HF JACK-STAND RECALL EXPANDED

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Mods please move or delete if already posted:

I got this email from HF this morning. It appears they expanded the jack-stand recall:

HARBOR FREIGHT

To the Harbor Freight Community:

I'm writing to apologize. I often reach out to tell you about Harbor Freight's commitment to quality and all the investments we've made to deliver quality tools at the lowest prices. Your trust matters deeply to me and I'm proud of how far we've come. So when we have a product recall, it hurts.

A few months ago, we recalled our Pittsburgh 3 ton and 6 ton steel jack stands (SKUs 56371, 61196 and 61197) due to a manufacturer's defect. We asked customers to return them and receive a gift card that could be used to purchase replacement jack stands. I felt terrible about that recall because you should never have a concern about the safety of any of our products.

Today, I feel even worse. I'm disappointed and embarrassed because we've identified a welding defect in a small number of the Pittsburgh 3 ton steel jack stands (SKU 56373) that replaced the recalled jack stands. We're now adding these jack stands to our recall. Unfortunately, this defect wasn't discovered during the initial recall investigation. If you own these jack stands or any of the jack stands in our original recall, whether or not you have had an issue with them, please stop using them immediately and bring them back to your local Harbor Freight Store for a full cash refund or store credit (see details here).

We have investigated all of our other Pittsburgh 3 ton steel jack stands (SKUs 56371, 56372 and 57308) as well as the Pittsburgh 6 ton steel jack stands (SKUs 56368, 56369 and 56370) and Pittsburgh 12 ton steel jack stands (SKUs 56374 and 56375) and did not find the defect. Although none of these other jack stands are being recalled, if you own any of them and have any concern whatsoever, please bring them back and we'll give you a full cash refund or store credit for those as well.

I want to apologize to all of our customers. While we've dramatically grown our team of engineers and inspectors, and intensified our tests and inspections, I assure you that the lessons learned from this will drive further improvement.

As the owner and founder of Harbor Freight, I want you to know that we stand behind every product we sell and that safety will always be our top priority.

Sincerely,

Eric Smidt
Owner and Founder
Harbor Freight Tools
 
Yep they are going to steal Snap on/tool truck customers.
lol.gif
 
From what I hear, harborfreight has been recruiting independent sales agents with nice box truck to launch their brand of snap on knock off:

Snap off tools,
I wonder what till the color scheme of the trucks and logo.

grin2.gif
 
Originally Posted by stockrex
From what I hear, harborfreight has been recruiting independent sales agents with nice box truck to launch their brand of snap on knock off:

Snap off tools,
I wonder what till the color scheme of the trucks and logo.

grin2.gif



lol.gif
good one! I still like this parody of Harbor Freight catalogs. https://imgur.com/gallery/JcG3B
 
So now a recall for a recall. Nice. When your car falls on top of you, you can be thinking about how much money you saved on your jack stands at China Freight.
 
Originally Posted by PowerSurge
So now a recall for a recall. Nice. When your car falls on top of you, you can be thinking about how much money you saved on your jack stands at China Freight.


thumbsup2.gif
Exactly.
 
I had a feeling my public service announcement was going to turn into a HF bash fest. Not that I care, carry on it keeps the thread up top. I was hoping to save lives................
 
Originally Posted by demarpaint
Mods please move or delete if already posted:

I got this email from HF this morning. It appears they expanded the jack-stand recall:

HARBOR FREIGHT

To the Harbor Freight Community:

I'm writing to apologize. I often reach out to tell you about Harbor Freight's commitment to quality and all the investments we've made to deliver quality tools at the lowest prices. Your trust matters deeply to me and I'm proud of how far we've come. So when we have a product recall, it hurts.

A few months ago, we recalled our Pittsburgh 3 ton and 6 ton steel jack stands (SKUs 56371, 61196 and 61197) due to a manufacturer's defect. We asked customers to return them and receive a gift card that could be used to purchase replacement jack stands. I felt terrible about that recall because you should never have a concern about the safety of any of our products.

Today, I feel even worse. I'm disappointed and embarrassed because we've identified a welding defect in a small number of the Pittsburgh 3 ton steel jack stands (SKU 56373) that replaced the recalled jack stands. We're now adding these jack stands to our recall. Unfortunately, this defect wasn't discovered during the initial recall investigation. If you own these jack stands or any of the jack stands in our original recall, whether or not you have had an issue with them, please stop using them immediately and bring them back to your local Harbor Freight Store for a full cash refund or store credit (see details here).

