Harbor Freight Tools

This store is a joke. I called to find out if an item was in stock. They said they had two of them. I then drove 25 minutes through traffic and did my shopping and paid the bill. Then the stock boy brought out the wrong item, it is a large tool case. He seemed not to be able to read the correct numbers but said there were others. I had paid the bill and then waited, and waited. He returned after about 15 minutes and said they did not have any of the items I had already paid for. The manager was called and told, in Spanish which was rude, again what the issue was. He made no attempt to try and work with me. All he could do it give me a refund. I said I would take the floor sample, NO. I said the least he could do was sell me the next size for the same price, NO. He made no attempt to apologize or offer me a coupon; he only wanted to make the sale and take my money.
If Harbor Freight has this lack of appreciation for their customers then what will happen when a product goes bad? What will happen when a customer is not 100% satisfied as advertised? What will happen to my identity information and my credit card information?
I will never shop at HF again if this is the way they are going to treat me. I did call the «district manager» but if this manager is like the one at the store my guess is I will not hear from this person either. The prices here are just about comparable to the big box stores but the quality is much less.
Shop here at your own risk… not me!

Overall the tools are great for the price. they send out a lot of mailers and even coupons for free scissors or flashlight with purchase. Please keep in mind, you get what you pay for and some of the «power tools» do not last forever, it’s the reason they always want to sell you the warranty. I recommend with that extra for the warranty, take it elsewhere and buy a better power tool. The reason for the 3 goes 2 ways. I came across a manager that was totally inflexible and was very rude to me. On the other hand, there is another manager by the name of Amber who is always willing to listen and help. She goes out of her way to treat the customer with dignity and respect and not jump all over them with store policies. You have to imagine, some of the tools they sell are not the best quality and you are going to expect some agitated customers. I know she probably doesn’t get too much credit, but Amber deserves a raise and I hope she gets it.

They need to stop asking personal information. Every time I’ve been asked for my address at check out. «We don’t save it in our system»…“Its for coupons”
Its unnecessarily and takes up the dam line

Poor customer service — bought an item with a special coupon, did not realize it was a previously opened box until I went to rerun it 3 weeks later. Then they tried to tell me it was only covered for return for 5 days… showed them my receipt which had the special price so they «allowed» me to exchange it.
Check your box when you get items from the «new» stock area — make sure it wasn’t previously returned and missing parts.
Bad attitudes there.

I drove an hour to get here and would have arrived sooner had there not been an accident blocking the road. I arrived at 6pm as they were closing. The employee shut the door as I walked up and said «sorry were closed» I explained the situation and how far I drove to arrive and he said «oh well we are closed». I am never doing business with this company again.

Been an avid HF shopper for a while now. Like most people, it starts with the floor jack. Well, I had to pick another one up and it was on sale for $ 89. Wow, it’s so different from a few years ago! So much smoother and quieter, I’m in love!
What could make it better? I got a coupon 2wks later for the jack at $ 59. Took it in with receipt and got cash difference. You have 30 days for price adjustments. So I bought more stuff.
This entire store is a temptation aisle. I go in for something specific and always walk out with a million things I didn’t know I needed!

Came here for the first time, I think I like the LB location better. But at least the employees were helpful with looking for things and I got a free 25 feet big measuring tape… check coupons for the free stuff. Got 2 of the wrist blood pressure cuffs they had on sale. Good price!

Great selection of products but the customer service is awful! Cashiers always look pissed off and act like they don’t care. Is that the way HFT run their business?

Worst customer service ever! Only one employee on the sales floor. Didn’t know what I was talking about and even showed him pictures of what I needed and still no help. He said they didn’t have it. Then my husband shows up and gets what he needs. Don’t waste your time coming here unless you absolutely know what you need.

Employees and manager are very rude at this store. They just don’t care and act like they are god. No help. Zero product knowledge. The big chick with the tattoos and the Asian manager are complete morons.

So much bigger than all the other HFs in socal… so more room for the smell of China to dissipate

Helpful staff ready to answer any questions or help you find what you are looking for. Well organized in my opinion, clean and inexpensive for the budget minded Mechanic/​Tradesman. You can find a lot of good deals on items like wrenches, sockets, pliers etc. I’ve personally purchased quite a few hand tools for the automotive shop I work at and couldn’t be more satisfied, especially since its lifetime warranty. A little tip though, is to know what you are buying. Ask your coworkers or people that have bought from Harbor Freight before because some products aren’t worth the packaging they came in. A Prime example. Certain newer vehicles come with a special oil filter housing which require a type of cup style tool in order to open it and change the filter. I gave my coworker 8.00 for the set which is REALLY cheap for that tool and on the very first vehicle I used it on it cracked down the middle. Just holding that tool out of the plastic packaging I knew it was going to break but. Live and Learn. One other tip is when purchasing let’s say a set of 10 sockets with lifetime warranty and 1 breaks? You must return the entire set in its holder to receive a new set. They will NOT break up sets to warranty just one item.

This will be the only store I will not shop. Although the store is new the one thing I do not like is the high sales tax. The city of La Mirada has the highest sales tax at 10%. I will go to either the Lakewood, Westminster, or the new location in Anaheim since the sales tax is lower than La Mirada.

Don’t lose your receipt. They don’t do store credit or ANY exchanges without it… unlike the other three big box hardware stores, OSH, Home Depot, Lowes or any other big box chains.
—Update 20 130 407—
Since I got a lecture instead of the sales people trying to work things out with me, I haven’t been back there since — 3 months. Instead, I’ve been going to Home Depot, Lowes and OSH AND local mom-​and-​pop stores. All I can say is — «VOTE WITH YOUR DOLLAR»

Newer store. Very clean & well organized, so far. HF is a candy store for DIY’ers — lots & lots of tools ON SALE. But, beware of their cheap stuff. I find the customer product reviews on their site to be fairly reliable.
Generally, their hand tools (ratchets, sockets, wrenches, etc) are decent quality for occasional use, not everyday heavy work use.
The service cart I purchased impressed me so much, I went back & purchased a rolling tool box organizer.
Their blue mechanics gloves have a good fit & are durable. Stock up on them when they go on sale.
You can buy specialized tools here without having to pay big $$. HF sales/​coupons have many great bargains. You’ll end up buying tools you’ll rarely use, lol.
HF tools are ideal for occasional use by DIY’ers such as myself.
Buy some tools at a bargain, then walk over to the In & Out Burger next door. Yummy.

While I was driving back to LA I happened to see this place. I always see advertisements for this place in the paper or online, so I was excited that I was going to be able to go into a store and browse all the awesome tools.
As I browsed the entire place to see what they had, I was kind of disappointed. Yes they had a lot of tools, but 99% if not 100% of them were cheap crap made in China. I would have liked to see at least a portion of their tool selection that was good quality and possibly made in the good ol USA. That being said, I did walk out of there with a 40 piece socket set for $ 3.99. Thats great for a cheap set to throw in the trunk for emergencies, but I would also have liked the option to buy a higher quality one that I could use on a daily basis.

If you are looking for name brand tools, Harbor Freight is not for you.
If you are looking for:
1) inexpensive imported hand tools
2) lots of unique specialty tools
3) furniture pads, tarps, locks, garden equipment, power tools, zip ties, welding equipment, etc.
4) a place that will save you a ton of cash
Then Harbor Freight is most definitely for you!!!
Quality = good.
Selection = very good.
Price = impossible to beat.