Pittsburgh not made in the U.S.?

[alex71]

They (the Swedish owners) call it Chicago Pneumatic because that's what american John Duntley named it 110 years ago.

Maybe you're thinking Central Pneumatic?

see how well the confusion campaign is working?

 

[Chris Adams]

The name misleading from HF really saddens me. Chicago Electric, Pittsburgh, etc.. The only purpose of the name is to decieve. Just bad intentions/business practices IMO. Especially since it's such a sensitive topic.
I'm surprised they don't have "Craft-man" or "Snip-On" brand names.

I feel cheated. My wife's Jaguar has NO cat in it. Dang.
The neighbor has a Mustang, but it's not a horse. Lying car maker, just trying to deceive us.
My niece's Malibu does not seem to be from there or ever even been there, what a cheat.


Did you know that many SnapOn tools don't Snap On? what, are they lying SOB's?
Mac, what a lying name, they ain't Scotch...
I got a Sabre saw, but can't lead a cavalry charge with it, won't fit in my scabbard.

Rode the Wolverine once, dang thing warn't even an animal, some sort of train.

Good lord people, it's called marketing.

 

[Tom2]

I feel cheated. My wife's Jaguar has NO cat in it. Dang.
The neighbor has a Mustang, but it's not a horse. Lying car maker, just trying to deceive us.
My niece's Malibu does not seem to be from there or ever even been there, what a cheat.


Did you know that many SnapOn tools don't Snap On? what, are they lying SOB's?
Mac, what a lying name, they ain't Scotch...
I got a Sabre saw, but can't lead a cavalry charge with it, won't fit in my scabbard.

Rode the Wolverine once, dang thing warn't even an animal, some sort of train.

Good lord people, it's called marketing.

I wouldn't say it's exactly the same as your examples. HF is basically trying to trick the country of origin on their products with their labels.
Putting Pittsbugh in large print right on the wrenches is one step away from painting them red white and blue and have the US flag as the symbol.

The fact that the OP was tricked by this means it's obviously working with many of the consumers. Obviously most people here are educated on tools more than the general population, so it's easy for us to just brush it off and laugh about it, but the deceipt has been working pretty well.

I'm not trying to bash HF into the ground. I own my share of Pittsburgh tools..but that name really makes me feel guilty.

 

[Chris Adams]

I wouldn't say it's exactly the same as your examples. HF is basically trying to trick the country of origin on their products with their labels.
Putting Pittsbugh in large print right on the wrenches is one step away from painting them red white and blue and have the US flag as the symbol.

The fact that the OP was tricked by this means it's obviously working with many of the consumers. Obviously most people here are educated on tools more than the general population, so it's easy for us to just brush it off and laugh about it, but the deceipt has been working pretty well.

I'm not trying to bash HF into the ground. I own my share of Pittsburgh tools..but that name really makes me feel guilty.

I really do know what you mean, but maybe because I'm older and have seen thousands of examples 'name branding' over 50 plus years of shopping that the whole thing seems slightly silly.


I do remember my father in law, in the seventies, flying off the handle when he found out the new Dodge Colt he bought wasn't an American made car.


My laughing at his ignorance was probably no help...

It was an obvious import and he ignored that because it was cheap and got good mileage, not because it said Dodge on the grill.

Then was angry and shocked that it was imported...
My god , it was a tiny Mitsubishi.
At some point it goes past name identification into self denial.

I own a 'Chevrolet Tracker' that is a Canadian built Suzuki. But I never thought it was a Chevy...
So car manufacturers (all brands) do this every day. Why not bash them for it?
Still, it is a 'cheat' when they do it, but just a fact of life.

 

[Knipper]

I own a 'Chevrolet Tracker' that is a Canadian built Suzuki. But I never thought it was a Chevy...

