A Big Shout Out to Milwaukee Tools

[Maggot]

15 years or so ago I bought the Milwaukee 28 volt kit of hammer drill, Skil saw, reciprocating saw and light. Good stuff esp once they came out with the gen II batteries. The drill could break your wrist if you hit a piece or rebar or nail. They all served me well until this spring the drill quit, bearings I think. I took it to the local Milwaukee service center and they said it had been discontinued and they couldnt get parts, but offered to send it to Milwaukee and see what happens. Free shipping to me. I had kind of forgotten about it until today I was building some deck and really wished I had it. About an hour later I got a call from the service center, Milwaukee sent me a brand new 28 volt drill free of charge.


Thanks, Milwaukee, you make the best tools and have the best customer service, IMHO.

 

[Stevo86]

I just ordered an mx fuel core drill today….. it better work amazing and have strippers come out of the box when I open it!

 

[Ravenworks]

Here I thought you bought a Dildo and mounted it to a Sawzall.

 

[rjacobs]

That was not my experience with Milwaukee tools on an out of warranty repair/replacement. Maybe you had a better time because you went through a service center instead of going direct.

Called up, told them my drill was smoking and some chunks came out of it(guessing it ate the brushes) and I am definitely out of warranty, they said send it in and emailed me a free shipping label. Cool. They said "somebody will email or call you within 24 hours of it arriving here to let you know what is wrong, an estimate for the fix, and to get your ok to fix it and payment method or to chuck it in the garbage"...ok great. Fast forward like 4 weeks and I have heard nothing so I call. Lady cant find it in their system so looks at the tracking number and says "ok its got to be at xxx service center, I will call them and then call you back"... nothing. I wait a week and call back. This time a different lady says "oh your ticket is here, I just need you to authorize payment and give me a CC" "for how much" "oh it can be UP TO $100 but usually far less" "ok, but what is wrong with my drill so I know what you will be charging me" "sir we dont know these things"...what...the...fuck... So I say "sure, fuck it, here ya go"... about another week goes by and I see a charge for the whole $100 come through my CC so I call them back up and they have no clue. About 3 days later a new drill shows up at the house... which oh, BTW, you can buy for like $79 at a myriad of places... so I called to complain about the overall shit show that was my "customer experience" and the lady refunded $21 to make the new drill $79 instead of 100... Had I known what they were doing I would have tossed the drill in the garbage and bought a completely different one(upgraded)...but here we are...

So, not terribly impressed, but maybe my situation was a one off.

 

[myronman3]

i’m a fan of their tools and jacket. my favorite is a tie between the battery heated jacket and the battery powered ratchet.

 

[Threadcutter308]

That was not my experience with Milwaukee tools on an out of warranty repair/replacement. Maybe you had a better time because you went through a service center instead of going direct.

Called up, told them my drill was smoking and some chunks came out of it(guessing it ate the brushes) and I am definitely out of warranty, they said send it in and emailed me a free shipping label. Cool. They said "somebody will email or call you within 24 hours of it arriving here to let you know what is wrong, an estimate for the fix, and to get your ok to fix it and payment method or to chuck it in the garbage"...ok great. Fast forward like 4 weeks and I have heard nothing so I call. Lady cant find it in their system so looks at the tracking number and says "ok its got to be at xxx service center, I will call them and then call you back"... nothing. I wait a week and call back. This time a different lady says "oh your ticket is here, I just need you to authorize payment and give me a CC" "for how much" "oh it can be UP TO $100 but usually far less" "ok, but what is wrong with my drill so I know what you will be charging me" "sir we dont know these things"...what...the...fuck... So I say "sure, fuck it, here ya go"... about another week goes by and I see a charge for the whole $100 come through my CC so I call them back up and they have no clue. About 3 days later a new drill shows up at the house... which oh, BTW, you can buy for like $79 at a myriad of places... so I called to complain about the overall shit show that was my "customer experience" and the lady refunded $21 to make the new drill $79 instead of 100... Had I known what they were doing I would have tossed the drill in the garbage and bought a completely different one(upgraded)...but here we are...

So, not terribly impressed, but maybe my situation was a one off.

Makita ?

 

[Jgunner]

That was not my experience with Milwaukee tools on an out of warranty repair/replacement. Maybe you had a better time because you went through a service center instead of going direct.

