MTBlades

Thought I'd reply to help assuage Wingless's doubt... TODAY...... after exactly TWO MONTHS, and countless emails, calls, and likely a week's worth of waiting time "in queue" I received a replacement battery from Ridgid. After looking it over and registering it...I'm convinced that this battery isn't the same as their retail ones..... I have several other 4ah batteries of this "new" style....but they have completely different part and serial numbers (as in the way the part and serial number digits/letters are formatted/placed). I noticed that this battery also feels lighter than my others of this type/size. Finally, I noticed that when I registered this battery for the LSA, it showed up as "Replacement 4ah Battery", whereas my other similar batteries are labeled as just "4ah Battery". Let's just say this whole experience has left me very jaded towards Ridgid. I'm still on the fence about selling my entire Ridgid ecosystem to the pawn shop, and spending the money on Makita toosl/batteries. We'll see how this battery holds up compared to my others....and go from there. I will add that this was my first LSA service with Ridgid post COVID.... and compared to Pre-COVID EVERYTHING about this experience has been sub-par, whereas Pre-COVID was great service, with never more than 3 weeks for me to have a new battery or tool in my hands. I guess all businesses have been forced to lower their standards to fill empty positions.... I see it everywhere I go, and it ALWAYS drags every aspect/expectation of the business down to the lowest common denominator. Few to none take pride in their work anymore, and everyone else pays the price.

I signed up specifically to vent, and raise a stink over the absolutely HORRIBLE customer service from Ridgid! I have been a long-time user of the Ridgid ecosystem of 18V tools, and until now, have been at least satisfied with the tools and the service. However, all of that has now changed. On 2 Dec 2023, I sent in a single 18V battery for replacement under the LSA. I've done this same thing in the past, as have NEVER had to wait longer than 3 weeks to have a new battery in my hands. On 8 Jan 2024, I received an email, stating that my new battery had been shipped, and "see tracking information below". The problem was, there was no tracking information included in/with the email. On the phone.....over, and over, and over. NEVER less than a 20 min wait, and a couple of times over an hour! EVERY single time I was assured.... "It's being shipped today, and we will send you an email confirmation with the tracking information" which NEVER happened. All total, to date, 17 phone calls, and 6 emails (with no responses), and still as of today, 25 Jan 2024, no confirmation of shipping, and no battery. WTF!?!?! I use both Ridgid and Makita 18V tools, and frankly am about to pack up all the Ridgid tools/batteries/chargers, and haul them to the pawn shop, get what I can then invest in more Makita 18V tools! I have to wonder if the same thing has hit Ridgid as most other businesses....nobody wants to work, and those that do apply for jobs are the slugs and dregs, being hired only because businesses can't get any applicants with any kind of work ethic....and the businesses are being dragged down to the lowest common denominator? I honestly don't care what the root cause is, but Ridgid Customer Service has become about as terrible as it can get!