Harbor Freight Does It Again

[Vegas Bound]

To the Harbor Freight Community:
I'm writing to apologize. I often reach out to tell you about Harbor Freight's commitment to quality and all the investments we've made to deliver quality tools at the lowest prices. Your trust matters deeply to me and I'm proud of how far we've come. So when we have a product recall, it hurts.
A few months ago, we recalled our Pittsburgh 3 ton and 6 ton steel jack stands (SKUs 56371, 61196 and 61197) due to a manufacturer's defect. We asked customers to return them and receive a gift card that could be used to purchase replacement jack stands. I felt terrible about that recall because you should never have a concern about the safety of any of our products.
Today, I feel even worse. I'm disappointed and embarrassed because we've identified a welding defect in a small number of the Pittsburgh 3 ton steel jack stands (SKU 56373) that replaced the recalled jack stands. We're now adding these jack stands to our recall. Unfortunately, this defect wasn't discovered during the initial recall investigation. If you own these jack stands or any of the jack stands in our original recall, whether or not you have had an issue with them, please stop using them immediately and bring them back to your local Harbor Freight Store for a full cash refund or store credit (see details here).
We have investigated all of our other Pittsburgh 3 ton steel jack stands (SKUs 56371, 56372 and 57308) as well as the Pittsburgh 6 ton steel jack stands (SKUs 56368, 56369 and 56370) and Pittsburgh 12 ton steel jack stands (SKUs 56374 and 56375) and did not find the defect. Although none of these other jack stands are being recalled, if you own any of them and have any concern whatsoever, please bring them back and we'll give you a full cash refund or store credit for those as well.
I want to apologize to all of our customers. While we've dramatically grown our team of engineers and inspectors, and intensified our tests and inspections, I assure you that the lessons learned from this will drive further improvement.
As the owner and founder of Harbor Freight, I want you to know that we stand behind every product we sell and that safety will always be our top priority.
Sincerely,

Eric Smidt
Owner and Founder
Harbor Freight Tools

Harbor Freight Tools | 26541 Agoura Road | Calabasas, CA 91302 | 1-800-444-3353 | Unsubscribe

[ariZona28]

This is why I refer to them as "China Freight".

[joekono]

Originally Posted by ariZona28

This is why I refer to them as "China Freight".

YUP!!!!

[Bigdumogre]

Atleast they do something about it.

[BLU DUCE]

Originally Posted by Bigdumogre

Atleast they do something about it.

+1

[ariZona28]

Originally Posted by Bigdumogre

Atleast they do something about it.

Yep, they had a defective product, issued a recall and replaced it with another defective product. Great marketing strategy.

[Bigdumogre]

Originally Posted by ariZona28

Yep, they had a defective product, issued a recall and replaced it with another defective product. Great marketing strategy.

Haha true but atleast they recalled it. So many companies just ignore and settle for a small lawsuit or 2. And atleast they tried to get something new. I don’t own there jack stands but there tools are decent for the price.

[BLU DUCE]

I don't have their jack stands. But I do have 3 of their low profile jacks for the last 10 years.And have never had a problems with them or any other items. But I only but from them when I'm not going to use the item very often. So I just buy the cheaper item. Other wise I spend good money on the tools I need.

[0stones0]

Originally Posted by BLU DUCE

I don't have their jack stands. But I do have 3 of their low profile jacks for the last 10 years.And have never had a problems with them or any other items. But I only but from them when I'm not going to use the item very often. So I just buy the cheaper item. Other wise I spend good money on the tools I need.

+1

Also got a low profile jack that I used to do my headers/exhaust. Worked flawlessly. Not promoting HF, just offering an experience.

[CamaroCracka]

I can't even get under the car with a short 3 ton jack stand. I have had a set of their 12 tons for my mud truck for close to 10 years. I don't necessarily love the design, but they seem to be more than enough for an 8000 pound truck. They also work well in the rear of the GenV. With the frame section so high up, my 6 ton stands were at their limit.

I looked at the HF low profile jacks but I wanted one with some reach and their offering was nearly as much as the Blackline by Arcan at Northern Tool. Still Chinese crap, but it works pretty well and I had a $20 off a 100 coupon, so it was right at $200. I also had a 2.5 ton high lift jack from HF, which they've stopped selling. Fit and finish was still sub par HF standards, and while it never failed, I did replace it with a better unit that was twice as much but half as heavy. Using more of a poorer quality material to meet specs seems to be a common theme with HF, and their electric tools aren't worth the material they are packed in.

I wish I could always afford to buy better, but it's just not the case. I used to use HF stuff for one-off jobs, but there prices are now on par with other higher quality tools, albeit still Chinese so I rarely go there any more.

On the recall, they are just covering themselves legally. It's not like they are sending notifications to everyone who bought them. They will probably see few takers.