Jamesbo

Boy, Ya値l missed me pull段n a Rob I-pod fit yesterday.

For 35 years I致e used my trusty Garden Way car in my garden and the ole girl has about had it.

I must not have learned my lesson when my Chinesium amp gauge fried. Cause I ordered an ersatz garden cart from Harbor Freight and it finally got ere.

I hauled de boxes onto de back porch to assemble and started throwing de thing together. De first thing I noticed was not one but None of de screw holes thru the sheet metal side supports matched up. After cuss段n and fuss段n fer a few hours try段n to line things up, I said [expletive deleted] and got out a drill to make the holes in de right spot.

Got de side supports and braces finally put on and turned de thing over to put on de bicycle wheels.

Guess what? De [expletive deleted] axle is miss段n.

Zo, I call Harbor Freight customer [no] service and sum body in Inja answer de phone. Next he wants to verify who I am by SPELLING out my name, address, city state, zip code and e-mail address.

Den he want to know what part number I知 miss段n. I tell my new friend in Inja, I have no idea cause along wit the miss段n axle is de miss段n directions. He says he will send me an e-mail where I can download the directions. It will be there in 24 hours??? Now how [expletive deleted] long does it take for an e-mail to get from Inja to me.

Just as I am a about to set fire to dis POS, I go inside to have a cold one and turn on de tube. And ere痴 dis lady wit de used catheters.

I quit. Whar痴 de rotten potatoes.

Check out Craig痴 list fer a new assembled POS garden cart [sans wheels] local pick up only.

Lady72nRob71

Get out the BFH!!

At least there is hope for you... Power tools, broomstick for a makeshift axle, welder, etc...
When firmware and software goes bad, the BFH is your only resort.

Olds64

cutlassgal

Jamesbo..... that's a lot of expletives!!!!! I love your descriptions - you just make me laugh! I think we all feel your frustration. It sucks when you try to call, and get some one that can barely speak English, let alone understand what you're talking about. I sure hope you get your e-mail today!!

citcapp

It takes 24 hours for the e-mail because of the translation from whatever language to english has to be done first. Had the same experience with a welder cart. Made my own axle out of round stock

Jamesbo

Just played 25 games of Spyder Solitaire while on hold with my new buddy in Inja

I don't believe he's from southern Inja cause he don't understand me and I ain't got a clue what he said.

He's never even heard of "Curry in a Hurry."

To keep things simple I jes went down de parts list and decided to list every part as miss'in. If anyone has one of these POS, I'll have sum extry parts in 5 to 7 business days

If the Gangese don't rise.

Lady72nRob71

You can download most of the manuals from the site directly.
Is this the one you have?
http://manuals.harborfreight.com/manuals/30000-30999/30421.pdf

Axle is part 35, no part number for directions...

You should return the POS and just get a tractor with a dump cart. It would be more fun...

Jamesbo

Thanks Rob,

I did get that downloaded yesterday. One of these days I am gonna learn not to buy this junk.

Lady72nRob71

Be sure to try their wire wheels you put on a drill. They turn egg-shaped as soon as you turn the drill on, just like magic!
One of those suckers is on the roof of my neighbor's house...

cutlassgal

Lol! That's funny Rob!!

wjustinmartin

Well, I have to be honest, you knew you were buying cheap crap but then get angry and disrespect the person trying to make a living when 1) things aren't right and 2) the customer support agent is from another country.

I respect your frustration, but it sounds like you are taking it out on the wrong person - you gotta know when you buy cheap crap what you are dealing with - hopefully you knew that already, but it doesn't seem fair to take it out on the support guy.

Lady72nRob71

Unfortuantely, this is everywhere, even this so-called big "reputable" companies. Ever called sony or dell or canon for support?? I dare ya.
Dell has been the worst of all i think, sony next. Dell tech-unsupport ******** cannot tell a cable from a circuit board.
Verizon - same issues except they disable your computer entirely AND waste hours of your time...
Companies keep cutting away from tech support and customer service, as money is not being made there.
Allied waste (our trash 'service') dumped my full 100 gallon trash bin all in the alley and the can was 10 feet away. I did the deed on refilling the can but blew me off in actually coming back to empty it. Every day for a week, a different excuse. Their slogan should be "we put the trash in trashy service."
Panasonic PO'ed me so much over a broke phone that I went to the store, bought another and returned the bad one as defective. The store got credit from the mfgr so the mfgr got theirs. I will not buy that brand again. A guy here at work had one of their tvs go bad and would not fix under warranty cause he bought it online.

