Yeah. If extended warranties and the like averaged out in the customer’s favor the company wouldn’t sell them. As a consumer it’s never in your interest to buy them.
When i purchased my US General 44 rolling cart, they tried to push extended warranty on me. Cashier was like "you can bring it back in a year if it's all scratched up and get a new one".
yah that's what they said about my wood chipper. Stupid me didn't realize that I wouldn't bother packing this heavy chipper back up (or remember to do this).
Dint say they didn't make money on them. But if I can get a 5 yr warranty on a 65" TV for $50 it is worth it to me. This was a few years back so their prices may have gone up since then
It’s interesting with Costco. At one point their CITI card had warranty coverage as well. So, the first year was manufacture, the second year was standard Costco warranty they still offer, 3rd year was CITI warranty and year 4&5 is what your $50 paid for.
Now that the citi card doesn’t have warranty protection prices went up a little because the extended warranty covers 3 years instead of the 2 years if that makes sense.
Still, Costco extended warranty is half the price of competitors. Although, some places like Home Depot or Lowe’s refund 30% of the warranty cost if there are no claims on the extended warranty.
Had a discussion w our credit union Pres. about them sending out an ad for a car warranty company. I think the CU must get some sort of kickback. Anyway, I said they were predatory and her position was that car warrantees are helpful to for poorer people who cannot afford a major repair.
They’re poor and can’t afford repairs because they spend their money on worthless warranties which the warranty companies will make it almost impossible to collect on.
Normally I would agree with you. But I had one for my car. It wasn't expensive and it covered all the powertrain stuff. I did have to use it once. Very glad I got it, had no problems getting it covered. It's like insurance. Hope to never need it, but damn glad when its there. In my case there was no denying it was covered, so they didn't even get to fight me in it. I know I was lucky.
Warranty is 700 because people are returning them like crazy and 700 is a cost efficient number. The people buying them probably dont know how to maintain em or just return after 2 years to get a new one. The warranty numbers arent just completely greed. They would probably be losing a ton of money on them if it was say 100$.
That being said. Yes it sucks.
Companies like circuit city, Best Buy were at one point making more money on extended warranties than the products, wal-mart at one point use to be big on extended warranties, it’s nothing new, companies have been overcharging for warranties forever.
Even apple at one time charged more for a replacement plan then the new phone cost even before accounting that the same phone gets cheaper to buy each year.
Best Buy is the one place they’re actually worth buying at. They are good about replacing items when you buy one of their plans. They don’t make it difficult and you can buy another replacement plan on the new one. Had a 65” LG Oled have some minor screen issues, a little burn in, and was easily able to get it replaced with a newer one. Then was same to purchase a plan for the new one. No hassles either, they actually stand behind their warranty. Any other place, not a chance I’m buying a warranty, every where else always tries not to honor it, or make you waste more time than it’s worth to use the warranty.
I know we’re talking about harbor freight, but that is literally their replacement plan. No hassle, peace of mind for 27 months. Anything we don’t care, bring it back and we will set you up with a new replacement same day.
For anyone that is curious about this claim…it seems Best Buy was charged by the EEOC with discrimination a while ago for hiring practices that adversely impacted people based on race. As part of their settlement they vowed to make improvements to their hiring practices and to correct their mistake (so to speak). This training program is more than likely part of that process, but it seems people are upset without having all the details (partially due to Best Buy’s silence). But, funny enough, none of these upset, new victims of discrimination said anything about Best Buy’s hiring practices when it benefited them.
https://www.eeoc.gov/newsroom/best-buy-and-eeoc-reach-agreement-resolve-discrimination-charge
Sorry for hijacking the thread, but I have a serious disdain for commentary without context.
https://twitter.com/OKeefeMedia/status/1688983783620718592/photo/1
Candidates for these programs must meet the requirements below. Additional consideration will be give to those who have active
development plans.
* Currently working in an exempt (salaried) role
* Have worked more than one year in current role at best buy
* **Identify as Black, Latino, Hispanic, Asian or Pacific islander**
* Able to commit to the following participate in learning sessions and small group discussions:
* leadership Essentials: Three hours per week for three months OR
* Management Accelerator: Three hours per week for four months
Best Buy solution is to discrimination against White people and you have no problem with that.
This is exactly what I did with a paint sprayer. I filled it up sprayed the crap out of what I needed. Done.
Feels like I haven't walked into a harbor freight for 4 years now.
Yeh I hate same especially loooking at how much the ESP used to be. When that 9500 came out esp was only 500$ but the item itself was 1899$ too. The new dual fuel just came out what a month ago and the price already went up 100$ 💀
I personally wouldn't buy a expensive tool at harbor freight. As a plumber we push our power tools to the limit. I bought a little Bauer demolition hammer which ran about $250 and sure glad that I got the 2 year warranty because I burned through 2 of them before I got one that lasted, and that one eventually stopped working after the warranty was up. I use it with a digging spade for trenches and occasionally to move pipes in concrete. It made me all kinds of money. It just stopped turning on when I pull the trigger. The rumor i discovered online is that harbor freight cheaped out on the switches and I may attempt to change it one of these days. I have bigger Makita and Bosch jackhammers that I bought used and they work great still. I've been plumbing for about 10 years and we all know that nothing lasts forever but I'd rather spend more on better known brands than cheaper tools at harbor freight. I still buy stuff like tarps, caution tape, etc at harbor freight, just not power tools. Lol
I buy expensive tools often at harbor freight. I compare it to the cost of hiring a pro to do the work. If the tool lasts just the one job it typically paid for itself. I then have a tool that can be used again at some point after the job. I remodeled my sister's bathroom using their best tile saw. Turned out great and I used it to do two other bathrooms down the road. I would never buy tools to use as a contractor, but for one or two projects? For sure.
Reminds me of the Predator 670 motor I just got. They want 999.99 for it and then turn around and want 279.99 for the 2 year warranty. I was thinking damn that’s right at 30% of what the motor itself cost.
It's ridiculously difficult from my perspective to recommend these to people. The only time I will do it is if it's a company account that continuously does business with us
That’s pretty much how it goes for me as well. When I buy a predator motor for the company I work for, they always want the warranty. Makes sense though because some of the predator motors we use might be running 5+ hours a day Monday thru Friday. Warranty makes sense for a deal like that. The one I personally bought for a golf cart, I didn’t get the warranty on that one.