We have investigated all of our other Pittsburgh 3 ton steel jack stands (SKUs 56371, 56372 and 57308) as well as the Pittsburgh 6 ton steel jack stands (SKUs 56368, 56369 and 56370) and Pittsburgh 12 ton steel jack stands (SKUs 56374 and 56375) and did not find the defect. Although none of these other jack stands are being recalled, if you own any of them and have any concern whatsoever, please bring them back and we'll give you a full cash refund or store credit for those as well.

I want to apologize to all of our customers. While we've dramatically grown our team of engineers and inspectors, and intensified our tests and inspections, I assure you that the lessons learned from this will drive further improvement.

As the owner and founder of Harbor Freight, I want you to know that we stand behind every product we sell and that safety will always be our top priority.

Sincerely,

Eric Smidt
Owner and Founder
Harbor Freight Tools
Not bad, now I can return the junk ones they exchanged my other ones for & actually get money back to use towards a BETTER set!!
 
Originally Posted by bullwinkle
Originally Posted by demarpaint
Mods please move or delete if already posted:

I got this email from HF this morning. It appears they expanded the jack-stand recall:

HARBOR FREIGHT

To the Harbor Freight Community:

I'm writing to apologize. I often reach out to tell you about Harbor Freight's commitment to quality and all the investments we've made to deliver quality tools at the lowest prices. Your trust matters deeply to me and I'm proud of how far we've come. So when we have a product recall, it hurts.

A few months ago, we recalled our Pittsburgh 3 ton and 6 ton steel jack stands (SKUs 56371, 61196 and 61197) due to a manufacturer's defect. We asked customers to return them and receive a gift card that could be used to purchase replacement jack stands. I felt terrible about that recall because you should never have a concern about the safety of any of our products.

Today, I feel even worse. I'm disappointed and embarrassed because we've identified a welding defect in a small number of the Pittsburgh 3 ton steel jack stands (SKU 56373) that replaced the recalled jack stands. We're now adding these jack stands to our recall. Unfortunately, this defect wasn't discovered during the initial recall investigation. If you own these jack stands or any of the jack stands in our original recall, whether or not you have had an issue with them, please stop using them immediately and bring them back to your local Harbor Freight Store for a full cash refund or store credit (see details here).

We have investigated all of our other Pittsburgh 3 ton steel jack stands (SKUs 56371, 56372 and 57308) as well as the Pittsburgh 6 ton steel jack stands (SKUs 56368, 56369 and 56370) and Pittsburgh 12 ton steel jack stands (SKUs 56374 and 56375) and did not find the defect. Although none of these other jack stands are being recalled, if you own any of them and have any concern whatsoever, please bring them back and we'll give you a full cash refund or store credit for those as well.

I want to apologize to all of our customers. While we've dramatically grown our team of engineers and inspectors, and intensified our tests and inspections, I assure you that the lessons learned from this will drive further improvement.

As the owner and founder of Harbor Freight, I want you to know that we stand behind every product we sell and that safety will always be our top priority.

Sincerely,

Eric Smidt
Owner and Founder
Harbor Freight Tools
Not bad, now I can return the junk ones they exchanged my other ones for & actually get money back to use towards a BETTER set!!

Yes, you can walk out of the store with cash in hand this time. Not bad.
 
As fun as it is to have bash fests, we live with safety recalls all the time, so it's a bit hypocritical to just pick on Harbor Freight. I Googled "ladder recall" and both Werner and Little Giant came up with recent recalls for possible ladder breakage. We didn't bash them and ladder falls can be deadly too.
 
Originally Posted by demarpaint
Originally Posted by bullwinkle
Originally Posted by demarpaint
Mods please move or delete if already posted:

I got this email from HF this morning. It appears they expanded the jack-stand recall:

HARBOR FREIGHT

To the Harbor Freight Community:

I'm writing to apologize. I often reach out to tell you about Harbor Freight's commitment to quality and all the investments we've made to deliver quality tools at the lowest prices. Your trust matters deeply to me and I'm proud of how far we've come. So when we have a product recall, it hurts.

A few months ago, we recalled our Pittsburgh 3 ton and 6 ton steel jack stands (SKUs 56371, 61196 and 61197) due to a manufacturer's defect. We asked customers to return them and receive a gift card that could be used to purchase replacement jack stands. I felt terrible about that recall because you should never have a concern about the safety of any of our products.

Today, I feel even worse. I'm disappointed and embarrassed because we've identified a welding defect in a small number of the Pittsburgh 3 ton steel jack stands (SKU 56373) that replaced the recalled jack stands. We're now adding these jack stands to our recall. Unfortunately, this defect wasn't discovered during the initial recall investigation. If you own these jack stands or any of the jack stands in our original recall, whether or not you have had an issue with them, please stop using them immediately and bring them back to your local Harbor Freight Store for a full cash refund or store credit (see details here).

