Harbor Freight Shipping

[MechMatt]

I am rather new here, but I would like to maybe help out a fellow board member in the future who may not know. Avoid Harbor Freight shipping at all costs. I ordered something on Tuesday AM and chose Next day overnight air shipping. Expected time of delivery - Thursday afternoon.

I paid 14$ for basically 3 day shipping. What kills me is I have a location 25 minutes from me. I wish I could have done that instead, given it had been an option. I'll surely never order something from them online again and probably should have known better to begin with.

Take care everyone,

Matt

 

[nehog]

Using various combinations of fingers, that's two days no matter which fingers I chose. Some companies claim a day for processing so that may well be how they justify the overnight next day claim (I don't know HF's rules.) You also don't tell us where you are so that makes it harder: some locations in this country are not reachable next day no matter what you want!

FWIW, if you feel abused, complain. I bet they'll comp you on the shipping costs, perhaps with a gift card.

 

[fordcragar]

Sometimes you can't get away from the shipping either. HF sells some items on-line that are not offered in the stores.

 

[SteevoLS]

Did you order it in the late afternoon?

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

 

[mrpizza]

Last time I ordered they shipped my stuff in three days. I paid the standard 6.99 or whatever it is.

 

[Just Primer]

It comes on a Boat from China. It's in the name. How fast do you think those boats go?

 

[MechMatt]

Haha! Nehog that is funny. 3 days comes from the 7 hours before the company's late pickup on Tuesday, all of Wednesday and now the better part of Thursday as it has still not arrived. I called them and they basically said to not order from the online service anymore. Well I genuinely hope the products I ordered are not of the same quality as their expediting services, although I woukdnt doubt it and have learned my lesson. That's what you get for trying to save a buck. What is the old saying? Penny wise, pound stupid.

It's a tough one to make when you're trying to build a tool arsenal on minimum wage. I guess that's incentive for me to continue my studies.

For the record - I live 3 hours south of their CA shipping facility and chose overnight air shipping on Tuesday morning, package is to arrive Thursday by 8pm.

I have a real hard time believing a 10 piece so ket set and 3 extensions could possibly be that hard to het shipped out the next day. If they aren't going to get it to you the next day, they shouldn't advertise it as so.

Enough of my poor me'ing.

Live and learn. I'd like to find a good tool supplier making quality tools in the USA. I've had some pretty not-funny experiences with sockets being marked as 17 mm that were more like 17.5.

 

[dankicksass]

Harbor Freight flat rate FedEx takes ten days. Anything that can arrive damaged will, because HF damaged it themselves before FedEx could.

Do yourself a favor, return the HF junk and buy real tools. You really do get what you pay for.

 

[MechMatt]

I'm with you Dan.

Thank you

Matt

 

[dankicksass]

There are a few things I'm happy with from HF. Their biggest engine hoist is decent, their socket trays are too. Their fake Honda motor is okay. Their cooling system pressure tester is okay. Their air powered brake bleeder is good.

Notice I didn't put a hand tool on the list. I've never owned a HF hand tool, but I've seen my apprentices get hurt by them over the years.

 

[DCarr]

Harbor Freight flat rate FedEx takes ten days. Anything that can arrive damaged will, because HF damaged it themselves before FedEx could.

Do yourself a favor, return the HF junk and buy real tools. You really do get what you pay for.

This about says it.

When I do from HF I buy more online that at the store. w/ shipping at 6.99$, that wont cover my fuel to get to the store and back.

If I need a cheap tool in a hurry .... I will spend more locally and buy a better tool.

 

[cdestuck]

I'm lucky here. About a half mile from our HF. Another great item they sell are their combination wrenches. Good finish and fit, lifetime replacement, and a set of 9 on sale costs about the same as one Craftsman wrench

 

[nicksnothereman]

I am rather new here, but I would like to maybe help out a fellow board member in the future who may not know. Avoid Harbor Freight shipping at all costs. I ordered something on Tuesday AM and chose Next day overnight air shipping. Expected time of delivery - Thursday afternoon.

