Most liked posts in thread: Is it just me, or do people not return tools anymore?

40+ years ago I lent my chain saw and PU to an acquaintance.
I got the PU and saw back the next day.
The chain was half off the bar and scorched and the 6' pinch bar that rode in the PU bed was missing. I mentioned all this to the guy who made no attempt to right the matter with a shrug of his shoulders. I haven't lent ANYTHING to ANYBODY since....fool me once.

 

I have a mix of very good Snap-on tools and some Sears stuff and some cheap Harbor F crap.

I only lend out the crap for just this reason. If my buddy needs to borrow the Snap-on tools he is over his head and I end up doing the work. I make sure I always get back everything valuable when I am done working on someone's car.

Your are not being unreasonable at all.

 

I try & do the right thing & will loan tools out if the person is a friend. If the tools don't come back in a timely manner, come back dirty or damaged that person is no longer loaned my tools. Over the years the number of people I will loan tools to has gotten quite small. I'm close to the point of saying sorry I no longer loan out tools.

 

I did loan some good tools to a cool guy on my street and he returned them the next day with a case of beer.

Magic Hat #9 Which is not easy to find around here.

 

I hadn't ever thought about loaning or not loaning tools, no one has ever asked to borrow my tools.

 

I have a neighbor across the street whom I will loan to, the tools usually come back the next time we see each other, so no biggy.

But for everyone else I write it down on a dry erase board with the date - in front of them. I've still had them be gone for a month or more at a time and have to chase them down. When that happens the next time they ask to borrow something I direct them to the closest O'Reily's or Harbor Freight. Maybe next time I'll write down the $$$ value of the tool too, that should open some eyes........

Like Friskie says.....only once.

 

A sign out sheet is a good idea Dave. I've worked places where you went to the tool crib & signed out a tool. If you didn't return the tool at jobs end you were in deep shirt & got a good talking to.

 

I must add that if a friend needed a tool for something I'd sure grab the tool and go help him get the job done.
Consider me part and parcel with the tool and if I don't get returned he's got my co-pilot to answer to and she didn't earn the title Dragon Lady fer nuttin'.

 

Borrowing a tool and not returning it promptly is just not cool but living next door and not returning it is just plain sad.

 

I have lotsa tools in my shop....

One of my tools is / was a mag drill.... Kinda expensive...

Very powerful... It has a magnetic base that uses a big ole electromagnet... You can drill big a$$ holes in big a$$ I-beams.... Works upside down from high places.

The procedure is to first safety chain the drill when it's being used in high places.... For obvious reasons... And yes, a safety chain was in the kit and I explained the reason for using it....

So one of my valued customers requested the use of my mag drill.... Yup, it came back busted... I asked him what the "H" happened.... They were drilling holes in the gymnasium roof I-beam supports of a local school to mount basketball backboards.... one guy was on a motorized lift and one guy was on the floor.... First one got drilled OK but then the guy on the floor unplugged the extension cord to move to the opposite side of the gym.... Boom, the mag drill dropped 20 feet to the maple hardwood floor... took a chunk out of the court... destroyed my drill... coulda killed the guy on the floor...

He said to get it repaired and send him the bill... Turned out it was un-repairable and I had to buy a new replacement.... The guy only accepted 1/2 of the bill...

So I guess I indirectly helped to pay for the school install....

Moral of the story... My shop tools stay in the shop, for use in the shop, to run the shop business, and don't ever leave the shop.... ever... period...

If one of my customers want to use tools that they don't have, I point them to a tool rental company that are in business to rent tools which happens to not be the business that I run....

These were the first guy's that borrowed my mag drill, but they returned it in pristine condition... And they never dropped their tools...

 

Tough lesson to learn Metalman. I've been schooled to, but not as expensively. Shop tools should always be for shop use.

 

My tools all look like crap [maybe they ARE crap as most are hand-me-downs]. When someone wants to borrow one, I loan out my crap tools and they all seem to find their way back to me in the same crappy condition . I guess the loanees cannot justify having my crap messing up their projects for very long.

 

+1 .... Always willing to help someone out until I am give a reason not to. I was taught growing up you always return something you barrowed in the same condition or better. There has been a time or two that I had to go out and make a purchase for something I couldn't return in the same condition.
I don't have a lot of good tools, mostly crap but it is my crap and I'd like to keep it that way.

 

I have loaded yard tools to neighbors and luckily they have all been returned. Years ago a neighbor came over and asked to borrow a pipe wrench. I said sure what size? His response was "You have more than one size?"

I have always collected tools. I inherited my grandfathers and great grandfathers. The oldest I have is a wood plane from the 1850s.

 

No Tools Loaned

 

Years ago when I was a professional Photographer I would loan lenes with my friends, with this said.
every time we loaned some thing we would tell each other when you break or damage it "I'M going to enjoy the BRAND NEW ONE your returning to me".
Never had a problem...