We have investigated all of our other Pittsburgh 3 ton steel jack stands (SKUs 56371, 56372 and 57308) as well as the Pittsburgh 6 ton steel jack stands (SKUs 56368, 56369 and 56370) and Pittsburgh 12 ton steel jack stands (SKUs 56374 and 56375) and did not find the defect. Although none of these other jack stands are being recalled, if you own any of them and have any concern whatsoever, please bring them back and we'll give you a full cash refund or store credit for those as well.

I want to apologize to all of our customers. While we've dramatically grown our team of engineers and inspectors, and intensified our tests and inspections, I assure you that the lessons learned from this will drive further improvement.

As the owner and founder of Harbor Freight, I want you to know that we stand behind every product we sell and that safety will always be our top priority.

Sincerely,

Eric Smidt
Owner and Founder
Harbor Freight Tools
Not bad, now I can return the junk ones they exchanged my other ones for & actually get money back to use towards a BETTER set!!

Yes, you can walk out of the store with cash in hand this time. Not bad.

Well, it ended up being a CC credit, it was either that or a HF gift card, but I'm going to order a set of US Jack ones, I'm really not a fan of HF's design on these. BTW, ALL steel jack stands have been pulled from harborfreight.com AND the retail stores-I think they finally realized their new design on these is a problem.
 
Originally Posted by Trav
Yep they are going to steal Snap on/tool truck customers.
lol.gif



Are you afraid of competition?

Do you think a young mechanic should be beholden to Snap on for massive debt and interest?

I'm sure if HF does this it will be after extensive research.

Mods - before you accuse me of thread hijacking, see where it started.
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted by user52165
Originally Posted by Trav
Yep they are going to steal Snap on/tool truck customers.
lol.gif



Are you afraid of competition?

Do you think a young mechanic should be beholden to Snap on for massive debt and interest?

I'm sure if HF does this it will be after extensive research.

Mods - before you accuse me of thread hijacking, see where it started.


There are numerous reasonably priced alternatives that don't involve supporting the CCP. I doubt much research happens at HF, they are a broker for offshore products, some of which are garbage, others which can be OK. As others, who actually buy their products (unlike myself) have stated in the past, their stuff is a real roll of the dice, some of it is awful, but some is decent quality. That's the spectrum you get.
 
In a couple years when this blows over, jack stands are going to be among the most overbuilt, over-engineered tools anyone sells. And that's fine.
 
Originally Posted by eljefino
In a couple years when this blows over, jack stands are going to be among the most overbuilt, over-engineered tools anyone sells. And that's fine.

Funny thing is, I have two older sets of HF jack stands-a 20+ yr. old orange & white 3 ton set, and a 10+ year old red 6 ton set-and they both have steel all the way around the bottom-and other than having one of the old orange ones welded once, they've been flawless. The new design with the weld up the unreinforced side was a really bad idea, welds open up like a zipper under load from the bottom. Unfortunately there's a LOT of retailers selling these, and I think they would all be prone to this issue.
 
Originally Posted by user52165
Originally Posted by Trav
Yep they are going to steal Snap on/tool truck customers.
lol.gif



Are you afraid of competition?

Do you think a young mechanic should be beholden to Snap on for massive debt and interest?

I'm sure if HF does this it will be after extensive research.

Mods - before you accuse me of thread hijacking, see where it started.


For the same or very small amount more you can get very high quality tools. Their Icon brand is or almost in the same price class as first world high quality tools so no they are not a good value IMHO.
Many really good brands can be had at similar prices if you look around. Those are the real value tools without going on the truck and some are owned by Snap on.
 
Originally Posted by Trav
Originally Posted by user52165
Originally Posted by Trav
Yep they are going to steal Snap on/tool truck customers.
lol.gif



Are you afraid of competition?

Do you think a young mechanic should be beholden to Snap on for massive debt and interest?

I'm sure if HF does this it will be after extensive research.

Mods - before you accuse me of thread hijacking, see where it started.


For the same or very small amount more you can get very high quality tools. Their Icon brand is or almost in the same price class as first world high quality tools so no they are not a good value IMHO.
Many really good brands can be had at similar prices if you look around. Those are the real value tools without going on the truck and some are owned by Snap on.



I will start a new thread on this subject in Tool Time. Give me a few days to collect my thoughts.

Not a Snap on basher - I grew up 40 miles away from their HQ in Kenosha,WI
 
Last edited:
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