Okay, I know most of their stuff is mediocre quality at best but for some applications, that is all that is necessary.

I placed my first order on December 2, for 5 items. They were shipped on December 5th.

As I haven't received squat as of Dec 16th, I call them. They cancelled 2 of the 5 items and put one on back order! Then to add insult to injury when they say allow 14 days, they don't mean 2 weeks. They mean 14 business days or basically 3 weeks.

I asked about when I was supposed to find out about the cancelled parts, they said there would be a note in the box!....Well no sh*t, you think the half empty box I ordered a month ago would have given it away!

They were very nice saying they would waive the shipping on the backordered part. Like I should have to incur additional cost because they didn't have something in stock. What a joke.

 

I have to say that ***EVERYTHING*** that I have ever ordered from Harbor Freight has been either backordered or cancelled. I have never received anything from them. My neighbor has received less than half of his orders; The rest have either been backordered and cancelled or discontinued from the outset. Needless to say, their catalogs go in the trash within minutes of delivery...

 

The only thing I've ever bought from them was a folding engine hoist.Never again! Total piece of Sh#t! The arm that swings out to pick up the engines was about 6 inches to short to pull the engine from my camaro and my 71 nova!Ended up doing some major mods to it!

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Idont know about you guys but I have a store right near my house and I've only baught a few things from them and they were ALL except one thing a Huge Peice of sh*t "theres a reason this crap is sooo cheep... (my my three ton floor jack was ok.. and let me tell you it's not that great either...when I got it out of the box suposedly ready to go Every fitting or bolt on it was loose about ready to fall off......MAN thats safe I wonder what would happend If someone gets hurt!!!!)

I would never buy anything from their again

 

I've bought several things from them with no problems. The first was a reman'd DeWalt 18V cordless drill. Love it. Then I bought a 20 ton press and sand blast cabinet. The cabinet was cheap, but it works fine. Can't complain about the press either.

 

I picked up a few things from them; you're right, the backorder deal sucks. They can get great deals though... I picked up three digital multitesters for $7 each- the same one a friend paid $30 for. The only difference was the label pasted on the front- even the probes had the same manufacturer stamping on them.


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-Tom P (Hot rodded 1986 Firebird 2.8l) from http://www.f-body.net/mailbag/3rd/3rd_mailbag.html message boards
---Think your car could be pic of the week? Visit http://www.f-body.net for details!

 

I have a Harbor Freight outlet store about a block from my house. You have to be careful, all the stuff is made in China, and are copies of somebody elses's stuff. Sawzall copy was 49.00, but the first time I used it the set screw stripped out that holds the blade, and the blades that came with it were total ****. I replace the set screw (.20 cents) and the blades, and it's worked flawlessly since then. Good deals, but the stuff is NEVER best quality. Ya get what ya pay for!

 

I've never had any problem with anything I have ever got from Harbor Freight..... and I've ordered a lot of stuff, too.

In fact, I've only had one item backordered..... a ratcheting wrench set, and I received it this week. I did have to send the card back in telling them that I still wanted the set, but I got the tools and knew about the delay in shipment ahead of time.

Their stuff is not Craftsman, but what I've gotten has definitely been "usable"..... not to mention, excellent bargains all.

 

Harbor Freight simply $uck$!

I've been waiting for my order for over 8 weeks.
Finally cancelled it today.


Whats funny is that I received their new catalogue but not the product that I have ordered. I wonder if most of the items listed are also on back order.

It just shows that anything and everything from California $UCKS! From now on I'm ordering from out of state or even from SCUMMIT Racing!

sorry for the ranting

 

i've got a harbor freight local to me here.

my folding hoist is from there. works just fine. the heaviest thing it's been used on was an antique lathe that weighed about 2500 pounds. we used two hoists to lift it off of the trailer.

my only gripe about it..... it takes forever to pump up.

 

I have had pretty good luck through mail order & with the quality of the stuff that I have picked up at the store in a town about 85 miles north.

I always compare what I am considering getting to the name brand stuff & what it is I am planning on using it for.

Also, when they have something on sale, it is not always in stock, but it is almost always put on sale again withing 2-3 months.

Like said above, you get what you pay for, but for those on a budget, it can be affordable.

 

harbor freight is cheap stuff in price and quality. looking at it from a cost value standpoint i'd guess it's ok but i sure wouldn't expect anything from them to last as long or serve me as well as snap on.

