Harbor freight

Bill

Administrator
Picking up on a different thread where Harbor freight was mentioned. Yes they have some junk but they have some ok stuff to.

Lowes under cut laminate saw $20
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Harbor freight ocsilating tool $20.
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I'll take the HF one any day. If it craps out it was worth for 1 job.


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Sweet. Looks nice. Yeah I picked up a 40ish dollar bench grinder there and it does the job ok so far. Hand tools are mostly cheap, chinese made knuckle bustin junk.
 
Those oscillating saws (any brand) are pretty sweet. Huge time savers!
 
i bought a pneumatic floor nailer there for $140 about 9 years ago. the driver tongue needed to be deburred a few times with a file, but it runs smoothly now and drives staples, t-cleats, and l-cleats. the stanley brand nailer i was looking at was $500 at the time.
 
The thing with HF is you have to assume your buying a tool for a one time job and expect it to crap out on you. If it lasts longer than that....that is just a bonus.

Floors look awesome bill and yes - I think your money and more importantly TIME ahead with your decision.
 
Sorry, this got to be a windy vent on my part, but I wanted to explain my experience with them.

I have a hard time buying anything from them again. Very poor, rude customer service. I bought a welder from them online, it said 2 weeks for shipping. I ordered it in September, and they took the money out of my account right away. I hadnt received it after 3 weeks, so I called them, they said it was back ordered, and I should receive it by December 1st. I waited until the middle of December, and I still havent received the welder. I had already bought a different one at Fleet Farm, because I couldnt wait that long. I called them back up and asked them what was going on, they said it was shipped on December 3rd, and I should have it soon. I waited until right before Christmas, and I called them back, and they said I should have received it already, and I needed to contact the shipping company. So I asked what the shipping confirmation info was, they said only had that it was picked up by Fedex, but they didnt have the confirmation number anymore. So I called FEDEX, and they laughted, and said they do that all the time, FEDEX got an order that they were needing shipping, but they never sent an order to pick up the item, and FEDEX said they have not picked it up. So I called HF back up, and they said they did, So I asked them if they would call FEDEX, and they said they cant do that. So I called FEDEX back up, and they said they cant call HF. I then called HF and asked for my money back, they said since it was shipped, they cant refund the money. This was late January.

I then called HF back and said I needed to talk to their superviser, in which they had kept saying I had to leave a message, and no one would ever return my calls. A week later (end of February) I receive a welder from FEDEX, but I noticed on my credit card statement they billed me again for the welder. So I called HF back, and they said they only show it was billed once. I told them one time back in September, and one now in February, HF said that I had ordered a welder and received it back in the fall, and I ordered another one January. They said I ordered 2, and they shipped 2. I had to re explain it, and they never refunded my money. I called my credit card company, and they cancelled the payment to them. I never heard anything back from them. Then in June, I received another welder via FEDEX. I called HF back up, and explained what had all happened, and they said ok, just ship it back and they would refund me for shipping, I was hesitant, but I did. At this time I thought it was all solved, once and for all, but then I noticed on my next credit card statement, they refunded the money for the returned welder. Prior to them refunding the money, we were all straightened up. I finally got a welder from them, and was only charged for that one welder. But then when I returned the second welder they sent me that I didnt order, they credited my card for it, so at that point, I got my welder for free. I considered keeping it for the hassle, but that isnt me. So I called them back up and tried again to correct the situation, they said they couldnt rebill my credit card, but they would accept a check. So I mailed them a check. This was the following October, 13 months of hassle. They didnt cash the check until December. Luckily I had accounted for the check to be cashed sooner or later, and it didnt mess up my account.

All this, and when I didnt get the first welder I ordered by the middle of October, I bought one from Fleet Farm, so I didnt need the welder from HF anymore. But I ended up selling the HF welder to a buddy.
 
It's not me either, but for all that BS you went thru I would have told them to pound sand and kept the money. That sounds like a total crap show almost from the start. Unfortunately it's not only HF, it's all too common.
 
I have had good luck with Menards tools to. I always get the guarantee that they sell you at the cash register too.
 
I just bought a gas powered post hole auger from them for 180$ It came with 6 in bit Also bought the guarantee

Plan to set out 100 wax myrtles( bare root) this weekend

time will tell.......

bill
 
I have a HF store within 1.5 mile of my house. I have bought a number of things over the years - mostly one time use tools as mentioned. Always have my 20% off coupon with me. This summer I was building a lake and needed a pump. I put probably 30 hours on an HF 2" trash pump. Dang thing ran great!

Their zip ties will only last a year at most on a tree tube before they break.
 
Never ordered on line from them. Based on the welder fiasco you went through I doubt I ever will.
 
