My Harbor Freight buffer buying story - teaching proper customer service!

G

GrizzlyBear

Joined
Dec 5, 2009
Messages
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Ok, so about 7 days ago I posted a topic on here telling everyone about this 8" buffer Harbor Freight had listed for $49.00, instead of the original $79.99. I placed an order for this buffer, (2) 6" wheels and a sanding belt cleaner. The order processed and into the checkout screen with the price STILL at $49.00, I paid using my card and went about my day.

When I got home that evening I had this email:

Hello and good day

We were not able to process your order. The price for the buffer item 40668-2vga is invalid and we are not able to honor the price of $49.00. The buffer is available at $79.99. If you would like the buffer for $79.99, email me and I can process the order for you.
Thank you,

Erika Moreno
Harbor Freight Tools
Call Center Rep.
(805)388-3000
Ext 5659


Well, that didn't sit right with me at all. The price advertised on the website listed it at $49.00! If it was a mistake, why should I have to pay for THEIR mess up? So, I sent them this email:

Hello.

I feel that I should be able to get the buffer at the price that was advertised on the website. I have a copy printed of the page where the price was listed at $49.00. It's not my fault that the price listed was incorrect. I feel that Harbor Freight should honor their mistake much like any other retail store would in this same circumstance. If something like this had happened with Lowe's, they are obligated to make sure the customer is happy and they would sell the item for that price. I know this for a fact, I worked for Lowe's for 6 years. Other retail stores such as Wal-Mart and Home Depot honor similar guarantees.

So, that is my counter offer. I do not wish to pay the $79.99 because that is not the advertised price I was led to believe was correct. Please let me know how Harbor Freight intends to handle this.

Thank you,

Craig R. Collier


Monday morning I received this email as I didn't expect to get a response over the weekend:

The sale price is for the retail store only and unfortunately we do not honor their prices. You will need to go to the retail store to get it for that price.
Thank you,

Erika Moreno




Ok, how does the INTERNET site show the price for MY LOCAL retail store when there is no way to shop from the local store online and see what products are carried and which ones aren't. Sounds like a BS excuse to me, so I immediately emailed back:


Hello again.

I called the local retail store and they do not stock that item, so I do not see how the price on the website could have been for the retail store; that sounds more like an excuse than actual reason the price was different. Because, if the $49.00 price WAS for retail stores only, it would have made mention of that in the order or at the very least, on the webpage where I viewed the buffer for $49.00.

Now, if your corporate office wants to contact my local retail store and arrange for them to order one of these buffers for the price advertised, then so be it. I'll be more than happy to drive there and purchase it for the advertised price. Otherwise, I see no other choice than to go to the next step and contact Harbor Freight's corporate office myself and explain the issue. If satisfaction is not met there, I will contact the Better Business Bureau and whomever else I need to resolve this.

However, I see no reason why this should go that far. Your website operators made a mistake and Harbor Freight should stand by what ever customer service values they have to rectify the problem. I will say again, had this issue happened at Lowe's or Wal-mart, where customer service and happiness is top priority, it would have been handled properly immediately...right there, in the store, no questions asked. Remember, word of mouth goes a long way in both praise and negative experiences. Do you think Harbor Freight really wants to garner that much negative feedback for $30 which is merely pocket change for them? I certainly would hope not.

I am honestly trying to be as civil as I can since I have a retail background that spans 7 years and customer service that spans much longer than that, and I know what needs to be done to keep people happy. And I have seen how ugly people can be over discrepancies of MUCH less.

I patiently await your response.

Craig R. Collier


I wasn't sure how they would respond to this, so I sat back and waited. That email was sent out on Monday at 10pm.

Tuesday passes with no email response. Most of Wednesday passes and at 1pm I send them another email:


Hello again,

I have given you 1 and 1/2 business days to respond to my last email. If I do not hear from you by the end of business day Thursday March 25th, I will be making arrangements to contact the office of the president/CEO of Harbor Freight. In waiting to hear back from you I did a little searching to see if anyone else had experienced a similar problem...and I found this website.

http://www.writebyte.net/writebyte.dll/GetPage?PageId=HarborFreight

While the experience that individual had is not the same as what I am dealing with, it is clear that 'customer service' is not a top priority with your company. Please respond as soon as possible.

