Registration Scam... Google It

[timbaker0365]

I just purchased a whole line of Ridgid cordless tools. A full 5 tool kit, plus other tools. I registered for the LSA, got a reply back within 10 days or so, registration complete except for 2 items. I submitted the receipt online, which was an online purchase receipt from HD. I got a reply back within maybe 3 days saying, "You're all set". So I've seemed to have had good "luck" with the registration process so far.

I'm not looking forward to testing the LSA however if something ever goes wrong. It looks like the nearest service center is 65 miles from me...?

[BadgerDave]

In this day and age with Authorized Service Centers for just about anything becoming harder and harder to find an hours drive isn't the end of the world. If I have a product that I feel is worth having fixed for free, a couple hours drive is just a nice road trip. Just one of the benefits of being retired.

[CWSmith]

The two of the three times that I've gone for "authorized service" (one Ryobi and one Ridgid), I've used UPS which was very little effort. The third time, I had a Ridgid Service place just a few miles south of me. That fellow was only in the business a short time though.

CWS

[Gary A]

In August 2013 I was ready to make a major purchase of power tools and saw the promotion for Ridgid's Lifetime Service Agreement. I went the Ridgid route based on the offer which even included the batteries in the specific offer. I completed the registration that day using the online system.

I just learned today that I was never issued the lifetime warranty and they said there is nothing I can do about it. The support rep just kept repeating that "for some reason' I was not covered and he would not honor my request to speak to anyone else. Frustrated I called him a name and he said I would never get to speak to anyone at Ridgid again and hung up on me. Every time I called back in it was him answering and as soon as I identified myself he would hang up. A real piece of work representing the corporate brand. Every avenue I call lands me back at the same office and I can't seem to get anywhere on this issue.

Now I see others recognize the LSA as a scam. I guess I have been scammed and have no recourse. Wish I hadn't just spent another couple thousand on Ridgid. DeWalt is looking better now and I will be encouraging all my employees to stay away from Ridgid and going another route.

[BadgerDave]

I don't believe that the online registration for the LSA was even available in 2013. Registration of the tool(s) into a data bank is what it sounds like you did. Companies make it sound like you need to register your purchase in order to receive their standard warranty but in actuality you don't need to. There was and still is an extra step required in order to register tools into the LSA Program. A quick read of the LSA registration requirements in your tools Owners Manual would have pointed that out. You can't call the LSA a scam when you failed to properly register your tools into the program.

[CWSmith]

I don't understand. You say you registered online, but I don't see how registration "online" was possible in 2013. Perhaps you were misinformed, as the LSA registration process required proof of purchase back then, in the way of sending in your receipt, etc.

It appears that you run a business and certainly that requires a bit of business savvy. It doesn't help when you loose your temper. I also don't understand why you weren't a bit more attentive to the details required to register for the LSA. Considering the investment you made in tools, that registration for guaranteed service was an important step. Also followup to ensure that whatever it is that you did was proper and confirmed.

Sorry for your misunderstanding, but in my many years of ownership and LSA registration I have not been disappointed and it is NOT a scam.

[Gary A]

Believe what you want. Attached is the screen shot of my online registration. I purchased on 8/22/13 and registered online 8/26/13. The registration exists and shows that I registered it on that date. Currently it shows online that they never honored the LSA and that the 3 years has expired. The registration wouldn't even exist on their site if I hadn't done it. You should avoid making claims about what couldn't have happened when you don't know.

[Bob D.]

When was the screen shot taken, on 8/26/13 when you registered the tools?

[nevernuf]

