Harbor Freight Tools that don't suck

[PILOON]

When you do find employees, usually 4-5 in an aisle, and ask for info the say 'we are in conference' LOL, yeah, comparing last night's hot date!
Now days Sears has cut back so much that even the cashes are undermanned, never mind the aisles, sorry, exemption in depts that have been sublet like TV and electronics, or those that are on commission.

We needed a fridge and visited a few white goods retailers. Sears wanted to charge for delivery??? all others were free!
Guess who I purchased from? sears is wrong ans.

As a former sales rep sears demanded an additional discount as they had overhead but still needed to undercut competitors.
LOL, my response was , sorry but that's your problem!

 

[KubotainNH]

The HF near me in Amherst NH (I assume this is the one listed as Nashua in this thread) seems decent to me for people. I've only had an issue once or twice with stocking an item I'm looking for. I have yet to get to the Manch store.

HD and Lowe's seems to have lower quality people as of late except for the paint department in HD, they are quite good.

 

[sixdogs]

Oh, please, could some sales person in the middle of the store tell me he was in conference.

 

[dragoneggs]

I think the warranty was $3.00 when I bought my dolly.

This one cracks me up! :laughing:

 

[TomSeller]

I find that practice annoying at times. Most hardware stores have aisles numbered and as I've aged I prefer to "wander" my way over to XX aisle rather than to attempt to follow a teen age athlete in a speed walking contest.

There is a regional tire chain store out west where the employees have to run from place to place. Or at least they used to. Now it's probably not a "safe" thing to do.

 

[TheMan419]

I have used five different HF stores in MA. The level and quality of sales assistance varies widely in my experience. I'd rank HF about half a step above Costco. Not nearly up to the standards of HD or Lowes or even our local Stop and Shop supermarket. Of course none of those come close to Trader Joes! At TJ, if you ask for directions to an item, the employee will literally drop what they are doing and always walk you to the item. I think it is a company policy and it certainly does foster good customer relations.

This does. Our local grocery store does this as does the ACE Hardware near me. I really like it.

 

[300UGUY]

I have used five different HF stores in MA. The level and quality of sales assistance varies widely in my experience. I'd rank HF about half a step above Costco. Not nearly up to the standards of HD or Lowes or even our local Stop and Shop supermarket. Of course none of those come close to Trader Joes! At TJ, if you ask for directions to an item, the employee will literally drop what they are doing and always walk you to the item. I think it is a company policy and it certainly does foster good customer relations.

I would rank Costco as the best retailer overall. At out local store, if you ask where something is, they don't tell you, they will lead you right to it. I don't think most people go to Costco for any project work, mostly groceries, clothing, electronics. You can't buy different faucets there, no nails or hardware items. They do sell some tools, but it is pretty basic stuff. HD and Lowes are pretty much the same here. I think HD caters to contractors a bit better. I was roofing a house last year, Lowes system was to sell you the roofing material, and give you a number to schedule the delivery. I went to HD, bought all the material, and scheduled the delivery all in one shot. I think anybody who is a electrician or plumber is working at their trade, Lowes and HD don't pay enough to employ those guys.

 

[aeblank]

They're putting a HF in Cadillac, MI! 5 miles from my house. Oh boy......

 

[IslandTractor]

I would rank Costco as the best retailer overall. At out local store, if you ask where something is, they don't tell you, they will lead you right to it. I don't think most people go to Costco for any project work, mostly groceries, clothing, electronics. You can't buy different faucets there, no nails or hardware items. They do sell some tools, but it is pretty basic stuff. HD and Lowes are pretty much the same here. I think HD caters to contractors a bit better. I was roofing a house last year, Lowes system was to sell you the roofing material, and give you a number to schedule the delivery. I went to HD, bought all the material, and scheduled the delivery all in one shot. I think anybody who is a electrician or plumber is working at their trade, Lowes and HD don't pay enough to employ those guys.

I would agree that Costco is a top notch and indeed a benchmark as a retailer but I'm surprised you find attentive service in any of the aisles. In the half dozen or so Costcos that I have visited there is nary an employee to be found on the floor. The butcher shop is an exception and the ladies in the bakery are nice if you can get their attention in back. I just don't expect any human interaction other than to hand over my membership card and answer questions about "do you want a box" or "will you be charging this". All very pleasant but it seems to me that the whole Costco system is set up to avoid having sales people on the floor. Those that are out there are hardly familiar with the products either. I'm not complaining as I am a real Costco fan ($200 rebate last year) but it isn't like an old time local hardware store or a corner grocery.

In our area the HD and Lowes do seem to have some tradesmen working in the plumbing, painting and sometimes electrical areas. I know that the HD I frequent most often has a plumber because he often talks about jobs he did similar to what I am describing to him and he clearly knows what he is talking about. Maybe it is because I'm in a relative densely populated area where some of the solo tradesmen work at HD for the benefits or something like that. Some also appear to be retired based on age.

 

[300UGUY]

I'd say that at least half of the HD and Lowes folks are women. And a lot of the guys are retired, but few trades guys. The recession hit this area really hard, it was from 2000 - 2009, Manufacturing went south (literally!) and we went into the recession before everybody else. A lot of tradesmen left the state, and most didn't come back.