Well, Harbor Freight got me too with bait and switch...

[Rev2010]

Ordered drill 93632 which is positively reviewed and used by a number of people on here as the drill for their grain mill and they instead sent me the terribly rated 60436. I called ahead as I'd seen reviews of this switchout but they assured me my exact model number was in stock. My invoice even has 93632 on it but I hadn't noticed on the shipping invoice they'd changed it to 60436. Called in and demanded a pre-paid return label and a full refund including the shipping charges since I didn't order this model.

My question now is, has anyone returned anything to Harbor Freight and was there any issue? Calling in it's clearly a service center in India and with the bait and switch I'm feeling this is some serious monkey business going on. Having a sneaking suspicion I won't receive the return label, which by the way they are mailing instead of simply emailing, and that I will have to fight the charge with my credit card company. So that's why I'm asking.

Oh, and I tried submitting a review on two different computers and it hangs and won't go through. Not surprising.


Rev.

 

[wardens355]

They seemed reasonable to me when I called in about it. They told me the other was temporarily out of stock and mailed me a return label. I ended up just keeping the switched unit and it has worked fine for me over the last 6 months. I just called the local Harbor Freight and they say they have the 93632 in stock. I would recommend checking locally and just pick it up in store if they have one. Then mail back the 60436 with their return label.

EDIT: They actually mailed the return label. I got it within several days of my call with them. Never used it obviously.

 

[ImNoExpert]

In my state (I would guess others too) bait and switch is illegal. We have a state consumer protection agency that can take complaints and (maybe) investigate. Not sure what NJ has but it may be worth pursuing that route if they jerk you around.

 

[Rev2010]

Not sure what NJ has but it may be worth pursuing that route if they jerk you around.

If it were a substantial purchase I'd consider it, but it's a $50 drill. Judging by Wardens experience above it looks like it shouldn't be a problem getting a full refund. If there is any issue though I'll take it up with my credit card company. I have the original order email and the shipping email so it's quite clear they sent me something other than what I ordered.

@Wardens355 - glad to hear it's working out for you but can I ask... the speed is only trigger variable correct? The 93632 has that nice dial where you can hard set the speed which is one of the features I was looking for. I looked at the drill and all I see if a forward/reverse switch. Also, many of the reviews on their website said the drill fails within the first few uses so I'm kind of scared away from it. Of course, we're using it for grain milling when others are drilling concrete and such so perhaps that's the difference in failure rates.


Rev.

 

[Mike_kever_kombi]

Don't know if others have same problem, or if it even helps In your regards, but after my drill starts to get hit from crushing grains, the variable control no longer works and it just goes to full speed. I have the HF with knob in trigger.


Been using it for 8 months no problem. The first one I got, smoked after 1 use, returned it for this one.

I use an ugly junk corona mill.

 

[wardens355]

@Wardens355 - glad to hear it's working out for you but can I ask... the speed is only trigger variable correct? The 93632 has that nice dial where you can hard set the speed which is one of the features I was looking for. I looked at the drill and all I see if a forward/reverse switch. Also, many of the reviews on their website said the drill fails within the first few uses so I'm kind of scared away from it. Of course, we're using it for grain milling when others are drilling concrete and such so perhaps that's the difference in failure rates.

Correct, you can only control the speed of the drill with your finger. I was interested in having the dial so I could set a max speed and fully throttle the trigger. Sounds like that may not be possible with the 93632 from the post above. I have read that 60436 failures have occurred when using the drill in reverse, so I don't ever use it in reverse (don't need to for a grain mill anyways). I am probably going to pick up the 93632 at Harbor Freight sometime soon as a spare and I'll give it a test run. The 60436 works OK, but since its my finger throttling for a minute or so crushing 11 lbs of grain, the speed will jump around a bit and I frequently throttle the trigger. I am always worried it will crap out one of these days. I assume that the speed of the 93632 will jump around still because required torque will change as the grain is milled, but maybe it would be possible to at least set a max setting (again, doesn't sound promising from above post).

 

[IslandLizard]

Make sure to take a %off coupon with you when visiting the store. Those 25% off ones are great!

Now on the shelf you'll have to look for the right SKU one. Do not assume it's in the right place or very visible.

Yes, the speed goes down quite bit when putting a grain load in the hopper. That's the speed you'd "calibrate 150 rpm at."

 

[wardens355]

Make sure to take a %off coupon with you when visiting the store. Those 25% off ones are great!

They have the 20% off code online, 16144266. Confirmed on the phone I just need the number, not the actual ad.

 

[poptarts]

They did the same to me, I pitched a big fit, got a free return label, and full refund, then reordered with 25% off and an additional 10% off they gave and and free shipping. Got the correct one the second time around.

 

[Rev2010]

Make sure to take a %off coupon with you when visiting the store. Those 25% off ones are great!

Actually, I just remembered I did use a coupon on the wbesite, 20% off. It lowered the price so that with shipping the entire price was $50, which was the drill's original sale price.


Rev.

 

[Hopper5000]

So literally the exact same things happened to me with that same drill. They said that the 60436 was the same thing as 93632 which it isn't as it doesn't have the variable speed knob.

