Warranty Clarification From TTI - Finally!
The TTI rep said that the tool itself will be serviced for life by a local TTI service facility, not Home Depot.
When a battery fails, the customer will have to bring the tool and battery to the repair center where the serial number of each will be recorded and a new battery will be exchanged for the old - ONE TIME only. Batteries will not be replaced for life.
And doesn't that make sense? How could any company possibly replace something like batteries for the life of the tool? Talk about a losing proposition.
Also, HD extended the lifetime service warranty on purchases until January 31st because they cannot provide enough stock. For example, our local HD has not had a 14.4v drill in stock yet.
[ 11-23-2003, 01:09 AM: Message edited by: BH626Pro ]
Originally posted by SuperDave:
Oh, I didn't mean batteries were cheap for you and I to buy, I meant they were cheap for Ridgid to make. smile.gif
"Batteries were pretty cheap last time (you) looked"??? What? The most expensive parts of the drill are the batteries. Take away the two batteries and the kit box and you're left with a $100 drill. Add two batteries and you have a $260 drill.
Why do you think combo kits are so inexpensive? Because they only have two batteries, not because they give you a discount for buying four RIDGID tools.
I understand that I lifetime warranty is a gimmic...sort of like mail in rebates (only like 10% ever mail in a rebate), but I am bronzing my receipt so that the warranty makes my purchase more valuable to me. If a company tells me batteries for life, I'd like clarification on what that means.
I'm not looking for you trolls to say, "come on you don't expect batteries for life do ya?" Yes, that's what they tell me at Home Depot.
So, BRANDMAN tell me with 100% certainty, how long I can exchange my batteries at the Home Depot...and how many times.
I am not looking for interpretations of the warranty, I'm looking for absolute certainty. I saw a post on another thread that BRANDMAN said he's reply to secretly....I'd like an explanation on the warranty in public. I mean it's hear for us to read, why can't it be explained to us. Would it stand up in court, or would this be a case of fraud? I'm not claiming to be a lawyer, I'm just claiming to loving my tools and my warranty.
-RIDID MAN #1
I would still prefer to have service done through HD, while they are not the most knowledgable folks, they have generally been very helpful when I have a situation that needs to be resolved.
I was told I would get batteries for life...not just once...not just twice, three or four times...but for life.
I don't care if you mean MY life or the "life of the tool," but in 50 years I'm gonna bring my tools into Home Depot demanding new batteries and if they say the life of the tool has passed, then I will do mouth to mouth resusitation on my tool, have it completely rebuilt by a service center and demand that my 50 year old Ridgid X2 is still alive....give me my damn battery. Who's going to argue with that?
I dont think that lasted too long but I remember a few farmers that were pretty happy with the deal. But Ford also blew-up/burned a few of their customers, maybe a fair trade. hehehe
First, my guess is that the overall cost of this lifetime warranty program isn't that significant, considered as a part of advertising and promotion. A 30-second TV spot in primetime is what, $50k? $100k? That's a lot of replacement batteries, and Ridgid is pushing the primetime spots pretty hard.
Second, a reasonable person would find it intuitive to assume that not all customers will exercise their right to the warranty. I suspect that, regardless of how hard I'm pushing people to duplicate and laminate their receipts, a significant percentage of buyers aren't going to remain able to prove they're eligible for the warranty. Another percentage are just going to go out and buy more batteries as they age. Others will just throw away their broken Ridgid tool and go buy yellow or red. All this lowers Ridgid's cost and lessens the workload of backing that warranty.
Third, you have to assume that not many of these tools are going to break. Although there are plenty of contractors out there, most of them are sensible people who aren't going to buy into Ridgid until it establishes a proven record of reliability. Most of the customers who buy Ridgid for the warranty are home users who will never push anywhere near the limits of the tool. They may eventually need batteries, but batteries were pretty cheap the last time I looked.
Fourth, and probably most importantly, Home Depot is a 60+ billion dollar company, the second-largest retailer and one of the largest companies on Earth. They're making a helluvan investment into buying and stocking Ridgid tools, and having their employees push the warranty. If Ridgid screws HD on this deal, HD is gonna stomp them into the dust, and it's unlikely Ridgid would survive as a company.
So, I have no trouble believing that Ridgid will back this warranty, exactly as they're spelling it out. I don't understand why it isn't this clear to everyone who thinks about it realistically.
#If you have any other info about this subject , Please add it free.# |
March 10th, 2010, posted by wktd