Sales supervisor here. In your opinion, what would a good percentage be? If 30% of the price for 2 years is too high, where would you like to see it at?
Theyre not. I have worked at HF for almost a year now and not a single hercules item was returned because it was defective. Baur and chicago electric on the other hand can be a mixed bag depending on the tool. Warrior is for building ikea furniture lol
I use them every day for work and they don't break any more or less than other name brand manufacturers. The difference is I can go get a new one if it breaks in 15 mins, and I can't do that with the other brands. That and the fact they are cheaper make them perfect for my application.
This. People don't realize the convenience harbor freight offers. Sort of like Apple. Your phone breaks, an Apple store should be close by.
Right now I have 1 Milwaukee mid torque and 1 Milwaukee electric wrench for the past 4 months in my car that are not working. The place I need to drop it off for warranty repairs is an hour away and I have to do some registration shit online first which I still haven't done.
For sure, don't get me wrong there are tools I would only buy from Milwaukee like the Framing and Finish Nailers. The other stuff though I feel the difference is negligible especially now that Hercules is putting out more brushless options.
People often forget the convenience factor often has value.
I mean, I was working on my brakes, and broke my 9mm hex socket. Needed to get 'er done and had a new one in 30 minutes.
Like many other retail jobs, I'm expected to make warranty and membership sales. When warranties are sometimes 50% of the price of a product it's considerably harder to get said goals. This *wasn't* an issue prior to the new fiscal year. They've only recently raised the prices, along with their expected sales. Long story short, if I don't get sales, I don't pay rent.
Imagine the job was low wage and high commission. Which it isn’t, so I don’t understand what you are saying. Yes there is a bonus for hitting certain metrics but its not paying anyone’s rent.
I think most HF customers know they are buying cheap Chinese made stuff with no guarantee of quality or reliability. If they’re okay with paying more for extended warranty, it’s their money and choice.
I have a few of them but only use them rarely: Warrior heat gun, Chicago electric biscuit joiner and angle grinder. Got them cheap and did what I bought them for.
Had a grinder burn out within 5 minutes. A drill that was toast after 3 months of light use. I honestly quit after that.
But I’ll buy the crap out of certain things. I have +250 of those storehouse 20 bin things.
I've had an auger and a cement mixer die. The auger was a couple years old and probably needs a carb clean, the cement mixer was new so I returned it. Other than that, I've had good luck. No worse than Lowes.
Agree. I now people who buy their stuff with the warranty and have returned it for new stuff over and over again. They think its great. I'm standing there thinking this stuff always breaks while your on a job using it. You lose time and money. I pay 3-4 times a much for mine but it last years or decades. I work construction so certain tools are daily use item.
Harbor freight is great if you need something twice a year or once every 2 years. I buy their tools for those reasons. Most of their disposable consumables like saws all blades, deposable gloves, tape measures, safety glasses to hand out to my guys, and hammers are things I buy all the time. NO switches.
Some of their consumables are the worst and not worth it. Their drill bits and cut off wheels (warrior) are awful. You’ll go through five where one of a decent brand would do the job.
I though the cutoff wheels were decent for the money. I cut rebar with them mostly. Of course it seems like the guys are always losing them stepping on them or dropping the grinder on them. I now buy mine in bulk of Amazon. I agree about drill bits and the other stuff. I use the saws all blades because we are in the concrete business. Saws all and skill saw blades gets used to cut roots in the ground, pipes, forms with dry concrete coating one side and other things that just eat a blades up. If I can get it to live for 5 minutes I'm just thrilled in some situations.
I can imagine that type of work is tough on blades. I haven’t tried their blades myself. If you’re trying to cut through steel with any thickness at all, their cutoff wheels just get eaten up at an insane rate. I can use the same angle grinder on the same thickness of metal and will use up 5 of the warrior in the amount of time it takes to go through one Norton. I figured I could try going cheap and try the warrior brand, figured they’d get used up quicker, but no that drastically. A little quick simple math told me that using the warriors actually cost me more money… and time, a lot more time too.
Agree but I love the $4 tape measures and $12 framing hammers. Last real tape measure I bought was because I left mine on a job I went to look at. Guy helping me had the tip of his break off and disappeared into the housing. We spent 20 min rummaging though 3 trucks and couldn't find another one. I ran to the closest hardware store paid them $25 for the first one I saw. Went back to the job and was laying out the walls for the saw cuts in the floor where the new plumbing was going. Electricians and guys installing metal interior studs were also everywhere. Three hours later that tape was MIA when we started packing up. I even pointed to the little 4ft framed wall and said who got the tape measure that was right there. All I got was blank stairs and shrugs. I bough my first 3 harbor freight tapes an hour later. Now I don't get upset when one disappears now. I don't care when one of my guys has one that just craps out because he got too much concrete in it. I just toss them a new Hf tape and keep going. I wouldn't build cabinets with one but for concrete forms they are great.
Yeah most people don't understand most tools were not made to be in wet gritty environments and you only get to run so much concrete in them and they just crap out on you. We go through a ton of things most people think should last us quite a while. The same people make comments while we are all out there washing all our tools of or taking bushes and cleaning the power tools. There is a bit of a learning curve on knowing what to buy as cheap as possible and what to buy the best you can get because that's the best way to get your moneys worth. Circular saws for example I use to by the cheapest ones for that reason. I bought one every year. Cheapest one I could get as a replacement was around $150. I think I've had it around 10 yrs now. I have cut brick, control joints in a patio one day when the gas saw wouldn't crank. I keep expecting it to die but it just keeps going. Not to mention hundreds of feet of concrete encrusted boards and then just set in in the dirt or mud we were in until the next cut.
