Harbor Freight gets million dollar fine

What this, honorable light no fire side. Stupid yankee, light fire back not side. *&^(*&&^ yankee, I make you special soup.

MrWizard wrote:
Looks to me like

The auto companies have a better legal department
They get a gov notice about a faulty ignition switch
The lawyers fire off a bunch of paperwork about how it's being looked into

HF got the gov complaint about the lights, and failed to correctly notify the gov that it was responding to the action

My take exactly.

Looks to me like

The auto companies have a better legal department
They get a gov notice about a faulty ignition switch
The lawyers fire off a bunch of paperwork about how it's being looked into

HF got the gov complaint about the lights, and failed to correctly notify the gov that it was responding to the action

There must have been a lot of complaints to the NHTSA about this light controversy, cause they don't jump at one complaint and investigate it. Look at all the vehicle problems on the road to day and how many death that are caused by a faulty component in many cars (chevy or other vehicles), with no action being taken to correct said problem. This is nit picking to the extreme by the government.

Sometimes you need a "use it once, then throw it away" tool. Harbor Freight serves that need well. So do many of the discount stores, as did the garden shop at the base exchange. I know which tools I need to buy from Snap-On, which to buy as Craftsman (for guarantee, not quality) and which to buy at lowest cost from whatever big-box dealer.

I think the people who buy from Harbor Freight usually understand what they are buying. What is going on with NHTSA about paperwork issues is irrelevant to relations between the chain and their customers, and says nothing about quality of of the product.

I buy a lot of items from HF, most are a good buy for a good price,
I do try to watch what I get as some items are as stated are junk. But most are good solid items and especially for the price. I am sure that a lot of the items are made my major companies just as a lot of other items we buy with brand names also make items that are generic.
We do have and alternative of buying things where we want to bottom line it is our money to spend where we want.

Some of their stuff is quite good, like their chromoly impact sockets for $14.95, SAE or Metric, very good value. Bought one of their $9.95 Heat Guns that I use occasionally too, it's been fine.

While some of their stuff is junk, if you know what you're looking for they're fine for the price.

winnietrey wrote:
I think, if one looks at the ruling, it has nothing to do with the fact Harbor freight sold the item. It has to do with the fact, once they (harbor freight) were made aware that the item did not comply with federal safety standards, they did not issue a recall in a timely manor as required by federal law.

That is why they were fined, not for the actual selling of the item. Whole different deal than just being fined for selling it. Which was not the case.

Don't go and ruin this anti-gov't bloodletting with facts.

What I find funny is that most on here complaining about the gov't picking on HF are likely the same that complain that it is the gov'ts fault that jobs have gone to China.

CavemanCharlie wrote:

MrWizard wrote:
i buy tools from HF, that have a specific use and are not used too much
since i'm retired, and my hobbies do NOT include daily major mechanical work
the vibrating multi tool i bought 8yrs ago, has seen a lot of use, several sets of replacement blades, still works great, my nutsert tool, large hand rivet tool for steel rivets, still good, i recently bought their on sale 10" cable cutter have used it twice, perfect for my use, wish i had these 40 years ago when i was puling wire 6 days a week as a construction electrician
had to settle for using my Line mans pliers or a hack saw, couldn't afford the price of a pair of GreenLee or kilen cable cutters for my tool pouch

What is a "nutsert" tool ??

The only thing I can guess is not safe to post on this site.

Very easy to find yourself -- nutsert tool

MrWizard wrote:
i buy tools from HF, that have a specific use and are not used too much
since i'm retired, and my hobbies do NOT include daily major mechanical work
the vibrating multi tool i bought 8yrs ago, has seen a lot of use, several sets of replacement blades, still works great, my nutsert tool, large hand rivet tool for steel rivets, still good, i recently bought their on sale 10" cable cutter have used it twice, perfect for my use, wish i had these 40 years ago when i was puling wire 6 days a week as a construction electrician
had to settle for using my Line mans pliers or a hack saw, couldn't afford the price of a pair of GreenLee or kilen cable cutters for my tool pouch

What is a "nutsert" tool ??

The only thing I can guess is not safe to post on this site.