Dear Harbor Freight,
As a lifelong DIYer, woodworker, and general tool junkie, I want to start by saying—I love what you’ve built. You’ve made tools accessible, affordable, and sometimes even fun. There’s something magical about wandering your aisles and stumbling on that tool I didn’t know I needed. That treasure hunt feeling is part of what makes Harbor Freight… well, Harbor Freight.
But here’s the thing: I rarely go anymore.
It’s not because I’ve stopped doing projects or lost interest in your products. Quite the opposite—I’m building, fixing, tinkering, and dreaming up new projects constantly. It’s because over the years, your coupon system has trained me (and countless others) that there’s always a coupon. And if I don’t have it—either printed out or individually downloaded to my account—I’m paying more than I should.
That wouldn’t be a big deal if the digital coupon system was smooth. But it’s not.
Right now, I have to manually save each coupon to my account and then have the cashier scan them one by one from my phone at checkout. After the second coupon, the people in line behind me start getting annoyed. And frankly, so do I. It turns what should be a quick, satisfying tool run into a frustrating experience.
Here’s the result: I stop by Home Depot more. I order from Amazon. I don’t wander your aisles on a whim anymore, because I know I’ll feel like a sucker if I don’t have the right digital paperwork in order.
You’ve unintentionally made it hard to be spontaneous—and that’s a huge loss for DIYers like me.
We don’t need every tool to be 50% off. But we do need a shopping experience that doesn’t punish us for walking in unprepared. Whether it’s a better app, automatic coupon syncing, or just honoring the best available price at the register, there has to be a better way.
We want to shop with you. Help us make that easy again.
Sincerely,
A Tool-Loving DIYer Who Misses the Aisles