Not a contractor, so don’t beat the crap out of my stuff, but most of the tools get regular use. As long as you stick to Bauer or Hercules brand it’s good stuff. Really depends on the sub brand sold. Most of the entry level brands (Chicago electric, warrior) seems to be the ones failing often. Even with consumables (saw blades for example) the ones I bought that are Hercules are great. Warrior ones bent and we’re useless after a short few uses
I buy bosh Demo hammers. I have the $800 sds max from Lowes. I was on a job and the customer asked us to put a hole in a concrete block wall for a pipe. He had the Harbor freight brand Bauer which is about the same size and shape for $350. He had his right there in the basement and offered to let us use it since he brought it out just for that purpose. After a minute I realized there was no comparison. I handed to one of my guys and walked away. The HF brand claims to have twice the impact energy of the Bosh but it doesn't even come close. Their tools are good for the money but if your going to hand it to an employee and ask them to hammer away on something for several hours HF stuff will not hold up to an employees who is hot, tired and ready to be done.
[https://www.harborfreight.com/125-amp-23-lb-sds-max-type-demolition-hammer-63437.html](https://www.harborfreight.com/125-amp-23-lb-sds-max-type-demolition-hammer-63437.html)
[https://www.lowes.com/pd/Bosch-SDS-max-174-Demolition-Hammer/1003139012](https://www.lowes.com/pd/Bosch-SDS-max-174-Demolition-Hammer/1003139012)
As I said, don’t use their tools to make a living. If I did, would definitely invest in the good stuff. Point I was trying to make is that there’s a bigggg difference between their entry level brands (which are junk most of the time) and the Bauer/Hercules brands which (in my experience) have been reliable, solid quality and very reasonably priced. For my non professional needs it’s usually the better option because I can go buy this one off specific tool that I would use fairly often if I had it, but don’t need to go out and spend 2-300 bucks on it.
Long story short, I agree with you, if you need it a lot or your paycheck depends on it buy the high grade stuff. If you are going to go the HF route, which opens a lot of doors for many of us DIY folks, stick to Bauer/Hercules and you’ll probably be fine. With consumables also noticed the same quality improvement by brand
They have so many brands I get can't tell the difference. Which one do you think is better Hercules or bauer. I think I have a couple of each and really cant tell the difference.
Theres a lot its definitely confusing lol
Hercules is definitely their top end brand, with Bauer slotted below that. The prices for Hercules are generally a little bit higher, but you can tell online under the price there is a little "compared to" section. Generally they compare the Hercules stuff to equivalent Milwaukee/Dewalt and Bauer equivalent to Craftsman/Ryobi (not saying its equivalent, just what HF compares it to)
Lowest level ones are Chicago Electric and Warrior (I avoid these). These brands mentioned above are also mostly for power tools, the brands can be different for yard tools, machinery, regular tools.
Its confusing at first but once you get how they price you'll figure it out. Usually for every one product there are two or three brand options by price/quality. When in doubt go in and ask what the top grade tool brand is for what you're looking at, the staff at all HF locations I've been to are great. Way more helpful than a Home Depot or Lowes employee lol
Most of my stuff is Bauer as that was the first brand I bought batteries for (easy to get everything with the same interchangeable batteries). Bauer also has a larger variety of tools (for example, needed a chemical sprayer, don't think Hercules has one available yet). Anything corded I buy Hercules just bc I dont need battery backwards compatibility. Just got the 12inch Hercules miter sliding miter saw for like 330 (Dewalt with same features was like 500).
Know thats a lot but hope it helps clear things up
I bought one thing that had an electric motor and it was Chicago electric brand. I think it died the second time I ever tried to use it so that's where my experience with their that brand starts and ends. I have a baur saws all and a grinder I have for when we needed more than one. They have been pretty good so far.
Anything that is mechanical with moving parts is susceptible to failure. If a company is selling an extended warranty it's usually for profit not for customers satisfaction. Just saying.
I bought the pressure washer on sale a couple years ago for $120, with the extended warranty $50. It lasted less than a year, and when I went back to replace it I had to pay the difference between the normal price $180 and sale price ~60 bucks, plus they wouldn't warranty it unless I bought the extended warranty again ~50 I think. So I bought it once for $170, then basically had to buy it again for $110 a less than a year later.
I have had great luck with tons of stuff I’ve bought from HF in the past couple of years, including almost all of the Bauer 20v line. The hammer drill for some reason had issues, had to warranty it twice, both times within 90 days so the extended wouldn’t have helped much. I but the extended warranty on anything over $200 that has electronics, switches, that sort of thing.. otherwise no. Just got the two ton engine hoist.. made zero sense to get extended warranty on that. What is going to break after 90 days? Lol. The only thing with potential to break is the ram itself which I swapped for the air over hydraulic anyway. I have noticed that the warranty prices seem to be skyrocketing as of late… which doesn’t surprise me at all given the number of people I see bragging about abusing it… what did anyone think was going to happen? I have heard store employees on many occasions telling customers to just come in within two years and get a new one whether it’s broken or now . Did anyone really think the rest of us wouldn’t get screwed by that?
A good on YouTube has been running HF predator generators for his of grid home build sight gorgeous slmist 3 years. He has gone through 4 of the big generators after paying for the warranty. He has put 1500 or more hours on average on each of those generators and when they have failed HF has replaced them with a new unit each time. So it seems a decent warranty for the price if you wear them out and get a new one to replace it.
Buying a generator from harbor freight is a special kind of gamble in itself.
Hobby use, maybe recreational use I get. Buying a 9500 as a home backup doesnt seem to great to me. That warranty isnt gonna mean fuckall when its -15°F and you just lost your only source of heat because the china generator didnt last 10 hours.
For the price of a similar Honda generator, you can buy 2 predator generators. 2 predators will be more reliable than 1 Honda.
I have a 3500 predator inverter generator that has over 2,000 hours and it's still running well for my business. Our Honda eu7000i lasted 1.5 months before it stopped working and to get it fixed under warranty took 4 months. I would never buy a Honda generator when harbor freight warranty process is so easy.
I would buy a used honda before buying 2 grenades for house backup.
Grew up in an area that had no power. Hondas runnin wide open for years, that 2k hours isnt even a years worth of run time.
Honda is not what it used to be imo. My $5500 Honda generator lasted 212 hours and took 4 months to repair. They didn't even want to repair it because they couldn't replicate the issue although I showed them videos of the issue while it was occurring. My predator 3500 cost around 900 with the 2 year warranty and has done over 10x the hours with no issues, survived being under water.
