Harbor Freight USA Ripoff sells defective products and does not offer cash refunds Tacoma Washington

 So you bought a pressure washer from Harbor Freight and it stopped working after one, two, three uses? Well let me tell you that you could have bought one from Home Depot or Lowes and you would have had the same problem! Just read the reviews on there pressure washers and you will see. Pressure washers are generally unreliable, unless you buy a commercial grade, gas powered unit and even then you will have problems. Dont be a Donkey! Buying a product that is highly unreliable across the board of manufacturers from a place like HF is just plain (((redacted)))and therefore you sir are indeed an A**Jack. In my opinion, the Home Depot brand Husky or Ryobi is on par with anything sold at HF when you consider how much more the Home Depot Crap is. Even the Dewalt items sold at Home Depot are sub standard and have different internal components then a Dewalt bought from say Dewalt directly. Dont believe me? Take a HD 18watt drill apart from HD and you will find plastic gears. Now take the same drill purchased directly from Dewalt and you will find METAL gears.....WTF?

I have had my JET lathe for about six years now using it several times a week and it still works as good as the day I bought it.  I have only replaced the drive belt once.  Since my experience with HF I only buy JET and Grizzly shop equipment.

WA State has an Implied Warranty law that a product must function the way it's advertised.  The lathe didn't since there is a reasonable expectation that a few weeks should not the lifespan of piece of power equipment.

If Tony handled other customer's issues as poorly as mine I'm not surprised he was axed.

Also regarding harbor freight tools 12" sliding compound miter w/laser: Beware this product. while I was using it the guard blew apart and nearly cut my hand off requiring 20 stitches and the repair of several large veins that were severed! Do not purchase these products!

While I no longer work for the company, I did in the time of question during your "issue".  In June of '05 you purchased a product with the Protection Plan, 6 months later, while the plan was in effect you returned it, using the plan. The protection plan for the 7x10 mini lathe, if it was bought on sale was a one time replacement.  You paid cash for the replacement plan on the lathe, and for the lathe you bought in June. In December, when your original lathe failed you returned  your lathe to the store, where the store there, used the return authorization from AMT (the insurance company that backs the protection plan) to authorize taking back the product.  Back then the RA procedures had just been changing from the old (VAC) system and the new (ESP) system, and the gift card procedure was completely normal, because AMT, not you technically bought the new lathe. (Kinda how an insurance company pays for a trip to the doctor or dentist)  

Okay, before you accuse me, yes, I work for the company. I work for a store in the Midwest, and most of the items are, indeed, crap. I normally try to steer customers to the higher quality items (most of the time they're more expensive, but YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR) but the majority of our customers want the cheapest one. That's fine, but I wouldn't expect it to work very well.

As for the gift card thing, since you posted this in 2006 (and I was too young to work there back then) I'm not sure what the company-wide policy was. But that's the usual way of giving store credit through the register: we ring it up on separate tickets, using a gift card as the middle-man, so to speak. Depending on where the card machine was, they should've told you and it should've been quite clear that they were using a gift card to do it. Unless you weren't in the store at the time, you would've seen the cashier pull out the gift card, type something on the register, slide the card, finish the return, then slide the card again when he/she rang it back up for the replacement lathe (which isn't how the ESP warranties work, anyway, they have to call the number) That's why they didn't originally give you a refund: we don't give cash refunds for gift cards as a policy. I'm glad you got your money back, but I don't think suing them was really the best thing to do. And I'm not saying it because I work there: you raised hell, got what you wanted, but is it really best to ALWAYS get what you want?

HFT sells cheap crap, yes, we know that. But it did sound like that store wasn't exactly following procedure, at least how I know it. Our store always tries to give the best service we can, but company policy is company policy... and cheap tools are, well, cheap.

I am sorry to hear you had so much trouble.  I'm glad that it worked out for you in the end, it sounds like they may have had a poor manager at the time.  However, I just wanted to share some of my personal experiences with the company.

First, I work in retail and we do not return anything after 30 days, period.  The fact that they exchanged it for you was great, however, perhaps a bit underhanded with the gift card.  However, it is better than you would have gotten in my store., (sad to say)

Anyway, I buy a fair amount from my local HFT (in Richmond, VA) and the staff is always very nice.  I have had to bring a few things back, but as long as I had my receipt or my warranty, which I buy on everything from my cell phone to my cars, I either got a replacement, different item, or if I really needed it cash back.  I think that perhaps you had a bad store but I do not think the company as a whole is represented fairly by your experience.

