Harbor Freight Tools

[Craigums]

Yea or Nay?

[Ufatz]

It is difficult to provide a direct answer generally. Bought an $89 miter saw and it is pretty crude and we bought it with a smile, expecting it to blow up within a week, but it is still cutting and still giving dead-on cuts. I guess you could say, in fairness, the stuff is usually of lower quality and mostly knock-offs of popular tools. A screw driver is likely to break second time you use it; a vice may be crudely put together but work just fine. But a ruler is a foot long and a hose is still a hose.

You must LOOK at the item closely and then make up your own mind: am I willing to take a chance on this low priced basic tool or do I want to pay more for a better quality item. Don't expect too much but I will say in most cases you get your money's worth from them.

In all cases we have bought tools pretty much to back up a better tool or because it was a "needed right now away from home". Personally I would not buy a major tool item from them i.e. table saw, router, planer etc. unless it was a one-time need item.

[leech~~]

It is difficult to provide a direct answer generally. Bought an $89 miter saw and it is pretty crude and we bought it with a smile, expecting it to blow up within a week, but it is still cutting and still giving dead-on cuts. I guess you could say, in fairness, the stuff is usually of lower quality and mostly knock-offs of popular tools. A screw driver is likely to break second time you use it; a vice may be crudely put together but work just fine. But a ruler is a foot long and a hose is still a hose.

You must LOOK at the item closely and then make up your own mind: am I willing to take a chance on this low priced basic tool or do I want to pay more for a better quality item. Don't expect too much but I will say in most cases you get your money's worth from them.

In all cases we have bought tools pretty much to back up a better tool or because it was a "needed right now away from home". Personally I would not buy a major tool item from them i.e. table saw, router, planer etc. unless it was a one-time need item.

Plus+1 I buy the odd tools that I may only need to use once or twice on some project and nothing for long term use.

[delcecchi]

I have bought a few of their things. Tape measures are fine. The "multitool" also works well and hasn't died when used for a few projects.

[CigarGuy]

About 8 years ago bought a 800watt generator ($80.00ish) after coupon)for charging the trolling motor batteries when we rented a houseboat on Crane lake-still working great today. Last year bought a sliding compound miter saw (120ish on sale)for installing a wood floor/trim-worked great. Brad nailer, works good. Nice place to buy an extra set of misc tools for the cabin. Neighbor up at the lake does wood carving and has purchased some air tools that he seems to like. For the price, you can go wrong. Don't they have a life time warranty on tools????? One thing is pay attention to the different coupons/sales that they have because the price does vary from coupon to coupon!

[SkunkedAgain]

My cabin tools and emergency truck tools came from Harbor Freight. A buddy bought a $20 meat slicer there a decade ago for slicing jerky meat. It's still running.

That said, I don't buy much of anything there if I expect it to last a while. It's more of a nice bonus if they do. I treat it like Sams Club/Costco - know your prices and product because not everything is a deal and that's how they make their money.

[Walleyehooker]

Similar to Northern tool. Some stuff is OK and some isn't so good. Depends on what you are buying and how many times you are going to use it.

[MNHunter65]

They have a lifetime warranty on hand tools, so you can't go wrong there. I bought a floor jack and jack stands from them years ago and both are still perfect. I have also bought a few miscellaneous power tools from them and they have worked fine for the amount of use they get, which is a few times a year. Overall I like them.

[Down Deep]

For the homeowner who doesn't need tools to make their living Harbor Freight is ideal. Since they opened a store in my area I've shopped their monthly ads and purchased a lot of hand and specialty tools that I only need occasionally. I use their coupons to get the free gifts which I usually pass along to my friends and kids. They carry a lot of consumable supply items that, if bought on sale, are considerably cheaper than the big box stores. As an example, I was bought 500 wire ties in various sizes for $3.99 which was a bargain. I also got a pack of 10 pair of work gloves for $2 which will last me for several years. I signed up for the monthly flyer that is mailed to my house. They give you the option to receive it by mail which is nice because I don't receive the daily emails some of the the other retailers want to use.

