P!$$ poor sevice from Silverline Tools

I have 2 sets of Silver line spanners bought after reference to this forum. I have no complaints thus far - the finish is good, they fit well and none have broken. They're certainly not made of plasticine.
 
GrahamM376 said:
In many cases, some Silverline power tools are available under different brands such as a Draper.
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Not even remotely true! Draper are a completely separate brand from Silverline. There is no link whatsoever.

(I work for Draper before you decide to argue about it).
 
jokerboat said:
Not even remotely true! Draper are a completely separate brand from Silverline. There is no link whatsoever.

(I work for Draper before you decide to argue about it).
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But all sorts of brands get slapped on generic Chinese power tools.
 
jokerboat said:
Maybe but not Draper. Trust me on this. Our power tools are made to a specific spec, not the generic tat stuff. I can't answer for Silverline however.
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My Silverline pillar drill is clearly made from the same castings as a friend's ancient Nu-Tool pillar drill. The difference is that the factory tooling must be clapped out now.
His drill has very little slack in the quill, mine is noticeable. etc. etc.
But mine was cheap and the quality is fine for the price. It was bought to do a job and it did it.
It still works. If I need precision, I will see my friendly toolmaker. Or buy something decent and ebay that one!

If you pay £50 or so and the UK or German made equivalent is £200, a little bit of caveat emptor applies.
So checking it works at the first opportunity is a sensible precaution to avoid grief IMHO.
You're not just a customer, you're on the product test team.
Most retailers are fine with this, they accept and expect a few % returns with good cheer.
 
Jim@sea said:
Write to them stating that unless you get a refund within 14 days you will issue a claim in the Small Claims Court ans point out that for you to attend you will claim for a days wages, court costs etc. That should wake them up.
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Unless you bought direct from Silverline your rights are against the retailer. The Consumer Rights Act gives you rights against the trader, not the manufacturer.
 
lw395 said:
My Silverline pillar drill is clearly made from the same castings as a friend's ancient Nu-Tool pillar drill. The difference is that the factory tooling must be clapped out now.
His drill has very little slack in the quill, mine is noticeable. etc. etc.
But mine was cheap and the quality is fine for the price. It was bought to do a job and it did it.
It still works. If I need precision, I will see my friendly toolmaker. Or buy something decent and ebay that one!

If you pay £50 or so and the UK or German made equivalent is £200, a little bit of caveat emptor applies.
So checking it works at the first opportunity is a sensible precaution to avoid grief IMHO.
You're not just a customer, you're on the product test team.
Most retailers are fine with this, they accept and expect a few % returns with good cheer.
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That all makes a lot of sense. If you buy anyyhing it's best to unpack as soon as poss and check it. With the best will in the world it is impossible to attain 100% perfection. The more you pay the nearer to 100% you should get I suppose
 
rollon2017 said:
Unfortunately for you, this is the dustcart after the lord mayors show, but Silverline tools really are the worst tacky tools in the WORLD. I can can order tools from them for clients, but I always steer customers to Bahco.
Toolstream are a bunch of nobeads.
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Ive got some of their tools, they are good for what they cost. The finish on the spanners and sockets is superb! I use them as well so the strength so far has been fine! How have they upset you? I would also remind you that if you go slagging them off on a public forum you should have evidence of what you are saying!
S
 
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skipper_stu said:
Ive got some of their tools, they are good for what they cost. The finish on the spanners and sockets is superb! I use them as well so the strength so far has been fine! How have they upset you? I would also remind you that if you go slagging them off on a public forum you should have evidence of what you are saying!
S
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I had a problem with size. None of the set I had, fitted the nuts snugly and routinely just slid round, which also damaged the nuts. I threw them away. (If anyone wants "evidence" they can go and dig in my local landfill site).I have a lovely set of "snap on" ring spanners, open ended and now a socket set. It's nice to use nice tools. I also had to handle returns at work on various silverline items. If you want cheap tools, by all means go and buy them, but in my own personal useage, they were a complete disaster.
 
jokerboat said:
... but not Draper... Our power tools are made to a specific spec ...
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But almost certainly in the same factory that is turning out the same stuff with higher and lower spec.

As an aside to this, the chuck locking pin on my Silverline rotary tool broke yesterday. It was a 2mm diameter aluminium pin on the end of a rod. No wonder it broke.

I fixed it by drilling a 2mm hole in the end (I love my lathe) and fitting a length from an old drill shaft. Now it is hardened steel, like it should have been.
 
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nigelmercier said:
But almost certainly in the same factory that is turning out the same stuff with higher and lower spec.

As an aside to this, the chuck locking pin on my Silverline rotary tool broke yesterday. It was a 2mm diameter aluminium pin on the end of a rod. No wonder it broke.

I fixed it by drilling a 2mm hole in the end (I love my lathe) and fitting a length from an old drill shaft. Now it is hardened steel, like it should have been.
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You should have bought a Dremel Nigel, then you wouldn't have that sort of problem.
 
There's always a compromise between price and quality. Amateurs generally don't want or need to spend enormous amounts on 'professional' quality tools as it makes the job they're doing uneconomic and they may as well pay someone else to do it. There's the question of whether you are likely to re use a special tool.
For example my Ryobi SDS percussion drill is brilliant for my occasional use, but, if I were using it every day I'd get a Makita.
 
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