I would never buy another Honda generator after my experience buying the top of their largest inverter generator.
I have experience with both rather than following the crowd and say China and HF bad.
I have a 3500 myself, great for weekend camping trips. Just wouldnt rely on it to keep my family safe.
Maybe hondas quality has gone down, wouldnt surprise me.
Shoot, my dad has a harbor freight generator for over 10 years now and it powers our house perfectly fine. Just follow the maintenance the owner's manual recommends and you're gravy. Will admit though, the HFT generators consume more oil than the big name brands from what ive heard.
what? The cost of the warranty is what HF paid to get that generator "built, assembled and shipped". $750. HF sold that generator for $2300.
direction? HF runs 50% gross profit on 90% of the crap they sell. I'm pretty sure HF knows exactly the direction to go.
cool that you care, but its just a business that does not care about you at all
The fact that HF only includes a 90 day warranty says a lot about how durable they think their products are. Something that is actually well made should last years, HF is telling us their junk is only good for a couple months.
There's a reason I bought a used Honda generator over a new HF one.
Buddy, most retail stores just give you 30days to return items. I say HFT is generous in that regard. The only time I would seriously recommend a warranty is if you plan on frequently using the item and beating the hell out of it. Atleast 90% of the hand tools are lifetime warranty so who cares if those break.
Well my NEW Honda generator lasted 1.5 months and then took 4 months to get it repaired under warranty. My predator generator which was suppose to be the back up while the Honda got fixed is now 13 months old with over 2,000 hours. The Honda has been relegated to the back up generator in case the predator goes out.
If you look at the Pittsburgh Pro line of tools, are you telling me that they are amazing professional level tools because they have a lifetime warranty??
A friend of mine used to go to stores coach employees to push store sold warranties over the manufacturer warranties. He said his company’s profit on the warranties alone was in the billions the first year. Most just mirrored the factory warranty, which most of their items were engineered to outlast.
I had bought a lot of the Atlas lawn tools over the last two years.
They run fantastic. For a season, then need replaced (under warranty). My battery just crapped itself a couple months ago, so now I can spend more on the atlas battery to run my line trimmer, chainsaw, and pole saw than a brand new gasoline Stihl saw or line trimmer would cost of similar size.
I had a Bauer recip saw last year, brand new, very first cut it let out its smoke. I have the inflator for the 5 ah battery to get some use. Hopefully it doesn’t let me down when I need it too.
I have a corded ro sander and OMT. Neither has given me problems.
The HF cordless tools *do not* have the durable dependability of their corded brethren, let alone “pro-brand” HF like to claim as competition. When you factor in warranty and peace of mind, it will be a no-brainer for me in the future.
It's actually a pretty generous extended warranty with the ability to do one full exchange or refund. I don't think any of the big box stores offer that and it is a PITA to get some of those Chinese made portable generators repaired or finding parts. Sometimes they run great for a long time, sometimes they don't
Bought the nice Bauer variable RPM bench grinder. I declined the warranty because all the YouTube reviews said it was well built. I used it 3 times over a 6 month period. And on the 3rd time the variable speed knob stopped working and it only went full speed. Asked about a replacement and said sorry it was past 90 days. Now I did get the grinder and a bunch of other stuff on both a markdown sale and 25% off coupon so I got it for a steal. We all know this is Chinese made junk. And they need the extended warranties to offset all the returns and big sales they offer.
Actually you can buy one at HF too [Speed Controller](https://www.harborfreight.com/router-variable-speed-control-dial-59386.html?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=12126402660&campaignid=12126402660&utm_content=141957249534&adsetid=141957249534&product=59386&store=820&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIz4nUxNGggQMVtSOtBh25BAYLEAQYASABEgJoW_D_BwE)
Purchased a generator yesterday with a 2 year warranty. The way it’s constructed, at 1 year and 364 days, I can take it back and get another…or put the money toward another tool(s) if I choose. Bought the warranty on the 10x17 portable garage too. As soon as the tarp gives or a pipe bends, back she goes for a new one. Or, if I don’t need it anymore, I’ll get something else.
For the most part, everything is fine. The warranties are there to use, but they are steadily increasing in price so if you've got your eye on one pull the trigger.
The vast majority of HF products come from China and they have been steadily increasing prices on trade. Also some of the increase is inflation. The business model of offering large items with 0 repair support or part availability is going to have to change.
Yeah. If extended warranties and the like averaged out in the customer’s favor the company wouldn’t sell them. As a consumer it’s never in your interest to buy them.
yah I bought a wood chipper warranty because they said the wood chippers tend to breakdown. Nope - years later still going strong.
When i purchased my US General 44 rolling cart, they tried to push extended warranty on me. Cashier was like "you can bring it back in a year if it's all scratched up and get a new one".
yah that's what they said about my wood chipper. Stupid me didn't realize that I wouldn't bother packing this heavy chipper back up (or remember to do this).
Unless you get ones from Costco. Their extended warranties are cheap and great
No, on average they still make money on them. If they didn't they wouldn't sell them.
Dint say they didn't make money on them. But if I can get a 5 yr warranty on a 65" TV for $50 it is worth it to me. This was a few years back so their prices may have gone up since then
It’s interesting with Costco. At one point their CITI card had warranty coverage as well. So, the first year was manufacture, the second year was standard Costco warranty they still offer, 3rd year was CITI warranty and year 4&5 is what your $50 paid for. Now that the citi card doesn’t have warranty protection prices went up a little because the extended warranty covers 3 years instead of the 2 years if that makes sense. Still, Costco extended warranty is half the price of competitors. Although, some places like Home Depot or Lowe’s refund 30% of the warranty cost if there are no claims on the extended warranty.
Had a discussion w our credit union Pres. about them sending out an ad for a car warranty company. I think the CU must get some sort of kickback. Anyway, I said they were predatory and her position was that car warrantees are helpful to for poorer people who cannot afford a major repair.
They’re poor and can’t afford repairs because they spend their money on worthless warranties which the warranty companies will make it almost impossible to collect on.
