Do you have the rewards card from K-mart? I do and when I buy something there and use the card they send me a receipt via email so I don't have to keep up with the one they print at the register. It's kinda cool. Call the K-mart where you bought the item and tell them what happened. Tell them about Kenmore trying to connect you, etc. They probably will take it back without a problem. Good luck.

You say "after all this time", so how long has it been since you bought it? If you paid with a credit card in the last 90 days or so, they should have a record of the purchase.

Why don't you save the little rubber caps (if they're removable) and see if you can find a strainer and see if you can replace the item with one from your local bar/restaurant supply house. Might be a couple of dollars more, but you'll get a product intended to stand up to heavy-duty professional use. And if you're lucky, those little caps may fit it. I find it's worth the money to buy good quality kitchen equipment--the cheap stuff just doesn't last, nor work as well often.

I can't remember exactly when I bought it, it had to be not too long after the kitchen remodel. In fact, I just went to my folder with the remodel photos and in June 2011, there's a pic of my sink with the OLD vintage spackle ware strainer in the sink. So the new strainer had to have been purchased after June 2011 at least. I may have used my debit card, does that count? probably not. Well, I'm going to go to the Kmart where I bought it and just see what happens.

I do have a Kmart Rewards card.

I'm a little konfused. Was this a Kenmore brand product sold at Kmart? You are not sure how old this strainer is - It may be over a year old and how much was it used?

It seems to be a well used product, therefore, you may not have much of a case. However, I do agree that if it was not abused, the handle should have stayed on.

You do have the handle? Can you tell what failed and maybe why? If it was a poor weld or rivet, you have a complaint. Maybe poor design?

jemdandy, I think Schoolhouse's main point is that she thought of Kenmore as a company with quality products and wanted them to be aware that they are selling a product that doesn't hold up. Even though the strainer is a year old, a welded handle shouldn't fall off. Or, at least, I think that's why she was calling them anyway.

After thinking this over, I see another potential problem here. While Sears and Kmart had joined up for a while there, haven't they now gone their separate ways again? They have in my area, not sure if it's national or not.

I wouldn't be surprised if the OP wasn't going to get the run-around on this one--Sears sending her to K-mart, then KM telling her since it's a Kenmore product, it's Sears' issue--with no one taking responsibility.

At any rate, good luck with it

As far as I know, Sears and Kmart are owned by the same company...I think Sears bought Kmart?

jel48 - right on.

I did not know Sears bought Kmart? If you go to the Kenmore website you'll see Customer Service phone numbers from Sears.

Strainer is a couple months shy of a year old.

{{!gwi}}

{{!gwi}}

Spot welding often fails on stainless items. That's why it is important to look for riveted handles on cookware.

If the product came with a warranty Sears is very easy to deal with as far as exchanges go. I have never had a problem walking in with my item and getting an exchange. Just recently exchanged my garbage disposal (7 year warranty/ failed at 6.5 years). No questions asked, gave me a new one off the shelf. But I walk in with a receipt and the warranty info.

However if it didn't come with a warranty and you can't prove you bought it when you did then it's buyer beware.

The colander is on a one day sale online for $14.39 right now. After checking it out I am not impressed. OXO has a similar product with a much better build. More expensive but you get what you pay for. Stainless at under $20.00 is never quality unless it's marked down from twice that.

yikes guess i'll stay with my very old tupperware strainers, lol...kmart bought sears..but they still closed the national headquarters in troy mi...

went to kmart the other day and turned around and walked out...still the same...sad to say i just don't shop there anymore...

Colander - that's the word. I could NOT think of it the whole time I was posting, so ended up with "strainer", which could mean the little thing in the sink drain. Thanks wildchild. It's on sale? Hmmmmm, wonder why? Maybe others have had a problem with it breaking also.

Just called KMart, you only have 90 days to return an item. She said maybe I could call Kenmore and they'd send me a new handle. Well, that ain't gonna help. So, I'll just look for something else. Thanks for all the suggestions.

Can you get some kind of contact cement, or something? Perhaps you can glue it back on?

KMart sounds like our Zellers here. They are crappy, although they often sell products made in Canada, which is very rare.
Funny thing is, their house-brand called Truly are products made in Canada.

Target bought out Zellers so we are going to be having Target stores soon.

If you go to a welding shop that can weld stainless steel I bet they would do those little spot welds for free. The only other option would be to drill a hole in each of the handle contact points and matching holes in the colander then use a bolt that fits and put a nut on it.

re: Photo of failed handle.

Yep, bad spot welds. A quality weld would have torn away a chunk of the thinner metal when it was forced off the srainer. This handle offered little resistance and parted easily.

The right end of the handle has 2 welds that are spaced a reasonable distance apart; The left end of the handle shows little to no welds. I suspect that the left end gave away early and then it was only a matter of time before the other end tore away - It was mightly over-stressed after the left end parted.

