Harbor Freight Tools

Harbor Skate, Harbor Hate. Harbor Fright. Harbor Sheight. China Fright. The Chinese cheesecake factory. HF Crap.
If you haven’t heard of it, you will. They claim to open a new store every 3 days.
This is a store where «buyer beware» really comes into play. There is a lot of Chinese crap here. A quick Google of HF reviews gives you a tip of what you’re in for. You can read horror stories for hours.
So why use it? THE GOOD, BAD & UGLY TRUTH
There are times when the average person will use something only once or infrequently. This is the place to get that tool. Sometime it’s cheaper than Walmart. If you need a single file, replacement grinder wheels, gloves etc. maybe this is the place. If you thinking about getting a higher end item from here, I strongly suggest you do your homework. There is a site online at
that will give you a list of 1000 or so items that’s been compiled from across the web from people who use tools daily. it details what items are worth purchasing and which are crap. This is not a totally comprehensive list, mind you, but it will help you navigate what’s what in HF. Some of it discusses the comedy of this place. The jist is; NEVER BUY ANYTHING CRUCIAL THAT YOUR JOB OR LIFE DEPENDS ON HERE. I’ve heard of contractors using this place as a lending library. They keep the receipt & use within 30 days, return.
They have a few programs to be aware of. Txt, Email, Postal and buy-​in. Sign up and you’ll get coupons in the mail along with weekly fliers. You can almost always find a 20% off coupon and sometimes 20% off plus one free item in a mailer, via txt or online. (Warning: Which they may try to charge you for the free item) FIND & USE THE 20% OFF COUPON. One per day/​visit.
The inside track club is there buyers club and I don’t spend enough there to find they would be worth it. But if you do join, look for the $ 10 gift card online and that will help you get your money worth from the purchase price of the club.
Harbor freight does well because many households use contractors, repair man and so on for things these days. For the weekend hobbyist, tinkerers and small project guys this is the place to pick up your starter tools or things you will use from time to time. I have heard this rule of thumb, if you use it enough to break it/​wear it out then go buy yourself a quality item. There are a few quality items at HF & if you wait for sales/​use coupons, you can do very well here. If you want 100% quality 100% of the time, go elsewhere. I know they often ask for a 20% restocking fee even if you walk outside & go back in.
Customer service is known to be bad. I’ve seen the bad attitudes, the indifference, unprofessional staff and the frustrated consumers.
Go in expecting this & you are prepared.
I still get items from here from time to time, but I go prepared.

As I’v ebeen doing some home repairs over the past few months, I have had to go back and forth to this location of Harbor Freight multiple times. Sometimes twice in one day. The staff have all been friendly and knowledgeable across the board. More than once when something was hard to find, two three of the staff would search the floor to find what I needed. They always gave me good answers to my questions, and if they didn’t know, they didn’t give me a line of bull. I am trying to write more Unilocal reviews now because both the good and the bad reviews have helped me with my business and to manage my employees. I am glad to be able to give a 5 star review like this. Harbor Freight is consistently great at what they do.

They sure seem to have a lot of stuff here, but never what I’m looking for. The good thing is the staff is always very friendly and willing to give suggestions for other places in town that might have the specialty tool I need.

Quality tools at ridiculously low prices – that’s their slogan. My husband of course brought me into this establishment in order to get some «necessary» items to complete the honey-​do list. So, of course I’m going to support it, going there gets the jobs done. Therefore, if you are a wife with a honey-​do list like mine… support your husbands endeavors to go to a low priced hardware kinda store.