Thank you,

Craig R. Collier


I figured that should rile them up and at least GET a response!! That evening at 6pm I get another email, not from Erika Moreno. The email I get is what appears to be a new order made up with what I ordered (with the buffer at $49.00) originally PLUS a gift card for who knows what amount (it's not listed). I'm thinking, sweet...they're going to go ahead and process the order, and charge my card. So I email them back telling them I got the last email and do I need to send them my card info again to process the order.

I got no response to that specifically, but I did get a new email this morning first thing. It was a delivery email showing tracking numbers for the buffer which is being sent seperately than the rest of the order. But both have been shipped for sure! So, I go to my bank account online and see if they took the money out.....

They did not!!! Apparently, they're going to give me the entire order for free + this gift card! I wasn't expecting that. All I wanted was the buffer for the advertised price and I intended to pay for the whole order! We'll see over the next couple of days if thats the case, I'll continue to watch my account.

(sorry for the book post guys!)
The moral of this story is, do not let anyone in the retail industry push you around or not provide 100% customer service. Anything less than 100% is failure in my book. When I worked for Lowe's as a millwork specialist, I prided myself in doing everything possible to fix a customer's problem or help them find what they need. Word of mouth about good experiences travels far...as does negative ones.
 
Harbor Freight Blackballed/Do Not Sell To List
- Craig R. Collier


lol, just kidding ;) :)

I'm glad you got it worked out! I'm sure the fact you were articulate and stood your ground made all the difference in the world. I can imagine what most of the customer service emails they receive look like.
 
ROFL! :)

You're right about the emails. I think everyone should work in retail at least for a couple of days to see what those people go through with customers on a daily basis. Which is why if anything happens, I am usually extremely civil about it. Even when taking something back to walmart or wherever...if it takes a long time, I dont get upset...because I know all about that situation. Honey will get you a lot farther than vinegar....or however that saying goes ;)
 
Why would you want to make a company sell you something that they can't make adequate profit on? Seems like the wrong thing to do.
I'm no HF fan, but they deserve to make a decent profit on their goods. Taking advantage of a mistake is wrong.
 
Bill,

It is almost like HF is doing a bait and switch, which is unlawful in most states. When someone sells something for one price, then demands more to complete the order, it isn't my problem. It is theirs.

They deserve to make a fair price, so they should price accordingly. They are obligated to seel it for the price they list and process. The retail store excuse was pure BS. It sounds like a simple bait and switch.

Gene
 
I have always had very good luck with my local HF. They have always honored internet prices; some times I did not know there was a cheaper price on the internet they told me and printed the web page for me. I wanted to get a surface grinder from them 2 weeks ago. The price that was floated around the web here is $999. The surface grinder is not listed in the catalog or on there web page so I had to call (part number 33732) them. They quoted me a price of $699. I called my local HF and asked them to order it for me. This way I don’t pay for shipping and usually get it the next Monday. While I was waiting I found a 20% off coupon on the internet. I didn’t think they would honor it but they did. I ended up paying $552 for the surface grinder and free shipping, about ½ what I expected and just about ¼ of what Grizzly wants for there surface grinder.
Like I said I have always had good luck with HF.

Allen
 
Bill DeShivs said:
Why would you want to make a company sell you something that they can't make adequate profit on? Seems like the wrong thing to do.
I'm no HF fan, but they deserve to make a decent profit on their goods. Taking advantage of a mistake is wrong.
Click to expand...

Bill, you obviously do not have very much retail experience to make that statement. If we were talking about a single owner 'mom & pop' type establishment, then sure...taking advantage of a mistake is wrong.

However, we're talking about a very large retail tool company who pockets millions of dollars every year in profits. It was THEIR job to employ a web design team and also their job to make sure that all prices are correct. Much like a walk-in retail store employs a pricing and merchandising team that go through store stock DAILY with a list of prices that need to be changed based on corporate regulation.