Also, as someone else mentioned these are not by any means professional grade products, and everybody knows it, just look at the price.  I may buy a saw there, but I'm buying my blades elsewhere so they last more than 5 seconds before going dull.  Hand tools are great, plus they have a lifetime replacement for free, like the craftsman brand.  if i breaks, and they do, just swap it.  I replace my ratchet drive every 8 to 12 months.

again, I'm sorry your experience was bad but I know a lot of happy customers that would be willing to say that your experience is the minority  and most of the time it is a good company with bargain priced items. 

I don't work for harbor freight,  but you can buy a grinder there and it comes with extra brushes.   You can't even  buy the brushes for a craftsman grinder for the price I paid for the whole thing.  It would be a dumb person who thinks they will get the Taj Mahal for ten cents with a year's worth of insurance for "breakage".   Somebody who wants to sue someplace like Harbor freight over something they broke is the king of cheap.  I hope they banned you from the premises.  People like you should buy American.  And by the way VW bugs were cheaper and better than anything American made and America couldn't compete so they banned them.  That's right.  American products are garbage.

I bought a JET lathe a couple years ago so there is no need to make any parts for a sub standard piece of crap.  Exposing bad businesses that sell inferior equipment is not whining.

Do you you work for Harbor Freight? 

I was thinking if you know how to use a lathe, you could machine yourself a new part if your lathe wasn't broke.  I say just glue it for now and quit all your whining. :)

Although the manager at the time was a total jerk the customer liaison was very fair.  Considering he does work for HF he did take care of the problem although it took several months and a lot of effort on my part.

If HF was some obscure small business I would not bother posting my experience with them.  However they are very large and aggressively advertise so I wanted to warn people about how difficult they are to work with when a problem arises.

And more importantly I knew better then to listen to the know-it-alls here that said I had no recourse.  THEY WERE WRONG AND I PREVAILED!

I hope anyone else here takes notice about two bit advise given on some internet forum.  Follow your gut and know the consumer laws of your state.  Many shady businesses are betting you don't know the laws.

I now buy all my machining equipment from JET.  One small broken part was quickly taken care of in 48 hrs.  JET is miles ahead of HF not only in quality but customer service. 

I worked for that company for nearly two years. You would be amazed as to how many returns you would see in one day. I'm actually surprised you didn't recieve a cash refund or got your money charged back on your credit card. Usually if you keep complaining the manager (atleast the one I worked at in Washington) would usually cave. It's a fact, 90% of the tools and equipment are pieces of steamy crap. It was either broken when we got it, or employees mishandling the product (I saw many a boxes hurled to the ground from about 15 ft up in the warehouse).

Really the warranty is just a way to squeeze another 5-50 dollars out of you. The person asking you to buy it will tell you anything to get that warranty, because they also get a commission from it. I've heard managers tell customers complete bull and sell them a warranty for an extra 75 lousy cents in their check. They basically encouraged us to act like used car salesmen. I wouldn't sell them though, because they are pointless UNLESS you want your money back. If you just want the same piece of equipment or tool they'll let you trade it in without a hassle at all (assuming the cashier is smart enough to navigate through the endless hassle of returns).

I knew d**n near the entire inventory, and knew of about three products that were made in the USA, and that was the razor blades and a couple of other things. Even the American flags they sell are made in China.

You can't really go wrong with some tools from there, like pliers, vices (not the ratcheting ones), screwdrivers, ratchets, etc. etc. Though personally I wouldn't buy anything with a motor in it, or really anything except the aforementioned items because despite living 5 blocks from it, I don't want to go in and exchange it every day. 

I'm glad that Brent got his refund. I'm having a similar experiance with a pressure washer from Harbor Freight, as it has been replaced now 4 times. Unlike Brent, the store in my neighborhood has been very polite to me and has offered replecment or refund.

My biggest complaint is that Harbor Freight advertises its stuff to be 'heavy duty' and 'high quality', of which neither seems to apply. While I try to buy American and don't expect Chinese stuff to last very long, I figure it ought to at least work for more than 2 weeks. In my case with the pressure washer, the managers at the store have told me that they have continued to report to their higher ups that the pressure washers are junk, and the corporate poeople continue to dismiss the problems with them.

Rob, Tennessee

After working with the liason for Harbor Freight, the BBB and the Washington State Office of The Attorney General Harbor Freight has agreed to give me a full refund. The Tacoma store manager, Tony was terminated.

As a consumer it does pay to know the laws of your state and be polite but firm and persistant.
Most importantly ignore the advice and ill informed opinions of people that obviousely don't know much about consumer law. The people that try to come off as know-it-alls usually don't know as much as they espouse.