[drewbop]

I'll just confirm what everyone else has done. If buying tools that only get used a few times a year as a DIY, harbor freight is great (inexpensive and get the work done.) But some of the bigger tools that I use on a more regular basis (miter and table saw, battery pack screw guns, etc) I bought the name brands to last.

They are great to have if you're missing a tool and as a DIY'er, I don't mind buying a few of their tools I don't necessarily need to make my DIY job/life easier...

[Sandmannd]

If you make your money using tools then spring for the name brand tools. If not, then there's nothing wrong with Harbor Freight tools. I purchase the vast majority of my tools from them, compound miter, table saw, compressor, air nailer, etc all came from them and some I've been using going on ten years and work the same as the day I purchased them. They work great. Saved lots of money buying from them. Wait till the items go on sale and use the 20% off coupons that come in the mail.

[delcecchi]

We have one here in Rochester, so word gets around among us old thrifty guys. It seems like their stuff is functional in general, but occasionally their quality control slips some. I think it is pretty much straight off the line in China without a lot of final tuning and inspection.

Their stuff is certainly much better than the total junk that used to be sold as inexpensive tools at various places from COMB to Menards. The only power tool I have bought from there is a variable speed multitool and it works fine.

[LindellProStaf]

I have bought a few tools from them. I did the three different sized crescent wrenchs for $12 deal. They are black not chrome. I thought they would be real poor quality. I love them. Just not as pretty as chrome ones which is fine with me.

[Scott K]

I will say if you buy it online, dont expect your order to show up when they say it will, then expect no help from customer service. in fact, expect an attitude, like you are interrupting their day, with your problems.

I ordered a welder from them this past October, it was suppose to show up within 7-10 business days. They took the money out of my account the day I ordered it. Well When I havent received it after Thanksgiving, I called them, they told me it shipped, and I should have gotten it, that I need to check with the shipping company, Fedex. So I called Fedex, they told me, they had record that a shipping label was created, but they never got the information to come pick up any item. The lady at Fedex told me that they get several complaints a day about Harbor Freight. So I called back to Harbor Freight, they told me it was shipped, and that with the Thanksgiving holiday, I needed to wait another week. So when it didnt show up before Christmas, I called again, they said that it is on back order, and it wont ship until January 12th. I asked to speak to their manager, because of the lies I was told, the manager told me that they apologize, and that they show that there is one in the warehouse and they will make sure that one gets shipped out to me immediately. I should expect it within 3-5 days. I waited a week and a half, and called back, at this point it was January 15th, 3 days after they said it would ship because of it being on back order. They told me that they shipped the welder back in October, that I needed to check with Fedex for a lost package. At this point I was furious! I asked to talk to another manager, and they said they will ship it out today if I wanted, and it would show up in 3 days or less, and they would over night it to me. Wanting the welder, I said ok. I did receive it in 4 days, but then when I got my credit card statement, they charged me for 3 welders, the original billing, another one when they said they were going to ship after Christmas, then the one when they actually did ship it. Not only that, but they charged me for overnight shipping for the welder. I called them back, and they told me that I needed to send them the original paper copy of the credit card bill, with all 3 billed on it, and they would refund the other 2, and the overnight shipping, they would credit my card right away.

One would think this would have been the end of it, but last month they credited me for all 3 welders, and shipping, so I was dumb enough to call back and tell them they needed to bill me for one of them, they thanked me for my honesty, and then when I got my bill this month, the total amount of all 3 welders are on it, they billed me the entire amount again! I called and the manager doesnt have any record of re billing, so I need to resend them my credit card copy and they will take care of it, and for my trouble, they gave me a $10 gift card to use online, but it cant be used with any other offer.

Never again!

[delcecchi]

They have a store in Rochester if you are ever down this way. Right on the corner of highway 52 and 41st St NW.

[gunner55]

Float chargers on sale $5 we use them a lot.