I've needed a torque wrench for years but never got around to buying one and have always ended up borrowing one from someone. I then questioned where my one friend purchased his from due to the quality and ease of use of his wrench and suggested to purchase item# 239-3VGA from HFT. I highly recommend this torque wrench to anyone.

I purchased a #90385 air compressor from HF back in August '05. I received the compressor within 3 days. I assembled it and put it in my store room. About 3 weeks later, I went to use it and found all of the oil on the floor. I called HF and they promptly sent UPS to pick it up. I recv'd the compressor about 2 weeks later. Again, I assembled it, put oil in it and put it in my store room. A few weeks later I went to use it. It ran for about 30 seconds then quit. I called HF and they again sent UPS to pick-up the compressor.  
 
Yesterday I recv'd the 2nd replacement (3rd compressor). Upon opening the box, I found the entire compressor drenched with oil. I had no intention of cleaning it and plugging it in because the electric motor was full of oil and a potential fire hazard. I called HF and they offered me a refund (upon receipt of the compressor) which I reluctantly excepted. I have found that it takes 2-3 months to receive credit for defective items that I have returned.

This review was modified by its author, wkavery, on 1/10/06 6:02 PM.

For a do it yourselfer, I don't believe that every tool I own needs to be a name brand tool. Many tools I buy, I buy for a particular project that requires it. Chances are I'll use that tool again maybe once or twice a year. All the items I bought fall into this catagory with the exception of one item. I bought a bench vise for a really good price and it works perfectly. I priced out belt sanders at about 175 dollars at other stores and bought one at Harbor Freight for 26 dollars. I bought a 2 year free replacement policy for 10 dollars, so I spent 36 dollars. It worked perfectly on the project it was intended for.

I hadn't ordered from Harbor Freight for about 10 years and never had issues before- and this time was no exception. Ordered 8 5" heavy duty casters some magnifying glasses and scissors and they packed them with foam peanut shells but everything arrived in working order other than a mangled box that the glasses came in. 27lb box for $8 shipping to my front door in 7 days I am very pleased.

I mean, what's going on? Your system shows shipping dates which are inaccurate (UPS tracking numbers are assigned quickly but packages aren't PHYSICALLY mailed right away). TWO weeks from New Jersey to Washington DC is insane, I feel bad for pacific coast customers unless there is a distribution center there). I finally received my item, like I said, about two weeks later and whaddya know...broken. They issued a call tag which arrived more than 7 business days later (there was no way of knowing when they would arrive) so I handed the package over and here it is, August 6th, a whole month later and I still have nothing. My first and last with this company.

This review was modified by its author, OneTonHammer, on 8/6/05 7:12 PM.

I have ordered items off the back of cereal boxes that arrived quicker. I placed my order 2 weeks ago and nothing. After talking to customer service I was informed my order was not scheduled to arrive for another week. 3 weeks is ridiculous.  
 
If you can't find in a local store DO NOT buy from the internet. The wainting time is horrible. The downside is that Hrabor Freight marks price up on store items. Sometimes you can bring in a print-off of the online price and they will match the price.

Do not buy from this company. With Harbor Freight, you get what you pay for and their dirt cheap prices are not worth the dirt-poor service you get in return.  
 
Highlights from my first (and last) shopping experience:  
1. My item apparently was backordered when I placed my order. However, nothing on their site indicated this. It wasn't until I emailed them 3 days later that they informed me that the item would be backordered for 2 weeks.  
2. When my item was finally "shipped" and my CC billed, the item didn't leave their warehouse for another 2 weeks.  
3. In all, it took 3 1/2 weeks to receive my order.  
4. It takes their CS department 2 business days to respond to emails.  
5. I used a $5 off coupon on my order. My order confirmation showed the order total with the coupon applied. However, my CC was billed for the full amount.  
 
In sum, Harbor Freight's low prices just aren't worth the very poor service you get. Knowing what I know now, I would have just bought the item from Sears.com (or a similar store). It would have cost twice as much, but I would have received a higher quality product, delivered within a few days, and backed up by decent service.

The prices are low at this store but its anly to draw you in. Don't be fooled. This store can backorder their products up to a year. I ordered from them two months ago and my item has been on backorder for those two months. Ontop of all that, it takes 12-14 business days for the item to get to your house from the store after they get it in stock.  
 
I will never order from this store again.  
 
NEVER...  
EVER  
 
Dont be fooled, this is a bad store with extremely bad service.

I have easily spent between $1000 and $2000 with this company in about 10 orders since 1997 and felt compelled to write positive comments about harbor freight direct due to the low score. My mail order experiences never left me with a problem I had to complain about. Now that I have two outlet stores near me, I check out the merchandise first. . My latest purchase was the 2.5 HP tile cutter (on sale for $199) which I would have felt nervous ordering online but after seeing the quality, worth every cent.  
 
Cons:  
A lot of the products are inferior quality, know this before ordering.  
Shipping is slow. Keep this in mind if you need an item in a hurry.  
 
Pros:  
Prices are great.  
Save big on name brand electric tools.  
Some great deals to be had on some of the made in china tools too!!  

You get what you pay for most of the time. It all depends on how you look at it. If your life depends on a tool or you are going to use it every day, you might want to look elsewhere for there non brand name tools. However they sell Dewalt, Makita and Skill tools CHEAP. I bought a 4 tool Dewalt 18v combo set for $399 and could not find it anywhere else for cheaper than $460 plus way higher shipping. There shipping is sketchy and slow as hell. If you order something under $10 and its not in stock, they will remove it from your order and never ship it. It will take up to 4 weeks to get there and some of there stuff is crap. I have had very good luck with the stuff I bought during the re-modeling of my house. I bought a nail gun that can hang with the best for 1/3 the price and lots of hand tools as well as supplies that have saved me mucho denero! I am a priority club member and it has paid off many times over. I have mixed feelings but if you set your expectations accordingly, you can feel comfortable that you can return your stuff and you wont get screwed and just might save a Chinese boat load of money.

