Talk:Harbor Freight Tools/Archives/2017

China and India

I came to this page unaware that HF markets products from India. Is that accurate? I was under the impression that ALL tools were made for them in China (PRC). I would be interested to know if this was always the case: did they start out selling only imports, or did they once sell any American-made tools. I think this would be of interrst in the History section. rags (talk) 00:17, 24 July 2017 (UTC)

Corporate affairs

This section seems to be out-of-date by at least 4 years. I started to correct, but I don't have solid info. rags (talk) 00:52, 24 July 2017 (UTC)

Reliability

There's already a "criticism" section in the article, but it's primarily about company management. I've heard bad things about the reliability of their tools, though in my case that's entirely anecdotal. Not sure if there needs to be any mention of anything along that line in the article. Hellbus (talk) 20:14, 30 December 2012 (UTC)

Product reliability absolutely needs to be discussed. What distinguishes HFT from other tool retailers are the very low prices - which seems to buck the trend towards high retail prices, and makes the store appeal to many. However, these products also have a widespread reputation for poor reliability, particularly their power tools. There is much criticism of HFT tools on the web - but also appreciation for them as a lower priced alternative for occasional use, where the purchase of a higher quality but much more expensive product might not be appropriate. At very least, few examples of the criticism, and the discussion of the price/quality trade-off need to be provided and referenced in the article. 64.194.164.175 (talk) 19:53, 18 June 2013 (UTC)

I have had personal experience with HFT tool quality. Of all of the items I have purchased there, about half of them have been returned due to manufacturing quality issues. The specific problems were:

• 24" aluminum calipers (sku 96509) -- After zero adjustment, 0 mm corresponded to 1/64". Also, inch and cm measurement scales were about 2% too large.
• 6" electronic calipers (sku 68304) -- Distance scale was good, but measurement prongs were different lengths.
• 6" mortise gauge (sku 94645) -- Dual scratch pins were different heights, brass scratch pin insert was too large for the slot in the shaft and would gouge stock when used, and reference block had loose fit on shaft.
• Measurement and caliper set (sku 94447) -- Depth gauge was not ground to proper length and consistently read 0.5 mm too large.

The items that I have kept are okay, but only one was a measuring tool (a combination square). My personal take-away is that:

• HFT's buyers are not specifying appropriate quality standards.
• HFT does not do an incoming quality inspection on the tools it receives from its suppliers,
• HFT's Indian/Chinese suppliers are cutting corners in the quality control department, if not eliminating it altogether, and
• HFT's Indian/Chinese suppliers are laughing all the way to the bank.

It would be nice if we could find an independent study of HFT's product quality issues to include in the article, but since the company is privately held, this may be difficult. --OhioFred (talk) 18:59, 13 January 2014 (UTC)

While this is old, it is also obviously a common complaint. There is an old saying, "You get what you pay for". Frankly, I've bought a handful of rare use tools, ending up honestly surprised that they worked for a third use, astonished at the one that lasted five uses. We're not going to Harbor Freight for Makita tools, we go for cheap tools that frankly, after usage, who cares if it works again?Wzrd1 (talk) 03:26, 14 August 2015 (UTC)

Exactly! Low-ball retailing, similar to Dollar Tree, Wal-Mart and Kmart. If you use it every day, invest in Makita or Snap-On. rags (talk) 23:58, 23 July 2017 (UTC)

Where else am I going to get a motorcycle lift for $289? Agreed, if I were a professional I'd spend $1200 and it would indeed be better. But for taking care my personal stuff, I'm not rich... I'd just do without. Also, HFs quality has been slowly getting better, along with some price increases too. But ever since the industrial revolution, the consumer has accepted a lesser degree of quality in trade for much reduced pricing. We can't all drive Duesenbergs, some of us had to drive Model Ts.Halnwheels (talk) 12:13, 11 August 2017 (UTC)