harbor freight. good grief.

[Tom Slick]

The closest HF to me is at the HF corporate HQ. That store has the exact same staff problems as the others. On the right day it's entertaining. On the wrong day it's infuriating.

The one saving grace is that I can go to the register with the SKU for anything in the catalog. They'll write me a will-call slip which I can take to the warehouse door 75 yards away for pickup.

JR

I have bought stuff from the same store, same experience, crappy service. they will even be out of stuff they in the retail store and will not pull it from the warehouse. I even had a flyer with a buy a tool get one free. they said it was mail order only and that it could only be shipped to my house. I lived 5 mins from the place!

cheap tools = cheap wages = cheap service
replace the word tools with any other word and it is still true.

[wassaw998]

At the HF by me, they really do not have any "on the floor" assistance normally. The store is always a mess, and items are very hard to find, are only in the stock room, or, are burried under a pile of junk. All that means for a given item good chance you gota ask for help, so, you stand in line (behind a bunch of old guys in flannel shirts), and ask the cashier, get out of line, find the item, get back in line...etc..All the time, asking, WHY do I go to this place? I sort of get a kick out of it, and it makes for good jokes afterwards.

Around me, HF/Lowes/HD - they are all paying close to Min wage for the non-managment workers, so, does not have anything to do with what they pay. Lets face it, HF is gona attract a diff sort of emp then HD/Lowes..(The sort who loves the smell of ...(WHAT is that smell?....grease ? )...in the morning).

[just4funsies]

"That smell" is a combo of diesel fuel and bilge water from shipping over from China on a slow boat...

[ejs1097]

I've had good and not as good at HF and at woodcraft. I think it's the individual. Usually at woodcraft I'm ignored because I'm not over 60 (much younger), they tend to really ham it up to the older crowd and not pay much attention to younger folks. I've had 2 guys looking for an item at the same time for me at HF and were quite friendly. As far as the Borg's, not enough workers. They seem to have eyes on the back of their heads and run before you get within 15 feet of them.....or you wait for 5-10 minutes while they talk with another customer then run before you can ask them a 10 second question.

[MilDoc]

Sounds like my local 7-11, Sears, Lowes (with the exception of 1 guy), Home Depot .........

[John Hunter]

I have had much better service and help from HF than either Lowes or HD.

Just what I was going to say!

[Tundra_Man]

I don't have an HF locally, but I've visited two in Dayton, Ohio and one in Minneapolis, Minnesota. At all three I've received nothing but stellar service. Very friendly and helpful.

At one store, when I asked if they would price match a sale item from the HF website, the manager manually rang it up even cheaper. He then grinned at me and asked, "are you sure you want me to match the internet price?" I said "no" and quickly whipped out my wallet.

Like every other store chain, I'm sure service levels vary from location to location.

[dale]

I've always had good, friendly service at my local HF.

By the way--my wife, who hates tool shopping generally, loves the smell in there. My son loves the smell, too.