You can't expect "Quality Control" and "Harbor Freight" to be in the same
sentence. Why do you think their tools are so cheap (price)? They skimp
on the
quality and quality control is non-existent. That being said, I do
purchase a few
things from them. Namely hand tools that I know will probably break but
ones I
use so infrequently, I can afford to not buy a long term product. Their
power tools
on the other hand, I won't touch. I've personally found anything to do
with Chicago
Electric to stay away from. I learned this after purchasing a drop light
from them
that burned out the second I plugged it in. Went through 3 of the damn
things
before one worked. Considering how complex a drop light is, I wouldn't
trust them
on a welder! Their pneumatics and Central Machinery has generally
been ok for me. And their Pittsburgh hand tools have been ok. I am
located near
one of their stores however, so don't have to deal with the shipping
fiasco's that you've
experienced.
Cheers,
cc


"blueman" wrote in message
...
I keep on being tempted by the cheap prices at Harborfreight that
allow me to indulge in tools that I never would be able to justify
otherwise.

If they arrive in good condition, I have found them to work
satisfactorily for my type of DIY projects (despite the warnings
others have about quality).

My problem, however, has been that the items are typically so poorly
packed that they arrive broken.

For example,
(1) I had to order 3 compressors before I received one
without a broken plastic motor casing.

(2) I have now received 2 broken nailers in a row

(3) Twice my shipments of nails have arrived with the boxen open and
the nails strewn all over the box.

(4) The boxes themselves are almost always poorly packed with heavy/rugged
and light/delicate items mixed together in one large box,
separated by only a few kernels of styrofoam. Often the box itself
arrives ripped or damaged.

- Am I just having bad luck or have others experienced the same
problem?

- Has anyone succeeded in getting them to have better quality control?
(with just about every order requiring some re-shipping of items it
is hard to believe that they are saving money this way...)