For instance, if a customer walks in to Lowe's on a Saturday and picks up a Skil circular saw for $39.00 that was on sale last week (but not this week) and gets to the register and it rings up $59.99, it is in Lowes' customer service policy to sell that item for that price. Due to the fact that they have a pricing team that should have made sure the shelf sticker was $59.99 and not last weeks sale price of $39.00. Doesn't matter if that person knew the price should have went back up to $59.99 or not. It's not the customer's responsibility to inform the store of their pricing mistake, and then pay an extra $30 afterwards.

It also doesn't matter if 5 people buy the same saw and are all standing in line when the first one is rang up wrong. All 5 saws must be sold for the price listed on the shelf.

Lots of retail stores employ the same customer service rule concerning that...if the price on the shelf is less than the price the item rings up, it must be sold for that amount.

Websites should be no different.
 
AKHammonds said:
I have always had very good luck with my local HF. They have always honored internet prices; some times I did not know there was a cheaper price on the internet they told me and printed the web page for me. I wanted to get a surface grinder from them 2 weeks ago. The price that was floated around the web here is $999. The surface grinder is not listed in the catalog or on there web page so I had to call (part number 33732) them. They quoted me a price of $699. I called my local HF and asked them to order it for me. This way I don’t pay for shipping and usually get it the next Monday. While I was waiting I found a 20% off coupon on the internet. I didn’t think they would honor it but they did. I ended up paying $552 for the surface grinder and free shipping, about ½ what I expected and just about ¼ of what Grizzly wants for there surface grinder.
Like I said I have always had good luck with HF.

Allen
Click to expand...

Thats awesome! Retail companies are already making a killing on their price mark ups, they can afford to budge that price down some in the interest of happy customers. Want an idea of what kind of price mark ups are out there? When I worked at Best Buy last year I bought a high quality HDMI cable to run my monitor from my computer. The cable list price was $79.99. Store cost: $7.50!!! So with employee discount I wound up getting a super nice HDMI cable for $8.25!
 
I wish I was that lucky. I do agree that they need to be responsible to a certain point. If it was listed on the website for $4.49 instead of $44.95 that is one thing but to think that they wouldn't still be making money of that buffer if they had to sell it at $30 off is crazy. I bet they would still have made $15 off the sale if they had just honored the lower price. Remember this is a store that constantly has various items from 50-75% off and they are still making money on those items.

I am a normal HF shopper and actually went there yesterday. The store I go to has decent customer service. I broke a pair of spring compressors when doing the lift on my jeep and they told me they would exchange them without a receipt or give a FULL refund if I had the receipt. Thankfully I had the receipt.

HOWEVER, when dealing with their online people I had nothing but problems. I saw that they had decent prices on some electric motors. I needed one for my drill press. I waited too long and when I went back a week later I saw that the options for the motors had gone from 14 selections to 10. I emailed customer service and asked what happened to the other motors? Did they stop selling them? Are they temp out of stock? Etc...... The rep emailed back with a response that didn't answer ANY question I had. Basically it was what model do you have? and we can find a replacement. The model I emailed back with was an "old" model and he couldn't look up the replacement equivalent. This was DESPITE the fact that in BOTH emails I sent I told him EXACTLY what hp, volt, phase, speed, enclosure of the motor I was looking for. I also gave 2 options for hp rating and enclosure. I ALSO gave him the part #'s for the motors that I wanted to buy but that weren't showing up on the website anymore. The guy emails me and directs me to look at the harborfreight.com website for options. Isn't that his job????? In the second email I again asked what had happened to the motors that were no longer showing up, and if he couldn't tell me then forward my request to someone who could tell me.

I finally got an email back from him and another lady that told me they didn't know where the other motors went. These emails came about a week after I sent my last email.

Moral of the story, go to the store. If they don't have it go somewhere else. It seems that is the better way to go. Not that this gives them the right to treat anyone like crap that tries to buy something from the website but it looks like the horrible online customer service won't be getting fixed anytime soon.:thumbdn::mad::grumpy::(
 
I just called them up yesterday because their 60" workbench went from the regular 199.99 to 129.99 and I called to ask how long they will be going at that price. They couldn't answer. I read this thread today and went back and the price was back to 199.99. I called them a few minutes ago and they told me I was wrong, it would never be 129.99, it's alway's 199.99. I am not psychotic, nor am I an idiot, so somethings going on. Maybe the Better Business Bureau should be called, not that they would do anything of course.

