"This is my second posting for Harbor Freight Tools (5-24-14). Below is my original post from 2013. I recently received my latest acquisition from HFT via FedEx: a 12 inch sliding compound, double-bevel miter saw with laser guide. The order was processed on a Monday, and it was at my doorstep on a Friday. For weighing in at a hefty 57 lbs., I was a bit concerned that the saw would arrive with some type of damage, but it didn't. The item was shipped in its sturdy manufacturer's packaging and arrived 100% intact.

Harbor Freight Tools coupons typically pop up in various periodicals and online. Again, I usually make my HFT purchases in person. However, the nearest retail store is 2+ hours away and it would be a while before I made my next trip. Besides, I was in the market for this item and when I found a coupon for $129.99, I couldn't pass it up. And for $6.99 FedEx flat rate shipping, I had to pull the trigger.

So, what's my point in posting again? It seems that only those who have had an unfortunate experience with HFT post with negative comments, which is totally understandable. However, those who have had a positive experience with HFT rarely post with their comments. I'm the guy who has had nothing but good experiences with Harbor Freight (knock wood) both in person and online. It should be known, that if this transaction had a less than stellar outcome, I would have posted equally objective feedback.

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After reading all the negative reviews, I felt compelled to post a review of my own. I typically purchase tools at the Harbor Freight store in person since I like to actually see what I’m buying. This last go round, I decided to make an online purchase since the HF store is 150 mi. from where I live and it would be a while before I made another out of town trip. Besides, they had some coupon deals I couldn’t pass up.

I ordered 5 moving dollies and a Mig-Welder Cart. I placed the order on a Saturday evening. The order was processed the following Monday. The welding cart was on backorder, but the dollies were available and shipped first. Since I ordered several, they shipped in 2 separate boxes. I received a notification that the items shipped and was sent FedEx tracking numbers for both boxes. I was a little concerned, but decided to wait them out. While those boxes were in transit, I got a notification that the welding cart was available and that item had been processed. I was sent a FedEx tracking number for the cart.

In all, I was pleasantly surprised. Everything I ordered arrived within a reasonable amount of time. The items were packed well and arrived complete and undamaged. The entire order was shipped via FedEx for a flat $6.99 fee. My credit card was charged only when the items were processed and shipped. I have been buying HF tools for years and have had relatively few negative issues. I understand that the quality of some of their items is commensurate to price and have no unreasonable expectations. I plan to order from them again sometime in the near future.
"

"Ordered for my son for Christmas. Still not received and the tracking # shows not shipped. A call to customer service had them encouraging me to cancel the order (?). Seems that after they get your money (which happens immediately) they are done with you and could care less if you get your order. Customer Service said that it would be here by 1/11/13 yet (you guessed it) still no tracking and no item delivered. No email from Harbor Freight regarding when it will be shipped, back ordered or anything except buy more from us. Very dissapointing experience. No more orders from me."

"On December 16,2012, I ordered, online, a $50.00 gift card from Harbor Freight to send to my son-in-law for Christmas. I used my Discover Card and the 50.00 charge showed up on my account on the 18th. The only acknowledgement received from HF was a confirmation of the order.
As of 12/27/2012, My son-in-law has not received his gift. I called HF customer service # and was promptly cut off 3 different times. So I called the local store to ask if they could help. The answer was "no, as they (cust serv) was a separate entity. ????? Anyway, I finally was able to reach a human, and told them what had happened; talked to 3 different people - 2 said it had been sent out on the 18th. 1says the order did not exist. I had e-mailed a copy of the order to my son-in-law, so he called them. They informed him that I would have to re-order as due to some technical difficulty on their end the order was not processed correctly. Thus the re-order. Now don't you think that strange, especially since it was applied to my charge card.
These people either think their customers are complete idiots, or, they themselves are complete idiots. The latter is probably the better descript. 7 - 10 business days for delivery? My assumption is that whoever processes the shipment saw that the card had already been applied to my card, and they never sent it - they kept it for theirself. They will never get my business again, even locally. This is really a disgusting way for an established company to conduct business.
R Howard
Fort Wayne IN"

"The cheap tools from Harbor Freight are great for the average homeowner who just needs to do a minor repair once in a while. It is also a great place to buy paint brushes, sanding pads, tarps, tie downs, and other small tools. I have always dealt with the store directly and have had no problems with returns. You get what you pay for, but if you are an occasional tool user, the tools at Harbor Freight are just fine."

