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Harbor Freight Tools

Engaged Employer

Common sense told me to run - Anonymous employee Harbor Freight Tools Employee Review

2.0
Jul 13, 2019
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Jeff, and Adriana Care about their team🙏 Good insurance and employee discount💰 Easy to accrue PTO quickly🙃 A couple people care❤️ tool quality is improving🔨 Retail service desk is helpful📞 Jeanette in inventory planning was quick and helpful🖥 Continues to find ways to improve facilities( LED lights, new registers...)💡 can be fun selling if your good at it😄 Electric forklift good experience to put on a resume 📋 Pre-sale has potential🧾 The company continues to grow and improve📈 Builds patience and managerial courage Meals for PLS🍔

Cons

Scheduling- Only expect everyone to stay their whole shift if the DM is supposed to come in Usually only2 people scheduled from 6-9 but commonly that turns into 2-9 Salary employees don’t haft to clock in so there’s no proof when the cut their required 45 hours down to 36🤷🏻‍♂️ Not enough payroll to support assigned tasks Waste payroll on ridiculous price changes and audits Don’t count on getting a rest break if your in leadership Get time off approved only to have it retracted LOD for your entire shift Morale-🤕 Toxic work environment You hear “I don’t care” a lot Lot of turning a blind eye if it’s inconvenient The constant feeling that your in trouble If you need to call off you will either be manipulated to come in or retaliated against Retaliation There some snakes in the garden Some leaders don’t keep their ego in check High Turnover Every action is observed, questioned and used against you If do anything slightly out of sop you will be written up for not using “common sense” Hard work is rewarded with a cookie🙄 Store level mistakes made at corporate Communication from corporate to stores is terrible no trust among leadership Many of the polices and Documents in the source are outdated and when you email store oops they say the police is in the process of being update but a year latter it’s still the same. Success drives are only used when you in trouble Facility- 🎚EMS thermostat is hard to use and limits climate control in store Cheep cleaning supplies Store smells like oil and tires Concrete floors are tacky Discouraged from inputting work orders Inconveniences- itc prices don’t ring up automatically Take phone calls while trying to help customers🛒 price changes when the prices don’t change🤦🏻‍♂️ Sales team is expected to be the janitors of the store Nobody wants to work Free items make people crazy Customers expect you to keep their coupons in store Customers get mad when their low end tools break🙀 and ya just stand there like “oh my goodness what a surprise” while the yell at you Safety- Not enough people in the building during afternoon/evening to support Team lift incidents are swept under the rug for some while others are magnified Doesn’t feel safe at work Feedback-🤫 Few avenues for feedback Engagement survey takes months for results to be posted and only causes management to point fingers Hft outlet is ok but once the stores leadership is included in the situation, forget about being Anonymous😳 Presale- Small toolboxes might show up on time but 44in and above always take weeks longer than expected, which really ticks off the customer and associates. Sop says Pre sale have a red slapper but Dillon just puts a colored piece of paper on it Some Customers take weeks and sometimes months to come pick up their presales which crowds a already cluttered stockroom

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Harbor Freight Tools Response
6y
Thank you for taking the time to share your detailed feedback with us. Please know that we will pass your comments along to the appropriate HR partners, and that we always encourage our associates to reach out to their HR Partner to share their concerns. Harbor Freight Tools is dedicated to becoming a great place to work and continuously improving, which means learning as we grow and listening to our associates every step of the way. We appreciate your hard work in Alton and wish you the best in your future career.

Explore other reviews about Harbor Freight Tools

5.0
Jun 26, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Great store leader. Great team to work with. The company cares about its employees. The pay is better than most retail places. Open door policy. Good work life balance. Fun place to work.

Cons

Not getting to work overtime often.

4.0
Jun 16, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Great benefits, fast paced environment, good teamwork. I liked the hours, you get an education about tools, whether from your coworkers or the customers. And speaking of the customers, they were on the better side for retail. Most are down to earth and easy to converse with.

Cons

Supply chain issues, many parts would never be replenished, despite being featured, advertised, and on display. That would often lead to tensions with customers. Aggressive time constraints on tasks. Sidewalk sales, holidays, and also coincidentally inclement weather days, can be quite busy and therefore stressful. Especially if there's call outs, but if you have a good management team, you'll have good staff that will want to work for them.

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