The nice thing that harbor freight does is lists the manuals online for free and give a parts list.
Nikon offers just a manual, but you cannot print it unless you pay 'em.
Panasonic did not offer any manuals back then.

Canon will not sell ANY spare parts for a costly SLR camera, aside the lens cap, despite their known problems.

Unfortunately, people will blow their tops as we are sick of the run arounds. I would love to vent at the ceos and presidents who make their dumb moves, but they are well shielded by those in other countries. At least being in other countries, they cannot be flogged by the crap they support.

So it is everywhere - cheap crap or expensive crap. The nice thing about chinesium is that it IS so cheap. If it breaks, you trash it and lose very little. Typically I buy stuff from HF as one-use items. I get a bonus if it can actually make it to the next job...
Enough rambling...

Olds64

I hear what you are saying Rob. Don't even get me started on Philips TVs. I called over 30 different customer service reps when my Philips TV broke down. It took about 6 months to resolve my problem too. Now I have a Sony TV.

gearheads78

I hate to say it but every time we spend a dollar for crap thats one less dollar thats going to the guy making a quality product. When all there is left is crap to buy then don't say I didn't tell you so. If we all quit supporting the trash in our market then things will start to change.

Jamesbo

Good point Richard

Well, I'm done.

I didn't take it out on the customer service guy at all. I don't believe in that. I was very polite. Perhaps I just rant here because I don't believe in screaming at innocent parties. It is obviously not his fault the way things were made.

And I'm with Rob,

It's not just the cheap companies that have a Customer NO-service department. Try the mega Banks sum times.

wolfman98

I believe they call it outsourceing and it's the cheap way to do things these days. Even a lot of the customer service goes to who can offer it done the cheapest way possible , same as who makes your product or various parts . You gotta keep the shareholders happy and they don't care what kind of crap you make as long as they make money. it's the Walmart syndrome as I call it and they are now one of your finer establishments.

cutlassjoe

Very interesting post. I live in Windsor Ontario across from Detroit. Very blue collar, very heavy union. What I don't understand is the union guys are crying buy domestic, but the brag about the deals at places like HF and the Dollar Store? I always try to buy domestic. I have a set of Craftsman tools I bought 25 years ago, and they have not let me down yet. I agree a lot of stuff comes from overseas now and the customer service is outsourced, which drives me nuts. Not sure when or if it will ever change....

silverriff

I love Harbor Freight. Yeah some of their stuf is hit and miss, but for as cheap as it is.... I got a 5 inch random orbital sander on sale for $15.00 bucks and I have been using it to sand down my entire car, for a few hours straight, every day for about a week. I love this damn thing! It gets pretty hot after an hour, and I have been waiting for it to explode in my hands, but so far so good! And I have been doing a bunch of sheetmetal work with my $100 HF mig welder, and it's working great too. Only problem is that now my arms are alittle crispy and smell like cooked hotdogs because I am too cheap to buy a welding jacket. Good times!

gearheads78

Thats my point. You are expecting the sander to fly apart on one car repair. My $250.00 Dynabrade could be willed to a grand kid that won't be born for another 20 years

Olds64

That would be bad.

jeffreyalman

I get crap all the time from friends etc because I expect EVERYTHING to last forever if it is well maintained. And I don't think I am being unreasonable. I have furniture from the 40s 50s 60s 70s that has been in my family all this time, lamps still work (ok there was that one unfortunate lava lamp incident but that was my own fault - when they say MAX 25 WATT they mean it - at least I was there when the timer kicked on and it exploded )

But seriously, time was when stuff was better built.

I have stereo equip from the 80s that are still fine

I even have 3 of these from the 60s and they all still work



and it was made in Japan!

I guess I am old enough to remember when - evidently ya'll are too

Lady72nRob71

I guess I try to think the same, a lot of stuff does with care and maybe some minor repairs along the way, but a lot of stuff does not last even with care.

Case in point - high end TVs. My sister's 10 year old 36" sony just had a picture tube short out, so she put it out for the trash. My mom's 1973 Zenith 25" console is still alive and well. I replaced a blown cap in it 15 years ago but that was it.
Jeff - I want to see bigger pics of those old TVs! I have a few old TVs but not sure if they still work...