Called up, told them my drill was smoking and some chunks came out of it(guessing it ate the brushes) and I am definitely out of warranty, they said send it in and emailed me a free shipping label. Cool. They said "somebody will email or call you within 24 hours of it arriving here to let you know what is wrong, an estimate for the fix, and to get your ok to fix it and payment method or to chuck it in the garbage"...ok great. Fast forward like 4 weeks and I have heard nothing so I call. Lady cant find it in their system so looks at the tracking number and says "ok its got to be at xxx service center, I will call them and then call you back"... nothing. I wait a week and call back. This time a different lady says "oh your ticket is here, I just need you to authorize payment and give me a CC" "for how much" "oh it can be UP TO $100 but usually far less" "ok, but what is wrong with my drill so I know what you will be charging me" "sir we dont know these things"...what...the...fuck... So I say "sure, fuck it, here ya go"... about another week goes by and I see a charge for the whole $100 come through my CC so I call them back up and they have no clue. About 3 days later a new drill shows up at the house... which oh, BTW, you can buy for like $79 at a myriad of places... so I called to complain about the overall shit show that was my "customer experience" and the lady refunded $21 to make the new drill $79 instead of 100... Had I known what they were doing I would have tossed the drill in the garbage and bought a completely different one(upgraded)...but here we are...

So, not terribly impressed, but maybe my situation was a one off.

I do construction, a lot of it. Had 2 Milwaukee drills/kits at one time. High speed went out on one, under warranty, sent it in. A month later the other went out and i sent that in. I need my drill, like now, not whenever they get around to it..... but alas, they were being unresponsive so i went out and bought a makita kit(big one) which was great. Well 8 months had passed and makita still going stong and i hit up Milwaukee to see what the hold up was. “We don’t have the parts to fix your drills”. Uhhhh you mofo’s make them! Wtf. Waited longer and they never shipped them back or repaired them.

i now have rigid, who also suck balls, but its cheap enough to toss em when they go. Warranty claims are not worth the hassle and they do it that way on purpose. All chinese junk anyway.....

 

[rjacobs]

I do construction, a lot of it. Had 2 Milwaukee drills/kits at one time. High speed went out on one, under warranty, sent it in. A month later the other went out and i sent that in. I need my drill, like now, not whenever they get around to it..... but alas, they were being unresponsive so i went out and bought a makita kit(big one) which was great. Well 8 months had passed and makita still going stong and i hit up Milwaukee to see what the hold up was. “We don’t have the parts to fix your drills”. Uhhhh you mofo’s make them! Wtf. Waited longer and they never shipped them back or repaired them.

i now have rigid, who also suck balls, but its cheap enough to toss em when they go. Warranty claims are not worth the hassle and they do it that way on purpose. All chinese junk anyway.....

I beat my milwaukee stuff hard and honestly I was abusing my drill when it started to let the smoke out... and it was a solid 12 years old that had put up with my abuse... so I cant complain about that... but it just seemed to me that their process's are broken beyond the first phone call...

Somebody obviously took my drill apart, logged it into the system and knew what was wrong with it, yet they couldnt tell me "this is whats broke, we dont stock parts for a 12 year old drill, we will replace it with a like kind for $100" OR "here is whats broke, its $40 to fix it, and another $10 to ship it back to you"... No they gave no information or anything and just assume what you want.

In your case they should have said "we dont have the parts to fix your drills, here is what we can offer you. A: keep waiting. B: send you new drills"... Or they should have just sent you replacement drills and been done with it.

But what the fuck do I know, im just a schmuck who has a new(probably a refurb actually) drill for $100 when a new updated model was $79...

 

[chevy_man]

I beat my milwaukee stuff hard and honestly I was abusing my drill when it started to let the smoke out... and it was a solid 12 years old that had put up with my abuse... so I cant complain about that... but it just seemed to me that their process's are broken beyond the first phone call...

Somebody obviously took my drill apart, logged it into the system and knew what was wrong with it, yet they couldnt tell me "this is whats broke, we dont stock parts for a 12 year old drill, we will replace it with a like kind for $100" OR "here is whats broke, its $40 to fix it, and another $10 to ship it back to you"... No they gave no information or anything and just assume what you want.

In your case they should have said "we dont have the parts to fix your drills, here is what we can offer you. A: keep waiting. B: send you new drills"... Or they should have just sent you replacement drills and been done with it.

But what the fuck do I know, im just a schmuck who has a new(probably a refurb actually) drill for $100 when a new updated model was $79...

You don't want the $79 model.

You want to go to a real tool store (acme tools) and compare the specs. There is a reason one is $180 and another is $99.

When I break something inside the warranty, I walk into acme, give them my phone number and the broken tool. They give me a new tool and I walk away.

 

[Jgunner]

I beat my milwaukee stuff hard and honestly I was abusing my drill when it started to let the smoke out... and it was a solid 12 years old that had put up with my abuse... so I cant complain about that... but it just seemed to me that their process's are broken beyond the first phone call...

