoder trackball unit, confirmed by swapping the two sensors. (They were socketed, much to my surprise.) Contacted tech support to ask if I could buy a replacement for that chip, and was told “Don’t bother, we’ll replace the whole unit. No charge, and we pay postage both ways.”

Admittedly this was a company-owned item, so they may have been more motivated than they would be with an individual customer. But still that’s service above and beyond the call of duty.
Anonymous

Levi’s, they will replace jeans if they are falling at the seams, or zipper is broken.
Anonymous

Channellock tools. Made right here in the USA. Meadville, PA, to be exact. Ya just can’t beat ‘em!
Anonymous

Not exactly a “tool”, and this is definitely outside the norm (so it probably doesn’t qualify), but I took an out-of-warranty dead iPhone 3GS into my local Apple Store last week. The Genius looked at it, and despite my telling him it was not under AppleCare, he just said “it’s covered” and got a new one out. Walked out 20 minutes later with a new iPhone, and the work order listed “for CS [customer service]“. Had to share.

My friend had a bad experience with his iPod to balance that out. Within a year of purchase he hard drive stopped working, so he called up support to see about setting it serviced under warranty. They gave him the run around for a while before denying him. When he kept calling to try to speak to someone higher up, they eventually told him to, and I quote, “Fuck off!.”

I later purchased it off him and got an eBay hard drive. The click wheel then died on me after 6 months or so, I think it is currently living in my junk drawer.
Umpqua

Zappos.

I had ordered a pair of shoes that didn’t fit. Shortly afterwards I moved to a new apartment and the box with the shoes got mixed in with all the other boxes and became lost. A year later I found them in the back of a storage closet. I decided to try returning them and they accepted them without any hesitation.
Anonymous

Amazon replacing two of those small remote controlled helicopters, no questions asked… i wouldn’t have a clue how they broke after only hitting the wall 100 times…
glatt1

Sears Craftsman. I replaced a wrench once, but the real remarkable story is the lawnmower I returned for a full refund.

It was a Craftsman lawnmower that started on about the third pull the first time I used it, but it ran poorly, alternately revving and then almost stalling in a continuous cycle. By the fourth time I went to mow my lawn, it simply wouldn’t start.

I cleaned it up and returned it, and they tried to get me to agree to let them take it to the service shop, but I figured if the thing needed to be serviced every three hours of operation, it wasn’t going to work for me. They gave me a full refund, and I went to a Toro dealer to buy a much more expensive Toro, which has worked flawlessly for about 5 years now.
felsby

Got a Vola (danish design bath and kitchen hardware – rather pricey) soap dispenser 10 years ago. It got jammed last year, the factory asked me to send it to me. Got a working unit in the post 3 days later at no charge.
Anonymous

Marmot
They will repair zippers or sew up holes if you send in your battered clothing. We’ve done this twice now.
sloverlord

Newegg – I probably shouldn’t have to mention this, since anyone who would use Newegg has probably already heard of it, but they are fantastic and have taken the pole position in their market for good reason. (It’s an online retailer for computer parts and assorted electronics, FYI). Their shipping is almost instantaneous, and if something arrives in a damaged condition, they take it back, no questions asked.
- dculberson
  
  I’ll heartily second NewEgg. I had a motherboard go bad 11 months into ownership. It had a 12 month warranty. I followed the RMA procedure and sent it back to NewEgg. Since the same exact board was not made any longer, they credited my card with 100% of the purchase price. I used that to buy a nicer, newer board from them.
  
  Amazon, also, has great return policies. I bought an HD-DVD player and a bunch of HD-DVDs for cheap as the standard was being phased out. I found out one reason why the sales were low, when the player I bought would take several minutes to start playing a movie, and it took several seconds to respond to fast forward / rewind commands. The hardware just wasn’t powerful enough to deal with the amount of data it was tasked with. I returned the player and all the movies. The opened movies should have had a 50% restocking fee, according to Amazon’s terms of sale, but given the unique situation of the standard being phased out and the usability issues with the player, they gave me 100% money back. I can’t imagine another company doing that.
  
  American Craftsman windows have a lifetime warranty. My brother had a unit crack on him, and they replaced the entire window sash, free of charge. They even did it without quizzing him as to how the crack happened! It just so happens that it cracked on its own, probably due to a chip in manufacturing, but from their perspective it could have been due to abuse either during or after installation. But they did not care and did not ask – just replaced it. Excellent customer service.
  
