So after I typed the a rather longish story, I realized it was entirely not worth wading through - so here is the short version: The other day I had my U-lock, a Pit-bull mini, knocked out of my hand by a kid pushing a 10-foot string of shopping carts like he was trying out for the Jamaican bobsled team. It fell approximately 4-feet to the ground (concrete) and promptly cracked the plastic end-cap in half. for some reason this surprised me, so in hind-sight I decided it might be a good idea to wrap some tape around the plastic to maybe act as a bit of padding...(just trying to rise above the "nice bike" comment").

I've broken the "gingerbread" plastic on a number of locks. A good lock uses the plastic as decoration and protection against scratching, while a bad lock uses the plastic as support for the lock cylinder.

Nothing wrong with tape on a lock. If it protects and works, go for it.

Was this kid working for a grocery store or other retail outlet? I.e., did an employee of a grocery store break your lock? Because if that's the case, you might want to "ask" (polite word for demand) the store to replace your lock.

Actually I did exactly that, I asked for a manager and explained the situation and he said bring me a receipt and we can take it from there. Now I figured "take it from there" meant a song and dance and then they might offer me one of the lower end locks they sell. But low and behold when I brought the receipt in and showed them the lock they didn't even blink. I walked back out of the store (Lowe's, one of those rather large and generic building supply store/chains) in less than 5 minutes with the full price of the lock paid in cash and I got to keep the lock. So I really can't complain about them in so far as how they handled the whole situation.