Broken Halfords Advanced Torque Wrench

[Goatwidcoat]

RacingStripes said:

I changed one a year or so ago. Walked in, swapped walked out. Ive never seen my reciept as it was a gift 20+ years ago and changed loads of bits over the years. Usually due to using a large breaker bar.

I wasn't quite so lucky. They are all clearly trained up well here, I tried the other two on my way home from work over the last couple of days and both immediately came out with the calibration certificate being required. They did say to not buy one now and wait a week as they will be discounted in Black Friday. They said calibrating is around £50 a time. I got just over 3 years out of mine and had I calibrated it as required, I would have nearly spent the price of one anyway...

[Inbox]

Sheepshanks said:

dhutch said:

Gotta be worth a crack.

Else as said, open up your own calibration house.
Made up name, printer, signature, job jobbed.

If you really wanted to take the piss you could put your own name on the top and detail that it have been checked for calibration to a really wide tolerance! Plus or minus 50Nm should cover any drift it might have had.

That would fail is he won't be a "recognised re-calibration service".

I know you're (probably) posting in jest, but I wouldn't go creating false documents - it's a serious criminal offence to do that.

As if the person at halfords would recognise an iffy cert from a genuine one before throwing the broken wrench in the skip and handing over the new one.

Still for a mechanical failure the need for a valid calibration could be considered an unfair term as I doubt any domestic customer would do this. If it was a business purchase then I think it would be reasonable.

I would argue that my domestic quality system considered the item to not require calibration and not on a cal cycle and be marked as not requiring calibration which was accepted by the auditor.

Very easy to calibrate it yourself https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=VrOvF9b5Qis

I think they are on dodgy ground with that in the warranty.

Edited by Inbox on Wednesday 5th November 17:12

[Fastpedeller]

As said above, it is easy to do your own calibration - I have 3 torque wrenches (and I'm sure I had one of the very simple bendy ones somewhere) and have calibrated (to be accurate checked) all of them. They were all accurate across a surprisingly wide range.

[E-bmw]

Inbox said:

Sheepshanks said:

dhutch said:

Gotta be worth a crack.

Else as said, open up your own calibration house.
Made up name, printer, signature, job jobbed.

If you really wanted to take the piss you could put your own name on the top and detail that it have been checked for calibration to a really wide tolerance! Plus or minus 50Nm should cover any drift it might have had.

That would fail is he won't be a "recognised re-calibration service".

I know you're (probably) posting in jest, but I wouldn't go creating false documents - it's a serious criminal offence to do that.

Still for a mechanical failure the need for a valid calibration could be considered an unfair term as I doubt any domestic customer would do this. If it was a business purchase then I think it would be reasonable.

You say that, but let's be honest it just shows that it has been looked after & maintained as per the manufacturer's requirements, which is hardly unfair.

It is only the same as if their normal return policy says "must show no signs of abuse" which equally would not be unfair as pretty much all warranties say something similar.

[Inbox]

E-bmw said:

Inbox said:

Sheepshanks said:

dhutch said:

Gotta be worth a crack.

Else as said, open up your own calibration house.
Made up name, printer, signature, job jobbed.

If you really wanted to take the piss you could put your own name on the top and detail that it have been checked for calibration to a really wide tolerance! Plus or minus 50Nm should cover any drift it might have had.

That would fail is he won't be a "recognised re-calibration service".

I know you're (probably) posting in jest, but I wouldn't go creating false documents - it's a serious criminal offence to do that.

Still for a mechanical failure the need for a valid calibration could be considered an unfair term as I doubt any domestic customer would do this. If it was a business purchase then I think it would be reasonable.

You say that, but let's be honest it just shows that it has been looked after & maintained as per the manufacturer's requirements, which is hardly unfair.

It is only the same as if their normal return policy says "must show no signs of abuse" which equally would not be unfair as pretty much all warranties say something similar.

Err no, the calibration required policy will cost you £50 a pop every 18 months at least for a wrench costing £130. Not abusing your wrench costs nothing.

