I recently had a Dewalt 60V Flexvolt battery go bad on me and luckily for me, it was still within it’s warranty period so I was able to send it in for warranty repair service. This article goes over my experience with Dewalt’s warranty service from start to finish and is my honest review.
Dewalt warranty repair service, Keeping Things Anonymous
As you read my experience with Dewalt’s warranty service, keep in mind that they were unaware that they were dealing with Tool Craze. From the start when I contacted them, I never told them who I was nor tell them that I was going to document my experience on the Tool Craze blog for everyone to see. This was so that I would get the same exact treatment as everyone else, no better, no worse. I didn’t want any special treatment. From their perspective, Dewalt was dealing with the average Joe.
The Defective Tool
To start us off, I want to explain what was wrong with my Dewalt Flexvolt battery. It simply wouldn’t charge. It would show that it was charging but a couple of minutes later the charger would show that it was done charging yet the batteries fuel gauge still showed 1 bar. I have several chargers and all did the same thing and would work perfectly fine with my other batteries so I was able to single out this battery as being faulty.
Contacting Dewalt, The Phone Call
I called the Dewalt warranty phone number 1-800-4DEWALT (1-800-433-9258) to start the warranty process. The man I spoke to was friendly and asked the usual questions such as what was wrong with the item and asks for info such as model number and product date code and my address. They use the date code to see when the item was manufactured and they use this info in case you don’t have your order receipt. However I did have my original receipt so they go by that date instead since items are obviously sold at a later date than they were made.
I was hoping that Dewalt would be able to send me a box and prepaid shipping label so I could send off the faulty battery to them however that was not my experience. While they did get my location info, they use that info to determine the nearest service location. My closest service location was 16 miles away and according to Google Maps was roughly 27 minutes away. I was upset that they simply couldn’t offer any means to ship the battery to them at no cost to me. 16 miles isn’t too far away however with my busy schedule it was very hard to make time to make the drive.
Dewalt warranty repair service, Service Rep Makes It Clear
I tried convincing the rep if they could just email me a prepaid shipping label and I box the item myself however he wouldn’t budge. He told me that they only offer shipping services back to them ONLY if the user is located too far from a service center. Again, I was upset that I had to take time out of my busy schedule and take it to the service myself and waste time and gas however I had no other choice.
Another thing I wanted to mention was that the warranty call center doesn’t guarantee they’ll honor the warranty. They leave that decision up to the physical service center to make sure the product failure was due to a defect or other factors like user error, user breaking the product or the item breaking from normal use. So I was also upset because not only did I have to drive down to their local service center, warranty coverage wasn’t even guaranteed. At this point I didn’t know if I would drive all the way down there just to find out if they would accept or refuse warranty.
The rep did open up a case number so I could share with the local service center and also provided the service centers phone number and address.
Next Step, Physical Location
It took me a few weeks later to find time from my busy schedule and finally drive down to the service center.
The location was a very nice warehouse style building in an office park. The interior of the building was nicely arranged. It was set up like a retail store with many Dewalt products on display.
I was attended by a friendly young woman. I proceeded to explain what was wrong with my battery and showed her a copy of my original order invoice. This showed her that it was still under warranty and she proceeded to run a couple of tests on the battery. After a few minutes she came back and told me they would honor the warranty and take the battery so they could send to another location.
I asked her if I would be getting the same battery back after it’s been fixed or if I would get a replacement refurbished battery. She told me they would send me a new battery and not my old one or a refurb. The new one would come in a couple weeks and be shipped to the service center and that they would call me after it arrived so I could pick up.
I asked her, since they are shipping the battery. Why not ship it straight to me instead of getting shipped to the service center? This would save me the hassle of having to drive back down there. Since their location wasn’t exactly down the street from where I live. She told me not to worry since that they offer the ability to ship directly to me at no cost after they receive the battery. I couldn’t argue with that so I was on my way back home. So far so good.
Next Step, Wait For Replacement
15 days later I received a phone call from my local Dewalt service center. They left me a voicemail notifying me that my Dewalt Flexvolt battery had arrived. And that it was ready for pickup or to ship out to me. I called them back and they took my address info so they could ship out to me. It was a Thursday that day and they said it would arrive the following Monday or that weekend. Sure enough my battery arrived the next day on Friday which was extremely quick.
Replacement Arrived
The battery arrived in new condition just like service rep had explained. And even had the terminal cap and sticker that holds it in place. It didn’t arrive in a retail package, but was by itself with no documentation or anything. Just safely padded in the shipping box.
Dewalt warranty repair service, Replacement Condition:
I noticed that they used something to melt and hand etch a date on the plastic. Possibly a wood burning tool or soldering iron or other similar tool.