Somebody obviously took my drill apart, logged it into the system and knew what was wrong with it, yet they couldnt tell me "this is whats broke, we dont stock parts for a 12 year old drill, we will replace it with a like kind for $100" OR "here is whats broke, its $40 to fix it, and another $10 to ship it back to you"... No they gave no information or anything and just assume what you want.

In your case they should have said "we dont have the parts to fix your drills, here is what we can offer you. A: keep waiting. B: send you new drills"... Or they should have just sent you replacement drills and been done with it.

But what the fuck do I know, im just a schmuck who has a new(probably a refurb actually) drill for $100 when a new updated model was $79...

Right. But they left me in the dark other than “waiting on parts” which i assumed(my fault) was not too long..... and when i asked them they said they didn’t know. But whatever, next time ill go hilti IF they can get a couple other specialty tools that i need. As of now they don’t have a “job maxx” which is a replacable head vibrating/reciprocating cutting tool that also takes other heads(prob unnecessary). I use my job maxx and drill a lot.

 

[rjacobs]

You don't want the $79 model.

There is a reason one is $180 and another is $99.

Exactly...

The one I would have GLADLY paid for was I think $130 and it was brushless...

But whatever...

 

[rjacobs]

Right. But they left me in the dark other than “waiting on parts” which i assumed(my fault) was not too long..... and when i asked them they said they didn’t know.

Yea thats a problem and somebody at Milwaukee should have stepped up and offered you some type of option. I mean its not like they couldnt have sent you replacement(refurb or brand new) tools and then refurbed yours and sold/sent them to somebody else. I cant believe a company as large as Milwaukee doesnt have a few thousand tools sitting around just for such occasions.

But some day maybe you will get your two drills back LOL...

 

[Maggot]

Sorry to hear some of ya'll had the negative experience. Ive dealt with them twice and both times was extremely satisfied.

 

[XLR308]

All i use now are M12 drills, 1/4" impact driver, hackzall.
I just add to the collection as i need them.
The are smaller and lighter than the Dewalt and Hilti shit i used in the past and have enough battery capacity for most of the projects i use them for.

 

[Ravenworks]

I do construction, a lot of it. Had 2 Milwaukee drills/kits at one time. High speed went out on one, under warranty, sent it in. A month later the other went out and i sent that in. I need my drill, like now, not whenever they get around to it..... but alas, they were being unresponsive so i went out and bought a makita kit(big one) which was great. Well 8 months had passed and makita still going stong and i hit up Milwaukee to see what the hold up was. “We don’t have the parts to fix your drills”. Uhhhh you mofo’s make them! Wtf. Waited longer and they never shipped them back or repaired them.

i now have rigid, who also suck balls, but its cheap enough to toss em when they go. Warranty claims are not worth the hassle and they do it that way on purpose. All chinese junk anyway.....

I had problems with all of them but here's a stroke of luck.

Had several tools in for warranty work and needed something to get by on,so I bought a Home Depot special set of Ryobi with the big battery.
That was 2008 and they have not had an easy life.
Funny how that works.
Most the companies I've worked around swear by their Dewalt stuff.

 

[Threadcutter308]

I had problems with all of them but here's a stroke of luck.

Had several tools in for warranty work and needed something to get by on,so I bought a Home Depot special set of Ryobi with the big battery.
That was 2008 and they have not had an easy life.
Funny how that works.
Most the companies I've worked around swear by their Dewalt stuff.

What was the cradle to grave battery life of yours ?

I had a Ryobi set and battery life was about a year. I knew better than to expect much from an inexpensive set, but, a year ? What I liked about the Ryobi was the lighter weight, knowing full well that it wasn’t as stout as Milwaukee, Mikita, Hilti, etc. I was doing a lot of remodeling at the time and doing a lot of overhead work. I finally got fed up with buying replacement batteries like they were printer cartridges. Anymore, at my age/degree of interest, if a job requires me to lift a power tool above about shoulder level, I’m calling/paying someone to do the job. I just don’t have the interest that I used to...

 

[Ravenworks]

What was the cradle to grave battery life of yours ?

I had a Ryobi set and battery life was about a year. I knew better than to expect much from an inexpensive set, but, a year ? What I liked about the Ryobi was the lighter weight, knowing full well that it wasn’t as stout as Milwaukee, Mikita, Hilti, etc. I was doing a lot of remodeling at the time and doing a lot of overhead work. I finally got fed up with buying replacement batteries like they were printer cartridges. Anymore, at my age/degree of interest, if a job requires me to lift a power tool above about shoulder level, I’m calling/paying someone to do the job. I just don’t have the interest that I used to...

