BEWARE: Harbor Freight poor customer service...

[Tony Hwang]

Hi, I often feel like i serve them not the other way around. Hellooooo, good old days. Tony

[Joshua Putnam]

Haven't looked at their shipping terms, but it wouldn't surprise me if they were shipping FOB their warehouse -- as soon as it leaves their dock, it's yours, not theirs, and straightening out shipping losses is up to you. Dirt cheap discounting includes the service.

[Phisherman]

I would probably not order from Harbor Freight, but I do visit their store once a year for cheap unusual items. Your waiting time is unacceptable. My last bad experience with customer service (10 years ago) was with Burlington Coat Factory where I avoid shopping. Thankfully, I have not had any bad experiences ordering tools. Before ordering, I check a few web sites and check out

where you may want to share your experience.

[Dr. Hardcrab]

You have a problem somewhere else. I have been dealing with Harbor freight for over 20 years and have had no problems whatsoever. I'm not saying you CAN'T have a problem with them, but it just sounds like a problem with the transporter....

[boycott]

Yes, but the test of good customer service is how they treat you when something goes wrong. I have had incredible experiences with Dell, Amazon, Lands End, Newegg, etc. If there is ever a problem, they ship out replacements the next day -- they don't make you wait for months.

Again, I am *not* saying that the original problem is HF's fault -- just that when something goes wrong they don't jump to correct it.

[boycott]

I agree with you about how to get money back; however, I am not really worried that I won't eventually get my money back or the parts delivere; rather, I just want to fix the problem.

Other online places seem to make the extra effort to make their customers whole. I am not asking them to lose money or take risks here. Just asking them to send out another order in parallel with their (slow) resolution process. If they are worried about fraud risk, then I am happy to authorize them to charge my credit card if their investigation proves otherwise.

They just don't seem to have any flexibility.

[boycott]

I am not sure that that is true legally. But in any case, I am not talking about the legal issue but about the customer service issue.

They don't seem to have any interest in helping the customer even when there is a way to do so at minimal cost or risk (e.g., using my credit card as a guarantee on a reship).

In fact, if they thought about this right the cost of dealing with multiple customer service calls (at ~$3/hour fully loaded) plus the bad faith created is more expensive than the minimal cost and risk of resending now (secured by a credit card) with possibly expedited shipping (at UPS's cost).

Such treatment would earn them real kudos since as I have said multiple times, I don't blame them for the initial loss (I fault only the "discretion" of the UPS guy who apparantly has the authority to use his "discretion" -- i.e. laziness -- to decide to leave the package outside). Rather, I only blame them for not trying to come up with a more helpful and flexible resolution.

[boycott]

Well it did happen (as per both HF and UPS).

My only issue is with the strength of HF customer service not the legal responsibility of who is at fault (obviously UPS). I am used to online discounters in other areas (e.g., Amazon, Dell, Newegg) going beyond strictly legal minimums to help their customers. The question is how good a customer service experience is HF creating and whether the deficiencies are worth it given the "discounted" pricing...

[boycott]

The measure of good customer service is what happens when something goes *wrong* and not when it goes right.

When I spoke with the customer service supervisor, he mentioned that they get a "large" number of better business bureau complaints regarding their service policies.

[boycott]

Well, that is all I was saying... maybe HF's discount is not worth the lack of *effective* customer service.

On the other hand in other industries, players like Dell, Amazon, Buy.com, and Newegg all offer rock-bottom-pricing and high quality service.

Heck, it constantly amazes me how even the "super saver" or "free" shipping from Dell and Amazon often arrives after only a day or two.

[Lobby Dosser]

AFAIK, HF has nothing that cannot be purchased elsewhere. How much did you save by buying online from HF vs say Lee Valley? Whatever you saved they made up some portion of that savings in crappy customer service. I have a local HF and shop there now and then for 'disposable' stuff. I'd

*never* order from them by mail or online - especially after seeing some of their goods in the store.

[Jeff Wisnia]

Yep, that's why I never have anything other than US mail delivered to our home. UPS does the same thing to us (also in New England.) anytime they deliver to us during the week, 'cause we spend more time at the business than at home.

All my HF shipments and anyting else too big to fit in our mailbox goes to our office.

Certainly HF isn't bending over backwards to help you, but that these days you never get more than you pay for, and you're often lucky to get even as much as you pay for. Don't expect to get Tiffany style treatment at a flea market.

Jeff (Who once got so pissed at UPS he filed a small claims suit against their local business presence --- That got the problem fixed quickly.)

[John DeBoo]

[John Doe]

Unfortunately, that might not be true anymore. My package UPS tracking shows arrival at some faraway state and the delivery date is tomorrow. That happened with my last UPS delivery also. Customer service said that is normal.

Not all online stores are the same. Since you depend on delivery and not just picking the item off of the shelf, delivery is critical. Place more emphasis on familiarity with the online store, specifically shipping, and a little less on the price. Better luck next time.

[J T]

Tue, Jan 11, 2005, 1:02am (EST+5) [e-mail] claims: I made the mistake of placing a $300+ order with Harbor Freight just before the Holidays. Finally, today, I was told that item was delivered last week

Delivered? In that short a time? Over the holidays? From Harbor Freight?

That alone makes me not believe you..

JOAT Success is getting what you want. Happiness is wanting what you get.

- =A0Dale Carnegie

[Glenna Rose]

Yes, absolutely check with UPS. They are not in the habit of leaving things without a signature unless the package so stipulates. I suspect it did not get shipped UPS, if shipped at all. If they did, indeed, ship it, they (or you) can print a complete tracking of when it was put into UPS's "hands" and when UPS delivered it. In over 30 years of dealing with UPS, I've never had a package lost or mishandled and through my home business years ago and where I work now, we are talking about thousands of packages through those years. We ship many, many packages UPS every week. The only time we have had a problem was with USPS!

Someone seems to not being completely legit here.

Glenna

[mac davis]

Sounds to me that your problem is with UPS, not HF???

If you ship something I bought from you, and USP screws up, I'm gonna jump on UPS, not you... YMMV

mac

Please remove splinters before emailing

[mac davis]

I order from HF online almost every month... gets here sooner than they say it will and everything in good shape... My only problem with them is that they don't automatically give you tracking info, you have to call them to get it.. no problem..

mac

Please remove splinters before emailing

[Ross Mac]

Easy solution....Get a post office box at a UPS store and all the deliveries go there. They will call you and inform you if something arrives....or you can call them to check....works for me!...Ross

[Red Neckerson]

So this pissed you off so much that you had to go on a vengeance campaign by posting your name as boycott@harborfreight,com and telling the world not to buy anything from them just because they didn't jump up and kiss your ass??

You need to get a f*cking life, loser......