Jeff
 
I am still waiting for my POS plastic knob that goes on my bandsaw tracking. They wanted me to send the thing back....well.....I needed to get going...so a good ol trusty pair of channel locks have done me just fine:thumbup:

I agree....they mark things up/down so often I dont think they know whats going on anymore....Not good business thats for sure....but at there prices:D:eek:

Happy you got it squared away OP!!!

Chris
 
KB1SYV said:
I just called them up yesterday because their 60" workbench went from the regular 199.99 to 129.99 and I called to ask how long they will be going at that price. They couldn't answer. I read this thread today and went back and the price was back to 199.99. I called them a few minutes ago and they told me I was wrong, it would never be 129.99, it's alway's 199.99. I am not psychotic, nor am I an idiot, so somethings going on. Maybe the Better Business Bureau should be called, not that they would do anything of course.

Jeff
Click to expand...

It is going to be general practice with me, from now on, if I run across an item listed for quite a bit less than normal price, to immediately print out a copy of the webpage for arguing reference. Had you printed the page, you could have used it as proof and possibly got that work bench for 129.99.

I agree, something IS going on...but I think it's like 45warrior said...they mark prices up and down all the time on everything, they don't know what the hells going on anymore!
 
I just called the order number, it's the 805 number on the website. I spoke with a Julie who hast been there 20 years. She was able to shed some light on some issues. She told me they regularly have one day sales, but if an item is purchased at regular price and goes on sale within 30 day's, they will refund the amount to the sale price. I would recommend anyone ordering from the website to call the order number, "NOT CUSTOMER SERVICE", but call the 805-388-3000 to get the going price and to ensure you will not be surprised after you order. I have a feeling that their customer service is a high turnover position that is filled with new people who really can't handle anything more than putting an order through.

Jeff
 
Jeff, you're probably right about the turnover position!

I never thought about the one day sale thing, makes sense. Glad to know they have the pricing guarantee of matching within 30 days, many people don't know that about most retail stores.
 
I got a sale paper in the mail from them on the 23rd and it plainly has the work bench you are talking about at a price well below 199.00, I'm thinking it was 149.00 but it may have been 129.00.
The buffer is also shown in the sale paper for 49.00 just like the original poster states.
 
What is the difference between taking profit from a Rich business as opposed to a Mom & Pop business? Does it change common ethical standards. Is this the "Robin Hood" conundrum? Do you know for sure that there isn't an employee being repremanded or docked pay for this "mistake". I know you worked at Lowes... I worked in customer service for 14yrs and hve heard many stories of employees getting in trouble for simple mistakes.

I can see your initial response... but your second and third border on threats, IMO.

Sorry if it seems like i'm trying to kick up some $#IT .... just approaching from a different angle

All respect

Rick
 
denim said:
I got a sale paper in the mail from them on the 23rd and it plainly has the work bench you are talking about at a price well below 199.00, I'm thinking it was 149.00 but it may have been 129.00.
The buffer is also shown in the sale paper for 49.00 just like the original poster states.
Click to expand...

Well at least now I know I'm not going crazy, I know what I saw.

Thanks Denim,

Jeff
 
Magnussen said:
What is the difference between taking profit from a Rich business as opposed to a Mom & Pop business? Does it change common ethical standards. Is this the "Robin Hood" conundrum? Do you know for sure that there isn't an employee being repremanded or docked pay for this "mistake". I know you worked at Lowes... I worked in customer service for 14yrs and hve heard many stories of employees getting in trouble for simple mistakes.

I can see your initial response... but your second and third border on threats, IMO.

Sorry if it seems like i'm trying to kick up some $#IT .... just approaching from a different angle

All respect

Rick
Click to expand...

Rick,

I know it might have started out that way, but I think that this price thing is something more than that. I think what they might be doing is trying to reign you in with an absurdly low price and claim that it didn't exist or was a mistake hoping that you need it and will still buy it at the retail price. Working in just percentages, imagine how many people will say, "screw it" and buy it anyway.
That is what I'm having the problem with, it's not a mistake, but a purposeful means to deceive. Basically "Fraud"

Jeff
 
I have to agree with Rick here. Taking advantage of someones else's mistake in pricing seems wrong to me. :o
 
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