The big batteries went a long time.
I have an original set and one died last fall and it's twin is still going.
I have 2 more sets of the newer generation that are a year old so time will tell.

Normally the batteries are $99 each but if you watch you can catch them on sale every two months 2 for $99

The small batteries that come with the kits, I use them in the flashlights because if you use them like with a grinder or saw they are spent in 20 minutes.

If I were still working where they were used everyday I'd consider Rigid just because of there battery warranty.

 

[oneshot86]

You don't want the $79 model.

You want to go to a real tool store (acme tools) and compare the specs. There is a reason one is $180 and another is $99.

When I break something inside the warranty, I walk into acme, give them my phone number and the broken tool. They give me a new tool and I walk away.

I was finishing up reading so I wouldn't state something twice, but I think it needs to be said again.
Get your stuff from a tool store. Here, it's called Jim and slims and they roll like Chevy man states. Now, you may pay a small amount more, sometimes, but if you bought the tool through them, they are sticking by you.

 

[chevy_man]

Ridgid and Ryobi are both also owned by tty industries. Ryobi is the homeowner bottom grade. Lowest power output.
Ridgid is a mid-grade, slightly better but still underpowered so they don't have much warranty.
Milwaukee is pro-sumer grade. Fuel stuff is maybe bottom of the real pro grade.


There is a reason Hilti is $600 for a drill, fuel is $180, standard Milwaukee is $99, etc. You're getting what you paid for. Longevity and power cost money.

 

[Maggot]

Ridgid and Ryobi are both also owned by tty industries. Ryobi is the homeowner bottom grade. Lowest power output.
Ridgid is a mid-grade, slightly better but still underpowered so they don't have much warranty.
Milwaukee is pro-sumer grade. Fuel stuff is maybe bottom of the real pro grade.


There is a reason Hilti is $600 for a drill, fuel is $180, standard Milwaukee is $99, etc. You're getting what you paid for. Longevity and power cost money.

Hilti is top of the line in what they make but I dont know about the $99 dollar Milwaukee's, the ones I see are a lot more. Their top of the line is quality stuff, much better than say DeWalt. Anything that can survive me for 16+ years has got to be tough.

Just got the new one and its actually an upgrade to the last model, the Magnum.

 

[TxWelder35]

Well to counter some bad CS reviews, I sent in my m18 5 3/8” metal cutting circular saw the other day. Thing has been straight up abused. Deck was bent, guard was fooked, and she let the smoke out when I was cutting wood with it with a worn out metal blade. Brand new one showed up a couple weeks later.

also sent in (3) 12.0 batteries and (2) 9.0 batteries after they quit holding a charge for as long as they used to. 5 brand new batteries showed up at my door.

 

[M77]

15 years or so ago I bought the Milwaukee 28 volt kit of hammer drill, Skil saw, reciprocating saw and light. Good stuff esp once they came out with the gen II batteries. The drill could break your wrist if you hit a piece or rebar or nail. They all served me well until this spring the drill quit, bearings I think. I took it to the local Milwaukee service center and they said it had been discontinued and they couldnt get parts, but offered to send it to Milwaukee and see what happens. Free shipping to me. I had kind of forgotten about it until today I was building some deck and really wished I had it. About an hour later I got a call from the service center, Milwaukee sent me a brand new 28 volt drill free of charge.


Thanks, Milwaukee, you make the best tools and have the best customer service, IMHO.

I've been running the M28 series for around 10 years now , by far the best out there for grunt works.. The only thing i've broken on my M28 Drill is the Chuck screw , it snaps with large amounts of torque put through it . Especially when the drill bites in hard wood using large hole saws etc . Other than that general wear and tear on the m28 batteries i love the system . Between the m28 and m12 its all i need for Electrical

 

[Jgunner]

Ridgid and Ryobi are both also owned by tty industries. Ryobi is the homeowner bottom grade. Lowest power output.
Ridgid is a mid-grade, slightly better but still underpowered so they don't have much warranty.
Milwaukee is pro-sumer grade. Fuel stuff is maybe bottom of the real pro grade.


There is a reason Hilti is $600 for a drill, fuel is $180, standard Milwaukee is $99, etc. You're getting what you paid for. Longevity and power cost money.

Makes sense. I just strip forward gears out too easily. Doing stuff i prob shouldn’t, but i need stuff done and need it now! Ha. Couple complaints i have with ridgid was their transmission would pop out of low and strip the gears. I would physically have to force it to stay in low. Keep a thumb on it. Shit design. The other and worse is the chuck. That mfr wont stay tight for shit! Its like the 3rd drill and it loves to come loose! It rounded a hole saw base over a years time. Lovely eh?