Haha I own a Tracker as well and people still give me a hard time, telling me "you know that's just a Geo, why does it say Chevrolet". They tend to get confused when i tell them it's a Grand Vitara made in Canada with Indian and Japanese parts. To which they usually retort with something to the tune of "Oh yeah! Well Chevys **** anyway. I'm a real man, I have a Hummer H3".

 

[Joe From NY]

The point is that nobody will think a mustang car is a horse, or a cougar car is a cat, but if tools have names of american industrial cities, people might be duped into thinking they are made in those cities. If they wanted to name tool lines after places, why not use relevant city names such as Beijing, Shenyang, Zhengzhou, Guiyang, Changchun, Hangzhou, HongYuan, etc... instead of Pitsburgh, Chicago, US General. It is clearly meant to deceive. It is not a coincidence. They don't call the tool lines London machinery, Moscow pneumatics, Naples general, Paris electric... (although they probably will if they ever open up stores there.)

 

[Crash913]

The point is that nobody will think a mustang car is a horse, or a cougar car is a cat, but if tools have names of american industrial cities, people might be duped into thinking they are made in those cities.

Ignorance is bliss. The country of origin is printed clearly on the packaging...

 

[NWphotog]

One of their core business principles is fraud and deceipt. Why else would they use brands like Chicago, Pittsburg, US General, Central, etc??

Huh?! You'd have to be an idiot to buy from HF and NOT know where it is made.

 

[NWphotog]

Oh I wasn't knocking you in any way. There are just normally 1 or 2 threads a week of people who for some reason just can't stand the fact that some people buy and actually like HF tools and decide to bash them.

Ain't that the truth. Some people have such low self-esteem they have to bash HF and other targets of opportunity!

 

[The Rider]

So you mean to tell me that set of nine wrenches I bought for $9.99, stamped Pittsburgh on the front and with a weird "India" on the back weren't made in the US after all?

Gosh, I feel so stupid now, how could I have been so easily tricked?

If only I had a bunch of more enlightened people I could consult to guide me in my purchasing decisions and ensure that as a effing retard *****, with an inability to read, I don't allow myself to fall into that trap again.

Next thing you'll be telling me that the Milwaukee drill I bought wasn't made in Wisconsin at all,but in China!

Oh wait...

 

[american lockpicker]

You know in the UK its illegal to sell something marked "Sheffield" if its not from there.

 

[Theloniousmonk]

You know in the UK its illegal to sell something marked "Sheffield" if its not from there.

too bad they don't have that law for Kangol hats too.

 

[oldtools]

The name misleading from HF really saddens me. Chicago Electric, Pittsburgh, etc.. The only purpose of the name is to decieve. Just bad intentions/business practices IMO. Especially since it's such a sensitive topic.
I'm surprised they don't have "Craft-man" or "Snip-On" brand names.

You have American company with US city in it that used to make tools in the US now just rebrand Asian tools like Chicago Pneumatic. It is no different.

 

[oldtools]

The point is that nobody will think a mustang car is a horse, or a cougar car is a cat, but if tools have names of american industrial cities, people might be duped into thinking they are made in those cities. If they wanted to name tool lines after places, why not use relevant city names such as Beijing, Shenyang, Zhengzhou, Guiyang, Changchun, Hangzhou, HongYuan, etc... instead of Pitsburgh, Chicago, US General. It is clearly meant to deceive. It is not a coincidence. They don't call the tool lines London machinery, Moscow pneumatics, Naples general, Paris electric... (although they probably will if they ever open up stores there.)

Because Pittsburg and Chicago Electric are American brands, not Chinese.

 

[oldtools]

Ignorance is bliss. The country of origin is printed clearly on the packaging...

.....and on the tools unlike SO which refuse to put COO on their tools.

 

[pep]

Next thing you'll be telling me that the Milwaukee drill I bought wasn't made in Wisconsin at all,but in China!

Game, set, match.

Thanks everyone for playing.

 

[Nealcrenshaw]

Really, hf tools could be made in the US, true the price of their tools would rise but to be able to label them "Made in the US" would be a big selling factor and i'm sure would leave the tool industry in shock.