  I suppose these aren’t tools so much as vendors, but given that you have to buy from a vendor, I think it’s important.
- mypalmike
  
  * Newegg refused to replace/repair/return an Infinity subwoofer I bought which was missing the entire outer housing : it was plywood covered in dried glue and no finish. OK, it was sold as clearance, but damn! They claimed it would be covered by the manufacturer’s warranty directly, so I located my local Infinity repair shop and brought it to them. The Inifinity people wouldn’t replace/repair/return it because I bought it from Newegg, who was apparently not an officially licensed Infinity dealer.
JohnnyQuest

Tilley Endurables. I’ve had a Tilley hat for years, and they’ll replace it if it ever wears out. I’ve replaced it TWICE (I’m hard on the hat, but they let ME decide when it’s worn out!), and they only charged me a nominal shipping fee. Just send it back, and they send a new hat, no problem.
Anonymous

Kershaw is a knife company with fantastic blades as well as a stellar warranty. Lifetime warranty to replace any missing or broken part as well as unlimited sharpening whenever the knife is sent in.

Somebody commented on Leatherman and they are definitely an excellent company as well. i had an old PST II that I had for many years and after a clearly user induced breaking, the entire tool was replaced with a brand new current equivalent (they no longer made the old tool)

I have a lot of respect for these sorts of companies and am proud to buy from them.

…and who can forget Zippos?
Anonymous

I’ll second the REI nomination. I won a pair of hiking boots at a class they gave, but unfortunately when the manufacturer sent them, the boots didn’t fit. I mentioned it while talking to an REI employee about something else, and they suggested I bring the boots in — REI happily exchanged them for another pair of boots, even though REI didn’t sell that particular model.

Another nomination is Garmin. The hubby bought himself a GPS, then foolishly left it on the roof of his car one day. It dropped off and it was run over before he retrieved it. He called Garmin to see if there was any chance of fixing it, and they replaced it with a rebuilt unit at no charge except for shipping. WAY beyond anything we expected. (And he’s learned NOT to leave anything on the roof!)
siliconsunset

Negative experience with Maxpedition.

I love their products, but I wrote an email to customer service about my Jumbo versipack and got a less than helpful response. I’ve purchased, well, too many items from the company and have always been happy with the quality and craftsmanship of the items I’ve received. They are tough, rugged, and wonderful. Truly “Hard use gear”. However when they transitioned to the newest generation of Versipacks they changed the Jumbo in some ways I like, others I didn’t. My previous gen Jumbo had a velcro loop to hold the bag to your side for running or whatever may cause it to flop and be a problem. That velcro grabbed and pilled fabric on my other gear/belt/coats/etc. The pads on the back of the bag pilled whenever they came into contact with velcro or anything “sharp”. The new gen fixed the pad issue (even though it’s not as thick/padded) and they replaced the loop with a waist strap than one can buckle on or off for retention. I used to have a Swedish army medics bag that had a similar waist strap and I loved it. I sent their customer service rep an email asking if I could have the waist strap added to my previous generation bag. I also asked that they remove the velcro loop that caused so many problems. I offered to pay shipping both ways and whatever it costs for the work. They responded by sending me a link to buy the new generation bag from their website. In the email there was one of those “was this useful” links, so I responded no and told them why. I don’t want another bag, I want this one upgraded. It has features that the new one doesn’t have and I’d rather not waste it. They sent me back an email asking for me to describe, in detail, why their response wasn’t helpful. I explained what I wanted, clearly, in both emails and that response kinda annoyed me. I responded a third time and politely summed up all previous correspondence and asked again if they offered modifications on old bags. Never heard back from them.

Disappointing.
wgmleslie

Victorinox. To quote from their site:

“Victorinox guarantees all Swiss Army Knives to be of first-class steel and provides a lifetime warranty against any defects in material and workmanship.
The warranty does not apply to damage caused by abnormal or unreasonable use of any of the implements (including repairs or alterations other than by our Authorized Service Center).

If your Swiss Army Knife has a manufacturerâ€™s defect covered by our warranty, we will either repair or replace it, at our option, without charge. Please send to the address below. Include your name, address, phone number and e-mail address (optional) with your return. In California and other states so requiring, you may return the Swiss Army Knife through your place of purchase.”

The only bummer is that they usually just replace the knife, so if it has any sentimental value (such as the one my first real girlfriend gave me), you’ll need to transfer your sentimentality to the new knife.
yasth

Newegg so, doesn’t count, they’ll cover (excluding shipping) for a brief window, and then done. Not that they aren’t nice, just not what we are talking about.

Lands End has a similar policy to LL Bean. They don’t kid around, on the any reason thing, if the color faded in a way you don’t agree with after years of use, return it. Also they let you drop things off at Sears stores.

Toolwise it is a lot harder when dealing with things that move or plug in. Radio Shack is fairly good surprisingly.
Anonymous

Keen shoes has a similarly amazing policy. I recently was sent a brand new pair of shoes after a previous pair wore through the heel. I had no receipt, and the old shoes were out of warranty by a quite a few months.