If you ever bought anything from Harbor Freight you would
know that the instruction and parts manual that comes with a
tool is more like a safety and maintenance manual; there is
lots on what to not do and not too much on how to use the
tool. If you follow the instructions, you are not likely to
get hurt, and if you don't, well you were told, so the
liability part is covered. I mean, does a company really
have to tell you not to peas in your ears? Wouldn't you
know not to leave the key in the drill when you turn it
on? Most tool mishaps are due to operator error and
carelessness and not faulty tools. Most of the time if the
tool is defective, it just doesn't do anything and you
cannot blame the manufacture when you get mad and throw it
down and it bounces up and sticks in your groin.

BTW, Harbor Freight, at least at my store, will without
hassle, replace any tool that you say won't work and if you
return it in an original box they don't even ask for a sales
receipt.

Maybe parents shouldn't let their kids drive 100 lb go
carts, but then they let 5 and 6 year olds drive ATV when it
is illegal for children to operate them. I expect they
still sue the manufacture when their kids get hurt. County
prosecutors could be a little more robust in prosecuting
parent who do stupid and illegal things that kill their
kids. Maybe they ought to prosecute the suing lawyer for
aiding and abbeting a crime also. Sorry for the rant, but
irresponsible people tend to anger me.

Richard J Kinch wrote:

The recent thread "Violent Electric Drill Accident" got me wondering about
places like Harbor Freight Tools and their product liability. The local
store sells an amazing array of dangerous tools. We all know how shoddy
and defective some of them are, and notwithstanding the "electric drill
accident", surely there are many cases where a faulty tool hurts somebody.
What I cannot understand is how they can run a store and sell, oh, angle
grinders for $14.99, since they must be getting sued all the time. So much
of their stuff is obviously dangerous, and I don't mean in the usual power-
tool-requires-common-sense way, such as the toys they sell for children
(100 lb go-kart with no effective brakes!) that you can't buy anywhere else
because no American firm could survive the lawsuits. Does the Chinese
mafia come to visit if you have a "problem"? Does anyone know how HF is
organized and defends itself?