After working with the liason for Harbor Freight, the BBB and the Washington State Office of The Attorney General Harbor Freight has agreed to give me a full refund. The Tacoma store manager, Tony was terminated.

As a consumer it does pay to know the laws of your state and be polite but firm and persistant.
Most importantly ignore the advice and ill informed opinions of people that obviousely don't know much about consumer law. The people that try to come off as know-it-alls usually don't know as much as they espouse.

After working with the liason for Harbor Freight, the BBB and the Washington State Office of The Attorney General Harbor Freight has agreed to give me a full refund. The Tacoma store manager, Tony was terminated.

As a consumer it does pay to know the laws of your state and be polite but firm and persistant.
Most importantly ignore the advice and ill informed opinions of people that obviousely don't know much about consumer law. The people that try to come off as know-it-alls usually don't know as much as they espouse.

After working with the liason for Harbor Freight, the BBB and the Washington State Office of The Attorney General Harbor Freight has agreed to give me a full refund. The Tacoma store manager, Tony was terminated.

As a consumer it does pay to know the laws of your state and be polite but firm and persistant.
Most importantly ignore the advice and ill informed opinions of people that obviousely don't know much about consumer law. The people that try to come off as know-it-alls usually don't know as much as they espouse.

The lathe was not six months old. They replaced it and it broke TWO WEEKS after it was replaced again.

I posted my problems with Harbor Freight as a warning and a advisory to anyone else contemplating doing business with them. This is not a forum for pissing matches. It does not concern you and the updates are for consumers with like problems.

I am not sure why you have an axe to grind with my post's. Do you work for Harbor Freight? Are you a paid apologist for them?
Are your rebutals for anyones benefit other then yours?

Harbor Freight sells good cheap tools, meaning the tools are ok but not great, and buyers that I know already expect them to be of low quality. After all, they are Chinese tools. You buy and hope for the best. How else can you buy a $300 tool for $19.95?

What about the WA law you mentioned?

Also, the federal law does not say anything about giving cash refunds.

What type of written warranty was given? I would really like you to post it here. Fax it to Ed and ask him to post it.

I have read the warranty on most Harbor Freight junk. They are usually limited warranties of 30-90 days that offer repair or replacement.

They offered this and you turned it down. And you used the item for 6 months.

Can you really expect a cash refund on something you used for 6 months?

Did they make any specific claims on performance of this product? I doubt it.

I think you expected too much out of some cheap chinese tool. You got about 3 more months out of it than it was designed to last.

Be happy.

http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/buspubs/warranty.htm#understanding

http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/buspubs/warranty.htm#understanding

Brent,

I was not mocking you, I was just stating the facts.

You should have just done a chargeback immediately upon having return problems. However, I'm sure that your lawyer friend explained to you that under federal law this needs to be done within 60 days.

I would love to see that implied warranty law in WA. Please have your lawyer give it to you and post it here.

Cash refunds are not usually required by law. They are a courtesy and a way of doing good business.

Harbor freight offered to repair or replace the item, right?

I just don't see the rip off here other than the chinese merchandise itself.

I can not speak for Florida laws because they are different in each state. Upon consultation with a friend of mine that is an attorney he said they definitely violated the State of Washington Implied Warranty laws. He also said the deceptive practice of issuing and then charging a gift card without first advising me is very deceptive and I have a civil case with them to. The corporate office has taken my formal complaint and if a resolution can not be had then I will start the credit card charge back process. The issuing bank wants me to try to settle this directly with Harbor Freight first.

This lathe was chosen because there are no US manufacturers of a 7x10 metal lathe.

I am posting my experience with Harbor Freight so that anyone contemplating a future purchase with them is fully advised as what could happen. Mocking and "two bit advise" from someone clear across the country does not benefit anyone here at all.

How this problem gets settled will further assist anyone else to avoid the same or deal with them more effectively if they encounter it.

Good luck with trying to get your full refund. Unfortunately they do sell a lot of junk. Their self-oiled compressors are another worthless item. My father returned 3 in a row, before getting a full refund. There are replacement gears available, through other sources, for the mini-lathes. There are websites devoted to them as well. mini-lathe.com is one. Another is a yahoo group, devoted to mini-lathes. By now I'm sure they know about the plastic gear problem with their lathes and others like them. They just choose not to remedy the common problem with them. Probably more cost effective for them. Good luck.

They offered you a store credit so you could get another one or get something else.

You chose not to.

Also, keep in mind that you get what you pay for!

Everything sold at Harbor Freight comes straight from China.

Buy AMERICAN and you won't have these problems.

There are no bargains when buying tools.

You wanted cheap, and got cheap. So you got what you paid for!