[dhutch]

Inbox said:

As if the person at halfords would recognise an iffy cert from a genuine one before throwing the broken wrench in the skip and handing over the new one.

Still for a mechanical failure the need for a valid calibration could be considered an unfair term as I doubt any domestic customer would do this....

I think they are on dodgy ground with that in the warranty

It feels wrong doesn't it.

Its not like your returning it because its out of calibration, its broken, under warranty.

A mild drift in calibration isn't going to cause that.

[MK3 Dan]

Do you have a trade card or a friend that does if not?

They are currently £104 with one.

[Inbox]

dhutch said:

Inbox said:

As if the person at halfords would recognise an iffy cert from a genuine one before throwing the broken wrench in the skip and handing over the new one.

Still for a mechanical failure the need for a valid calibration could be considered an unfair term as I doubt any domestic customer would do this....

I think they are on dodgy ground with that in the warranty

It feels wrong doesn't it.

Its not like your returning it because its out of calibration, its broken, under warranty.

A mild drift in calibration isn't going to cause that.

I would argue loudly the toss on that, you can tell it is contentious because it is laid out in black and white in the product description on the website, only one reason to do that...

[Goatwidcoat]

MK3 Dan said:

Do you have a trade card or a friend that does if not?

They are currently £104 with one.

I actually do luckily. My wife works for Halfords in their Head Office so I get second user perks. Even get 50% off car servicing etc, it's just a shame I'd never trust them to utilise that benefit lol. I service my DC5 Integra Type R myself and my W204 C63 I've only recently purchased and having a service this Friday on that at a local MB specialist.

[Sheepshanks]

Goatwidcoat said:

My wife works for Halfords in their Head Office….,,

Plot twist!

[Goatwidcoat]

Sheepshanks said:

Plot twist!

Unfortunately she has nothing to do with retail or garages to sort it out. I have voiced my displeasure at their warranty stance and am holding her personally accountable haha.

[Inbox]

Goatwidcoat said:

MK3 Dan said:

Do you have a trade card or a friend that does if not?

They are currently £104 with one.

I actually do luckily. My wife works for Halfords in their Head Office so I get second user perks. Even get 50% off car servicing etc, it's just a shame I'd never trust them to utilise that benefit lol. I service my DC5 Integra Type R myself and my W204 C63 I've only recently purchased and having a service this Friday on that at a local MB specialist.

What a vote of confidence in them

[E-bmw]

Inbox said:

E-bmw said:

Inbox said:

Sheepshanks said:

dhutch said:

Gotta be worth a crack.

Else as said, open up your own calibration house.
Made up name, printer, signature, job jobbed.

If you really wanted to take the piss you could put your own name on the top and detail that it have been checked for calibration to a really wide tolerance! Plus or minus 50Nm should cover any drift it might have had.

That would fail is he won't be a "recognised re-calibration service".

I know you're (probably) posting in jest, but I wouldn't go creating false documents - it's a serious criminal offence to do that.

Still for a mechanical failure the need for a valid calibration could be considered an unfair term as I doubt any domestic customer would do this. If it was a business purchase then I think it would be reasonable.

You say that, but let's be honest it just shows that it has been looked after & maintained as per the manufacturer's requirements, which is hardly unfair.

It is only the same as if their normal return policy says "must show no signs of abuse" which equally would not be unfair as pretty much all warranties say something similar.

Err no, the calibration required policy will cost you £50 a pop every 18 months at least for a wrench costing £130. Not abusing your wrench costs nothing.

But the fact that it had a certificate would prove that it has been looked after & worked when tested.

[Fastpedeller]

E-bmw said:

Inbox said:

E-bmw said:

Inbox said:

Sheepshanks said:

dhutch said:

Gotta be worth a crack.

Else as said, open up your own calibration house.
Made up name, printer, signature, job jobbed.

If you really wanted to take the piss you could put your own name on the top and detail that it have been checked for calibration to a really wide tolerance! Plus or minus 50Nm should cover any drift it might have had.

