Harbor Freight Tools

Was in on Oct. 19^th., store was understaffed, manager Wayne, was walking around and swearing. Completely unprofessional behavior, neither manager opened another register. Customer service isn’t the focus here. Maybe other stores are better, but not this one.

Went tool shopping with my pops, and this was my first time here
The store was pretty organized and it looked like a men’s playground with machetes, axes, tools, carts, etc. It seemed pretty stalked to me and there was quite a lot of people for a Sunday early afternoon, which is a good sign.
The main reason I ranked this place 4 stars was because of their customer service, the man in the front who was checking us out (his name was Chris i think?) He was possibly the coolest, nicest, person that I’ve ever met in a check-​out. He was helpful [letting us know all of the latest deals and how to get them], he was patient; there was coupon for 20% off of your highest priced item if you texted this number and he showed us how to do it and even waited for the text to come in so that we could save some money. Very good customer service.
Definitely coming back if I ever needed any tools.

I always have good customer service. Never have had a problem with this location. Always in stock on the items I want. Most item are easy to find in the stores layout.
Don’t buy any items that have motors on them. They do not last but most everything else works great. Most item are cheaper then anywhere else.
Example they have a work light that is $ 3.49 and works great and is very bright for the price. I never pay $ 3.49 for them. If you look in the Sunday paper you will find a ad for harbor. The ad normally has 2 – 4 coupons. 1 of the coupons is a 20% off one single item. The other 1 – 3 are get a free item with any purchase (the coupon tells what item you get free). The work light is one of those coupons normally. So I’ll buy an item and use a 20% off coupon and a free item coupon.

This locations has poor customer service. The employees have way less knowledge then most of the customers that walk in, which is never good in a business. What I always suggest to people is, «Don’t buy anything here that you want to last a long time, buy things from here if you’ll only need them once or twice.» Most things I have bought from here have eventually broke or I have had to repair. They need to sell replacement parts as well! Especially for the air compressors. I could say a lot more about this business but I’ll stop wasting my time thinking about it.

Harbor Freight is one of those places that you have to do a little bit of work to find the real bargains. Their coupons and free items get you in the door, but sometimes the quality is really lacking. This location is the same as all others in that regard. Specific to this store… it is a little bit cramped inside, but stocks everything you would expect. My one interaction with an employee was less than stellar. I asked a question, and the associate went and asked another employee who looked confused and clearly guessed the answer. Another employee yelled the right (I assume) answer in a tone that made it as iff everyone else in the world was an idiot for asking.

This company sells tools and hardware at price you may not believe. When I shop here I purchase what I need for a job with the thought that I will toss the items after the project is finished. The power tolls they sell are far from being top of the line, however if the tool is needed for a single job and the price is only a third of the retail prices elsewhere, buy and toss. Some of the products are very flimsy made however they are cheap and you may be able to get by with that time. They offer coupons in many magazines, newspapers and nail outs. look for them even n the store. I think it is a neat place to browse — my wife thinks otherwise.

I’m always leery when I walk into Harbor Freight. «Why?» you ask?
Have you heard the phrase, «If it’s too good to be true, it probably is.»?
Well, here you go. Today (as I have in the past) I go in to get an automotive tool. In this case, a ball joint separator. It’s a specialty tool that’s used to remove a ball joint from the part it’s attached to, in this case, the steering knuckle. Well, the first one looks brand new and I start using it and the dang thing seizes up. I didn’t even get the ball joint to release yet. I’m frustrated, but I know that’s kinda what you get when you go to Harbor Freight.
I go back and luckily exchanging it isn’t too big of a deal. The cashier takes the bad one and tries to turn the forcing screw to check my story. It, of course, won’t budge. Then he looks at his fingers and says, «Aw man… You should have told me it was dirty…»
REALLY? You expect used tools to be clean? Used, broken tools?! I’m going to clean off a broken tool so you don’t get your precious hands dirty? I will tell you now as I’m sure you’ve already guessed. No. I will not.
So the replacement one I get, has already been used. Yes, it has grease on it and the forcing screw is blunted. *sigh*. I use it anyway because it doesn’t look like it’s been damaged. This story doesn’t get any better. This one, the replacement, is also on the verge of seizing and I still haven’t gotten the ball joint loose. *sigh*
I would say anything here is fine, as long as you don’t buy their tools. I take that back. I have purchased an arbor press and it works quite well. Their tool boxes are adequate and I have some zip ties that haven’t let me down yet. However, their automotive tools leave something to be desired.
The tools are priced accordingly. This ball joint separator was $ 16.99 + tax. That’s quite good for a tool like this, however, since two of them have failed to do their job, I find the price irrelevant to the discussion.
Sad. I really wanted to believe in their tools.

I’m posting the same review for the two locations I shop at because it applies to both.
Harbor Freight is a US Company that offers tools (hand tools and power tools alike) at a very affordable price. Admittedly, this is done by importing products primary from China but some stuff comes from other parts of the world.
Many of the tools bear US sounding names like Pittsburgh, Chicago, US General, etc. But these are not actual companies and are just the brand that HF slaps on their products.
If you know how to shop at HF properly then its a great store otherwise you’ll be very frustrated with it.
Basically if your life or income depends on it; don’t buy from here. You’re fairly safe buying their hand tools with lifetime warranty as you can take them back and replace them no questions asked. Also, many power tools carry a very short (30 day) warranty so only buy what you plan to use in case it breaks the first use. Also on power tools I never buy their lowest price. Typically, they’ll have bushings which will wear out quickly. The «higher end» models will have ball bearings and should last a long time. Lastly, these tools don’t have parts kits you can buy so once it bellies up you’ll be buying a new one. However, if you use a tool enough to break it or wear it out… probably time to spend some $$$ on a more professional quality tool.
If you sign up for their emails you can get coupons which offer many of their good products for silly prices. Example, their $ 30 torque wrench for $ 13.
Their non-​durables are also a good buy. Non-​durables being saw blades, grinder wheels… IE anything that is an accessory for power tools.
Sometimes (but I’ve had good luck) an item won’t work right and you’ll need to return it for a working one… this is more common on the very very cheap power tools, etc. But again, for the price I don’t think you can complain too much.

This place has got a bunch of useful stuff. It’s not gonna have your name brand tools that you get from Home Depot, Lowe’s, or Sears, but stuff probably made from China that works just as well.
They’ve got all sorts of tools that are used in construction, electrical, auto-​mechanical, wood working, hobby, welding, gardening, and a bunch of safety gear too. Aside from tools they’ve got all sorts of LED flashlights and other things you might need around the house.
I actually stopped by to pick up a new soldering iron and some socket organizers, but ended up leaving with a lot more than I should have. You could find quite a bit of stocking stuffers here for Christmas if you’re shopping for a guy who likes tools or working with his hands.