sinner16 Posted February 25, 2004 Report Share Posted February 25, 2004 Ok ... Not to try and due a company in... but I would like to share some useful info on a company that I dealt with .. I'm sure at some point in time everyone has heard of Harbor Freight. It's a large company the carries tons of mild quality tools at "sometimes" even prices. I guess that is part of the allure to this company. It seems sometimes my better judgment takes a quick vacation and leaves the rest of me open for target practice!!!!! I was looking to try and get a decent quality work bench for my basement without breaking the bank. Traditionally I would have built the thing myself ... however... the 9-5 grind, along with remodeling an entire house, as well as a 6 month old female carbon copy of me...... (you see where I'm going here .... Anyway... I placed an order via internet with Horror Freight .. pops I meant Harbor Freight in the beginning of January. About ten days later I get a knock from the UPS man holding a long box outside my door. I signed for it ... and he mentioned that there was another box on the truck... I brought box number 1 to the side of my house... while Mr. Happy UPS man goes and gets the 2nd. He brings the box midway to my drive way and leaves. The second box is kind of ripped up... Like they dragged it from CA ... to my home. Anyway .. I understand .. these things happen. So I opened everything up to make sure all the parts were there.... I found that I was missing the "hardware kit" to assemble the bench. I called their support line and was issued a replacement order. 1 month goes by ... still no hardware... my bench is collecting dust in the many parts as it came to me. I then make a 2nd friendly call ... "Oh we are on back order on that kit, we should have it out to you in a week ..... A week has come and gone.. Still no hardware to assemble this thing. I figured that I would give it one last shot.... So I called again today..... Oh.. that is on back order ... we should have it ready by March 22nd. Are they kidding me!!!!!! After a few more sentences in our conversation... I knew I was dealing with a company that could care less about my situation.... My guess is that all of these model benches were being sent without the assembly hardware..... They figure they can still close the sale... by time the items is shipped and delivered.. they would have the inventory to issue replacement parts.... I'm sure this bench was not that popular .. that they couldn't meet the supply and demand. As it stands now... I will be shipping this stupid thing back to Horror Freight for a refund ... which would probably take even longer!!!! Anyone have a similar story...... Moral of the story is to think twice about the savings you really do get!!!! I could have easily paid a little more for a bench directly from a Home Center... and would not have had this type of hassle. Just my $0.02 on internet purchases from a large company ..... Most of them have lost the meaning of customer service and resolution to pending issues. Ok My rant is over.... Hey Brian.... How about I give you $20.00 to take Horror Freight off of the "tools reference" page? I'm sure this could happen to anyone here... Just giving a heads up..... Now I think I'll go to Home Depot.... spend the $$$ on the lumber and make my own bench!!!!! I'll keep ya posted on the total outcome.... but please do yourself a favor.... Stay clear of Harbor Freight... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guitarfrenzy Posted February 25, 2004 Report Share Posted February 25, 2004 Yeah I've had an ongoing situation with Harbor Freight myself. I placed an order over the internet, three things was missing: digital calipers, t-square, and router bits. But I noticed that they had sent me a gear puller that I didn't order. So I call them up and explain that I had 3 things listed but not in the box and that I was sent a gear puller that I didn't order. That was the first mistake. So they told me that they didn't charge me for the router bits, or t-square because they was on back order. So basically, they shipped the router bits to me later on, but had charged alot of freight on it, which I thought was crazy. Inside the package was a return slip for the gear puller, and they wanted me to ship it back my cost. I don't get my digital calipers till I sent it off, so it's a double edged sword. The t-square is still on backorder as far as I know and they have yet to send it, but I know when they do it will cost me tons for shipping again. So basically I ended up paying double because they shipped everything separately and it was their mess up. The web page didn't say that anything was on backorder when I placed it. It said everything was in stock. Now I have to wait till they get the gear puller back to hopefully get the digital calipers I already paid for. What a bummer!! I will never order from them online again, I'll just go to the local Harbor Freight store 1 1/2 hours away from me. That way I get what I want, not pay rediculous shipping charges and take it home the same day.. I'm with you on this one.. Just be careful people. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guitarfrenzy Posted February 25, 2004 Report Share Posted February 25, 2004 On a good note.. I've order alot from Stew Mac and one day they forgot to box an item, I called them up and they didn't ask any questions and immediately shipped it out and was at my door 2 days later. So as high as Stew Mac is on some stuff, they are really run good and actually care. So far so good and I know I've ordered over one thousand dollars worth of stuff already (tools are high ya know) and everything was top quality. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Devon Headen Posted February 25, 2004 Report Share Posted February 25, 2004 Stew Mac IS a great company for customer service and quality, but you pay for that with higher prices. Then again, you might buy inferior products from a different place and have tons of screw ups like that. Devon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guitarfrenzy Posted February 25, 2004 Report Share Posted February 25, 2004 Stew Mac IS a great company for customer service and quality, but you pay for that with higher prices. Then again, you might buy inferior products from a different place and have tons of screw ups like that. Devon I couldn't have said it better myself!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soapbarstrat Posted February 26, 2004 Report Share Posted February 26, 2004 Yeah, I've seen the horror freight stories on newsgroups, so I know this kind of thing is not too uncommon. I've only delt with the company a few times, and the only real problem was the quality of some of the tools (their 'drill master' drill bit sets come with many bits that are warped). Other tools were kick-a$$ bang for the buck. I tend not to buy anything from them unless it's on a 1/2 off sale. Like the dial indicators for 7 bucks (they are pretty stiff and need to be modded or they'll push your neck upward if you use them for a 'neck-jig') Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sinner16 Posted February 26, 2004 Author Report Share Posted February 26, 2004 I would rather pay a little more up front and have peace of mind that if there are any screw ups... I don't have to worry about a horror show in the making .. Also when I spok to their customer service.. They seemd like they just wanted to get rid of me. I know alot of large companies will accept an order, ship what they have(if they even know it is missing a part) just to close the sale. They figure that by the time you realize you are missing a part .... they will have it and send it out to you. In my case .... I aske them to see if they can find on from another box and ship that to me.... the lady just told me " We don't have it".... end of story!!!!!! So I spent about an hour boxing up everything to ship it back for a refund!!!! Oh well ... Buyer beware. Thanks for listening to my vent.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Rosenberger Posted February 26, 2004 Report Share Posted February 26, 2004 You could always dispute the charge on your credit card. Companies' tech support and service usually gets 10 times better when they find out they're not getting paid until you're satisfied with the sale Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daveq Posted February 26, 2004 Report Share Posted February 26, 2004 Like the dial indicators for 7 bucks (they are pretty stiff and need to be modded or they'll push your neck upward if you use them for a 'neck-jig') Wow, I think Frenzy just mentioned that he's using them for that exact purpose. I found some at H&H industrial (I think?) for about $13.00 each. I got them yesterday and they seem to be very nice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guitarfrenzy Posted February 27, 2004 Report Share Posted February 27, 2004 You are correct Daveq.... I haven't had a bit of trouble out of the dial indicators I bought from Harbor Freight. If it's pushing your neck up then you might need to lower the dial indicator some since it's too close to the neck. But I really don't know since mine works great. Mine wasn't on sale though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guitarfrenzy Posted February 27, 2004 Report Share Posted February 27, 2004 You could always dispute the charge on your credit card. Companies' tech support and service usually gets 10 times better when they find out they're not getting paid until you're satisfied with the sale Great point Scott... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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