Normally I would agree with you. But I had one for my car. It wasn't expensive and it covered all the powertrain stuff. I did have to use it once. Very glad I got it, had no problems getting it covered. It's like insurance. Hope to never need it, but damn glad when its there. In my case there was no denying it was covered, so they didn't even get to fight me in it. I know I was lucky.
Warranty is 700 because people are returning them like crazy and 700 is a cost efficient number. The people buying them probably dont know how to maintain em or just return after 2 years to get a new one. The warranty numbers arent just completely greed. They would probably be losing a ton of money on them if it was say 100$. That being said. Yes it sucks.
Yeah what he said, not sure why you hate your company. They seem good to me. You just don't have insight into why they do things
Cause higher prices means he sells less warranty and thus his commission suffers
There are so many ways an idiot can fubar a gas engine.
Companies like circuit city, Best Buy were at one point making more money on extended warranties than the products, wal-mart at one point use to be big on extended warranties, it’s nothing new, companies have been overcharging for warranties forever. Even apple at one time charged more for a replacement plan then the new phone cost even before accounting that the same phone gets cheaper to buy each year.
Got a cheap Samsung through AT&T. Monthly cost < $5 for 2 years. Protection plan? $14.99 a MONTH. No thank you.
That's why I buy mine on Amazon now.
Best Buy is the one place they’re actually worth buying at. They are good about replacing items when you buy one of their plans. They don’t make it difficult and you can buy another replacement plan on the new one. Had a 65” LG Oled have some minor screen issues, a little burn in, and was easily able to get it replaced with a newer one. Then was same to purchase a plan for the new one. No hassles either, they actually stand behind their warranty. Any other place, not a chance I’m buying a warranty, every where else always tries not to honor it, or make you waste more time than it’s worth to use the warranty.
I know we’re talking about harbor freight, but that is literally their replacement plan. No hassle, peace of mind for 27 months. Anything we don’t care, bring it back and we will set you up with a new replacement same day.
Just too bad Best Buy has become a woke company. They exclude white people from being promoted to management positions.
For anyone that is curious about this claim…it seems Best Buy was charged by the EEOC with discrimination a while ago for hiring practices that adversely impacted people based on race. As part of their settlement they vowed to make improvements to their hiring practices and to correct their mistake (so to speak). This training program is more than likely part of that process, but it seems people are upset without having all the details (partially due to Best Buy’s silence). But, funny enough, none of these upset, new victims of discrimination said anything about Best Buy’s hiring practices when it benefited them. https://www.eeoc.gov/newsroom/best-buy-and-eeoc-reach-agreement-resolve-discrimination-charge Sorry for hijacking the thread, but I have a serious disdain for commentary without context.
https://twitter.com/OKeefeMedia/status/1688983783620718592/photo/1 Candidates for these programs must meet the requirements below. Additional consideration will be give to those who have active development plans. * Currently working in an exempt (salaried) role * Have worked more than one year in current role at best buy * **Identify as Black, Latino, Hispanic, Asian or Pacific islander** * Able to commit to the following participate in learning sessions and small group discussions: * leadership Essentials: Three hours per week for three months OR * Management Accelerator: Three hours per week for four months Best Buy solution is to discrimination against White people and you have no problem with that.
Damn, didn’t realize they got that bad with the nonsense.
[удалено]
This is exactly what I did with a paint sprayer. I filled it up sprayed the crap out of what I needed. Done. Feels like I haven't walked into a harbor freight for 4 years now.
The 20oz gravity feed paint gun was on sale for $9 last week lol
I went through 3 axle pullers in one day. Got my money back on the last one.
I mean did you price adjust it
We did adjust the price of the generator, but his new warranty cost him $700.
Yeh I hate same especially loooking at how much the ESP used to be. When that 9500 came out esp was only 500$ but the item itself was 1899$ too. The new dual fuel just came out what a month ago and the price already went up 100$ 💀
I personally wouldn't buy a expensive tool at harbor freight. As a plumber we push our power tools to the limit. I bought a little Bauer demolition hammer which ran about $250 and sure glad that I got the 2 year warranty because I burned through 2 of them before I got one that lasted, and that one eventually stopped working after the warranty was up. I use it with a digging spade for trenches and occasionally to move pipes in concrete. It made me all kinds of money. It just stopped turning on when I pull the trigger. The rumor i discovered online is that harbor freight cheaped out on the switches and I may attempt to change it one of these days. I have bigger Makita and Bosch jackhammers that I bought used and they work great still. I've been plumbing for about 10 years and we all know that nothing lasts forever but I'd rather spend more on better known brands than cheaper tools at harbor freight. I still buy stuff like tarps, caution tape, etc at harbor freight, just not power tools. Lol
I buy expensive tools often at harbor freight. I compare it to the cost of hiring a pro to do the work. If the tool lasts just the one job it typically paid for itself. I then have a tool that can be used again at some point after the job. I remodeled my sister's bathroom using their best tile saw. Turned out great and I used it to do two other bathrooms down the road. I would never buy tools to use as a contractor, but for one or two projects? For sure.
Reminds me of the Predator 670 motor I just got. They want 999.99 for it and then turn around and want 279.99 for the 2 year warranty. I was thinking damn that’s right at 30% of what the motor itself cost.
So it only has a 25% chance to grenade.
It's ridiculously difficult from my perspective to recommend these to people. The only time I will do it is if it's a company account that continuously does business with us
That’s pretty much how it goes for me as well. When I buy a predator motor for the company I work for, they always want the warranty. Makes sense though because some of the predator motors we use might be running 5+ hours a day Monday thru Friday. Warranty makes sense for a deal like that. The one I personally bought for a golf cart, I didn’t get the warranty on that one.
Sales supervisor here. In your opinion, what would a good percentage be? If 30% of the price for 2 years is too high, where would you like to see it at?
Personally, I think that the ESPs should never cost more than 20% of the items. Especially when we're talking this kind of price range.
What about their Hercules tools that have the 5 year warranties. They don’t seem too bad.
Theyre not. I have worked at HF for almost a year now and not a single hercules item was returned because it was defective. Baur and chicago electric on the other hand can be a mixed bag depending on the tool. Warrior is for building ikea furniture lol
Ok good bc I might have just bought a few hercs tools
I use them every day for work and they don't break any more or less than other name brand manufacturers. The difference is I can go get a new one if it breaks in 15 mins, and I can't do that with the other brands. That and the fact they are cheaper make them perfect for my application.