Hello. Throwing my two cents in here. Gary, looking at the screenshot, it does state they were registered on the 26th, but it also states the LSA registration is not complete, and to follow the instructions below.. It's in the note at the bottom. Maybe misleading, but perhaps that's why your registration didn't activate. So you should have defaulted to three years if that's the case.
I've had my tools for almost 5 years now. I believe all of mine are warrentied, as they are all listed on the website. The only thing I've had to have fixed was a charger that wasn't working, and the led light on an impact.. Nothing big really. Something to note though, is that the LSA agreement only applies if you use them for home use.. So, it's a 'commercial grade' tool, only warrentied for use at home.. Otherwise, it becomes a three year warrenty. I bought them for the LSA also, and found that out afterward. A little mis-leading, but it IS in the fine print, apparently. Another thing, the batteries are only covered by a LSA if bought in a kit, not individually. Just look at the package to see. So, If you need something fixed, just remember you only used that tool at home. I'm an electrician and they go through a lot, but they are all still working, including the batteries. My co-workers joke about them, but then when they try them, they are impressed. They are a tad bit heavier than the red or yellow, I think, but they are smooth and powerful. I'd stack them against other brands. Now, having said that, I (probably) wouldn't buy them again. They just don't seem to have the range of tools the other brands have. I've read and/or been told (Milwakee tool rep) that Ridgids parent company also owns Milwakee and Ryobi. So, if you need commercial grade tools, and are paying commercial grade tool prices, Milwakee offers more options, such as a cordless bandsaw. If you need occasional home use, Ryobi is ok for that. Why pay Milwakee prices for Ryobi use, unless you want the Lifetime warentee. Ryobi has a ton of tools, even a leaf blower. They had a rotary hammer before Ridgid! Remember though, Milwakee (and DeWalt) only have a three year warentee anyway, so it's the tool choices you're gaining. And, you'll be able to borrow someones batteries if yours run down. (Not many will take yours, if you're orange..) If you read the boxes, those tools are made in China anyway.
I'm most likely switching to Makita. Not the in-vougue tool these days, and even though the red and yellow are the popular choices, most people that use the green agree they are smooth, with lots of anti-vibration. IF Ridgid offered a cordless bandsaw, I'd probably stay loyal, but who knows when/if it'll come out?
Hope this didn't ramble too much, and sorry if these points were already covered, but nowadays registration online, quick, and fairly easy. But just know if you buy them for use at work, it is a 3 year warrenty anyway. Good tools, but but their main downfall seems to be selection, and the LSA confusion..

[RC_Columbia]

"Glad" to see I am not alone in dealing with a seemingly worthless LSA program from Ridgid.

My experience started in 2008. Purchased the Ridgid WTS2000L from local HD store and a Drill/Driver/Radio/Flashlight/Charger/2 batteries/case combo kit. I registered the products as requested and sent the store receipt in for proof of purchase. All was good until one of the batteries died. I contacted Ridgid and they could not find the registration information. The customer service agent advised they had converted to a warranty system and some information may have been lost. But they were able to tell me that based on the serial number of the dead battery, it would still fall within the 3 year default warranty. Local service center replaced the battery under the 3 year warranty. Fast forward a couple years later, the other battery died. But now the 3 year warranty expired. Ridgid would do nothing for me. I complained to the HD store where I purchased the tools. They were able to look up the purchase in their system and luckily the local tool department manager took a new battery off the shelf to replace the dead out-of-warranty battery. She suggested I just deal with the local HD store on future issues.

I have purchase several Ridgid tools since then - always registering them. I have considered switching but there is a reason to try and stick with one common battery type. I generally like the tools so I have just avoided the trouble of switching.

Then on 1/1/2020 I was in the local Columbia, MO HD store and picked up two Ridgid drill/driver combos. I went to register these the other day and now some of the items I had previously registered are no longer displayed and none of the receipts previously uploaded are there. I called Ridgid and tried to get everything straightened out. The Ridgid CS rep suggested I gather all the model and serial numbers and then call them back to get all the tools listed.

A couple of days later, prepared with all the model numbers and serial numbers, I called Ridgid CS and spoke with one of the reps. She read straight out of their book and said essentially - sorry, nothing they could do.

I then called the local Columbia MO HD store and spoke with the store manager. Just so happened the Ridgid rep was in his office. The store manager was under the initial impression that as long as I could provide proof of purchase (HD keeps credit card purchase details in their main system) I should be good. Whoops! The Ridgid rep corrected the store manager. Nothing could be done.

Given the LSA seems to be less than advertised, I decided to return the last combo kits I purchased. Before I drove over to the HD store, I pulled my Amex account detail for 2018 and 2019. Spent a little over $6,500 at HD in 2018 and about $3,700 at HD in 2019. When I returned the kits at the HD store, the manager was at the CS desk. Nice guy. It's not really his (or HD's) fault. I showed him my Amex spending at HD for the last two years. Made sure he knew one of their vendors is going to be the reason I rethink my purchasing decisions (we have a Menards and Lowes in town) going forward.

Footnote: After speaking with the HD store manager, he suggested I contact the HD Customer Cares group and see if they could work with Ridgid to "fix" this. All the HD Customer Cares rep did was get the Ridgid rep on the line. Repeated the whole story (twice - once to the HD rep and then to the new Ridgid rep). The Ridgid rep asked me if I had a copy of the LSA validation letter from Ridgid - FROM OVER 10 YEARS AGO!!!

So, returned almost $400.00 of tools to HD and am now looking for a new tool line to purchase going forward. I guess at the end of the day, if you like the Ridgid brand and are okay with a 3 year warranty; go for it. I think there are at least equal quality tools out there and at better price points as well.

