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Craftsman "Free" Power Tool Battery & Charger?

Steel_Rain

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peteco

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Went to Lowes today. They had no clue about this. Called Lowes CS. They knew nothing. They gave me Craftsman CS number. First Craftsman agent was clueless. Called again and got someone willing to look into it. They said it was legit, but you need to check the list on the site to see the day the promotion applies at your local Lowes. It is different dates for different stores. My store is July 20. Not sure why I wasted so much time on this. Wanted to get drill to keep at my 93 year-old in-laws to have handy when doing repairs there. He had an ancient Skil 12v drill to trade in.
 

Citation

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Indy
I might actually be able to try this... I have a dead drill but I don't need any more cordless stuff right now.
 
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Steel_Rain

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Went to Lowes today. They had no clue about this. Called Lowes CS. They knew nothing. They gave me Craftsman CS number. First Craftsman agent was clueless. Called again and got someone willing to look into it. They said it was legit, but you need to check the list on the site to see the day the promotion applies at your local Lowes. It is different dates for different stores. My store is July 20. Not sure why I wasted so much time on this. Wanted to get drill to keep at my 93 year-old in-laws to have handy when doing repairs there. He had an ancient Skil 12v drill to trade in.
I did post all this data along with a PDF store chart by state above?
 

driftpin

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Bad news at this Lowe's Craftsman store, I am here on the day the Pembroke Pines Florida Lowe's is supposed to have the promotion. The office knows nothing about it a very helpful customer service person from Lowe's spent a fair amount of time helping me to look for further information. I am standing in front of the Lowe's display they have nothing of this sort going on at this time on the day specified in the first post. I think I am going to try a nasty gram to Lowe's/Craftsman to see if I can shake something loose but it doesn't look promising.

Before I left the store I personally went to the service desk and that is where I found out about them having requested information before the event and no one from Craftsman ever got back to them and now here is the date for their store and nothing's happening. I'm very disappointed as I got up at 6:00 a.m. to get to the store, and nothing is happening in the Craftsman promotion world.

I went to customer service at Lowe's to see about what the story was besides what I had done above. They said that a couple days before their supposed participation they had contacted the Craftsman people in the Lowe's organization to see about preparing for the promotion to happen. Their request was ignored and they were not able to get anyone to respond to their request for the promotion details vis-a-vis their store.
 
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alinc100

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Bad news at this Lowe's Craftsman store, I am here on the day the Pembroke Pines Florida Lowe's is supposed to have the promotion. The office knows nothing about it a very helpful customer service person from Lowe's spent a fair amount of time helping me to look for further information. I am standing in front of the Lowe's display they have nothing of this sort going on at this time on the day specified in the first post. I think I am going to try a nasty gram to Lowe's/Craftsman to see if I can shake something loose but it doesn't look promising.

Before I left the store I personally went to the service desk and that is where I found out about them having requested information before the event and no one from Craftsman ever got back to them and now here is the date for their store and nothing's happening. I'm very disappointed as I got up at 6:00 a.m. to get to the store, and nothing is happening in the Craftsman promotion world.

I went to customer service at Lowe's to see about what the story was besides what I had done above. They said that a couple days before their supposed participation they had contacted the Craftsman people in the Lowe's organization to see about preparing for the promotion to happen. Their request was ignored and they were not able to get anyone to respond to their request for the promotion details vis-a-vis their store.
well that ***** being the early worm and getting up at 6am on a Saturday. The flyer posted above say it runs from 8am to 2pm , so maybe it just hadn't started when you got there. It ***** ,I know. My state is one of 13 that doesn't participate at all. Nothing within a driving distance that would equal the value of the free battery.
 