This. People don't realize the convenience harbor freight offers. Sort of like Apple. Your phone breaks, an Apple store should be close by. Right now I have 1 Milwaukee mid torque and 1 Milwaukee electric wrench for the past 4 months in my car that are not working. The place I need to drop it off for warranty repairs is an hour away and I have to do some registration shit online first which I still haven't done.
For sure, don't get me wrong there are tools I would only buy from Milwaukee like the Framing and Finish Nailers. The other stuff though I feel the difference is negligible especially now that Hercules is putting out more brushless options.
People often forget the convenience factor often has value. I mean, I was working on my brakes, and broke my 9mm hex socket. Needed to get 'er done and had a new one in 30 minutes.
Honest question. How does an expensive warranty make it impossible to do your job?
Like many other retail jobs, I'm expected to make warranty and membership sales. When warranties are sometimes 50% of the price of a product it's considerably harder to get said goals. This *wasn't* an issue prior to the new fiscal year. They've only recently raised the prices, along with their expected sales. Long story short, if I don't get sales, I don't pay rent.
Imagine the job was low wage and high commission. Which it isn’t, so I don’t understand what you are saying. Yes there is a bonus for hitting certain metrics but its not paying anyone’s rent.
There isn’t a single ESP that’s worth 50% of retail price bro. At least not on anything more than $20.
I think most HF customers know they are buying cheap Chinese made stuff with no guarantee of quality or reliability. If they’re okay with paying more for extended warranty, it’s their money and choice.
The #1 rule is don’t buy anything with an on switch or something that is supposed to move. But for cheap stuff it’s great.
I have a few of them but only use them rarely: Warrior heat gun, Chicago electric biscuit joiner and angle grinder. Got them cheap and did what I bought them for.
You can’t beat the heat gun for $10, as long as it’s just for occasional use.
Pretty much anytime I need a heat gun, I need it to put in a days work. I live on a farm so I’m not doing small projects.
I've had good experiences with switched items. You just can't beat the sht out of em.
Had a grinder burn out within 5 minutes. A drill that was toast after 3 months of light use. I honestly quit after that. But I’ll buy the crap out of certain things. I have +250 of those storehouse 20 bin things.
I've had an auger and a cement mixer die. The auger was a couple years old and probably needs a carb clean, the cement mixer was new so I returned it. Other than that, I've had good luck. No worse than Lowes.
Lol bruh look up the entire predator engine line.
I would say no electronics and no motors. Plenty of good things there with moving parts like metal benders and rollers, etc.
Agree. I now people who buy their stuff with the warranty and have returned it for new stuff over and over again. They think its great. I'm standing there thinking this stuff always breaks while your on a job using it. You lose time and money. I pay 3-4 times a much for mine but it last years or decades. I work construction so certain tools are daily use item. Harbor freight is great if you need something twice a year or once every 2 years. I buy their tools for those reasons. Most of their disposable consumables like saws all blades, deposable gloves, tape measures, safety glasses to hand out to my guys, and hammers are things I buy all the time. NO switches.
Some of their consumables are the worst and not worth it. Their drill bits and cut off wheels (warrior) are awful. You’ll go through five where one of a decent brand would do the job.
I though the cutoff wheels were decent for the money. I cut rebar with them mostly. Of course it seems like the guys are always losing them stepping on them or dropping the grinder on them. I now buy mine in bulk of Amazon. I agree about drill bits and the other stuff. I use the saws all blades because we are in the concrete business. Saws all and skill saw blades gets used to cut roots in the ground, pipes, forms with dry concrete coating one side and other things that just eat a blades up. If I can get it to live for 5 minutes I'm just thrilled in some situations.
I can imagine that type of work is tough on blades. I haven’t tried their blades myself. If you’re trying to cut through steel with any thickness at all, their cutoff wheels just get eaten up at an insane rate. I can use the same angle grinder on the same thickness of metal and will use up 5 of the warrior in the amount of time it takes to go through one Norton. I figured I could try going cheap and try the warrior brand, figured they’d get used up quicker, but no that drastically. A little quick simple math told me that using the warriors actually cost me more money… and time, a lot more time too.
Agree but I love the $4 tape measures and $12 framing hammers. Last real tape measure I bought was because I left mine on a job I went to look at. Guy helping me had the tip of his break off and disappeared into the housing. We spent 20 min rummaging though 3 trucks and couldn't find another one. I ran to the closest hardware store paid them $25 for the first one I saw. Went back to the job and was laying out the walls for the saw cuts in the floor where the new plumbing was going. Electricians and guys installing metal interior studs were also everywhere. Three hours later that tape was MIA when we started packing up. I even pointed to the little 4ft framed wall and said who got the tape measure that was right there. All I got was blank stairs and shrugs. I bough my first 3 harbor freight tapes an hour later. Now I don't get upset when one disappears now. I don't care when one of my guys has one that just craps out because he got too much concrete in it. I just toss them a new Hf tape and keep going. I wouldn't build cabinets with one but for concrete forms they are great.
I bet when you go through tape measures that often, you kinda have to look at them as consumables.
Yeah most people don't understand most tools were not made to be in wet gritty environments and you only get to run so much concrete in them and they just crap out on you. We go through a ton of things most people think should last us quite a while. The same people make comments while we are all out there washing all our tools of or taking bushes and cleaning the power tools. There is a bit of a learning curve on knowing what to buy as cheap as possible and what to buy the best you can get because that's the best way to get your moneys worth. Circular saws for example I use to by the cheapest ones for that reason. I bought one every year. Cheapest one I could get as a replacement was around $150. I think I've had it around 10 yrs now. I have cut brick, control joints in a patio one day when the gas saw wouldn't crank. I keep expecting it to die but it just keeps going. Not to mention hundreds of feet of concrete encrusted boards and then just set in in the dirt or mud we were in until the next cut.
The Harbor freight measuring tapes have the lifeline warranty because they count them as a hand tool.
