I recently killed my DeWalt 18V XRP Hammer Drill and was almost in tears because we had been though so much together. So much material that is. See that is what did it; I departed from drilling wood and concrete to trying to mix mortar with it. I had a 5 gallon bucket full of tile mortar with a large mixer attachment in the chuck of my drill and was going to town. I had already done like two buckets of mud without any incident but on this last mix, the drill gave up the ghost, complete with smoke and that nasty burning electrical smell that is never good. The motor froze up solid and I begrudgingly had to get out my corded DeWalt 1/2" drill to finish the task. I was kicking myself for being so lazy and not getting the right drill to begin with. Lesson learned now. I just kept thinking I was out of luck because that 18V XRP Hammer Drill was about 5 years old and of course out of warranty.

Since I did not have the heart to get rid of my old friend yet, I put it under my bench and forgot about it for a while. One day a few months later a friend of mine was telling me about the DeWalt Repair Service program so I figured I needed to check it out. Let’s face it, in these tight times, the last thing I wanted to do was fork out three hundred bucks for a new one of these drills. (OK, I am lying, I would love to have the new Lithium Ion XRP Hammer Drill that was just released but I am not sure I am ready to be sleeping on the couch for a while!)

The first place I turned was to the DeWalt web site and from there I followed a link to find my nearest factory service center. It was pretty convenient because it was about an hour away. I gave them a call, and they explained the whole scenario to me. The Factory Owned DeWalt Service Centers use the Guaranteed Repair Cost (or GRC) Program to take the guesswork out of the repair process. Pretty much what they promise is that the price of a repair will not exceed the published replacement price for that tool. What that means is if you send in your drill because it has a broken switch, they only fix the switch and charge you for that plus the shipping back to you. The repair cost is NEVER MORE then a set amount for that tool and most times it is less. Take my toasted drill, I sent it in via a flat rate shipping box from the post office to the address they told me to. Within a few days I received a call from the service tech and he said that my drill was beyond repair and that they would send me a newly remanufactured drill that was the exact same model as the one I sent in. Now here is the kicker, the total price for the new drill and the shipping was less then a third of what the drill cost new! I received the drill a few days later and was back in business again. The only problem with the new drill is that it did not have my name written all over it like the old one and the over molded rubber grips were not polished smooth yet!

As part of the GRC Repairs program, they do a complete teardown inspection, which includes a thorough cleaning & lubrication, replacement of worn & damaged parts and a full performance & safety test on the tool.  There is word out now that since Porter-Cable and Delta are part of the DeWalt family of tool brands, they also repair them now. The DeWalt Service Network includes over 85 factory-owned locations so chances are that there is one near you. Should you need to ship a tool to a service center for either warranty or non-warranty service, please be sure that the tool is packaged securely and that it is sufficiently insured to cover any loss or damage that may occur while in transit. For additional information regarding service related issues or service related questions please contact the service center nearest you.

For more information on the DeWalt repair service go to: http://www.dewalt.com/us/service/