Tool Brand Loyalty...

2ndGen

I've always "preferred" Stanley Hand Tools, but I've had a couple of bad experiences with them lately. 3 "Extreme" top of the line products I bought (2 35' tapes and one chalkline) have all failed me miserably. The tapes cost 3 times the price of their basic tape...unlike the "Extreme" tapes, the cheap ones actually work and function.

I'm going to look into other brands from now on instead of blindly standing by my brand.

Doesn't mean that I'll never buy Stanley again, but , if you're going to advertise something as "Extreme" and "Max" it better darn be just that. Especially if you're going to charge triple the price.

It's not just the garbageness of the product, but it's the lost down time, the frustration and the having to go alllll the way back to a store to buy another tape to replace another of the same "Extreme" and "Max" tape you bought in the first place.

Supposedly, there's a guarentee...all I have to do is sent it in and they'll either mail me a replacement or fix my tape...excuse me, the 2nd of my tapes.

Now, this $38.00 Stanley FatMax Extreme has costed me $76.00 + the cost of shipping and handling to get the 2nd one fixed, easily another $14.00 round trip.

That's $90.00 for a tape measure.

And their FatMax Xtreme Chalkline?

Same deal. It failed within the first week.



Tajima makes a great chalkline.
A good tape too.

Maybe I need to teach the American Company what happens when they take advantage of their customer's brand loyalty with great advertising and poor products?

Celtic

..and get BB while you're at it ...
Go buy a replacement tape, chalk box, whatever ....walk out to your truck... un-package it....grab the busted items....and march right back in to the return desk with receipt and packaging in hand from not more than 5 minutes ago.

That'll show 'em.

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JustaFramer

I agree about the fat max crap. The only chalkbox I use is the starret box. I have two semi broken straighline/irwin "speed boxes" as back ups that lasted 2 month a peice before I got pissed with the broken handle or worhtless string LOL Thats just in case my starret is stolen not busted.

Have you tried the tajima ink box yet. I have been thinking about buying one.

skymaster

2ndgen: I know the feeling. Tho it is a long story I can tell ya about a Stanley 100' tape that cost "us the taxpayers" back during the Apollo Program MILLIONS yes MILLIONS of dollars for a mistake of theirs. I went thru it this is first hand not a story. That just to re enforce your feelings about their lack of quality.
JackM

BigMikeB

I had the same issues with the fat max 30' had two of them less than a month and noticed they hang up coming out of the case because the blades have splits in them, had the reciepts and Lowes won't take them back or exchange them, they said I had to send them back. I have a few Stanley items that I need to send back but the post office is never open when I'm off work.

2ndGen

Actually owned one...loved it.

But it grew legs and walked away (was stolen).

I guess the thieves know what to steal.

2ndGen

If they put as much time into the product as much as they put into their marketing, they wouldn't need the marketing as much...the product would sell itself.

Like it does with Stabila, or Werner, or DeWalt, or Hitachi, or...well, you get the picture.

JustaFramer

Those bastards.

Yep I'll have to get one now. I love thier plumb bobs 6 second stablization. I bought one just to call BS. After testing it out I couldn't say it.

2ndGen

Same thing here...the blades split. Not only that, but they crease.

I think it's too much blade thickness for the case. And the case is unreasonably heavy and oversized.

Personally, I don't need a 13' stand-stand out...all I need is a tape that lasts.

Are we left to buy disposable $10. tapes every 6 months or so?

2ndGen

Next tape considerations:

Tajima
Lufkin
US Tape
Irwin

JustaFramer

I have been looking at Komtech stainless steel blades

Mike Finley

That is what I do all the time, not quite like that as far as have them in the truck, but I will buy the replacement and use the reciept to return the broken one. I have the old receipt in a file I'm sure, but I'm not spending 20 minutes going through folders trying to find it.

2ndGen

http://www.woodworking.com/article.cfm?article=695

See that? It's not just me/us!

By the way, I pulled out my Stanley FatMax Xtreme Chalk Line.
Took it apart to see if I could revive it (I got to use it only one time before it jammed up on me) and I unwrapped it, cleaned it and put it back together.

This time, instead of my pulling a bicep muscle to get the line out, the line wouldn't even come out. That's it. I'm done.

It's a good thing I have my $6. metal StaitLine as a back up.

I'm getting another Tajima.

KillerToiletSpider

I have one of those, and I like it a lot, but I very rarely use a tape measure. I guess I'm old school, I use a Lufkin six foot folding rule with the slide extension and the fold up hook on the end. For me it is accurate, fast, and easy to use, especially when I am doing layout work on the floor.

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A flush is better than a full house.

Grumpyplumber

Nothing as easy as measuring an offset in a ceiling thats too far without moving the ladder.
I keep one in the bucket, along with a 30' tape...each has it's purpose.

KillerToiletSpider

Apprentices get mad when I give them a measurement of six foot twenty seven and three quarters inches, it makes them actually have to think about how to convert that to all inches to read on a tape. I can do it in my head, but they have to do it with a pencil and write it out.

__________________
A flush is better than a full house.

JohnJ0906

I guess I must be lucky - I own and LOVE the Fat Max tape measure. No problems. And I do need a 13' standout when I am laying out ceiling lights.

Actually, I had one problem - after dropping it from the attic to the 1st floor (20' or so) several times, it broke the tape lock.

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John from Baltimore
"One Day at a Time"
All replies based on the 2008 NEC

MechanicalDVR

Don't you just love when they start counting lines out loud? Or ask "is that the small line after the thick one"? I guess they don't get fractions in grammer school any longer. I like the folding fiberglass rules for most things but I use the tape for threading.

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"Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere" mlk
100% Union and Proud of It

Teetorbilt

I've had chunks come out of the sides of FatMax tapes. I throttle them down on the return with my finger and a missing chunk can slice a finger wide open. I too like the standout as I frequently do measures alone.

Reload the string in your chalkbox with 130#+ braided Dacron fishing line and load the box with talc. You can pull it very tight and it leaves a sharp line that is very easy to clean up or paint over.

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You can't solve you're problems with the same level of thinking that created the problems.

Albert Einstein

mattp

I have had 3 of them and all have done the same thing too. I just take mine back to my local lumberyard and trade it out for a new one. That goes back to customer service versus the big box stores.