With the economy what it is, you would think that retailers would be pulling out all the stops to make sure that if someone comes through the door they will walk out with a purchase. So it still surprises me that about half the time I walk into a store, I don't even get a hello let alone anyone asking me if I need help. I like to go to my local hardware store over the big home improvement places because when I walk into the local store I am almost always greeted by some knowledgeable person who then helps me find what I need, even if I didn't know I needed it. I pay a bit more, but the sales help is nearly always worth it. Today though, a guy at Harbor Freight won salesman of the week hands down.
I went up to their local store, out of my way, to look at a small electric wood chipper that I had seen on the web. I have also been looking at used gas-powered chippers on craigslist, but I've been kind of leery about buying this sort of thing by that method. I just don't trust what I'm going to get. I drove up to Harbor Freight today because an electric one they had was priced right on the website($139.99) and I wanted to see how durable it looked.
I walked in and started looking around because I had never been in there before. Right away a guy asked me if I needed help and then led me over to the chipper I wanted to look at. Good start #1. He asked if I had any questions and my first one was about the price, which was $189.99 in the store. He looked a little confused when I told him about the website price, but said he would check and be right back. While he was doing that I checked out the durability and that the blades would be easy to replace. I was thinking I would buy it for the website price, but not the floor price. I was still a little concerned about the durability, but with all of the work I need to do with it I figured if I was going to break it that would happen in the first 90 days anyway. If the guy was firm about the price though, I was going to walk.
Well, he was firm about his price alright, just not the way I thought. He not only honored the website price, he ended all doubts by throwing in a 2-year "just bring it in and we'll give you a new one off the floor" warranty. He made it such a no-brainer that I briefly got suspicious. Hahaha.
I got it home and put it together tonight and checked it out. It seems to handle up to around 1" sticks without laboring much, as advertised. I think it's going to do just what I need it to do, so long as it holds up of course. If it does, from now on I can tell you Harbor Freight is definitely a place I'm checking out when I need new tools.
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