Sorry, this got to be a windy vent on my part, but I wanted to explain my experience with them.

I have a hard time buying anything from them again. Very poor, rude customer service. I bought a welder from them online, it said 2 weeks for shipping. I ordered it in September, and they took the money out of my account right away. I hadnt received it after 3 weeks, so I called them, they said it was back ordered, and I should receive it by December 1st. I waited until the middle of December, and I still havent received the welder. I had already bought a different one at Fleet Farm, because I couldnt wait that long. I called them back up and asked them what was going on, they said it was shipped on December 3rd, and I should have it soon. I waited until right before Christmas, and I called them back, and they said I should have received it already, and I needed to contact the shipping company. So I asked what the shipping confirmation info was, they said only had that it was picked up by Fedex, but they didnt have the confirmation number anymore. So I called FEDEX, and they laughted, and said they do that all the time, FEDEX got an order that they were needing shipping, but they never sent an order to pick up the item, and FEDEX said they have not picked it up. So I called HF back up, and they said they did, So I asked them if they would call FEDEX, and they said they cant do that. So I called FEDEX back up, and they said they cant call HF. I then called HF and asked for my money back, they said since it was shipped, they cant refund the money. This was late January.

I then called HF back and said I needed to talk to their superviser, in which they had kept saying I had to leave a message, and no one would ever return my calls. A week later (end of February) I receive a welder from FEDEX, but I noticed on my credit card statement they billed me again for the welder. So I called HF back, and they said they only show it was billed once. I told them one time back in September, and one now in February, HF said that I had ordered a welder and received it back in the fall, and I ordered another one January. They said I ordered 2, and they shipped 2. I had to re explain it, and they never refunded my money. I called my credit card company, and they cancelled the payment to them. I never heard anything back from them. Then in June, I received another welder via FEDEX. I called HF back up, and explained what had all happened, and they said ok, just ship it back and they would refund me for shipping, I was hesitant, but I did. At this time I thought it was all solved, once and for all, but then I noticed on my next credit card statement, they refunded the money for the returned welder. Prior to them refunding the money, we were all straightened up. I finally got a welder from them, and was only charged for that one welder. But then when I returned the second welder they sent me that I didnt order, they credited my card for it, so at that point, I got my welder for free. I considered keeping it for the hassle, but that isnt me. So I called them back up and tried again to correct the situation, they said they couldnt rebill my credit card, but they would accept a check. So I mailed them a check. This was the following October, 13 months of hassle. They didnt cash the check until December. Luckily I had accounted for the check to be cashed sooner or later, and it didnt mess up my account.

All this, and when I didnt get the first welder I ordered by the middle of October, I bought one from Fleet Farm, so I didnt need the welder from HF anymore. But I ended up selling the HF welder to a buddy.

Wow! What a nightmare! You are much more patient than I would have been in that situation. Based on your experience you wonder how HF stays in business.


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I have had good luck with Menards tools to. I always get the guarantee that they sell you at the cash register too.

Why? These large box stores have a no questions asked return policy, you are paying an extra 5% for no additional added value or protection.
 
I personally never get the replacement plans from HF. I bought a air brad nailer this AM to finish the trim. I'm doing more rooms.

Anyway the nailer was $20. The 2 year replacement plan was $15 :emoji_thinking: I declined.
 
Why? These large box stores have a no questions asked return policy, you are paying an extra 5% for no additional added value or protection.
I just bought an air compressor from Menards. It only had a 1 year warranty. For less than $15 dollars I got another 2 years so 3 year warranty all together. I bought a hydraulic jack from Harbor Freight I didn’t get the no questions asked lifetime warranty with it. I’m going to regret that because every jack I’ve owned went to leaking in a few years.
 
I have a HF store within 1.5 mile of my house. I have bought a number of things over the years - mostly one time use tools as mentioned. Always have my 20% off coupon with me. This summer I was building a lake and needed a pump. I put probably 30 hours on an HF 2" trash pump. Dang thing ran great!

Their zip ties will only last a year at most on a tree tube before they break.
Buy the black zip ties for outside use. There made to stand up to UV rays.
 
I personally never get the replacement plans from HF. I bought a air brad nailer this AM to finish the trim. I'm doing more rooms.

Anyway the nailer was $20. The 2 year replacement plan was $15 :emoji_thinking: I declined.
Same here. I just bought an angle grinder for $20 bucks tonight in preparation for some welding practice when the weather breaks. I also declined the added warranty. By the way, check your credit cards. Several of mine will extend the manufacturer's warranty by a few years if you use the card.

Thanks,

Jack
 
I buy tools for the place I work. We have a national contract through Grainger. After we burned up a couple cordless grinders and cordless impacts I bought the extended warranty and have already used it several times.
 
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