My house is full of old stuff like that - here is a link to some I have.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/thelone...7603569011135/
This old monster still pumps out some great tunes.

The nice thing is that this old stuff is repairable in most cases if they break, as usually it is a bad discrete component. The beast above only needs a new needle now and then, as well as a light turntable lube.

New stuff is too tiny and parts are installed with no ID marks and surface mount soldering. NO circuit diags are available either. Drop em and they are history. Hook 'em to the PC wrong and they are dead for good.
Ipods? Unless it is the battery they are unrepairable. Save 'em for the shooting range!

My mom's 40 year old fridge still runs, but I have replaced a fan motor and defrost element. When the compressor goes, it will go.
Her 30 year old washer finally sprung a leak last year. I have her 40 year old blender - works fine. Chrome and glass.

I do not mind a minor repair here and there. What I see now days are major problems too soon, and no worthwhile support, resulting in a throwaway product.

Jamesbo

Rob,

If ya need any LP's let me know.

It's a disposable society that going backwards from Z to B

A Zippo light was a darn good piece of equiptment while a Bic lighter is designed to be tossed.

Olds64

The Philips TV I had only contained 4 components. It had the screen, the audio / visual card, the power supply, and the speakers. Eventhough it was that simple they couldn't fix it. What a piece of junk!

jeffreyalman

you know there are turntables with USB jacks on them now???



this is just some of my stuff old like me

dining room light 1960 in family since new

clock from the 50s was grandparents

ceiling light was a table lamp from the 50s was also my grandparents - all the trays too

some cool lamps and one of the round TVs

better shot of dining room light and sunburst clock (you can touch the dust but please don't write in it)

my grandfather's old desk complete with working (lights and all) Princess phone:

another round TV (dining room)

close up of the living room one

jeffreyalman

hey Rob Can you get me a GE 12V 5W F in an LED?

It’s an anchorlight bulb

(sorry to hijack VERY lazy today )

Lady72nRob71

Way cool Jeff - I like that dining room light. I bet it is all brass, too.
Nowdays, lots of bucks will only get a thin plating on cheap tin or plastic...

I cringe when I see cd recorders... My attempts usually fail after 20 minutes. I never had a recorded dvd succeed - I gave up on that frustration.

I usually just play the records and import the sound via sound card, then tweak it with wave studio and save it as mp3 for use in the cheapie mps player. I have not played cds for years - just mp3's.

Lady72nRob71

Huh????
An anchor light is on the back of a ship, to be lit when anchored. I have several of them; one is electric two are oil. One weighs about 25lbs
(Of course those aren't for sale...)

jeffreyalman

I love your Magnavox stuff Rob, I had a bunch of that stuff years ago OMG I had a Zenith with a PENTHOUSE type speaker, tons of 50s clock radios

At this point in my life it's about moving stuff OUT not IN

jeffreyalman

just need the bulb

Lady72nRob71

The Penthouse was a Magnavox radio set. I have the extension speaker and I am waiting for the radio to show up.

I am also limiting at what comes in - no more short-lived throwaway crap if I can help it.

A GE 12V 5W F bulb? Got a picture of one?? Or are you pulling my leg...

Don L/442

My father taught me to maintain,rebuild and replace only when needed.
I don't like buying things twice(who does)but they just don't build them like they use to.

rocketraider

Depends on what it is, whether I'll buy Chinesium at Harbor Freight. I have a couple of drawer metal carts, one for brake repair stuff, the other for electrical, and they went together without issues. I'll pick up a gadgety tool there once in a while, or something I know won't see hard and frequent use (like any of my tools see much use anymore).

Rob, I was messing around in my favorite antique/old stuff mall last weekend and found a mid-60s Magnavox Astro-Sonic console. AM-FM-St and turntable, no tape, and in working condition. I used it to test a couple of old vinyl records I'd found (my RCA Victor demonstration and promotional records collection is another story).

I thought it odd that the tone controls were stepped instead of linear, but I'm sure it was cutting edge back then. If I had anywhere to put it, I'd consider it. As it was, I settled for a 1959 Zenith stereo portable. Working on finding a cartridge and one tube for that.

jeffreyalman

for real!

jeffreyalman

found

http://cincinnati.craigslist.org/ele/1691947318.html

Lady72nRob71

Got a picture I can see?


Too bad i am not in Ohio!
I have too much anyway.

I REALLY want the FM-26 radio set to go with my other lonesome ext. speaker.