[ScrewedByHD]

I bought a Ridgid miter saw stand and attempted to register it for the LSA. I don't care what anyone else says; this is nothing but a SCAM! Anyone who "had no problems at all with the registration process" is probably a shill who works for Home Depot.
In order to register, you need to create an account. It took at least four tries to get to the point where it actually said my account was registered, but in order to sign in, I had to get a verification email from them. Checked my email, it never came, so I went back and tried again, and again, and again, until...EUREKA!! There it was! So, I clicked on the link and guess what? "In order to verify your account, we have sent an email to you...blahblahblah..." Back to check my email - nothing. And round and round we go... Finally, after 45 minutes of this BS, I got to a registration page. Now we're getting somewhere! Or so I thought... The miter saw stand is nowhere to be found in the drop-downs, no matter how I search. Why in heaven's name do they require a description when I provided a model # AND a serial # ??? It is impossible to register without a description, however, and calling them is an even greater waste of time since, once you get through, they can't help you with registration issues. On top of all this, you can't even send them an email without having an account and signing in, which I couldn't do again once I signed out since my account either "doesn't exist", or my "user name or password is incorrect". Any fifth-grader could design a website that could make this process easy; why can't a multi-billion-dollar corporation? It all makes no sense unless, as so many astute and learned posters on this site have concluded, it is all nothing but a SCAM intended to give a final push to someone on the fence about a purchase. I was not one of those; I would have bought the stand in any event. It gets good reviews and appears to be well-designed and well-built. Nevertheless, I tried to register for the LSA because it was offered and, as such, they owe it to me as long as I meet the terms. The whole debacle left a bad taste in my mouth for Home Depot. They should drop the scam of an LSA if they have no intentions of honoring it. Thanks to this scam, in the future, I will avoid Ridgid tools and Home Depot like the plague and stick with another store and Dewalt, Porter Cable, or some other reputable brand. Thanks, Home Depot, for making my life simpler by narrowing my choices!

[Bob D.]

"Anyone who "had no problems at all with the registration process" is probably a shill who works for Home Depot."

Not true. I work for neither HD, RIDGID, or TTI, or have any affiliation with any entity connected with the sale or service of RIDGID tools other than being a member of this Forum.

I have had both good and bad experiences with the LSA process. I too have had tools 'disappear' from my dashboard that were properly registered. I have had seamless registration episodes and nightmare ones too, to the point where I just gave up and never finished registering the tool under the LSA. Why the huge disparity exists which does not seem to have any consistency from one event to the next I don't know.

I no longer register RIDGID tools for the LSA, it's not worth the hassle to me. I recently had a 12v battery quit that I bought less than 3 years ago. The tool and battery were purchased as a kit and registered under the LSA. I won't even bother to try to get the battery replaced. That 12v drill/driver kit was the last RIDGID tool I purchased I think. Been buying other brands since but my cordless tool purchases have been few over the last couple years as I have built out my tool collection to meet my day to day needs for the most part at this point.

There are many on here who have not had the same experience as you or I. That does not make them part of any scam or a shill as you have labeled them. If you are upset with RIDGID/TTI over the LSA then take it up with them. HD is not part of how the LSA is administered or applied that as far as I know (and I have no way of knowing either way that's just a guess on my part), so to say you were 'ScrewedByHD' as your handle and you post implies is probably not true in this case.

Your intention to no longer purchase RIDGID/TTI tools is your choice, and the strongest weapon in a consumers' arsenal in most cases. When the actions or policies of a company start to hurt their bottom line, maybe they will wake up. Nothing speaks louder to shareholders and CEOs than a drop in sales and falling revenue or a decrease in stock value. Complaining here on a forum that has zero representation from TTI, RIDGID, of HD will accomplish nothing. They may see your post but history has proven that they will not respond and in my opinion there is nothing to show that they will be influenced in any way by your post either.

There are other reputable tool brands out there. You will have to figure out for yourself which ones best meet your expectations.

