BEWARE: Harbor Freight poor customer service...

[B a r r y]

For what it's worth...

I had an order totally obliterated by FedEx Ground. My package even contained things that weren't mine, such as, GET THIS, a spray can of pure silicone. Just what I want in a wood shop!

After contacting a very nice person at customer service, the order was reshipped that day via a different carrier, and a call tag was sent for the damaged package.

Oh, that was Lee Valley.

I've had a similar experience with Tower Hobbies after UPS destroyed a 4 foot long box of balsa wood. Tower TOTALLY took the ball back, ran with it, and provided me with a satisfactory ball.

UPS was chosen by Harbor Freight to deliver the package, it's up to HF to make good on the deal and then take it up with their subcontractor. I had a similar negative experience when asking HF to follow up on a long overdue package.

Barry

[Mike Marlow]

That used to be the way it worked but it's not anymore. I remember the days when the package had to stipulate "no signature required", but now everything I receive just gets dropped on the porch. It's not a problem for me and we receive a couple of UPS deliveries every week with no real problems over years of service, but I do know that the old days of them not leaving a package without a signature are gone. Today the shipper has to stipulate a required signature.

I've had the tracking system work and I've had it not work. I've never tracked a lost package (truly lost - never to be seen again), but I have tracked delayed shipments and as other posters have said, I've found spotty accuracy in the information that is available to the recipient - either directly from UPS customer service, or via their web sites.

Oh man - you gotta try Airborne - or what ever they're called these days. That's a real treat. Talk about shipments that are guaranteed not to arrive...

[GregP]

And he paid the bare minimum he could. Sounds symmetrical to me :-)

[GregP]

In the "good old days" the price people paid included a higher markup. And "compensation" to high-end executives wasn't out of line with the people doing the actual work.

[Grant P. Beagles]

I don't order too much from mail order (email order?) places because of this. I would rather pay a little more and visit the old brick and mortar. Not only do I get to examine stuff before I buy, but the friendly staff and a free cup of coffee help!

Grant

Edw> > agent (UPS) may have done something wrong here (like leaving large

[Jane & David]

snip

UPS stopped getting signatures here several years ago. UPS offered good safe service in the past but not any more.

My first problem with them was about 10 years ago when I bought a classic Nikon F camera and it was shipped to me via UPS. It arrived sooner than expected, and I was still out of town but unlike past policy they didn't keep the box until they could deliver it to a person. I found a notice that it had been left by the side of my house - right beside the garbage can. It was long gone when I got home, and I never found out if it was stolen or went to the dump with the garbage. UPS investigated and eventually I got my money back, but the camera could not be replaced (I never found another one in such good condition at a good price). The UPS supervisor I talked to said that getting signatures was more expensive than paying off a few claims for lost packages.

These days UPS not only doesn't get a signature, they don't even knock on the door. Several times I have had packages sit in the rain outside when I was at home and this includes some packages that specifically required a signature. After many many problems with them, I avoid UPS whenever possible.

If you continue to get good service from UPS that's great, but watch out.

PDX David

[Jane & David]

I should point out that my experience is with UPS deliveries to a home address. When delivering to a business where the driver can walk in and find a person, there should be very few problems.

PDX David

[Glenna Rose]

Wow. That just hasn't been my experience. I've always used UPS because they are so much more reliable than the post office. Our driver(s) always knock and get signatures (or leave a tag for later pickup) unless I've left a note directing them to leave the expected package. Because I've always had a covered porch, left in the rain hasn't been a problem.

It sounds like my good experiences have not been reflective of those of others. In your case, you live just a few miles from me (unless that's Portland, Maine, which likely doesn't have an international airport), just across the river.

It sounds like more and more, the only way to get good service is to be there face-to-face and, even then, it's questionable. Such a sad state of things. :-(

Glenna

[David]

Sounds like a case of misplaced anger. I've never purchased from HF, but by your own admission, UPS is responsible for your lost items; not HF.

David

[e-mail] wrote:

[trader4]

"Sounds like a case of misplaced anger. I've never purchased from HF,

but by your own admission, UPS is responsible for your lost items; not HF."

I wouldn't be so quick to assume it's UPS's fault. As I posted previously, I know I've received UPS shipments where they would not leave it without a signature. I believe this is still an option, which apparently the shipper in this case chose not to make.

Second, I think the OP's main point was not that it happened, or who's fault it was, but that he needs what he bought and the vendor is unwilling to do anything to get something to him now, even if he backs up a second order with a credit card. Now that is just piss poor customer service.