"On Oct 24th I purchased a'Chicago Electric Power tools' Vibratory Tumbler at the Bakersfield, Ca store. Driving back to Az (5+1/2 hr drive) I plug it in and NOTHING. I plugged it into 3 different hot outlets and Nothing. It won't run.

I unpluged it and was putting it back into the box when the plug brushed my arm and gave me an electric shot. What the hell crap are they selling?/

I now have to drive to Las Vegas (1+1/2 hr drive) to return it and get my money back.

"

"Dishonest! They lie! Do not do business with Harbor Freight!
The nearest Harbor Freight store is 50 miles from my home. I learned that they had an automatic booster pump on clearance for $69.95. I was unable to go to their store to buy it due to a recent wildfire in my area. They advised me that they could not ship the item from their store, so I went to their web site and saw the booster pump listed for $119.00. I called their 800 number and asked if they would honor the $69.95 price at my “local” Harbor Freight store. The Harbor Freight representative, Ms. Palay, assured me that they would. She said she would take the order over the phone and adjust the price. Early the next morning I checked my recent Amex charges online and found that Harbor Freight had charged me the full price for the item. I immediately called Harbor Freight to advise them of their mistake and was informed that they were not able to match my local Harbor Freight store’s price. I told them that Ms. Palay assured me that she would adjust the price, otherwise I would not have ordered the item. I insisted that they cancel the order and credit my Amex account immediately. The senior manager that I spoke with said the item had already shipped, so I would just have to wait for it to arrive, then refuse it. He said once the item was returned, they would credit my Amex card. Both FedEx and UPS drop my packages at the entrance of my long driveway, so I never see the drivers, thus cannot refuse delivery. Several hours later I received an email from Harbor Freight with a FedEx tracking number. I immediately called FedEx to advise them that I did not want the item delivered. Their rep said that the shipping label had been initiated but the item was still at the Harbor Freight warehouse, thus not in the possession of FedEx. She said I would have to keep tracking the package and call FedEx back after it was in their possession to tell them I refuse delivery. FedEx picked up the package from Harbor Freight this morning, so I did call FedEx to stop delivery. Their rep said she would try to stop delivery, but that could take up to 48 hours. The package is scheduled to arrive tomorrow.
"

"I recently purchased a battery terminal cleaner at Harbor Freight which broke in the first few seconds of use. (The inner brush is embedded in soft plastic - a poor design indeed.) Upon returning the item, I was told that since it wasn't a "hand tool," it wasn't covered under their conspicuously posted "lifetime warranty on all hand tools." I contacted corporate via e mail, and was told that the ONLY tools which have a warranty are their PITTSBURGH brand. Thus, there is no warranty on the majority of their stock, despite their assurances to the contrary. Their tools are cheap, both in terms of cost, and quality. From here on, I'll pay a little more and get a usable quality tool!"

"I bought a remanufactured air compressor at a great price at HF's recent parking lot sale. The manager assured me that the unit was tested and operated correctly. Since the unit was sold "as is", I only had 5 days to return the unit if there was a problem.
I took the unit home and immediately went to test it, but since there was no manual with it, I read all the stickers on the unit in noticed the caution to check the oil level. I checked the sight glass and couldn't see a line through the center of the bullseye as indicated by the sticker. Looking into the filler plug with a flashlight I could see that there was already oil in the compressor. In fact, there was too much oil and I had to drain the compressor to get the oil level down into the sight glass. After correcting the oil level I ran the compressor for over an hour trying to get close to the advertised 125PSI. The pressure would not go over 80PSI and the compressor would not stop running (and believe me, as noisy as this unit is after an hour you WANT it to stop running!).
Satisfied that the unit was broken, I called the store and spoke to a cashier who passed me to someone who knew more about compressors. This person rambled on about adjustments but finally agreed that if the unit couldn't even reach its shut-off pressure I should return it. No instructions were given other than to bring it back the following day.
The following day I showed up at the store and they refused to take the unit back because it still had oil in it. When I pointed out that the unit had been sold with oil in it, the clerk called the assistant manager who insisted that they do not sell units with oil in them despite the fact that I had to remove oil from the compressor just to get it in running condition. So, aside from implying that I'm a liar, they were insisting that I had to make the 40 mile round trip just to empty the oil out and bring it back.
The assistant manager was belligerant and rude and thanks to this shining example of how not to do customer service, I'll never buy anything from Harbor Freight again."