I called and they apologized and sent me a return label without any problems. I got this for my grain mill and I actually needed to use it so I just went into a local store and ended up return it before the label arrived. Everything worked out fine though.

I have been happy with the purchase.

 

[Chrisl77]

Easy solution to the trigger control knob is to just get one of these.

Put it around the trigger and tighten it down until you have the speed you want.

 

[Hopper5000]

The nice thing about the drill he is referring to is there is a knob on the trigger that click turns. Since most mills have a recommended RPMs I just counted how many clicks and divided that by the total RPMs to adjust to my appropriate speed.

The clamp isn't a bad idea though.

 

[Rev2010]

I brought the drill home whilst I await the return label to arrive in the mail. Figure I'll just test it out this weekend anyway since I plan to rebrew my coconut porter on Sunday. If it works out maybe I'll keep it. I don't really want to drop 3-4x the price on a drill at this time. I'll report back.


Rev.

 

[wardens355]

I brought the drill home whilst I await the return label to arrive in the mail. Figure I'll just test it out this weekend anyway since I plan to rebrew my coconut porter on Sunday. If it works out maybe I'll keep it. I don't really want to drop 3-4x the price on a drill at this time. I'll report back.


Rev.

Do you mean the 60436, or did you buy the 93632 locally?

 

[Rev2010]

Do you mean the 60436, or did you buy the 93632 locally?

The 60436 they sent me, took it home and will give it a try this weekend just for the heck of it while I await the return label. Not a good idea? Is it that poor I should just outright return it? I too don't even plan on using it in reverse mode which does seem to be what most complaints are regarding.


Rev.

 

[stpug]

The 60436 they sent me, took it home and will give it a try this weekend just for the heck of it while I await the return label. Not a good idea? Is it that poor I should just outright return it? I too don't even plan on using it in reverse mode which does seem to be what most complaints are regarding.


Rev.

I have the the 93632 version and never plan on using it in reverse either <-- the issue there is that I've actually HAD to a few times when running into something that jammed up the mill (pebbles I presume). Without reverse I think my only options would have been to stick something down through my grain into the mill and hopefully knock the "jam" free (of course it may have just re-jammed), or empty out my hopper and find the jamming item.

This is not to say you shouldn't try the drill out - you should. Mill up a batch and brew a beer. Then return the drill and get the correct one.

 

[wardens355]

The 60436 they sent me, took it home and will give it a try this weekend just for the heck of it while I await the return label. Not a good idea? Is it that poor I should just outright return it? I too don't even plan on using it in reverse mode which does seem to be what most complaints are regarding.


Rev.

I was just curious what you ended up doing. I picked up the 93632 yesterday and will try it the weekend after this for a pilsner recipe. If the 93632 can control crush rate well, I will use that from now on and have the 60436 as a backup. I have been using the 60436 for the last 6 months with fine results. I say just use it for the time being.

 

[WPStrassburg]

Break the junk one on your first crush run and return it for your money back just to make sure someone else doesn't get stuck with it.

 

[Rev2010]

Tried the drill today on some spare grain. Worked like a charm. Going to use it tomorrow on a full batch crush and we'll see how that goes. If it all works out perhaps the drill is pretty good. Maybe I'm just letting the negative reviews in construction use get to me. Will report back.

Rev.

 

[wardens355]

Tried the drill today on some spare grain. Worked like a charm. Going to use it tomorrow on a full batch crush and we'll see how that goes. If it all works out perhaps the drill is pretty good. Maybe I'm just letting the negative reviews in construction use get to me. Will report back.

Rev.

I agree that the drill is fine, especially for the price. I'll let you know if I find the 93632 significantly more useful next weekend.

 

[Rev2010]

Crushed a full batch now, 10.93lbs of grain. Worked great again, far far better than my Black & Decker on my old barley crusher. It drove the Monster Mill 2 (1.5" rollers) with ease. And being it's low speed the variable speed trigger works awesome. So, I'm gonna keep it. For crushing grains I think it should be good as long as it doesn't fail over a short time.

Rev.

 

[kurds_2408]

So they got me with the switch too. I ordered it with some stuff I couldn't get in store. My closest store is 25 miles away. I was planing on fixing the trigger and hooking it up to a switch any way. But may use it for a back up drill. So the question is do I keep the 60436 or see if my store has the right one and exchange them?

 

[Rev2010]

So the question is do I keep the 60436 or see if my store has the right one and exchange them?

Up to you, like I mentioned after having used it I really like it. So long as it doesn't die soon, but the speed is very very easy to control since it's a low speed drill. I'm quite happy with it so far, though keep in mind I've only used it on one full batch and a small test run prior.


Rev.

 

[wardens355]

Up to you, like I mentioned after having used it I really like it. So long as it doesn't die soon, but the speed is very very easy to control since it's a low speed drill. I'm quite happy with it so far, though keep in mind I've only used it on one full batch and a small test run prior.


Rev.

Just ran through 20 lbs of malt with the 93632. The dial does allow you to set a max speed and get a fairly consistent low RPM crush. With the 60436, I cannot get my trigger finger steady enough to get a really steady RPM, but it does work fine as well. I am going to use the 93632 from here on out with the 60436 as a backup.