alinc100

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This is borrowed from Facebook .Written by CJ Carota:
SECURED THE BATTERY!!!
Follow up from my post the other day asking about the battery trade in event. Everyone else was just as confused as me so I’ll answer my own questions here in hopes that it will help everyone else out
-I saw a few people comment saying they showed up to their local Lowe’s only to find out the event was not happening that day. The event is location and date specific so check the CRAFTSMAN website to see what locations in your state are participating and on what days. A lot of locations aren’t even holding the event, and almost all of the ones that are only are doing it for 1 day only
-At my Lowe’s they were setup in the garden tools section at 0800. Your location might be different so call your store a day ahead and ask the manager for details
-You can pretty much bring any cordless tool battery period. I brought a like new 1.5 ah craftsman battery but the rep didn’t check integrity/brand or anything like that
-Not sure how they’ll enforce the 1 per household policy. The rep didn’t take my name, number, email, or any information at all
-Limited quantity. The event started at my Lowe’s at 0800 and I was the first one there. From what I saw you don’t have to worry about other customers, it’s the employees. The employees didn’t even know about the event but once they found out what was going on, they were frantically reaching out to family and friends to bring in their old batteries.
-You receive a new 3ah advanced battery AND a $50 coupon that can be used for any 20v craftsman tool sold in store or online (Lowe’s only). Coupon can be used in conjunction with any Lowe’s sale that is running so I got the brushless jigsaw in the pic for a steal
Happy hunting
 

driftpin

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I called the Pembroke Pines Lowe's store in Florida, and spoke with someone at the service desk. They had been trying to get a hold of somebody in the Craftsman promotion system and had not yet received any feedback nor any information on a truck and personnel and material showing up to conduct the exchange. She took my name, phone number, and email and said that they had started a list because they had no information about the schedule for this one day promotion. I gave her my email address because I often don't pick up on phone calls that I don't recognize. She said they would contact me once they found out why the promotion was not being conducted at their store when the online information says it should be today. That's May 2, 2026.
 

cody1325

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My local Lowe's isn't doing it, but the one two towns over from me in WV is.

Too bad I recycled one of my Dewalt 18V batteries to get it out of the house. Still have one, and the charger (which surprisingly is still in that kit's bag, even though I have 20V and adapters running them now). And I use V20, so I'm glad I still have those.
 

driftpin

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Good news in that I got a call from the Craftsman representative who is at the Pembroke Pines Florida store that I had visited at 7:00 a.m. she said that she would meet me at whatever store was convenient and she apologized for the mix-up. I am just going to go ahead and drive out there and pick up a battery a battery charger and a $50 gift certificate for Craftsman. I had left my name and contact information at the service desk for Lowe's where the Craftsman rep was supposed to be this morning and I guess she just got in later after I had left. Let's see what I can find to use the $50 coupon and I will be picking up a battery and a battery charger in their current system of cordless tools. I still have a lot of the C3 Craftsman 19.2 volt tools which work well for me as I am retired and just maintain several houses.
 

alinc100

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^ Glad it worked out for you. I'm seeing FB posts where folks headed to Lowe's and have had no success ,like it somehow didn't match the list with the reps, dates and times. I only would have participated in the program to get the battery for a Craftsman Cordless Miter Saw I picked up exclusively to flip. Another battery at $0 cost increases the saws value.
 

Junkman

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Northeastern CT
Why are they eliminating whole states from the promotion? I mistakenly bought a Craftsman electric tool from a clearance table, and it looked exactly like a Milwaukee at first glance. I was in a rush and just tossed it into the cart with a bunch of other things I was buying. The store wouldn't take it back since it was on clearance, so the battery and charger would have come in handy for me.
 
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hasco

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My store is coming up in a couple weeks, I have old Makita and B&D batteries ,wonder if they qualify.
 
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driftpin

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I made a second trip to the Lowe's, the same day. I collected my stuff.

What I selected: V20-Advanced brushless 1/2" impact wrench, 275 ft/lb, 3 year warranty, formerly $200, marked-down to $99, so I paid $49 w/the $50 tool credit. I haven't tried it out yet other than a no-load trigger actuation. I might see how well it does on a truck lug nut or two.

I also got the free 3 A-H battery and the charger, both of which are impressively small.
 

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alinc100

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Just an update, they are adding dates and states . According to a FB post there was a giveaway today at Lowe's in Ypsilanti MI. The poster was there at 10:15 for an event that started at 10:00 am and they had given away all 5 batteries they had for the promotion and he/she left empty handed.
 