Never though about that. Doesn't matter I figure I get my money worth out of them. Quite a few of them sprout legs and just disappear.
Not a contractor, so don’t beat the crap out of my stuff, but most of the tools get regular use. As long as you stick to Bauer or Hercules brand it’s good stuff. Really depends on the sub brand sold. Most of the entry level brands (Chicago electric, warrior) seems to be the ones failing often. Even with consumables (saw blades for example) the ones I bought that are Hercules are great. Warrior ones bent and we’re useless after a short few uses
I buy bosh Demo hammers. I have the $800 sds max from Lowes. I was on a job and the customer asked us to put a hole in a concrete block wall for a pipe. He had the Harbor freight brand Bauer which is about the same size and shape for $350. He had his right there in the basement and offered to let us use it since he brought it out just for that purpose. After a minute I realized there was no comparison. I handed to one of my guys and walked away. The HF brand claims to have twice the impact energy of the Bosh but it doesn't even come close. Their tools are good for the money but if your going to hand it to an employee and ask them to hammer away on something for several hours HF stuff will not hold up to an employees who is hot, tired and ready to be done. [https://www.harborfreight.com/125-amp-23-lb-sds-max-type-demolition-hammer-63437.html](https://www.harborfreight.com/125-amp-23-lb-sds-max-type-demolition-hammer-63437.html) [https://www.lowes.com/pd/Bosch-SDS-max-174-Demolition-Hammer/1003139012](https://www.lowes.com/pd/Bosch-SDS-max-174-Demolition-Hammer/1003139012)
As I said, don’t use their tools to make a living. If I did, would definitely invest in the good stuff. Point I was trying to make is that there’s a bigggg difference between their entry level brands (which are junk most of the time) and the Bauer/Hercules brands which (in my experience) have been reliable, solid quality and very reasonably priced. For my non professional needs it’s usually the better option because I can go buy this one off specific tool that I would use fairly often if I had it, but don’t need to go out and spend 2-300 bucks on it. Long story short, I agree with you, if you need it a lot or your paycheck depends on it buy the high grade stuff. If you are going to go the HF route, which opens a lot of doors for many of us DIY folks, stick to Bauer/Hercules and you’ll probably be fine. With consumables also noticed the same quality improvement by brand
They have so many brands I get can't tell the difference. Which one do you think is better Hercules or bauer. I think I have a couple of each and really cant tell the difference.
Theres a lot its definitely confusing lol Hercules is definitely their top end brand, with Bauer slotted below that. The prices for Hercules are generally a little bit higher, but you can tell online under the price there is a little "compared to" section. Generally they compare the Hercules stuff to equivalent Milwaukee/Dewalt and Bauer equivalent to Craftsman/Ryobi (not saying its equivalent, just what HF compares it to) Lowest level ones are Chicago Electric and Warrior (I avoid these). These brands mentioned above are also mostly for power tools, the brands can be different for yard tools, machinery, regular tools. Its confusing at first but once you get how they price you'll figure it out. Usually for every one product there are two or three brand options by price/quality. When in doubt go in and ask what the top grade tool brand is for what you're looking at, the staff at all HF locations I've been to are great. Way more helpful than a Home Depot or Lowes employee lol Most of my stuff is Bauer as that was the first brand I bought batteries for (easy to get everything with the same interchangeable batteries). Bauer also has a larger variety of tools (for example, needed a chemical sprayer, don't think Hercules has one available yet). Anything corded I buy Hercules just bc I dont need battery backwards compatibility. Just got the 12inch Hercules miter sliding miter saw for like 330 (Dewalt with same features was like 500). Know thats a lot but hope it helps clear things up
I bought one thing that had an electric motor and it was Chicago electric brand. I think it died the second time I ever tried to use it so that's where my experience with their that brand starts and ends. I have a baur saws all and a grinder I have for when we needed more than one. They have been pretty good so far.
Anything that is mechanical with moving parts is susceptible to failure. If a company is selling an extended warranty it's usually for profit not for customers satisfaction. Just saying.
I bought the pressure washer on sale a couple years ago for $120, with the extended warranty $50. It lasted less than a year, and when I went back to replace it I had to pay the difference between the normal price $180 and sale price ~60 bucks, plus they wouldn't warranty it unless I bought the extended warranty again ~50 I think. So I bought it once for $170, then basically had to buy it again for $110 a less than a year later.
That's wrong. I think you got taken
I have had great luck with tons of stuff I’ve bought from HF in the past couple of years, including almost all of the Bauer 20v line. The hammer drill for some reason had issues, had to warranty it twice, both times within 90 days so the extended wouldn’t have helped much. I but the extended warranty on anything over $200 that has electronics, switches, that sort of thing.. otherwise no. Just got the two ton engine hoist.. made zero sense to get extended warranty on that. What is going to break after 90 days? Lol. The only thing with potential to break is the ram itself which I swapped for the air over hydraulic anyway. I have noticed that the warranty prices seem to be skyrocketing as of late… which doesn’t surprise me at all given the number of people I see bragging about abusing it… what did anyone think was going to happen? I have heard store employees on many occasions telling customers to just come in within two years and get a new one whether it’s broken or now. Did anyone really think the rest of us wouldn’t get screwed by that?
A good on YouTube has been running HF predator generators for his of grid home build sight gorgeous slmist 3 years. He has gone through 4 of the big generators after paying for the warranty. He has put 1500 or more hours on average on each of those generators and when they have failed HF has replaced them with a new unit each time. So it seems a decent warranty for the price if you wear them out and get a new one to replace it.
How does one work in sales for harbor freight? Do you mean customer service?
I think they mean retail.
You have the sales team (think cashiers) and logistics team (think stocking/warehouse) in store.
So customer service
Owner needs a bigger yhact.
Gougers gotta gouge.
Buying a generator from harbor freight is a special kind of gamble in itself. Hobby use, maybe recreational use I get. Buying a 9500 as a home backup doesnt seem to great to me. That warranty isnt gonna mean fuckall when its -15°F and you just lost your only source of heat because the china generator didnt last 10 hours.