I HAVE ORDERED $THOUSANDS FROM THIS CO. IN GENERAL, THOSE THAT ARE DISSATISFIED 1)HAVE ORDERED CHEAPEST (THEY HAVE A TAP AND DIE SET $39 THAT WILL CUT THREADS IN HARD WAX, BUT NOT MUCH ELSE, THEY ALSO HAVE SETS THREE TIMES THE PRICE!), 2)GET CHEAPEST SHIPPING, ALMOST FREE, (THEIR HANDLING CHGS ARE AUTOMATIC BUT CHEAP) AND 3)HAVE BAD EXPERIENCES WITH TECH HELP (BAD) OR CUSTOMER SERVICE (ATROCIOUS), OR BOOKEEPING DEPT (MINIMUM WAGE, WORKING ON THEIR GEDS).  
I AM STILL TRYING TO GET MY SEWING MACHINE TO WORK BUT I'M ALMOST THERE BECAUSE I GOT AN OPERATING MANUAL FROM SEARS (GENERAL INFO VERY HELPFUL, I DON'T KNOW HOW TO SEW!). ON THE OTHER HAND THEIR SMALL TOOLS ARE TOPS EQUAL TO ANY HARDWARE STORE, ALL CHINESE MANUFACTURE. MY LATEST ACQUISITION IS THEIR PLASMA CUTTER FOR $599. I FEEL BAD BECAUSE I ORDERED THIS IN NOV04, I EMAILED THEM AFTER 5W, NO ANSWER! I FINALLY SAW THIS ON THE WEBSITE FOR $399, SO I ORDERED AGAIN. AFTER A FEW WEEKS, UPS DELIVERED TWO UNITS! I CALLED HF FOR A RETURN #, AND NEXT DAY UPS CAME TO MY DOOR. GOT RECEIPT FROM UPS!  
MY CREDIT CARD STILL SHOWS ME CHARGED FOR TWO, AND AT $599 EACH! THE EQUIVALENT MACHINE IS OVER $2K HERE, & IF ONE OF THESE CHARGES DISAPPEARS I'LL BE HAPPY, IF NOT I'LL GO THE DISPUTE ROUTE WITH THE CRED CARD CO! YOU MUST HAVE ALL YOUR DOCUMENTATION.  
HAVE YOU EVER DEALT WITH THE PHONE CO? I HAVE BEEN TRYING FOR MY DSL FOR 1Y NOW FROM THREE DIFFERENT, VERIZON TWICE, AND ONLY WHEN I INQUIRED OF GWS WAS FINALLY TOLD IT WAS IMPOSSIBLE AND WHY. I HAVE TWO SETS OF MODEMS AND FILTERS, FROM VERIZON & ATT, NEVER ASKED FOR EITHER BACK.  
AFTER ALL I FIGURE, ON THE WHOLE I'M EQUIPING A MACHINE & WOODWORKING SHOP FOR AROUND $10K, ENRICHING HF, AND MAKING THE CHICOMS HAPPY. WHAT MORE COULD I ASK FOR.

Placed order on 1/18/2004 got email conformation that order was placed. That was the last I heard from this company. No shipping information no tracking number. Credit card was billed on 1/19/2004. Contacted customer service, took 20 minutes to reach someone, then they still had me waiting. Appeared they were working with other contacts at the same time. Finally received order on 2/2/2005 and it wasn't complete some items back ordered. No way to tell on sight if items are in stock. Took 15 days for order to travel from GA. to FL. Prices of items are cheap and so is quality. Very poor service. Don't know if back ordered items will ever arrive.

I ordered about half a dozen items; they cancelled two without telling me. One of the items that came was a cordless drill, which was DOA. I called up, and was told they they would send out a replacement 7-10 days after they received back my broken drill. They would pay for shipping (ground) back and would ship (ground) back to me, CA-NY. So we're talking a minimum of three weeks roundtrip.  
 
The sales rep I talked to:  
 
-- would only tell me her supervisor's name, Lauren, after great effort on my part  
-- claimed to be unable to transfer me to her supervisor (needless to say, I called back immediately, asked to speak to Lauren and was transfered immediately to her extension)  
-- her supervisor never called me back after I left a message  
 
I eventually opened up the drill myself and fixed the broken trigger with a small screw of my own and some krazy glue. Sure, might have voided my warranty but something tells me I don't really care.  
 
It's the last time I buy from them. They're definitely cheap, but it's just not worth it. The drill itself is fine; the screwdriver bits are made of soft metal and last about a screw or two, and the drill bits aren't much better.

Ordered several products and chose for UPS shipping ground, they did let UPS deliver products after their truck drove them cross country. If they would let UPS pick up the order would have been here in 3 to 5 days but the way they did it it took 15 days. They backordered 1 product and did not even notify me. 1 product I recieved came in broke (welder) and had to be returned.

I have ordered several products from this company and am now have a Inside Track membership with them. I have been very pleased with the products timely shipping in most cases, and well packed boxes. I have had contacted customer service on at least 3 occasions and I've had very good service. I have one item with my one order which is on back order status. Most B.O's come in in a very reasonable time frame. I order most of the time online and they keep me updated on prices regularly by send me catalogs in the mail or with my order. I am very pleased with this company and will continue to make purchases form them because of value, prices and service. I am a website owner and I noticed the ease of use of their website and the way it tracks any sale items or free items as you shop. On the back of the catalogs they post dated items that you can get free for a purchase of $50 or more. That is easy when you buy tools. The lower prices allow you to purchase more items for less money.