Just wondering what all experiences you have had with them, good and bad? thinking of ordering stuff from them but reluctant due to 'no name' nature of prods. TIA
- posted
19 years ago
Just wondering what all experiences you have had with them, good and bad? thinking of ordering stuff from them but reluctant due to 'no name' nature of prods. TIA
On Sat, 26 Feb 2005 17:07:06 -0500, " snipped-for-privacy@all.youSOB" scribbled this interesting note:
Some are good. Some are trash brand new out of the box. The trick is to be able to simply "know" which is which.
Of course this also depends upon your intended usage of said tools...
-- John Willis (Remove the Primes before e-mailing me)
==================== Generally very poorly made tools... of low quality, and almost no quality control....
BUT for ocasional use (like every other year or so) they sell some "stuff" I would buy....
No way I would buy something like a cordless drill etc...from them To protect "my" tools I have purchased wrenches etc from them that I do not lock up..knowing that if my sons "borrow" them I have not lost anything...
Bob G.
I have the 120 v welder wire feed, 5 years old
14 inch chop saw, 5 years old lots of welding magnets 5 years old the 5 gallon bead blaster 5 years old 3-4 sets of wrenches 5-6 years old finish mailer, 3 yearsNot sure that I would want to make a living with the equipment. For what I need they work just fine.
We use their nail guns, polisher/buffer, and a rotary hammer in our vintage trailer restoration shop and have no problems with them.
AZCRAIG,
I have their chicago hammer 3/8 electric drill. It no longer hammers, but still drills after 3 years.
PJ
Well put Christian,harbor freight beats renting, since their prices are the same as 1-3 day rental prices. I think that's it's biggest selling pitch.
later,
tom @
Careful with "ordering". They nail you to the wall with shipping/handling charges. Much better to purchase directly from one of their stores if possible. Cheers, cc
I just got a roofing nailer (was on sale for $59) and it well made... dont know how long it wils last but it was well worth the small investment. Renting one here was $50 for a day so i'm sure it will last more then that :c)
Christisn
exactly, I just need this gun to do 3 roof, but i'm ure it will last longer then that... :c)
C.
In alt.home.repair on Sat, 26 Feb 2005 21:19:18 -0700 "James \"Cubby\" Culbertson" posted:
So far they've charged me exactly what they said they would for s&H. I thought it was a maximum of 9 dollars??
And some of the sale prices on the web and in catalogs aren't found in the stores. Although the cashier said if they had the item, they would usually sell it at the catalog price, but you'd have to ask if they didn't have it marked that way. Probably have to have the catalog with you, or a printout.
I asked and you can't return things to stores that you buy online (or over the phone, I presume). If you could, people would buy loads of stuff, look at it and return a lot of it to the store. Having to box it and ship it back slows people down. And you probably can't return by mail what you buy in the store.
The stores close at 7PM, 6 on Saturday and 5 on Sunday. The 7 is early compared to a lot of stores these days, and I've been turned away at least twice.
Meirman
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In alt.home.repair on Sat, 26 Feb 2005 20:51:36 -0600 PJ posted:
Did you use it as a hammer for a while? Or did it just break without being used that way?
I too like cheap tools for things I don't do often. In one case, not with harbor freight, the tool broke the first night I used it, but only after I had done what I wanted with it. By that time, I either buy another one, a better one, or I know it's not really the tool for me.
(I have more than one 23 piece set of 1/4 and 3/8" socket wrenches I paid only 6 dollars for. In one case I was able to twist the 6 inch extension apart with the ratchet and my bare hands**, but most of the time it's strong enough.
**I was trying to unbolt something from my V-8 engine. After ruining one extension, I started the engine and tried again with another extension when it was almost hot. That time, the bolt came loose first.)Meirman
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What they did with my order a while back was charge me the S&H for EACH item. So I bought a couple small things and ended up paying more in S&H than I did for the items. Don't know if this is their standard policy but I won't order from them again. I've got a HF nearby so that's where I go for stuff.
In terms of quality, I've found their Central Machinery branded stuff to be ok generally. Their Central Pneumatic stuff has all worked fine for me (brad nailer, framing nailer, various air grinders etc...). I stay away from their Chicago Electric stuff. Generally pretty crappy from my experiences (although their 14" cutoff saw has been working flawlessly for me for 4 years now).
I think for stuff that I rarely use, HF is ok. For my chisels, planes, hand saws, routers, etc... I try to go with a better brand. Cheers, cc
I've got a bunch of Harbor Freight air tools that do the job. They're definitely not up to the quality of Senco or Bostich but things like a palm nailer or air chisel are tools I might use only a few f times a year anyway. I've also got some HF electric tools like a grinder and polisher that continue to work well. I just wouldn't buy anything requiring precision or durability from HF, like a sliding compound miter saw.
Steve Manes Brooklyn, NY
Most tools go the other way. Once the batteries die, you can still use them as a hammer if they are heavy enough. :)
On my oder a couple of years ago, they charged shipping and it was clearly stated. What wasn't clearly stated was an additional 'handling' fee. I was shocked and gritted my teeth and paid it but I've never ordered anything again from them. I'm still mad.
PJ
I bought a couple tools and have been satisfied. I don't use them a lot, so maybe that's where they lose value. I needed a high power drill to mix joint compound and other stuff during a week, and the drill I got there cost around $60 and has worked great. (The regular drill I tried to use started smoking.) Renting one was going to cost a little more than than.
Sure, but other than that they seem like perfectly nice countries.
- jeffc -
- Nehmo -
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