Harbor freight

[Pat Whatley]

I think OP's point was that everybody bitches about Wal-Mart killing the mom and pop stores and Wal-Mart bringing in too much stuff from overseas but nobody ever complains that EVERYTHING in a Harbor Freight store except the employees is straight off the ship from China.

That said....has anybody noticed they now have a lifetime guarantee on hand tools just like Craftsman?

 

[CheapVehicleWrap]

That said....has anybody noticed they now have a lifetime guarantee on hand tools just like Craftsman?

NO! You mean like K-mart? When did that start? i know the Pittsburgh stuff did but not everything.

It's simply not profitable for others to duplicate their success, which is far smaller than WM. It's also not possible to produce those products here profitably. I'm all for what you're suggesting but it's not like everyone is buying cars from them. If you know what I mean. Harbor's been around allot longer than most people think too.

 

[Fred Weiss]

I think OP's point was that everybody bitches about Wal-Mart killing the mom and pop stores and Wal-Mart bringing in too much stuff from overseas but nobody ever complains that EVERYTHING in a Harbor Freight store except the employees is straight off the ship from China.

Which was part of my point with my metal shear. $875 delivered from Harbor Freight and $2995 plus delivery from the locally owned tool store. Both made in China probably in the same factory. $2220 higher and the guy made no attempt to even provide a little extra service. I doubt I'd have gone much over $1200 but I would have gone with that to keep my business local. But I'm not going to pay more then triple the price.

 

[OldPaint]

life time warranties are the biggest joke nowadays. if you buy quality tools/parts, they have em bu you pay more true quality. for hard parts on my vehilces i only nuy NAPA top line parts. yea you can get the same part way cheaper at auto zone, pep boys, discount, o'riley's...........and these place never flinch when you RETURN A PART BECAUSE IT FAILED!!!! i did a water pump on my dodge slant 6. autozone was right across the street, no brainer huh. wellllllllll after i was on my 3rd FREE REPLACEMENT..........i called NAPA got me one delivered.......AND NEVER REPLACED the pump again!!!!! theres the problem with these lifetime warranties. YOU WILL DO THE LABOR, trip to replace.......MORE THEN ONCE!!!! so what did you save?

 

[WildWestDesigns]

life time warranties are the biggest joke nowadays. if you buy quality tools/parts, they have em bu you pay more true quality. for hard parts on my vehilces i only nuy NAPA top line parts. yea you can get the same part way cheaper at auto zone, pep boys, discount, o'riley's...........and these place never flinch when you RETURN A PART BECAUSE IT FAILED!!!! i did a water pump on my dodge slant 6. autozone was right across the street, no brainer huh. wellllllllll after i was on my 3rd FREE REPLACEMENT..........i called NAPA got me one delivered.......AND NEVER REPLACED the pump again!!!!! theres the problem with these lifetime warranties. YOU WILL DO THE LABOR, trip to replace.......MORE THEN ONCE!!!! so what did you save?

Be thankful you don't have a relatively current PSD then. NAPA parts don't last long on them. Especially the filters. Racor (which actually make the motorcraft filters, you just get them in different boxes and Racor are cheaper) are the only way to go. There are ways to get them much cheaper then if you bought them with the motorcraft boxes.

 

[Tifosi]

I love the deals on HF hand tools. I picked up a 4lb dead blow mallet at HF for $5-6 and the same one at the depot is around $25...

Open ended wrenches, I can't tell you how any of those I have and leave specific sizes with the equipment I use them on. ie my router...

I generally pass on the power tools with the exception of a few plug ins that we don't use often enough to buy quality or know when we need to rent one on the way to a job.

+1 on the shear!!! got the 30" shear/break/roller last year and love it!

 

["Deposit Please"]

happy with clamps i purchased from harbor, but their heat guns...forget about it.

 

[CES020]

If this like the person saying you should only buy cars made in the U.S.A., and then gets in his Chevy or Ford that was made in Mexico and partially assembled in the U.S.A.? I don't think you can get around buying products from overseas. Try to find a piece of clothing made in the U.S.A.

 

[WildWestDesigns]

If this like the person saying you should only buy cars made in the U.S.A., and then gets in his Chevy or Ford that was made in Mexico and partially assembled in the U.S.A.? I don't think you can get around buying products from overseas. Try to find a piece of clothing made in the U.S.A.

I have 3 wholesale vendors for blank embroidery products that proudly proclaim made in the USA.

There are very few things that are made in the USA, almost no vehicles are in full. Saddles that I have are King Ranch made (my grandmother knows the master saddle maker down there) and my carriage that I use for horse rides is made right here in TN (no not by the Amish).

It's getting harder and hard to find exclusive american made products, but it is possible.

 

[petepaz]

we have bought a bunch of stuff from them over the years. our experiences have been good but as many said above just be carefull on the power tools

 

[CES020]

I have 3 wholesale vendors for blank embroidery products that proudly proclaim made in the USA.

There are very few things that are made in the USA, almost no vehicles are in full. Saddles that I have are King Ranch made (my grandmother knows the master saddle maker down there) and my carriage that I use for horse rides is made right here in TN (no not by the Amish).

It's getting harder and hard to find exclusive american made products, but it is possible.

Let me clarify, try to find clothing made in the U.S.A. in a store.

Yes, there are almost always exceptions, but we're talking about the general rule, not the exceptions.

I've seen so many threads across the internet saying you should only buy USA made products, and they boycott things like Honda and Toyota, both of which employee millions of people in the USA, are assembled in the USA, just like GM and Ford. Some people won't let the facts get in the way of a good argument when it comes to that stuff.

It's a global economy. Would we all like to buy products from our own country? Probably so. Do we have a choice in most cases? No. If there is a choice, more often than not, we'd have to have a lot of extra money to maintain that buying practice.

 

[btropical.com]

happy with clamps i purchased from harbor, but their heat guns...forget about it.

We go thru heat guns like crazy with tint , we bought 10 or so from harbor freight $9.99 . Walmart wagners $30 bux so basically a disposable product .My HF heatgun going strong 4 months and 1oo or so car tints later Also love that they sell 100 box 1 inch single edge blades $2.99 local store $7 bux

 

["Deposit Please"]

bptropical....You just mentioned that you go through heat guns like crazy. Exactly what we did when we purchased them from harbor and they always burn-out when you need it most. We use more reliable heat guns now..and it's not from harbor

 

[btropical.com]

We run over them , throw them at customers , burn infant kids with them . You would be surprised at how hard it is to get the smell of flesh from a heat gun