Not enough energy passed through the failed joint to make a proper weld. (The company I worked for specialized in making such joints. We welded composite silver contacts to various copper alloys on a regular basis.) This failure may be due to design and manufacturing, but from what I can see at this remote location, it is mostly a manufacturing problem.

Spot welding a thin piece of stainless to a thicker one is problematic, but it can be done. I estimate there is at least a 4 to 1 difference of thickness between these two parts.

Buy some JB Weld and fix it. $5 or so, and well worth it. Kmart will not take it back after all this time, trust me.

Sears did not buy Kmart,,,Kmart bought Sears-

Take that strainer to the nearest Kmart or Sears store and take it to the courtesy desk...they will replace it, even if you do not have a receipt.

I've always had good experiences with Sears. They will generally take things back without a receipt. I once bought a lawn chair that collapsed when DH sat on it. I brought it back the next day (no receipt). I was wild- I screamed "He could have been killed!" They offered an exchange, but I wanted the money. No problem. Also, Sears had good service over the phone. The number is 1 800 4 MY HOME.

Ask around among your friends (another reason to have taken up ole joyful's Christmas gift suggestion of several years) to find a good welder ... especially one that is good at fine or detailed work.

If you go in with a light-hearted demeanor, making a bit of a joke of it ... maybe s/he do the weld job for a small charge.

Cheaper than buying a new one - and probably much more sturdy.

(And maybe get him/her to add a bit of weld to the handle on the other side ... just in case!

ole joyful

Since you bought it at K-mart, Sears has nothing to do with this issue! No sense calling Sears, going to Sears or mentioning them on this issue for that matter. Sears (brand), Kenmore, Craftsman, DieHard, etc are all simply OEM brand names owned by Sears Holdings, the name that K-mart likes to use for many/most of their operations. They do NOT manufacture items, they have them made for them by contractors. And they vary who makes things for them too.

Ironic as it is, K-mart actually bought Sears (and no, they have not parted ways!) so for the "go to the top" advocates, you'll go to... K-mart! LOL

Seriously though, after a year, I doubt they'll do anything. Really, I have to ask, should they? I frankly doubt they carry the item anymore. I know a lot of people do it, but I'd be embarrassed to bring back something like this that's a year old. I'm sometimes embarrassed to be of the same species (sometimes wondering if I am) when I see people bringing in shoes or something that is obviously old and yelling "I paid $10 for these shoes, for that kind of money they should last longer!" Things like this happen. Sometimes it's poor design, sometimes it's a defect or sometimes it's even misuse, and no I'm not suggesting you misused it. I am saying it's a small thing in reality. Frankly, it'll work just as well without the handle on it won't it? Maybe better. I wouldn't try to repair it or return it. I'd use it and move on to something more important. It's called "pick your battles". I understand your frustration but really, don't we all know that quality isn't a common commodity these days? Still looks like a solid enough colander to strain the taters without a handle. With the lip on the top, I think I'd find the handles getting in the way anyway.

You could drill it and rivet it but then you open up a rust issue and probably will have the same problem with welding it. As I said, don't raise your blood pressure over this. It'll work fine and you can save some frustration by moving on. Laugh about it. Be glad it wasn't the handle on your car door or the kid's arm that broke off! :)

This handle can be re-attached with rivets. Solid, tubular (eyelets), or semi-tubular rivets may be used. I recommend the solid or semi-tubular type. However, the semi-tubular type must be of proper lenght to work right. If you do not have such, choose solid. Heading a solid rivet requires more peening, but it is the most simple rivet and is strong. Solid rivets can be cut to length as required. The cut end does not have to be pretty since it is going to be hammered over.

Rivet materials: Do not use steel. Corrosion is a problem. Since the colander is made of stainless (probably the 400 series), a soft stainless rivet is good, but you may not be able to find one to suit. Other rivet materials are aluminum and brass. Aluninum is corrosion resistant due to an oxide film on it; Aluminum in contact with stainless may sacificially corrode and fail. This leaves brass.

Select the rivets and drill holes: Two holes at each end of the handle. Dry fit the parts to insure that everything is ready.

Joint sealer: A joint sealer is recommended. Mix up some clear to light colored epoxy for this. Put some epoxy in the joint and on the rivet. The object is to seal the joint and rivet holes. The sealer keeps water and crud from collecting in the joint, and reduces potential for toxins (from bacteria).

After the handle is tightly riveted, wipe off the excess epoxy with paper toweling.

After the epoxy has well set, the colander is ready for use. you may consider tagging the colander with the message, "Do not use in oven". I don't know why one would put a colander in the oven, or any other very hot place, but such a reminder is a good precaution. Many 5-minute epoxies soften at 150 F and melts with a little more temperature. Epoxies resistant to higher temperatures usually require longer setting times, some running more than an hour. But these epoxies can fail at 350 F. The best policy to preserve your good repair is to not heat it to high temperature and smoke the adhesive.

A weather sealed joint can last the lifetime of the item.