 

[Davefr]

You know in the UK its illegal to sell something marked "Sheffield" if its not from there.

But not here. A couple years ago Sheffield whored out their name to China and sold full plier sets branded as Sheffield through Amazon.

They were gun metal gray with red handles.

 

[Lump]

It's been done forever. Let me use an example of NON tool products, to keep the emotions out of my point:

YEARS ago Japanese companies bought US brand names to help them gain acceptance in the US market. Take South Bend fishing tackle, for example. In the 1930's to the 60's, South Bend was a name with a reputation for quality, US-made tackle. Japanese companies made tackle too, but they had trouble selling their products to skeptical US customers. So South Bend was bought out by an Asian company who wanted to penetrate the US market. Consumers kept right on buying South Bend tackle for many years, with the brand relying upon its historical reputation for quality. It took a long time, but eventually EVERYONE finally figured it out. Today, the South Bend brand name is a badge of cheapness and low quality, not of high quality. You can find that stuff in KMart, and the Dollar General store. But not Bass Pro.

 

[nismomans13]

The point is that nobody will think a mustang car is a horse, or a cougar car is a cat, but if tools have names of american industrial cities, people might be duped into thinking they are made in those cities. If they wanted to name tool lines after places, why not use relevant city names such as Beijing, Shenyang, Zhengzhou, Guiyang, Changchun, Hangzhou, HongYuan, etc... instead of Pitsburgh, Chicago, US General. It is clearly meant to deceive. It is not a coincidence. They don't call the tool lines London machinery, Moscow pneumatics, Naples general, Paris electric... (although they probably will if they ever open up stores there.)

I'm not really trying to defend HF here but how exactly are they deceiving people when it blatantly says "made in china/Taiwan" on the tool itself?

 

[oldtools]

It's been done forever. Let me use an example of NON tool products, to keep the emotions out of my point:

YEARS ago Japanese companies bought US brand names to help them gain acceptance in the US market. Take South Bend fishing tackle, for example. In the 1930's to the 60's, South Bend was a name with a reputation for quality, US-made tackle. Japanese companies made tackle too, but they had trouble selling their products to skeptical US customers. So South Bend was bought out by an Asian company who wanted to penetrate the US market. Consumers kept right on buying South Bend tackle for many years, with the brand relying upon its historical reputation for quality. It took a long time, but eventually EVERYONE finally figured it out. Today, the South Bend brand name is a badge of cheapness and low quality, not of high quality. You can find that stuff in KMart, and the Dollar General store. But not Bass Pro.

America used to make piece of **** cars and could not compete against high quality Japanese cars and nearly went extinct. They were forced to improve their products. Same situation in the electronic industry. In general, Japanese products are of higher quality than American.

 

[Danglerb]

Snapon flashlights at Costco, that really POed some people that I know once they figured out the scam.

Nothing is safe, I bought a set of Charisma towels a couple months ago, once the premier line of Fieldcrest, but they went under in the last few years and the towels are sold at Costco etc. Still a nice towel, but nothing like the $50 each Supima cotton from Peru that Fieldcrest used (absolute longest best fibres).

Looking on ebay today I saw fractional sized drills advertised as USA drills.

 

[Joe From NY]

...

Nothing is safe, I bought a set of Charisma towels a couple months ago, once the premier line of Fieldcrest, but they went under in the last few years and the towels are sold at Costco etc. Still a nice towel, but nothing like the $50 each Supima cotton from Peru that Fieldcrest used (absolute longest best fibres)....

WTF? For a minute there, I thought I was reading the Ladies Home Journal site instead of Garage Journal site...:supergay:





(Just joking, brother. I was just looking for an excuse to use that "supergay" animated icon.)

 

[Theloniousmonk]

nothing wrong w/ an appreciation of fine towels... good example of a quality product in another industry going south, only to have the name reused on a lesser product, with the hoping that sales will be based on the reputation of said name.