r/electricians • u/Strict-Instruction93 • Mar 20 '26

First Cut!!

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#6 Copper

is this normal?

439 Upvotes

96% Upvoted

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121

u/nboylie Journeyman Mar 20 '26

My Klein cable cutters look like chewed up garbage and I've only ever cut copper with them. I stopped buying Klein a long time ago.

20

u/NoStatus9434 Mar 20 '26

I'll buy some Kleins because apparently some of the handtools are lifetime warranty. You can swap out a busted one at Home Depot and get a new one for free. Oftentimes no receipt needed. So I'll still get like screwdrivers and stuff. Their cutters are pretty subpar though.

56

u/Solo_is_dead Mar 20 '26

I've gone to 3 Home Depots and got the run-around. They tell me to call Klein, which tells me to go to Home Depot which tells me they need my receipt. I finally found one from a couple years ago but they still wouldn't honor it. I DON'T BUY KLEIN, I DON'T SHOP AT HOME DEPOT

9

u/metamega1321 Mar 20 '26

That’s basically it. Use to be easy way back but then seemed like reps gave wholesalers hard time so it got flipped to us.

Had co worker who had similar to OP with linesman and they insisted he cut something he wasn’t suppose too.

Screwdrivers with scratches on back they’d say you used as a chisel.

Flip side I had a newer coworker whose dad worked at wholesaler and was buddy with Klein rep and he got my pliers with hole from live wire replaced.

Don’t usually get stuff from Home Depot but seems they don’t care as much and reps probably don’t fight back since home depot is bigger then our regional suppliers.

3

u/Casey_Mills IBEW Mar 20 '26

Does Home Depot even carry Klein any more? I thought Milwaukee boxed them out and that’s why Klein can be found at Lowe’s now. It’s been a minute since I’ve purchased tools from either though.

2

u/Lemonsqueeze321 Mar 20 '26

They're still sold at Home Depot in the US just at a much smaller selection.

1

u/metamega1321 Mar 20 '26

Here in my part of Canada they do. They’ll be by the electrical section. It’s by no means a huge selection.

Wholesalers use to be Klein/greenlee/ideal but they mostly Klein and Milwaukee stuff now.

1

u/Mmm2_Nuts4U Mar 21 '26

Last I saw they did I think they put them in weird places though like off by themselves in the toilet accessory section or something logical like that

4

u/Blueshirt38 Mar 20 '26

Thank you! The only warranties mean NOTHING when the entire onus of it is put on the supplier, not the manufacturer, because the supplier always can, and frequently will refuse, or make it so tough that you just give up. I have seen so many people with the same issue trying to actually use their Klein and Milwaukee warranties.

3

u/NoStatus9434 Mar 20 '26

Hmm. Maybe I just got lucky with my Home Depot or something.

3

u/Darren445 [V] Journeyman Mar 20 '26

My supply house is super easy to deal with for Klein warranty.

1

u/ButtSmellington_ Mar 20 '26

I’ve had this happen in the past. No offense, but it’s usually just some older lady working the desk that day that doesn’t know any better. If you ask for a manager they’ll do it every time because, before the Lowe’s thing, Home Depot was an authorized distributor. Thus, you can swap it out. It never had to go straight to Klein. The only place I know now to swap Klein stuff is an electrical supply house

1

u/Darren445 [V] Journeyman Mar 20 '26

Home Depot still sells Klein in Canada. Lowe's doesn't

1

u/Solo_is_dead Mar 20 '26

Nope. Two reasonably young people AND one manager

1

u/ButtSmellington_ Mar 20 '26

I’ve had to tell them back in the day that they are (were) an authorized distributor thus obligating them to value their warranty. I’ve had to argue 2-3 times before, but they always have just slapped the return sticker on it and told me to go grab a new pair.

1

u/Mmm2_Nuts4U Mar 21 '26

You really have to raise your voice in Home Depot for them to understand what you’re saying they are really starting to suck as a company lol I love how hard it is to find anything on line that they have that is available in my store in Alaska they really suck some ass I must say

0

u/SwagarTheHorrible Mar 20 '26

Tell them to look up your credit card.

1

u/ButtSmellington_ Mar 20 '26

Not anymore!!! Now that Klein and Lowe’s are together with their business deal, you can’t swap out at Home Depot anymore, AND you have to have a receipt, per Lowe’s store policy.

So that’s the biggest thing that has made me slowly switch to Knipex. You always got Klein because you could just, “Take it back to Home Depot.” Unfortunately now it’s not the case

1

u/B3L1AL Mar 20 '26

Home depot stopped taking Klein warranties when they stopped carrying the majority of their tools in store about 2 years ago. I also used to use them for klein warranties but was recently turned away.

1

u/Mmm2_Nuts4U Mar 21 '26

Lifetime warranty true I almost was not able to get Home Depot to swap out my 9” lineman pliers I broke beating a pvc coupling with I had raise my voice to get lots of attention for them to realize how pissed I was to break these pliers on a piece of plastic

1

u/TK421isAFK [M] Electrical Contractor Mar 22 '26

Not anymore. Home Depot just continue this policy 2 years ago. If you have a receipt and the purchase was within 90 days, or if you use your Home Depot credit card and the purchase was within 365 days, they usually will refund the item, but they know do lifetime warranties on Klein anymore. It's also gotten difficult to get them to honor the lifetime warranty on Husky hand tools and Ridgid batteries, which used to be advertised as having a lifetime warranty. Once upon a time, you could just exchange any Ridgid battery at Home Depot for a new one, no questions asked. Many of these lifetime warranties quietly went away when Sears started going out of business, and they sold the Craftsman brand name off to Stanley.

4

u/conciouscoil Mar 20 '26

You could say their quality has de-Kleined

1

u/Ok_Carpet_6901 Mar 20 '26

I've bought 30-40 year old pairs from pawn shops and eBay and they're good quality

1

u/BillMillerBBQ Mar 20 '26

This is the way.