"I had done a lot of business at HF and was well aware you get what you pay for. I was happy doing business with them until I had to exchange one of the products. I bought a $32.00 pond pump taped the sales slip to the box put it in the back of my SUV about a month later I got the pond put in the ground put the pump in the pond and it did not work. So I took it back to the store to exchange it when I got there I waited in the check-out line talked to the clerk she asked for my sales slip it was on the box but since HF uses thermal paper it was hardly readable she said she could not read it so she could not exchange it so I asked her if I could talk to a manager because I didn't want to hold up the line. The Asst. manager Josh came up told me they could not help me I told him that I had called the 800# and that they could email a copy because I used my CC to pay for it and he told me since I called them they could handle it and walked away I told him that was horrible customer service and I would be calling the 800# back this is when Denny the manager of the Lake Charles, La HF came up and said if I was not happy I sould take my business elsewhere and to leave. I went home called and left 3 messages 2 e-mails and got no reply . So Denny you are right I will be taking my business elsewhere."

"Don't EVER order anything online from this company and don't ever walk out of one of their stores with everything being in the box, even if you have to open up the box before leaving the store! I bought a Pressure Washer, knowing that the hose was missing.....thought I was still getting a great deal. I ordered the hose from their website and when the box arrived it was empty, except for some bubble wrap. Called Customer Service and they said SORRY, BUT WE CHANGED OUT POLICY. We no longer do "Special Orders". What "Special Order" ???I just wanted the part that I ordered! I called some "complaint line" and got the same stupid story. They said they would call me back. Never happened!"

"They had advertised a oscillating power tool that showed it was a sander. When I got the tool the sanding pad was missing and could not use the tool. I called and they said this was extra, and was charged $17.99 for the pad and shipping."

"I've been shopping with Harbor Freight Tools for over twelve years
and have had mainly good experiences with them. Although it's true that their tools may lack quality when comparing them to Snap-On
or Mac but they are a good value when used around the home as intended. As in all walks of life You get what you pay for Extended warranty is available and I recommend it for their higher priced items. I'm currently using my second shallow well pump for watering my lawn and it has worked great for over a year now. We have a store locally and if possible I recommend dealing with a store versus online or telephone. I will buy from them again and would recommend them to anyone wanting to avoid paying outrageous prices for tools to the previous mentioned retailers."

"Harbor Freight tolls are not bad for the price but their deliveries are sloooow and it may take two days for customer service to get back to you when you email them."

"This place sells cheap tools and sells them cheap.

It is what it is.

Don't go here expecting to get high quality precision insturments for bargain basement prices. The tools are made in China. If you need a cheap clamp or a cheap hammer, a tarp or tie downs, get them here. If you are starting a cabinet making business, go elsewhere.

The service can, at times, suck, especially on the phone. (Calls are answered in India) and pay rates in the stores are probably pretty low, so a surly employee is not unheard of. On the other hand, the tools are OK for what you pay. I like this store for what it is. Some of the items I have bought here over the years have held up pretty well. Some of them were useless and a waste of money. Returns have been accepted without much hassel and exchanges were handled well. If there is a store near you, give them a try. Mail order is fairly quick and efficient, but their shipping rates often wipe out any savings.

LOOK FOR THE SALES AND BE SURE TO HAVE THE SALE AD WITH YOU WHEN YOU MAKE A PURCHASE. Shop the sales and have the coupons to make the experience worthwhile."

"WORST SERVICE EVER. Do business with those idiots if you want to lose time, energy and patience. Indian people who pick up the phone are only able to repeat the same sentence about "providing an excellent service".
As an example, I am waiting for an email copy of an invoice for 4 days.
You always have what you pay for. Don't be fooled by their low prices."