Archived from the Tools In Action forum (Ridgid). This thread is read-only.
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!
It’s a shame this is happening and as you said, it’s happening to a lot of businesses. Ridgid has worked so hard to get the upper hand with their warranty and hopefully, this isn’t a common theme with them. Sucks when a consumer spends all their hard earn money and a company will not back or work with them to resolve the issue. If this is a common problem with Ridgid, might think twice before I invest in buying their tools. Hopefully, it gets resolved but keep us updated.
It REALLY SUCKS when a company demonstrates abject disdain for their customers.
Whenever that happens w/ me I endeavor to enlighten the offender to the errors of their ways.
On a related vein, when someone who isn’t part of our community joins solely to “drop a grenade” then move on, I have a shaker full of grains of salt that I take first before consuming that bait, hook line and sinker.
OP, best of luck on your travails.
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.
@MTBlades at least they replaced the battery….. eventually. I have had similar experiences with other companies too. If it wasn’t a manufacture defect Ridgid wasn’t required to replace the battery if I understand the LSA correctly.
I just discovered this forum but wanted to contribute to this discussion.
Yesterday I purchased a Ridgid cordless string trimmer because of the LSA program and interchangeability of the Ridgid batteries. I had been considering a similar products from Ryobi and DeWalt. The Ridgid trimmer was sold as “tool only” but no worries as I have several Ridgid 18v batteries. Once at home I discovered that the batteries would not load onto the trimmer. I waiting about 45 minutes on Ridgid’s toll free line then bailed and left my phone number for a call back (which came about an hour later). The clerk suggested I return to Home Depot to see if a new battery would fit. This morning, I did just that. Long story short: the Home Depot tool pro opened a new battery and it loaded onto the trimmer with no problem (as well as a second unit in the store). I also had my 20 year old Ridgid drill with me and it loaded into that tool also. The pro said he had never seen this. He gave me a card to call Ridgid on Monday to see if they can help (their office is closed on weekends). BTW, my older batteries did not load onto either of the new trimmers.
All this to say that Ridgid’s claim that all their 18v batteries can be swapped across their tool product line seems to be in question. If I have to start buying new Ridgid batteries so as to use their newer tools then that will cause me to return the trimmer for a refund and then to move over to DeWalt as my default.
TTcoops wrote:
On 6/8/2024 at 8:58 AM, TTcoops said:I just discovered this forum but wanted to contribute to this discussion.
Yesterday I purchased a Ridgid cordless string trimmer because of the LSA program and interchangeability of the Ridgid batteries. I had been considering a similar products from Ryobi and DeWalt. The Ridgid trimmer was sold as “tool only” but no worries as I have several Ridgid 18v batteries. Once at home I discovered that the batteries would not load onto the trimmer. I waiting about 45 minutes on Ridgid’s toll free line then bailed and left my phone number for a call back (which came about an hour later). The clerk suggested I return to Home Depot to see if a new battery would fit. This morning, I did just that. Long story short: the Home Depot tool pro opened a new battery and it loaded onto the trimmer with no problem (as well as a second unit in the store). I also had my 20 year old Ridgid drill with me and it loaded into that tool also. The pro said he had never seen this. He gave me a card to call Ridgid on Monday to see if they can help (their office is closed on weekends). BTW, my older batteries did not load onto either of the new trimmers.
All this to say that Ridgid’s claim that all their 18v batteries can be swapped across their tool product line seems to be in question. If I have to start buying new Ridgid batteries so as to use their newer tools then that will cause me to return the trimmer for a refund and then to move over to DeWalt as my default.
If you do have to buy new batteries and return your ridgid trimmer, you might as well invest into a dedicated ope battery platform like the Ego 56v, Ryobi 40v, etc. The runtimes on these 18v ope tools are not good from what I have heard. I read 15 to 30 minutes of heavy use with an 8.0 ah Milwaukee quick lock 16 inch string trimmer. I wouldn’t expect other 18v batteries to fair any better. Even the Flexvolt stuff which is a glorified 15 cell 18v battery I wouldn’t expect to fair much better either. My 17.5 inch Commercial Ego I haven’t timed, but my newest 5.0 ah battery can get me through 3-4 average size properties. My older batteries don’t last as long but that is expected.
Thanks for the feedback Jronman! Yes, our lawnmower is a Ryobi which came with two 40v batteries and their run time is impressive. They take awhile to charge up but this has not been a problem for me.
I have since discovered that in fact one of my Ridgid batteries does load onto the trimmer (apparently, it is my newest battery). Two of my batteries are quite old and do not seem to hold a full charge. I am hoping that Ridgid will replace these with newer ones that can be back-ups for the trimmer (should I keep it). Still, I think the bigger issue is Ridgid’s extensive promotion that “All RIDGID 18V tools work with all RIDGID 18V batteries and chargers” which appears to be inaccurate these days.
Well, the above note was written yesterday and this morning I reached the Ridgid support line right at 9:00 am (no waiting). I realize this thread began as a rant about Ridgid but I must say I was very impressed with this clerk’s assistance. He was able to unravel why I have had an issue with loading my old batteries: they are the outdated Ni-Cd type whereas Ridgid’s newer products accept only Ridgid 18V Lithium Ion (LI-ION) type batteries. Okay, mystery solved but I don’t want to have to buy a new battery… the clerk was kind enough to arrange for me to receive two new LI-ION batteries and a charger to replace a couple of my older Ni-Cd batteries. He did acknowledge that Ridgid’s marketing does not discriminate between Ni-Cd and LI-ION but this might be an issue that soon passes as all Ni-Cd batteries are retired. In the meantime, it appears that Ridgid will replace these older batteries (and their chargers) with newer ones as customers make the requests. I will update this story as needed. Thanks for listening.
Ridgid warranty RANT. I returned an 18v battery on 4/23/25. Ridgid received it on 4/28/25. They approved warranty replacement 5/2/25. Despite numerous emails and calls and a dozen “sincere apologies” and at least 2 replacement orders written, it is July 22 and the replacement has not been shipped. One response Ridgid sent included a FedEx proof of delivery to me on 4/28/25. It was POD for the battery I sent to them. UFB. Apparently Lifetime Warranty is the amount of time you wait for Ridgid to honor their warranty. I spoke with a manager at Home Depot asking if they could help. The manager gave me their email so I could send details. I followed up a few weeks later but HD hasn’t responded to my emails either.
It’s a shame when companies tell you one thing and do something else. It’s amazing how much customer service has gone down and sad to see this is happening with Ridgid. They use to be such a great company and wondering if they are having issues or what is going on.