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Harbor Freight Tools Reviews
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    Harbor Freight Tools Reviews

    Updated October 10, 2018
    1,240 reviews

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    Full-timePart-time
    3.2
    StarStarStarStarStar
    Rating TrendsRating Trends
    Recommend to a friend
    Approve of CEO
    Harbor Freight Tools CEO Eric Smidt
    Eric Smidt
    662 Ratings

    1,240 Employee Reviews

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    Pros

    • "The company is growing fairly quickly so there are lots of new position" (in 33 reviews)

    • "Paid time off that accumulates quickly" (in 72 reviews)

    Cons

    • "Not always a good work/life balance" (in 39 reviews)

    • "Upper management is very negative to employees "below them"" (in 56 reviews)

    More Pros and Cons

    1. Helpful (3)

      "Store Manager"

      StarStarStarStarStar
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Culture & Values
      • Career Opportunities
      • Comp & Benefits
      • Senior Management
      Current Employee - Store Manager in Lebanon, PA
      Current Employee - Store Manager in Lebanon, PA
      Recommends
      Positive Outlook
      Approves of CEO

      I have been working at Harbor Freight Tools full-time (Less than a year)

      Pros

      Store Manager Fast Track Training is thorough, well thought out, and very informative. Really great training investment, providing a lot of necessary tools to set you up for success.

      Manager Compensation is a little on the low end but can be made up with fair quarterly bonuses for SM and monthly bonuses for AM based on store performance. Starting wage for associates is fair in my market with opportunity to bonus bi-weekly with sales spiffs. Very great comp plan for all levels of associates to be rewarded and paid for performance!!!

      Benefits are FANTASTIC! Very adorable plans. Cheapest I have ever seen! Close at 8pm Mon-Sat and 6pm Sunday’s all year round. Closed Thanksgiving. Great hours for retail if you ask me!

      Rapidly growing company, very profitable, and competitive in our current challenged brick and mortar retail environment. Pricing is very competitive. In stock position is good.

      Great company mission with very structured pillars, training roadmaps, and core principles that all support the mission and align with each other. This type of structure is refreshing and encourages consistency across the brand. The training roadmap outlines the career path one could take to advance once mastering the necessary skills. Expanding and opening new stores all the time leaves a lot of opportunity for advancement.

      Great company to work for with A LOT of things they are working on to continuously improve. Our feedback is not only heard but prompt action is taken to do the right thing!

      Love working for Harbor Freight Tools!!!

      Cons

      The training for Assistant Managers and below is minimal in comparison to the investment put towards Store Managers and above. While the online training is thorough and lengthy, we should invest more into our future leaders (supervisors and assistant managers). Allocate payroll for all associate’s training. We allocate 4-6 weeks for SM and DM. This investment in associates would reduce our turnover.

      Payroll is tight as the case with most retail orgs but too tight at times, specifically with new stores and high workload weeks.

      Hiring is a challenge to say the least. Need to work on creating a first class hiring experience for our associates. Implementing recognition programs and retention programs could help keep our stores staffed.

      Overall, still a great company to work for. Focused on continuous improvement and truly acts with a sense of urgency to do the right thing for the employees!

      Advice to Management

      Keep doing what you’re doing. Senior management is very in tune with the stores. Great communication with senior leaders. Truly feels like a support system! Keep it up!

    2. "Hard, demanding work at times, but overall it's a fun place to work with a good atmosphere."

      StarStarStarStarStar
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Culture & Values
      • Career Opportunities
      • Comp & Benefits
      • Senior Management
      Former Employee - Senior Logistics Associate in Edmond, OK
      Former Employee - Senior Logistics Associate in Edmond, OK
      Recommends
      Neutral Outlook
      No opinion of CEO

      I worked at Harbor Freight Tools full-time (Less than a year)

      Pros

      Great benefits (medical, dental, vision).

      Cons

      No pay raise for being Senior Associate.

      3. Join the Harbor Freight Tools team
      See Our Latest Jobs

    3. "Great Company"

      StarStarStarStarStar
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Culture & Values
      • Career Opportunities
      • Comp & Benefits
      • Senior Management
      Current Employee - Senior Supervisor in Newark, CA
      Current Employee - Senior Supervisor in Newark, CA
      Recommends
      Positive Outlook
      Approves of CEO

      I have been working at Harbor Freight Tools full-time (More than 8 years)

      Pros

      Great Benefits, a Company and CEO that cares, always striving to do better and do the right thing

      Cons

      Can't think of any right now.