[ScrewedByHD]

Bob,
Sorry for the "shill" generalization, but it is common knowledge that companies of all sizes hire others to help "clean up" their online reputations. If HD doesn't do that, it would surprise me when they obviously don't want to make this process easy. There is no reason that one would need to make an account to register a product for a warrantee; I've never had to do that for any other warrantee registration.
Even if HD is not part of how the LSA is administered or applied has nothing to do with it, as you say, RIDGID is a brand exclusive to Home Depot and they ultimately have control over whoever is administering the program, so the buck stops with HD.
As far as complaining on this forum doing no good, that may or may not be true. The reason for complaining here is that HD has proven to be unresponsive to complaints of any sort, from any direction. The point is to let others know not to expect to have an easy time of registering for the LSA and/or collecting on it if there should be a problem. People should have as much information as possible going into a purchase of hundreds, or in some cases, thousands of dollars. They should know that the wonderful-looking "Lifetime Service Agreement" on the box can not be relied on and, as such, should not be part of their purchase decision. I have had a RIDGID table saw that I have had for years which has proven to be pretty good for the money, but not great. I expect the same or better from this miter saw stand, but I got both of them on sale and the LSA was not part of my decision to buy. However, the fact that HD has put something on the box that is virtually impossible to collect on makes it a scam, in my book. That is the reason I won't make a major purchase there again. If I had seen this forum before I bought, I may have still made the purchase, but at least I would have been forewarned about the LSA and known not to waste my time attempting to register for it. What others do with my experience is up to them.

[Bob D.]

"I've never had to do that for any other warrantee registration."

Not in my World. I have had to register many tool brands including Bosch, RIDGID, DeWalt, and Festool to get their warranty. I will say that for ALL of them (other than RIDGID) the registration process was much easier and totally painless. And also for ALL of them (including RIDGID) the basic warranty is in force without registration as far as I know. If you have proof of purchase you have all you need to make a warranty claim within the defined coverage period which varies by brand and tool.

At least you won't have any more troubles as you won't be buying RIDGID again. Others have made that choice too. Maybe one day RIDGID/TTI will wake up but if they don't they have only themselves to blame.

[CWSmith]

Let me add my voice here! The Ridgid LSA is not a scam and I'm by no means one of the "shill's" you are referring to. I am a critic of Home Depot if anything, and I hate going into any of their stores. At least the two that I have frequented in the past are significantly mismanaged or so have been in the past; and, I could fill several pages pointing out the lies and misrepresentations I've heard first hand by 'orange-aprons' who didn't have a clue.

So, in reading these latest complaints, I decided to go take a look at "My Toolbox" just to make sure everything I had registered was still there, and sure enough it was, all eleven registration pages of it. In 2003 Home Depot opened a new store in our area and that Christmas "Ridgid"-branded/TTI-made tools were announced for the first time; and along with that announcement was the "Limited Lifetime Service Agreement". At that time I bought a 5" random orbit sander, and a weeks or so later I bought a Ridgid gray-colored 15" drill press, which was on closeout (because it wasn't the new "orange" of the newer tools). I registered both of those tools into the LSA and they are still registered and listed in "My Tool Box". Over the years I've purchased several new tools and registered every single one of them, their batteries, chargers, and other combo-included items.... every single item that could be/should be registered got registered and is still in my listing.

In all those years, I have only had one occasion when they requested some additional information and even with that, I had confirmation within just a few weeks. I have only requested service under the LSA three times and in all cases received my tool back within three weeks. Last spring I called about four Ni-Cad batteries (purchased in 2005) that had finally failed to charge. One phone call, the rep asked that I put the batteries on charge and tell be the indications, that was it and two weeks later I had all four new batteries and they too were then registered, automatically by Ridgid.

Considering all the complaints I had read, I thought the batteries might be a challenge... nothing could have been easier!

The point is, this ISN'T a SCAM. It really isn't all that hard either. Yes, it could be easier, but then I suppose they could just hand out a spare tool for every purchase too. The one thing that I think every purchaser needs to do is read the rules, understand and follow the instructions to the letter, KEEP a COPY and that means keep a copy of the receipt too, as HD receipts notoriously fade to nothing after just a few months. DOCUMENT, just in case. (I don't understand the complaints about documenting your transactions... like aren't most of you guys in business? Surely you must document your transactions as a carpenter, plumber or other business trades.

In any case, I'm sorry to read so many complaints. Personally, I think HD should get out of their 'exclusive' bindings with Ridgid. Ridgid doesn't need the hassle, and surely TTI doesn't need the bad rap. Above all, I think Home Depot need to stop trying to pretend that they are the source and first responders for the LSA. They charge for a service they're neither good at or knowledgeable of. And of course, Ridgid and/or TTI needs to step up and ensure that it's authorized repair centers are properly screened.

Frankly, I still don't understand the relationship with "Ridgid" and TTI and the exclusive rights of Home Depot. TTI manufacturer's, warrants, and provides the Lifetime Service agreement, but "Ridgid" provides the website and service centers, as well as the customer support desk and registration information, and Home Depot does the sales and customer contact and too often the misinformation. What a recipe for the mess they've created.

CWS