That would fail is he won't be a "recognised re-calibration service".

I know you're (probably) posting in jest, but I wouldn't go creating false documents - it's a serious criminal offence to do that.

Still for a mechanical failure the need for a valid calibration could be considered an unfair term as I doubt any domestic customer would do this. If it was a business purchase then I think it would be reasonable.

You say that, but let's be honest it just shows that it has been looked after & maintained as per the manufacturer's requirements, which is hardly unfair.

It is only the same as if their normal return policy says "must show no signs of abuse" which equally would not be unfair as pretty much all warranties say something similar.

Err no, the calibration required policy will cost you £50 a pop every 18 months at least for a wrench costing £130. Not abusing your wrench costs nothing.

But the fact that it had a certificate would prove that it has been looked after & worked when tested.

Lack of a certificate doesn't prove the wrench has been abused!

[E-bmw]

Fastpedeller said:

E-bmw said:

Inbox said:

E-bmw said:

Inbox said:

Sheepshanks said:

dhutch said:

Gotta be worth a crack.

Else as said, open up your own calibration house.
Made up name, printer, signature, job jobbed.

If you really wanted to take the piss you could put your own name on the top and detail that it have been checked for calibration to a really wide tolerance! Plus or minus 50Nm should cover any drift it might have had.

That would fail is he won't be a "recognised re-calibration service".

I know you're (probably) posting in jest, but I wouldn't go creating false documents - it's a serious criminal offence to do that.

Still for a mechanical failure the need for a valid calibration could be considered an unfair term as I doubt any domestic customer would do this. If it was a business purchase then I think it would be reasonable.

You say that, but let's be honest it just shows that it has been looked after & maintained as per the manufacturer's requirements, which is hardly unfair.

It is only the same as if their normal return policy says "must show no signs of abuse" which equally would not be unfair as pretty much all warranties say something similar.

Err no, the calibration required policy will cost you £50 a pop every 18 months at least for a wrench costing £130. Not abusing your wrench costs nothing.

But the fact that it had a certificate would prove that it has been looked after & worked when tested.

Lack of a certificate doesn't prove the wrench has been abused!

Correct, but having one at least proves that a "professional" (hopefully) checked it out previously & found it working.

[Sheepshanks]

E-bmw said:

Correct, but having one at least proves that a "professional" (hopefully) checked it out previously & found it working.

The guarantee covers Broken, Snapped, Bent, Cracked anyway.

The exclusions are Rusted, Burnt, Modified, Mechanically ground down, Used improperly. A calibration certificate wouldn't prevent some lunatic doing bad things to the torque wrench.

[itcaptainslow]

This thread has prompted me to look at replacing my torque wrench - it’s about 23 years old and has never been calibrated. Still feels alright and works fine, mind…

[Goatwidcoat]

itcaptainslow said:

This thread has prompted me to look at replacing my torque wrench - it s about 23 years old and has never been calibrated. Still feels alright and works fine, mind

What brand is this? Clearly lasted longer than my 3 years lol. Always stored it at 0 and used a very average amount so I am surprised it broke. Never tightened more than 125 either so nowhere close to the 200 limit.

[Pica-Pica]

Goatwidcoat said:

itcaptainslow said:

This thread has prompted me to look at replacing my torque wrench - it s about 23 years old and has never been calibrated. Still feels alright and works fine, mind

What brand is this? Clearly lasted longer than my 3 years lol. Always stored it at 0 and used a very average amount so I am surprised it broke. Never tightened more than 125 either so nowhere close to the 200 limit.

I replaced my old Norbar torque wrench recently. Simply because my wheel studs require a higher torque than it can manage. I bought a Halford Advance, but I've yet to use it!

[dhutch]

E-bmw said:

But the fact that it had a certificate would prove that it has been looked after ...

Does it?

I agree it would prove it worked when tested, but 18months is more than long enough to abuse the hell out of a tool!