Caution - Harbor Freight

[aparchment]

Just a cautionary note about Harbor Freight. They take forever to get something to you if you use their standard shipping.

I ordered something from them on the 13th of April. It took them until the 17th to ship it out. It is now the 21st and it still hasn't arrived, so I called them (since their on-line tracking system doesn't work properly yet). The web site did not specify this, but one of their customer service reps just told me to expect 10 - 14 days! She said that they don't ship via FedEx from their facility, but rather via common carrier to a FedEx facility, then FedEx delivers. Un-friggin-believable! In this day and age of speed and efficiency these guys are actually operating like this? Next time I will see how much the two day delivery option costs, and I will make sure I don't need the tools I am ordering for quite a while. As far as I am concerned the cheap prices just got outweighed by the ridiculously slow delivery process.

Signed,
Muttering In Maine

[captain_john]

Two years ago I tried to place an order with them and they balled the ORDER UP! I cancelled the order and told them to remove me from their mailing list and I would refuse any shipment if it ever arrived. I never got anything from them and never will.

I told them that I could purchase cheap Chinese tools anywhere and I don't need them!

Yah, I suppose if they are local to you and you can walk up and buy what you want from them... they are okay. As far as a mail order outfit... fuggetaboudit!

CJ

[johnk]

Same experience for me on the one and only thing I've bought from them. My memory of this is a little fuzzy now, but it took at least two full weeks to arrive. I called after about one week and was told they ship the package to a loading dock somewhere, and then UPS picks it up from there.

For comparison, at almost exactly the same moment, I ordered an item of about the same weight (50 to 60 lbs) from Grizzly.com. Both items were shipped using their cheapest methods, and cost about the same to ship (within 10-20%, I think). The Grizzly order arrived in less than 7 days.

[cjensen]

same story here. i ordered two hose reels two months ago, and they were backordered. no biggie, i thought, this happens from time to time...well, they charged my card THREE weeks ago for the reels, said they had shipped, and i still don't have them!!!!

[cjensen]

well, i guess complaining on here helped me! both of my hose reels FINALLY did arrive yesterday!

[aparchment]

Final arrival date -- May 3rd -- a mere three weeks after I ordered it. Now that's the sign of a modern company!

[cjensen]

I cancelled my cataloge after that order, and basically gave 'em a piece of my mind. No longer a HF customer...