I paid 14$ for basically 3 day shipping. What kills me is I have a location 25 minutes from me. I wish I could have done that instead, given it had been an option. I'll surely never order something from them online again and probably should have known better to begin with.

Take care everyone,

Matt

I've never had a problem with their shipping. But I just use the regular shipping and haven't used it a whole lot because of the cost. I don't know man, if you can drag your **** to the store you might as well ain't going to be 7 bucks in gas (at least for me, for you 14 bucks). Whenever I go there I pretty much need what I'm doing to be done that day so...yeah. Lots of things can happen with shipping including weather and lazy drivers. If you live behind a gate you'll get the laziest drivers in the world, they'll wait until a couple shipments to your neighbors pile up before getting there unless it's overnight or usps.

 

[stage20]

Harbor Freight flat rate FedEx takes ten days. Anything that can arrive damaged will, because HF damaged it themselves before FedEx could.

Do yourself a favor, return the HF junk and buy real tools. You really do get what you pay for.

you do get what you pay for, most of the time.

what are real tools?

 

[dankicksass]

you do get what you pay for, most of the time.



what are real tools?

I'm sure you know what I mean.

 

[nehog]

...
For the record - I live 3 hours south of their CA shipping facility and chose overnight air shipping on Tuesday morning, package is to arrive Thursday by 8pm. ...

There is a well known phenomenon called "too close for overnight" where traditional overnight shipping is actually incredibly inefficient and doesn't work well!

Again, complain some more, and try to get something (like perhaps a gift card!) to compensate.

 

[b-body-bob]

There is a well known phenomenon called "too close for overnight" where traditional overnight shipping is actually incredibly inefficient and doesn't work well!

I get the opposite of that here with Jeg's and Summit. 3-day shipping is usually free, and gets here the next day without fail. I'm just the right distance away, about 3-4 hours, depot to depot.

 

[AffableCurmudgeon]

Do yourself a favor, return the HF junk and buy real tools. You really do get what you pay for.

There are a few things I'm happy with from HF. Their biggest engine hoist is decent, their socket trays are too. Their fake Honda motor is okay. Their cooling system pressure tester is okay. Their air powered brake bleeder is good.

Notice I didn't put a hand tool on the list. I've never owned a HF hand tool, but I've seen my apprentices get hurt by them over the years.

Makes me laugh. First, a complete renunciation, then one post later, carving out exceptions. I guess some cheap things are not junk and for some cheap things you do get more than you pay for? Or maybe pressure tester, engine hoists, brake bleeders are not tools at all...

 

[dankicksass]

I guess some cheap things are not junk and for some cheap things you do get more than you pay for?

Some things you don't use every day, and some things you don't find made anywhere but Asia anymore, and some things are too simple to not buy the low cost option. Sometimes it's economics. It all depends on the thing. When I put a new engine on my snowblower in the winter, I could have spent $450 on a Honda motor, but I spent $90 on a knockoff at Harbor Freight. It's a seldom used tool, it can be compromised on. On the engine hoist, if I get it branded Napa, Summit, Jegs or whatever, they're all imported too and at the time they cost at least $100 more. To get a nice USA made hoist, I'd have to scrounge around for used or pay 4x as much for another seldom used tool. It's still safety certified, it's still getting the job done and taking up valuable floor space the other 362 days a year. On the pressure tester adapters, Snap-On's are crappy plastic too. So I decided to save myself $600 or so, and I didn't get it from HF anyway but it's the same as theirs. Big deal. And all automatic brake bleeders suffer from the same flaws, the rubbers wear out and they're useless. May as well get the cheap one.

If I've offended any HF fans with my posts, I don't care. 99% of their store is worthless to me.

 

[g2shuck]

I ordered a jack from them and it took 2 days to deliver and arrived with the box looking perfect.

 

[PugetDude]

I like the way any thread with the words "Harbor Freight" in the title automatically turns into the internet equivalent of drunks playing whack-a-mole.