On Thu, 17 Jul 2003 21:05:55 GMT, the renowned "Keith Marshall"
wrote:

But I believe the liabilty would normally fall on the manufacturer rather
than the dealer and I don't think I've ever seen a "Harbor Freight" brand
tool. They have their house brands that they sell but they do not normally
have the Harbor Freight name on them. They're by brands such as Chicago
Electric, Pittsburg Tools, etc. which probably only exist in China.

Those brands are owned by HF, and the Chinese (or Indian, or
Taiwanese) manufacturer "du jour" sticks that name on the product. If
the buyer wanted "Sears" or "Snap-On" stuck on there (and plausibly
seemed to own the trademark) they'd do that too. The Japanese used
that technique to get into the US market in the early days- putting
RCA or whatever on their stuff.

If there was a nasty lawsuit, all the parties would be named, the
importer and the retailer (which may or may not be separate legal
entities in the case of HF) would definitely be included.

My guess is that they have a hefty product liability insurance policy
and you'll be dealing with really sharp insurance company lawyers who
can stretch things out for many years if you try to make a claim for
whatever stupid thing you did to yourself.

Best regards,
Spehro Pefhany
--
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