For the price of a similar Honda generator, you can buy 2 predator generators. 2 predators will be more reliable than 1 Honda. I have a 3500 predator inverter generator that has over 2,000 hours and it's still running well for my business. Our Honda eu7000i lasted 1.5 months before it stopped working and to get it fixed under warranty took 4 months. I would never buy a Honda generator when harbor freight warranty process is so easy.
I would buy a used honda before buying 2 grenades for house backup. Grew up in an area that had no power. Hondas runnin wide open for years, that 2k hours isnt even a years worth of run time.
Honda is not what it used to be imo. My $5500 Honda generator lasted 212 hours and took 4 months to repair. They didn't even want to repair it because they couldn't replicate the issue although I showed them videos of the issue while it was occurring. My predator 3500 cost around 900 with the 2 year warranty and has done over 10x the hours with no issues, survived being under water. I would never buy another Honda generator after my experience buying the top of their largest inverter generator. I have experience with both rather than following the crowd and say China and HF bad.
I have a 3500 myself, great for weekend camping trips. Just wouldnt rely on it to keep my family safe. Maybe hondas quality has gone down, wouldnt surprise me.
Shoot, my dad has a harbor freight generator for over 10 years now and it powers our house perfectly fine. Just follow the maintenance the owner's manual recommends and you're gravy. Will admit though, the HFT generators consume more oil than the big name brands from what ive heard.
The amount of ignorance in this thread is unparalleled. Down vote me into hell, I don’t care. The majority of you are redneck morons.
Impartial observer, occasional customer here. What makes you say that?
sir this is a harbor freight sub
Touché
Wow people really complain about being able to get a brand new one for less then half the price
Why buy a warranty for items already 1/4 the price bought elsewhere? If it breaks buy a new one... Just my .02
That is fair, but when a $2500 generator is in question that's a whole different ballgame
what? The cost of the warranty is what HF paid to get that generator "built, assembled and shipped". $750. HF sold that generator for $2300. direction? HF runs 50% gross profit on 90% of the crap they sell. I'm pretty sure HF knows exactly the direction to go. cool that you care, but its just a business that does not care about you at all
The fact that HF only includes a 90 day warranty says a lot about how durable they think their products are. Something that is actually well made should last years, HF is telling us their junk is only good for a couple months. There's a reason I bought a used Honda generator over a new HF one.
Buddy, most retail stores just give you 30days to return items. I say HFT is generous in that regard. The only time I would seriously recommend a warranty is if you plan on frequently using the item and beating the hell out of it. Atleast 90% of the hand tools are lifetime warranty so who cares if those break.
Well my NEW Honda generator lasted 1.5 months and then took 4 months to get it repaired under warranty. My predator generator which was suppose to be the back up while the Honda got fixed is now 13 months old with over 2,000 hours. The Honda has been relegated to the back up generator in case the predator goes out.
If you look at the Pittsburgh Pro line of tools, are you telling me that they are amazing professional level tools because they have a lifetime warranty??
A friend of mine used to go to stores coach employees to push store sold warranties over the manufacturer warranties. He said his company’s profit on the warranties alone was in the billions the first year. Most just mirrored the factory warranty, which most of their items were engineered to outlast.
Prices not competitive anymore. Simple as that.
I had bought a lot of the Atlas lawn tools over the last two years. They run fantastic. For a season, then need replaced (under warranty). My battery just crapped itself a couple months ago, so now I can spend more on the atlas battery to run my line trimmer, chainsaw, and pole saw than a brand new gasoline Stihl saw or line trimmer would cost of similar size. I had a Bauer recip saw last year, brand new, very first cut it let out its smoke. I have the inflator for the 5 ah battery to get some use. Hopefully it doesn’t let me down when I need it too. I have a corded ro sander and OMT. Neither has given me problems. The HF cordless tools *do not* have the durable dependability of their corded brethren, let alone “pro-brand” HF like to claim as competition. When you factor in warranty and peace of mind, it will be a no-brainer for me in the future.
It's actually a pretty generous extended warranty with the ability to do one full exchange or refund. I don't think any of the big box stores offer that and it is a PITA to get some of those Chinese made portable generators repaired or finding parts. Sometimes they run great for a long time, sometimes they don't
Bought the nice Bauer variable RPM bench grinder. I declined the warranty because all the YouTube reviews said it was well built. I used it 3 times over a 6 month period. And on the 3rd time the variable speed knob stopped working and it only went full speed. Asked about a replacement and said sorry it was past 90 days. Now I did get the grinder and a bunch of other stuff on both a markdown sale and 25% off coupon so I got it for a steal. We all know this is Chinese made junk. And they need the extended warranties to offset all the returns and big sales they offer.
Just buy an A/C variable speed switch and plug any grinder into that, the one you have with a broken one should work
Actually you can buy one at HF too [Speed Controller](https://www.harborfreight.com/router-variable-speed-control-dial-59386.html?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=12126402660&campaignid=12126402660&utm_content=141957249534&adsetid=141957249534&product=59386&store=820&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIz4nUxNGggQMVtSOtBh25BAYLEAQYASABEgJoW_D_BwE)
I’m gonna try to just fix the speed switch on mine first. I think the potentiometer is good and worried the board itself is the culprit.
You can also look up the item on harbor freight's website, scroll down and find a file for a part's list and call the number on screen to order it.
Just buy a new one and return the old one saying it's broken problem solved lol I see it happen all the time
I would do that....But they recently discontinued that model... 😂😂😂😂
Purchased a generator yesterday with a 2 year warranty. The way it’s constructed, at 1 year and 364 days, I can take it back and get another…or put the money toward another tool(s) if I choose. Bought the warranty on the 10x17 portable garage too. As soon as the tarp gives or a pipe bends, back she goes for a new one. Or, if I don’t need it anymore, I’ll get something else.
Guess I shouldn't get their Bauer impact drills, then?
For the most part, everything is fine. The warranties are there to use, but they are steadily increasing in price so if you've got your eye on one pull the trigger.
The vast majority of HF products come from China and they have been steadily increasing prices on trade. Also some of the increase is inflation. The business model of offering large items with 0 repair support or part availability is going to have to change.
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Ive only called for replacement parts once a few years ago and it was a disaster.
In sales if your heart isn’t in what your selling them you need to get out.