Cruzan80

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I posted on the Lowes thread, did it yesterday. Both myself and my wife (separately) turned in old B&D batteries (deciding on what I want to grab with coupons) and had a friend get the same impact as above with his free battery coupon. I have the (almost identical) 1/2" impact in Porter Cable, and it has been great for everything I have asked from it. I have a heavy-duty air impact if I need greater than 1K torque.

BTW, it took me longer than it should have to realize the "sticker" on the power cord labelled 2" is because the back of the charger has cutouts to mount vertically, and 2" OC is the dimensions for the screw mounts.
 
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Steel_Rain

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they had given away all 5 batteries

SBD cannot be seriously allocating only five free batteries/chargers per each Lowes for this event.

How on earth do you make any inroads with that joke of a giveaway?!
 

Cruzan80

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SBD cannot be seriously allocating only five free batteries/chargers per each Lowes for this event.

How on earth do you make any inroads with that joke of a giveaway?!
The event at the store I went to (was on the original list) had a few BOXES full of batteries. For the "unlisted event", I am wondering if they just did an "impromptu" version with ones left over from an earlier event nearby.
 

alinc100

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The event at the store I went to (was on the original list) had a few BOXES full of batteries. For the "unlisted event", I am wondering if they just did an "impromptu" version with ones left over from an earlier event nearby.
The events in Michigan were added to the PDF in the link at the top of the page. When? I don't know. I was surprised when someone on FB mentioned an event in Michigan. I hadn't thought to check back on the list to see if dates/times/places were added. I'll be at work when the next two events in Michigan are scheduled so there's no thought of me making either one, and each would be 30-45 min drives one way. Just not feasible.
 

Cruzan80

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Gotcha, I read it as an "unlisted". My bad. Maybe the new ones adding are just "leftover" events? Don't have insider knowledge, just spitballing.

Ours also started @ 8am, not the 10-2pm that it said.
 

driftpin

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Just got home from a So. FL event. I was there at 8 a.m. and you see what my position was by the 'dead batteries' receptacle.

20260516_081001.jpg

I also got a 'freebie' give-away neckerchief to soak in water and then get the benefits of evaporation while working in the So. FL sun. Branded 'Craftsman.'

I think I'm going to try the 3/8" drive power ratchet wrench, it's listed at $119, so it will cost me $70 w/the $50 off coupon from the promotion. Coupons are good until Aug. 2026.
 

LanceMc

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Jan 5, 2016
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Texas
:cool:
You know I'm in on this deal!
There are several Lowe's locations around here in central Texas doing this promotion. Strangely, there are no locations I saw around DFW that I could point my son in law to.
I wish I hadn't recycled all those Craftsman 12V batteries I used to have.
 

hasco

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My store is coming up in a couple weeks, I have old Makita and B&D batteries ,wonder if they qualify.
Went today @ 10:20 and got the Last Battery. Looks like about a dozen junk batteries were turned in. I gave my old Makita Battery.
 

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bigredcornhead

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Hey that's awesome i had a craftsman 19.2 it was my first battery op impact driver. wish it wasn't during the middle of the day or i would trade in my deads and get something....People got to work middle of the day, sheesh
 

LanceMc

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Texas
Today was the day
Turned in an old worn out battery and got a nice 20V 3AH Advanced and a $50 off coupon. I bought the $99 two battery combo and the shop vac was free so total was about $55. Great deal.


IMG_7249.jpegIMG_7251.jpeg
 

reader2580

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Minneapolis, MN
This seems like a lot of work for Craftsman to only have a dozen batteries available at a limited number of locations.

You end up turning away potential customers when you have so few batteries available. Isn’t the idea to hook people on the ecosystem with a cheap battery so you make a profit in the long run?
 
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Steel_Rain

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What an awesome deal! Way to go Stanley. Don’t see Milwaukee or any other companies doing this.
OMG I don’t need another battery ecosystem but for the first time in my life I’d consider a Craftsman power tool and will probably buy the V20 screwdriver for light work when this “promotion” hits my area next month.

But I’m cheap son of a *****.
 

nadogail

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Coronado, CA
i am skeptical about anything offered for FREE that would put me into a different battery platform.

My first decent set of tools were Craftsman but now, 68 years later, I no longer have confidence in the Craftsman name.
 
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