I was walking into a friends cottage in Berkeley. The year was 1971. I had been combing the local 'fleas' for tools and right there on the floor by the door was one of the very things I was looking for - a Model 77 Skilsaw. It had been mostly dismantled and looked a wreck. So I says to my friend "Whatcha gonna do with that old saw". (It looked to be about 10 years old.) And he said, "Nuthin. It's broke. Ya want it?"
And of course I said "Sure!" So when I got home I called the Skil distributer out in San Leandro and he said "Bring it in and we'll have a look at it." So the next day I did.
He took it in the back and came out a few minutes later saying "It's got a burned armature. That has a LIFETIME WARRANTY(!)" (My emphasis)
"Just leave it with me and come back in a couple of days."
So 3 days later I go back and..... He hands me a COMPLETELY REBUILT saw with a new 10 foot cord and a little name tag on the side of the saw with my name on it! And says "Thanks."
That's it. No BS. No "Sir, do you have some paper proving ownership?" None of that. They simply GUARANTEED the major components of their product FOR LIFE! Not your life. Not the life of whoever bought it. The LIFE OF THE PRODUCT! That was what represented THEIR INTEGRITY. Not a bunch of jive but the thing itself.
I still use that saw. Forty years later. It still works. It was 10 years old then. Ya, it's a little heavy, but it's my brother. And so are the kind of folks that stand behind what they make....
Where are they today? Have we forgotten what it is to be Honorable? Have we forgotten who we are?
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