[Tim Douglass]

Here, UPS still gets an electronic signature on every package or notes that they left it. If you want to make sure you get packages without having them left somewhere be sure to add shipping instructions (i.e. Deliver to North entrance only - Signature required), and the first time they don't follow the instructions call the head office and the BBB and complain like crazy. I've gone out of my way to get to know the regular UPS, FedEx and USPS guys here. They now bring things to the house and we don't have any problems. During the holidays I check all possible places a package might end up every day, since substitute drivers are prone to taking shortcuts. I also always get tracking numbers (for UPS and FedEx) and follow the package as best I can so that I know when to expect it.

For the OP, HF has handled several complaints from me very well. I've never tried during a holiday period, but I've bought a lot of stray junk from them here and there and had a few that have had to go back or that have never arrived. They have invariably taken care of the problem, although often with considerable delay. Of course I'm lucky and I always treat the low-level drone like he was the president of the company "This is my problem, sir", "Thank you for your help, sir", "I hope you have a good day, sir". They seem to like it and it doesn't cost me a cent.

YMMV

Tim Douglass

[TURTLE]

This is Turtle.

You pay a higher mark up on tools from other companys and this higher mark up come better service. If you want a company with 110% quality of service don't use the discount companys to buy tools from. When you say discount on prices your saing your getting a discount on service that comes with it. Low Profit margin , Discount company, Discount service, and low mark up price all go hand and hand with each other. if you expect quality your going to have to remove thje discount from the name of the company to get this.

Now you wanting to change a discount company's policy is right next to getting pease on the earth without war or starving people. It will not happen !

TURTLE

[Dave Hall]

Oh come on!!! Lee Valley is a great vendor and provides great customer service. But they charge a premium price for that. Harbor Freight is a pretty crappy vendor who provides basic less than steller customer service but charges low prices. Anybody doing business with Harbor Freight expecting Lee Vally service is living in la-la land. Anyone paying Lee Valley prices but getting Harbor Freight service is getting ripped off. I think we all have a pretty good idea of what we are doing when we buy stuff from Harbor Freight - getting cheap stuff at cheap prices with bare bones service. I have to go now I am getting my Harbor Freight order ready...

Dave Hall

[Art]

Notify your charge card company that the goods have not shown up and ask for a charge back. That will get Harbor Freights attention.

[Art]

UPS policy is to settle with the sender so it is Harbor Freight's problem to fix.

[Dave Hall]

I don't see Amazon or Dell (never bought anything from or even know what Newegg might be) to be bottom feeder discounters like I percieve Harbor Freight. In fact I seldom see Amazon being more that a percent or two below local sellers and lots of folks significantly undersell Dell. Therefore to me comparing the customer service levels of higher priced sellers like Dell to low price sellers like HF is less than valid.

[B a r r y]

If HF wasn't making a decent profit, they wouldn't have lasted as long as they have. Some HF items are probably throwaway on a wholesale level. Major shippers have good access to the right local people at their shipper. They can choose to insure the package for extremely low costs, but often choose to self insure.

I've also received stellar problem solving service from Tower Hobbies, a deep discount, mail order supplier. We can toss Lee Valley out and compare to tower, if you'd like. The one reship I needed from them was $30 of balsa wood. Based on a $15 wholesale cost, the box, labor, and the additional shipping charges, they probably lost money in an attempt to keep me happy. But they did it.

At typical Chinese factory prices, HF probably runs at a HIGHER margin than Lee Valley! My wife has actually gotten good service from a vendor called "Oriental Trading Post" who sells crap that literally costs less than a penny retail.

Barry

[Charlie Self]

Why wouldn't Portland, ME have an international airport? It's a neat little city and an IA isn't much of a distinguishing factor, since all it requires is flights coming in and going out to a foreign country. Canadian planes are a hop, skip and plop from Maine.

Charlie Self "One of the common denominators I have found is that expectations rise above that which is expected." George W. Bush

[mac davis]

roflmao (while trying to wipe the coffee off my monitor)

mac

Please remove splinters before emailing

[Brian Henderson]

Oh, way back when I was regularly receiving things from UPS, they were a problem. In fact, the driver routinely left my packages at another person's house. Why? We never could figure it out since the street names and numbers weren't even close, but he would just drop whatever he felt like there and I'd have to fight to have him go get it again. It usually took an extra day or two for them to correct their mistakes, once I got done fighting with them.