Plagued by Chronic quality problems
Written: Dec 29 '04
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Good solid tool chest, durable powder coated finish, very smooth drawer mechanisms, high-security lock.
Cons: Poor quality, should not take five tries to get a good unit.
The Bottom Line: For the price this product did not live up to the quality and reputation that I expected. Go with Snap-On if you can afford it.
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| mhoner's Full Review: Craftsman Professional 7-Drawer Tool Cart, 36" Wid... |
I purchased the Craftsman Professional 7-Drawer tool chart and matching 5 drawer top chest in June June of 2004. After receiving five different bottom and four separate top chests over four months, I finally have a decent quality product.
The first unit that I received had two defects. First the bolts that are spot welded inside the case were misaligned with the bolt holes by over 1/8". The second problem was that some of the bolt holes to attach wheels to the bottom of the cabinet were clogged with powder coating (I was able to fix this by using an impact hammer to drive the bolts in forcefully). Unfortunately I did not realize how misaligned the bolt holes were and I snapped a screw off. Sears was gracious enough to give me free home delivery on the replacement unit even though I had picked my unit up at the store.
Home Delivery #1
The second unit had the exact same defects on the side-handle bolt holes. This time they were not nearly as bad and most holes lined up correctly. Instead of returning the unit I decided to fix it myself and used a dremel tool to route out the holes with a diamond cutting bit. After spending two hours fixing the side-handle holes and putting the wheels on I assembled the top chest and attempted to mount it on the bottom chest. This is when I discovered that the key did not fit the top unit's lock. I figured I could get a new key later so I continued to mount the top chest only to discover that it did not fit correctly. After careful inspection I noticed that the bottom of the chest had been damaged in shipping. I called Sears and they agreed to send out a new unit.
Home Delivery #2
A week later Sears brought out a new top chest which also did not fit correctly. After some more measuring and inspection I determined that the welded in tray on the bottom cart that holds the top chest was welded incorrectly. When I tried to mate the two units together there was a 3/8" gap on one side and no gap on the other side. I called Sears and they agreed to send out another bottom cart.
Home Delivery #3
About a week later Sears delivered a new bottom cart. This unit had worse problems than the first unit did. In addition to the misaligned side-handle bolt holes this unit had some paint flaws where the powder coating had not been applied correctly and was peeling and cracking. The aluminum handles on the front of the drawers were badly scratched. One of the bolt holes for the castes was completely cross threaded and had to be tapped before I could get the wheel to fit. Also, this unit had large black speckles in the paint (the unit is red) like someone forgot to clean the paint gun before spraying the powder coating on. I called Sears and they agreed to send out another bottom AND top unit. This time I visit the store in person and explain all the quality issues that I am having with this product. The sales rep is very responsive and takes down all of the information so that she can contact the manufacturer. Wendy calls me to tell me that the manufacturer is going to hand check a new unit and ship it directly to my house.
Home Delivery #4
The manufacturer did not ship directly to me. Sears dropped off another top and bottom chest and picked up both of the old units. Once again the side-handle bolt holes were misaligned, but this time there were only three that were off. The unit still had black speckles in the powder coating but the top try looked much better than the previous two units. Now I'm getting tired of assembling these units so I don't even put the wheels or side-handles on yet until I check the fit of the top unit. The fit looks good so I proceed to assemble the top and bottom completely. After spending the usual hour putting the wheels and side-handles on we put the top chest on the cart and go to secure it with the supplied bolts. Unfortunately the bolts do not fit correctly. In order to get the bolts to fit the top unit has to slide back and now hangs over the back of the cart by 1/4" and has a 1/4" offset in the front. This is just not acceptable for a $2000 tool chest set. The manufacturer calls me to discuss the quality problems. I send them a list of the issues and digital photos to illustrate the problems. I talk to the tool department manager and tell him that I will give them one more chance to fix the problem or I'm going to buy another brand. Also, they agree to give me a discount for all the problems that I have experienced.
Home Delivery #5
Sears delivered a new top and bottom chest. This time we finally received a pair of units that fit together correctly. The side-handle bolt holes are still slightly misaligned but this is far better than the other units. I only had to grind off a tiny amount of paint to get the side-handle bolts to fit correctly this time. The unit still has black speckles in the paint but they are a lot less noticeable than the previous two units. This time the casters fit correctly. The top unit goes on smoothly and has an even gap all around (although the demo units in the store had a much smaller gap, it is acceptable). The unit goes together fairly smoothly but is missing the drawer liners. I drop by the store and pickup the drawer liners and see that they are selling my old defective unit. I guess that explains why the manufacturer did not know about all of the quality problems? In the end I have to fight Sears to get the discount but they refund me 15% of the purchase price for my troubles.
Recommended:
No
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Epinions.com ID:
mhoner
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Reviews written: 6
Trusted by: 0 members
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