Issue with my new Starrett square

[Will Yancey]

I recently received a new Starret combo square for my birthday. It's model# C33H-12-4R (forged head and satin chrome finish). Everything looks great except for the finish of the blade. Right out of the box, I noticed that the finish on more than half of the blade is fairly worn. Most of the wear is down the center of the blade, but the areas with graduations are worn as well. Running the head once down the unaffected side put some pretty good scratches in it as well. The main reasons I opted for the more expensive satin chrome finish were the claims of reduced glare and better durability. As it stands now, the shiny wear areas are more distracting than if the blade had no satin finish at all.

Can anyone comment as to whether this kind of wear is to be expected? Am I being too picky? It seems like the finish will be gone fairly quickly once I actually start using this thing. I've tried contacting Starrett by email, but I haven't gotten a reply yet. I am holding off on purchasing any additional blades until I know whether I should opt for the satin chrome finish again.

[glenn bradley]

I'm hoping they will reply soon or you could contact the store that supplied it to look at some others to see if yours just has a problem. Starrett is top quality but everyone has an oops now and then. What you're describing does not sound right at those prices.

[Jim Becker]

Call them on the phone, Will. Many companies are still not setup with the right technology to respond to email as timely as they should. (I'd be very happy to sell it to them...LOL!) So for issues that are somewhat important, you can't beat a phone call.

[Will Yancey]

Call them on the phone, Will. Many companies are still not setup with the right technology to respond to email as timely as they should. (I'd be very happy to sell it to them...LOL!) So for issues that are somewhat important, you can't beat a phone call.

That's kind of what I thought as well. I was just wanting to get an idea of whether this really is a problem before I called.

[Marc Casebolt]

Will,
I think it's a problem. I have two starret squares, and there is no wear or scratches on the rules on either of them. Sounds like a burr where it goes through the head.

Marc

[Reg Mitchell]

Seems to me I read or heard somewhere that Starrett is not made in this country anymore. They too have jumped on the band wagon to cheeper production practises. Most of the machine tools I buy now I get the older stuff.
Reg

[Gary Keedwell]

As a machinist in my former life, I can tell you for sure, that it is not normal and needs to be returned. IMNSHO

Gary K.

[Will Yancey]

Will,
I think it's a problem. I have two starret squares, and there is no wear or scratches on the rules on either of them. Sounds like a burr where it goes through the head.

Marc

Thanks Marc and Gary. I'm going to give Starrett a call tomorrow. This is one of those situations where buying in a local store probably would have made things easier.

[Blake Holton]

Bottom line: You're the consumer and you are not satisfied, ergo: Problem.

Never let a manufacturer define quality... the customer defines quality.

Please let us know how Starrett responds to your concerns.

Good luck,

Blake

[Will Yancey]

Seems to me I read or heard somewhere that Starrett is not made in this country anymore. They too have jumped on the band wagon to cheeper production practises. Most of the machine tools I buy now I get the older stuff.
Reg

They may have, but this square was packaged with a card saying that it was made in the USA and was inspected by someone with a name I could pronounce. It would definitely be a shame if Starrett's quality began to suffer.

I'll let ya'll know if Starrett takes care of me.

[Bob Marino]

Will,

All good advice here. To my knowledge, only certain items (calipers) are now made off-shore. I hope it will never be the case that most/all Starrett items are no linger made here...I hope!

Bob

[John Schreiber]

I consider names (and prices) like Starrett to mean that there is no compromise on quality. If the product is anything less than perfect, I think they will want to make it right for you.

In the recent "my favorite tool" thread. I think there were more mentions of the Starrett square than anything else.

I want one. When I do spring for it, I want it just right.

[Jeff Craven]

Seems to me I read or heard somewhere that Starrett is not made in this country anymore. They too have jumped on the band wagon to cheeper production practises. Most of the machine tools I buy now I get the older stuff.
Reg

Starrett was recently featured on Travel Channel's show called 'Made in America'

Their main factory is in Athol, Massachusetts, where about half of their employees work. They do have a couple overseas facilities in Scotland, Brazil & China, but most of their manufacturing is in the U.S.A.
http://www.starrett.com/pages/62_man..._worldwide.cfm

[Will Yancey]

UPDATE:

Well, I've spent the last hour bouncing between Home Depot and Starrett trying to resolve the issue. The problem is this:

The square was purchased in December by my girlfriend as a birthday gift for me in February (she was doing Christmas shopping). Since she doesn't know a combination square from a shovel, she didn't identify it as being defective and waited until my birthday to give it to me.

So, I called Starrett first. They agreed that the square is defective, but said that it should be returned to Home Depot. So, I called Home Depot. They informed me within 30 seconds that, since the defect wasn't reported within three days of receiving the shipment, I was completely out of luck. So, again I called Starrett (who were sympathetic to my problem and seemed to be doing their best to help me). Starrett stated that, as a distributor of their tools, Home Depot should still honor my return. Unfortunately, Starrett doens't take direct returns and only does repairs. I was told that, if Home Depot doesn't come through, they will either try to contact Home Depot's representative from their side or I can try to work something out with the repair shop.

So, I called Home Depot for the last time, and you can pretty much predict that response. This time, they told me I should have contacted them within thirty days and that there is still nothing they can do. As expected, some phone operator in a cubicle God knows where has no idea who Starrett is or why I'm so aggravated over a $70 square.

So, that's where I currently stand. I tried calling Starrett back, but they close at 5 pm eastern. Hopefully, they'll be able to figure something out tomorrow. I apologize for the long, rambling post, but I'm a little annoyed right now. I guess from now on I can't let anyone order me a gift unless he/she knows how to thoroughly inspect it himself/herself. What's frustrating is that, for me, this gift was a big deal. I'm still in school and this was my first nice tool. Anyways, we'll see what happens.

[Rod Sheridan]

Hi Will, sorry to hear about your problem with the square. I would be very surprised if Starret don't help you with the problem, they produce great tools.

My first Starret purchase was a combination square in 1977, it has kept it's accuracy in industrial use for all those years, and has been followed by many other precision Starret tools.

I have a policy of not purchasing anything at any of the big box stores, unless it isn't available anywhere else.

In North America, we have flocked to the big box stores to save a few cents on items that we could purchase at smaller local, or more specialized stores for a slight price increase. This has tended to drive the quality of items down, as well as service, not to mention making our choices more homogenous.

Twenty years ago I purchased a brass/rosewood try square from Lee Valley Tools. The square wasn't quite square, however I kept it for 15 more years, not used because of it's problem. It looked so nice in the tool crib, I simply kept it to look at!

Finally, I took it back to Lee Valley, gave them the square, presented my customer number, and asked what they could do for me. I did not have a receipt for the square.

Two weeks later, a letter arrived in my mail box from Lee Valley. To paraphrase the letter signed by Leonard Lee " Dear Mr. Sheridan, we have checked our files and the latest year that you could have purchased this square was 1987. The catalogue price was $37.95 at that time, please find enclosed a cheque for the full amount, including the Provincial sales tax you would have paid. Thank you, Leonard Lee."

Needless to say, I remain a loyal customer today.

If we expect customer service, we must also expect to pay for that service. Our continued drive for the cheapest, ultimately destroys the ability to provide those services.

I hope your square story has a pleasant a conclusion as mine, and that you remember to patronize those establishments that are the best, not the cheapest.

Regards, Rod.