Exactly the same problems. I only order stuff together that I want to have packed together. Luckily I have a local HF store. They'll usually match the catalog prices and have even been willing to special order.
Nope.
Most people probably don't complain about most of the problems. For example, I didn't complain about nails because they were still mostly there (and cheaper than the big box store). But I haven't ordered them again...
I simply won't order things I don't believe will arrive in functional condition.
So how do / can you improve it even more? By ignoring the entire country and condemning them to isolation as a backwater?
Personally I am convinced that the best way to improve their government, is to send money over there in the form of pay for products.
Someone working substinence level farming has no time or energy left to even dream about a better future. Someone working 12-14 hours a day in a factory with money to spend after room and board, does have time to dream, to learn, etc. Once the country has an overwhelming mass of people who want something different, things will change.
They have come a long way in mostly the right direction since Tienneman Square. Integrating them into the world economy seems (other than job loss) to be mostly positive.
Problem w/ generalizations is that, well, they're generalizations. :)
There's good quality stuff from RPC and junk and everything in between. It depends on the specification of the purchaser. I've been associated w/ firms using overseas manufacturing facilities and on the purchasing end for electric utility transmission gear/parts. In both venues, there have been competent and not-so-competent bidders from multiple places, including both RPC and USA. Not too surprisingly, cost/quality tend to be highly correlated irrespective of location.
As for attitude, as I've noted before, there's at least a wide a range of attitude/aptitude amongst the Chinese as any other population...
At least you got the stuff. I will never order from Harbor Freight on-line again. At the time of order, they didn't tell me the drill press I wanted was on back order. So a couple of weeks later when it didn't arrive, and I spent an hour on-line waiting for them to respond, they finally told me the truth.
Then they tried to put my order in again, assuming I would want to wait another couple of weeks ((and assuming it really was in-stock this time), but thank goodness I used one of those virtual number credit cards, and it had timed out. So they couldn't put my order in again, and make me wait for another couple of weeks.
After reading about the shipping/packaging problems, I'm so glad I didn't order anything like this to be shipped.
Understanding the limited quality, I will go to one of the stores to get one, i't only a 30 minute drive away. I replaced my 20 year old Craftsman belt-sander with a HarborFreight one, and it seems to work just fine. And they sent another set of brushes, so I'm thinking this unit may eat brushes.
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