 

I've had good and bad results with Harbor Freight merchandise. I have a HF abrasive blast cabinet. I'm pretty pleased with it, but the fluorescent light in it died in about 2 hrs. No biggie, I modified the cabinet by mounting an under-cabinet 3 halogen light fixture inside. Much better light and easier to see what I'm working on.

An example of bad results from HF equipment: I bought an electric hammer drill and carbide tipped masonary bits. I drilled 3 holes and noticed that the hole wasn't progressing that well anymore. The masonary bit had shed its junk carbide tips already. I found some made in USA Vermont tools masonary bits I'd forgotten I'd bought along with the red-heads I was going to use to secure the equipment. I continued to drill the holes without a problem that day, until the next morning. The inpact drill was DEAD as a doornail! I had only drilled about a dozen holes in total! The good news it I called HF's Customer Service and got a RGA number and a pre-paid shipping label to return the bits and drill for full credit.

An example of good results: I bought a 22,000 RPM air-operated Central Pneumatics die grinder about 14 years ago. It finally siezed and died last year. I bought two more to replace it. Now I can swap out die grinders quickly rather than swapping the abrasive bits.

More good results: I bought a piece of equipment from them that is used to hang car doors. It has an adjustable vertical post that latches to the door latch. A jack raises to support the door from below and another post clamps and secures the top of the door where the glass is. The tool is on 4 casters so it allows you to open the door or slide it out of the way after you've removed the hinge pins. The tool cost under $80 as I recall. The equivalent tool in the body shop catalogs is in the hundreds of dollars.

More good results: I use their #44829 14" Industrial Cut-Off Saw to cut the center tubing for the Wonderbars. You can't beat it at the $49.99 price I paid. It came with spare brushes too. No problems so far, though I'm considering buying another when it's on half-price sale again and have it as a backup in case this one dies in the middle of a production run.

I buy my alum oxide and glass bead abrasives for the sand blast cabinet from HF. Of course you can't go wrong with that.

 

Well everybody knows you get what you pay for!

I'm sure everybody has heard of the expression "Buyer Beware!"

A little common sense goes a long way!!!

Having said that, I AM a fan of Harbour freight! I am on a very strict finicial budget and can't afford many things unless I get it from there. If it looks cheap or cheesy--it probably is! Don't buy it!!!

I also know the CP compresser tht normally sells for 179.95 that I got on sale for 79.95 works great.

The red aluminum racing jack works great. I know it's not a "real racing" jack taking 6 pumps to full height--the Nascar guys only takes 2 to full extension. I know you're not going to get a quality "racing" jack for 129.95, but it looks the part only and works fine.

I know that you're not gonna get a quality 1/2 impact gun for 25.99--I looked at the specs and torque #'s and compared--but mine wooks great.

I know that you're not gonna get a quality 3/8 ratchet for 15.99-- but again, mine works great.

I know that all the 1/2" and 3/8" Pittsburgh impact sockets are made in China, many are thicker wall than the "quality" sockets like Mac, craftsman, snap-on, ETC, but you get a comple set of said sockets for what you pay for 1 "name brand" socket.

I know the "Storehouse" complete 3 piece/11 drawer tool chest is not a quality made item--but it looks cool and at 179.95 delivered to my front door, it serves my purpose-- and considering their liberal shipping polices (no shipping charge for the tool box delivered to my front door) I am willing to wait for the piece ordered. Of course they are gonna use the cheapest shipping they can find in order to keep the price down when picking up the shipping on a 131 lb. item.

And yes, they do back order many items--a higher per centage than almost any other company in existance--but many cases it is the fault of the mfg. not delivering product by the promised/ date to them. The catalogs/flyers are made in advance, and when the mfg. does not deliver when promised-- there's not much they can do except back order.

So next time you go into a store or order something from the catalog, and get the 25.00 item instead of the one that sells for 60.00--don't compare the spec's--don't check availability first--buy something that looks cheap/or looks like it won't hold up under use--buy something that is 1/3 of the price of the "name brand" version and expect it to be as good as the brand name version--or just something that seems too good to be true and then discover it's IS too good to be true--SHAME ON YOU!

By the way, the couple things I have had a problem with, they either replaced with no hassle or upgraded for the difference in price from one to the next. I have found the sales people at the store in Houston and the people at customer support to be very helpful. Remember if you go in with an "attitude" you will probably get one back!!!