I'm sorry but I'm sort of LOL at the idea of someone searching out rivets and special epoxies to fix a $20.00 item. Unless you are in the metal trades and already have the tooling and needed items it wouldn't make sense.

In regards to just take it to a welding shop and they will probably do it for free......why should they? You wouldn't take a coat to a tailor and expect them to sew new buttons it on for free or expect the shoemaker to just reglue a broken heel for free.

People in the metal trades are highly skilled professionals who deserve to be paid for their knowledge,time and materials just like anyone else.

I think I'd just throw the handle in the trash and use it without the handle. I don't even see why you'd need the handle anyway, as it is if it's hot then the metal handle will get hot anyway so either way you'd need to use a hot pad with it. I swear they make things these days to break so you'll have to go buy a new one. Here we are buying old colanders from the thrift shop that are 50 years old and using them for another 50 years but buy something new and it breaks within a year! GAH!

Which is one more reason for us to scream to the manufacturers, insisting that they build their new lines with similar quality to that which was built into most ordinary items 50 years ago.

It's a waste of precious resources (e.g gasoline, diesel fuel, electricity), manpower, etc.

Plus ... it adds to global warming ... and pollution.

Just so that they can make an unfair profit by purposely doing a lousy job of manufacturing.

An additional argument is ...

... that, just maybe, they can build a higher quality product in China ... for a lower price.

Of course ...

... when I can buy a pair of simple reading glasses in the Dollar Store for $1.00 (with an additional 13 cents of Federal and Provincial Sales Tax) ...

... I suspect that there's some slavery, or near-slavery, going into the situation, somewhere along the line.

ole joyful

Wildchild:

Of course, you are correct economically speaking in today's world. Its cheaper to buy another low quality colander than to pay to repair that one. Also, the colander is perfectly useable without the handle. One does have to use caution not to scald ones self when staining boiling materials. We have a plastic colander without handles - works fine for hot materials.

To understand my stance, I am a tinkerer of sorts and I do have many of the pieces mentioned at my workbench. I came from a different culture and I suppose you can not identify with it, nor understand it.

I was raised in a culture that "made do" with what we had. When something broke, there was no running off to a store to buy a replacement. First off, we did not have any extra money to cover such contingencies, and the town and store was too far away for convenience. We made one trip per week to town - that was it for the week.

The real reason to mees with this repair is the challenge. It calls out to those who likes to tinker.

Actually Jemdandy we do come from the same culture. I am also married to a talented machinist/tool maker/designer.

My dad was not in the trades but I grew up watching him take old things and remake them into new things. An old bookcase headboard would become a desk for example. He loved doing concrete work in our suburban backyard and nothing went to waste. If he tired of the design out would come the pick ax and the chunks of old concrete would be reused for substrate or to build a new raised planter or fishpond. Haul away was not in my vocabulary until I was well into adulthood. LOL

But I know how lucky we are to be able to fix things others can't. We have saved 1000s and 1000s of dollars on the ability to do things ourselves and even retrofit and customize common objects and fixtures. We have been able to buy cheaper goods and upgrade them to better serve our needs. We also have the knowledge of how things work, how they go together and how they are built to avoid marketing ploys used to confuse the uninformed consumer. So I save lots of money avoiding the bells and whistles and looking for function and a good build over form. I know when to pay more and when to pay less. I've also that any item marked "professional" is generally crap. Professionals rarely/if ever use things that are labeled as such. LOL

Colander? I am still using my old Tupperware ones from the 70's. There is absolutely no function that stainless adds to a colander (used for food at least)) other than looking shiny.

Now for a good strainer/sieve I would pay more for build. But for something that merely drains. See you at the Dollar Store. LOL

I agree joyful! I find myself buying a lot of old things at the flea market or thrift shop. My newest colander is an OLD aluminum one with the star hole design I got for 50 cents. I'm sure that thing will be around long after I'm dead and gone! Appliances are a what really bug me these days. They used to last for many years, in fact my old KA dishwasher is over 30 years old and people are still selling refurbished ones on ebay exactly like mine...but go buy a new DW and it may last 5 years and cost a fortune! Now another KA appliance is another bane...the mixer. People are still using their old Hobart KA mixers and selling them on ebay but buy a new one for $500 and it can barely handle making bread dough without stripping the (plastic)gears...GAH!

I've bought stainless colanders and got rid of them. There weren't enough holes in the bottom and the water just sat there on the bottom of the pasta. I've since bought some plastic ones at the dollar store (a nice deep white one) with lots of holes that works great.

I have my pasta pot insert that I'm going to try for making stock next time.

I can't believe we're still discussing a colander. LOL I have the aluminum colander I got from my mother when I moved out on my own. It was hers for many years, and has been mine for over 40 now. Still works fine, and hasn't fallen apart yet. It doesn't have handles, though.

Looks like, when one has a problem ...

... there appear to be various ways to handle it.

ole joyfuelled