    4. "Sales supervisor"

      StarStarStarStarStar
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Culture & Values
      • Career Opportunities
      • Comp & Benefits
      • Senior Management
      Former Employee - Anonymous Employee
      Former Employee - Anonymous Employee

      Pros

      Environment wants to promote from within

      Cons

      A lot about learning outdated models

      Advice to Management

      Models are helpful but you don’t need to live and die by them

    5. "Micromanaging company"

      StarStarStarStarStar
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Culture & Values
      • Career Opportunities
      • Comp & Benefits
      • Senior Management
      Former Employee - Store Manager
      Former Employee - Store Manager
      Doesn't Recommend
      Negative Outlook
      Disapproves of CEO

      I worked at Harbor Freight Tools full-time (More than 3 years)

      Pros

      Great bonuses and pay was fair

      Cons

      District manager was hard on managers

      Advice to Management

      Watch some of your DM’s they use store managers as scape goats

    6. "Sales Associate"

      StarStarStarStarStar
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Culture & Values
      • Career Opportunities
      • Comp & Benefits
      • Senior Management
      Current Employee - Sales Associate in Rothschild, WI
      Current Employee - Sales Associate in Rothschild, WI
      Doesn't Recommend
      Negative Outlook
      Disapproves of CEO

      I have been working at Harbor Freight Tools part-time (More than 3 years)

      Pros

      -Commission
      -Paid Time off
      -Benefits
      -Relaxed scheduling
      -Doesn't drug test

      Cons

      -Follows SOP when it doesn't 100% work
      -Management doesn't like it when you notice they do something wrong
      - Sales Associates does truck when they're not supposed to so you have to be awake by 3:30am or 2:00am which is not right

      Advice to Management

      -Hire better people, acknowledge when someone who's been at this job longer that you made mistakes
      - Be nicer to your employees
      - Acknowledge that SOP does not work 100% of the time, for closing procedures SOP does not work.

    7. "Great company"

      StarStarStarStarStar
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Culture & Values
      • Career Opportunities
      • Comp & Benefits
      • Senior Management
      Current Employee - Logistics Supervisor in Uniontown, PA
      Current Employee - Logistics Supervisor in Uniontown, PA
      Recommends
      Positive Outlook
      Approves of CEO

      I have been working at Harbor Freight Tools full-time (Less than a year)

      Pros

      Culture, growth, pay, PTO, benefits

      Cons

      None I can think of.

      Advice to Management

      Keep doing great things!!!

    8. "need a job"

      StarStarStarStarStar
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Culture & Values
      • Career Opportunities
      • Comp & Benefits
      • Senior Management
      Current Employee - Anonymous Employee
      Current Employee - Anonymous Employee
      Recommends
      Positive Outlook

      I have been working at Harbor Freight Tools full-time

      Pros

      I am a very active person who needs a job

      Cons

      Hard worker self motivated dependable challenging professional

      Advice to Management

      Very organized

    9. "Logistic Manager"

      StarStarStarStarStar
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Culture & Values
      • Career Opportunities
      • Comp & Benefits
      • Senior Management
      Current Employee - Logistics Manager in Sparks, NV
      Current Employee - Logistics Manager in Sparks, NV
      Recommends
      Positive Outlook
      Approves of CEO

      I have been working at Harbor Freight Tools full-time (More than 3 years)

      Pros

      Flexible, great benefits, flexible, a lot of paid time off, employee discount, bonuses, commission, opportunity to promote

      Cons

      Very inconsistent hours, extremely rude customers

    10. "Logistics-Supervisor"

      StarStarStarStarStar
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Culture & Values
      • Career Opportunities
      • Comp & Benefits
      • Senior Management
      Current Employee - Logistics Supervisor in Erie, PA
      Current Employee - Logistics Supervisor in Erie, PA
      Recommends
      Positive Outlook
      Approves of CEO

      I have been working at Harbor Freight Tools full-time (More than a year)

      Pros

      Good pay, work is easy, most people are nice to work with

      Cons

      Management has no idea how to treat people.

      Advice to Management

      Learn people skills.

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