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Tool manufacturers like to make big claims about their products, but not all of them live up to scrutiny in the real world. Harbor Freight is no different: many of its products have proven to be cut-price alternatives to big-name brands, but there are still plenty of products that are worth avoiding. Working out which Harbor Freight finds are bargains and which are a waste of money isn’t always an exact science, but the reviews left on the retailer’s website are a great place to start.

Whether they’re tools or other highly-rated Harbor Freight products, the retailer’s best finds boast average review ratings that hover around 4.7 or 4.8 stars. On the other end of the ratings scale, its worst-reviewed products are lumbered with ratings that sit well below four stars on average.

For each of the worst offenders, reviewers have left dozens — or in some cases, hundreds — of negative reviews, many detailing exactly why they think the product in question isn’t worth your hard-earned money. These five tools and accessories are all among the worst-reviewed offerings in Harbor Freight’s current range, with key flaws that make them all worth avoiding.

One of Harbor Freight’s many in-house brands, Pittsburgh’s range is a mix of hits and misses. At its best, the brand offers a range of automotive-focused tools that undercut their competition on price while being durable and capable enough to handle all kinds of projects. However, the brand also offers products like the Pittsburgh Quick-Connect Compression Tester, which doesn’t live up to those same standards. At the time of writing, the tester has an average rating of 3.7 out of five stars from over 700 reviews and is available for $34.99.

Many of the most negative reviews left for the product make the same complaint: the tool simply isn’t accurate. Most of those users say that their readings were consistently too low, while a few claim that the accuracy of the tool seemed to degrade after one or two uses. The build quality of the tester is another common complaint, with several reviewers saying that the fittings frequently got stuck during testing.

The Central Pneumatic 40 Pound Capacity Floor Abrasive Blast Cabinet receives very mixed reviews from buyers, with some appreciating its cheap price and others claiming that its build quality isn’t up to par. Both positive and negative reviews mention that there are plenty of YouTube videos about how to modify the cabinet to address some of its limitations. However, opinions are divided on whether or not those modifications are worthwhile. Some of the most negative reviews claim that, even after modifying the cabinet, it still doesn’t perform well.

The most common criticisms are that the cabinet leaks and that visibility while blasting is poor. A significant number of users who left a one-star review say that the cabinet either arrived with one or more damaged parts or became very easily damaged after use. Some also express frustration that Harbor Freight doesn’t offer spare parts for the cabinet, so if something breaks, owners are forced to either make a replacement part themselves or junk the entire tool. More than 1,500 buyers have left a review for the cabinet to date, giving it an average rating of just 3.7 out of five stars. It retails for $229.99 and is only available to buy in-store.

Another Harbor Freight product with plenty of negative reviews is the Windsor Design Woodcarving Chisel Set, which retails for $11.99. Around 200 customers have left a review at the time of writing, giving the set an average rating of 3.7 out of five stars. The main criticism of the set is that they aren’t sharp enough, with some reviewers saying that the blades of some of the chisels were chipped from the factory. Others claim that it took only a short period of use before the blade edge dulled enough to be unusable.

Even some of the set’s most positive reviews acknowledge that the chisels are not of particularly high quality. One reviewer calls them a “good product for the price,” but notes that they’re “not super sharp.” Another says that the set is “nothing special, but worked well enough for an on the spot need.” They say that they threw them away after that one use, but still liked them enough to rate them the full five stars. While some users report that the chisels are still going strong after multiple uses, the negative reviews are numerous enough that the set is arguably still worth avoiding if you’re looking for a reliable set of tools.

With a retail price of $17.99, the Pittsburgh Watch Link Remover Pliers are not the cheapest option for adjusting a watch band, but they’re still potentially less expensive than heading to a jeweler. However, plenty of reviewers have alleged that the pliers have actually cost them more in the long run. Among the one-star reviews, a frequent complaint is that buyers have returned to Harbor Freight to exchange a defective set of pliers, only to be given a replacement that has also broken. As a result, they’ve had to shell out for another repair kit or use other tools to get the job done.

Most of the time, reviewers say that it’s the tool’s push pins that break first. Some say that the pins don’t even last a single use. If that wasn’t enough, some reviewers also note that the pliers cannot be used for some men’s watches, since the gap in the tool isn’t large enough to accommodate wider bands. These common complaints have been enough to push the pliers’ average buyer rating down to 3.7 out of five stars from around 300 reviews.

Haul-Master offers a broad selection of products, from well-regarded motorcycle carriers to less well-regarded stretch cords. The latter is one of the brand’s worst-rated products at Harbor Freight, scoring an average of 3.7 out of five stars from almost 700 reviews. Many of the most negative reviews say that the Adjustable Elastic Stretch Cords don’t hold up over time, with the clips prone to breaking, particularly in windy conditions. Some reviewers say that even tightening the cords across a load to stop it from slipping was enough to break the clips.

However, not every reviewer has such a negative opinion of the cords. Some users who left a five-star review claim that the cords survived strong winds, while others note how versatile and affordable they are. At the very least, buyers who aren’t satisfied with them won’t have wasted much money, since a 12-pack of cords costs only $2.97 at the time of writing. The pack is not available to buy online; instead, it is exclusive to Harbor Freight’s stores.

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