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Harbor Freight Tools

Engaged employer

Best job I've had; it's what YOU make of it. - Head Pricing Coordinator Harbor Freight Tools Employee Review

5.0
25 July 2014
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Expectations are kept reasonable and attainable. If everyone puts forth 100% effort, you should see success and growth in all areas. Management team (at least at my location) is effective, and works well together despite frequently butting heads over details. The health benefits are pretty sweet, for a retail position, and won't break the bank either. Definitely opportunity for advancement if you make the extra effort; they're not just going to hand you promotions. Processes, for the most part, make sense and are able to be implemented easily and efficiently. Customer base is, for the most part, pleasant to deal with. Company seems to invest itself in its employees, certainly more so than any other company I've worked with. Overall, the atmosphere is pleasant and relaxed.

Cons

Free items are a headache and a half. Pricing system is time consuming and convoluted at current; I've been hearing rumors of an update in the works, and desperately hope it's true. Number/name collection can cause friction with customers, especially in case of returns: people don't want to give their numbers out anymore. Planograms are designed poorly on paper, even if the concept behind them is usually great. Most of that comes from skewed product proportions and sizes. As with any retail position, if your management team takes a less than desirable approach towards... well... management, then you're not going to have a good time. While my managers are great, I've heard horror stories about some of the other locations, where favoritism and commission rigging/theft run rampant. Happy to say I can't personally attest to those. Also as with any retail job, if you're going to make your location succeed, you're inevitably going to have to pick up others' slack. I can say that we have a couple of people at my location who have a terrible attitude and work ethic that we often have to pick up slack for, who are allowed to stay on because their add-on percentages are high. Also, on trucks, the state of the shipments are often deplorable. Heavy items stacked on top of light items, unstable-looking, packaging crushed and torn. Definitely a little questionable, but as long as you pay attention and follow protocol, you're usually fine.

Explore other reviews about Harbor Freight Tools

5.0
26 June 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.

1
4.0
16 June 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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