The date was from 2016. And happened to be the same exact date of my original order invoice from the first battery. Using the same tool, they also scribbled out the new batteries date code. I’m not sure why they did this and frankly makes the battery look like it’s been mutilated a bit. Maybe I’m over exaggerating here but I don’t like any markings on any of my belongings. Whether they be tools, electronics, furniture or anything else.
Dewalt warranty repair service Conclusion:
Dewalt does honor their warranty and they don’t make you jump any hoops to get it. In my experience, they didn’t send me my old item back or a someone elses refurb. They sent me back a new unit albeit with a few odd markings. Overall, Dewalt’s warranty service was very smooth and everyone I spoke to along the way was friendly and helpful. My gripe was that they made me drive to the service center. If I could change one thing from their warranty experience. It would be to offer free shipping labels to send your product back to them. But at least they offered to ship the replacement item to me at no cost. Otherwise it was a smooth, easy and pleasant warranty experience. Thank you Dewalt.
Learn More about Dewalt’s Warranty information directly from Dewalt themselves here: https://www.dewalt.com/support/warranty
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I had a 3 month old Ryobi battery fail. They made it clear the warranty on the replacement only lasts as long as the original battery warranty.
If that’s the case with my battery, it means I have literally two months left before warranty expires on my “brand” new battery. That’s almost 3 years off the warranty from the get go if that is the case as Flexvolt batteries have 3 year warranties.
That’s the case with every product everywhere. Getting a warranty replacement never rolls back the warranty period.
That is true with some brands and not others, for instance Ridgid batteries if under LSA can be reregistered and the replacement receives the same lifetime coverage.
Out of curiosity, did they have items for sale in the service center?
It appeared that way because of the way it was set up like a retail store however I was more focused on getting in and out of there so didn’t pay much attention to see if they were actually being sold or not. I want to say probably.
Yes they do, usually overstock items, accessories and tools left to long after the repair for sale………not always a great deal the DeWalt FSC.
I’ve had absolutely no trouble with DeWalt Service. I bought a two pack of 20 volt 6 amp hour batteries from a third-party retailer. One month shy one here the first one went bad, and the second one failed after 16 months. The service center in Philadelphia Pennsylvania 30 to 40 minutes away from me, but luckily since I’m done work at 2:30 everyday I can make it there before they close. In both cases they took my bad battery, test it to verify that is bad and just gave me a new one right off-the-shelf still in retail packaging.
I’ve only had good experiences with DeWalt Service. I bought a 2 pack of 20V 6AH batteries go bad, the first one failing 11 months after I bought them, and the second one 15 months after I bought them. The service center is about 40 minutes away from me, but since I get out of work at 2:30 everyday I can make it there before they close. In both instances they confirmed on their charger that my batteries were bad and gave me a new one still in retail packaging right off their Shelf.
That’s why I went with Milwaukee they’ll send you a prepaid label, have a longer 5-year warranty, and they’res a service center close to my house. Or something that common a bad battery they should have them in stock for immediate replacement.
That’s what’s great about competition. At least when my Milwaukee tools need warranty service, I’ll know what to expect.
Currently going through same ordeal. I have Emailed zservice Centre invoice establishing tools were under warranty. I live over 180 miles awsy yet I am still awsiting a decision on sending me a shipping label. Ridiculous delays. My work is stopped waiting on them.
Great read, thanks for the detailed story. I’m going through something similar with my battery and just got off the phone with their customer support. They simply asked for the date and model number on the battery, found that it was still under warranty and is sending me a replacement battery through the mail. No need to visit a service center, no need to ship the defective battery back, very efficient. I’ll just drop off the battery at a nearby recycling center. They said i should be receiving the replacement battery in 15 days, not sure what condition of if it’ll have any markings on it, but felt like a great customer service transaction.
Sounds to me like you were too far from the nearest repair center. The guy I spoke with mentioned that you don’t need to drive to a repair center if you are too far from one.
I have a less then 1yr old impact XR(dcf887) that isn’t working correctly. I have called and they have given me a repair number and when I called the service center they informed me that they are over 3 months out and I will be with out my impact the hole time.
here is what has happened to me. I contacted Dewalt about my 1/4 impact, no longer holding a bit. In the waiting time I needed it to finish a project so I took the chuck apart (youtube) fixed it so it would hold, but of course the broken retainer ring is still inside.
I got the shipping label, returned it to the repair center, 3 wks later I had it back. First use the chuck denigrated. I contacted dewalt, they said to contact the repair center. The customer service guy said I had to go totoolsservice.net and fill out the form. The form wanted $69 to repair the tool that is now 1 wk out of warranty. But wait they just repaired it 30 days ago aren’t they liable. Being from the Automotive trade I am liable for anything that goes wrong as long as you own it.
Bottom line they did not read the note, it held the chuck when they got it, so it was sent back, they took the money from dewalt, and the customer is stuck.
Poor way to do business