I think you can do that at Lowe's or Ace Hardware.
Lots of folks sell Craftsman tools these day in addition to Sears.
My understanding is that there are not near as many lifetime guarantees these days.
I tried exchanging a 20 year old Craftsman screwdriver at Ace. They would only do it with a receipt, which I didn't have.
I have had no issues returning ancient Craftsman tools at my local Ace, they have always been good to me over the last 30 years. It is probably just the Ace you went to, if you have another local to you then go there as long as it is not owned by the same people.