Hilmor...may be you should think again

[hvac5646]

I just got off the phone with Hilmor.

I was seriously going to place an order until...

I found out the no body will have them 'til April.

And dig this.... for $549 you get no hoses OR temp clamps.


This one is gonna die on the vine.

[hvac5646]

39 bucks for the clamps.....549+39 BUCKS....i GOT A TESTO 570
OR TWO DIGGI DOOLS.

GUY NEVER HEARD OF HVAC-TALK....TALK ABOUT NOT KNOWING YOUR MARKET!

[RussellHarju]

Oh man! mine's not coming until April!?!?!?!?!

[hvac5646]

Oh man! mine's not coming until April!?!?!?!?!

ROTFLMAO


I never mention SMAN and that other brand in the same sentence


I know what side my bread is buttered on

[itsiceman]

Is this not an American made product with the best warranty in the bunch? Not saying I want one but .....???

[hvac5646]

Is this not an American made product with the best warranty in the bunch? Not saying I want one but .....???

Ice, it does not matter.....No temp clamps? ...for me that is a deal killer. I feel like I'd get bent over if I bought one

[Joehvac25]

Do these gauges have any better features than any other set?

[hvac5646]

Do these gauges have any better features than any other set?

They are about the same,,,only diff is they have analogs...big whopp.

[mark beiser]

They are about the same,,,only diff is they have analogs...big whopp.

The analogue portion isn't even a real gauge, the dials are driven by servo motors.

I'm guessing the pointless servo motor driven gauges are a significant part of the overall cost of the instrument too.

[Vortechs]

My opinion is that the Fieldpiece SMAN4 is the better of the digital gauges. Hilmor has some great features as well.

[Joehvac25]

They are about the same,,,only diff is they have analogs...big whopp.

I have seen that and still can't figure out why you would want both, once they start reading different then who do you trust.

[Brent Ridley]

Hilmor has disappointed me greatly. I was going to start a thread but someone beat me to it. I really had high hopes for the "new kid on the block", but they have started out like a company who could care less about their customers and market.

I attempted to email Hilmor four (4) times and got no response. I was simply inquiring on how to purchase a set of their digital gauges for my tool reviews from a website other than Fierychill.com. I never received a response.

Speaking of their digital gauges, the price on Fierychill.com has already increased by $100 dollars over the original listed price. So has several of their other tools. The ship/availability date has changed 3 times and I don't think anyone has received any Hilmor products as of today.

I wanted to do some more research on their company and I started to read the "blog." The tool rep for my area has absolutely zero HVAC experience. It states he worked for NASCAR. While that is a cool job, what does that have to do with the HVAC field?

Hilmor is trying to make a name for itself in a field that has some high quality tool manufacturers that offer superb customer service. This is not a good start. I won't be reviewing or purchasing any of Hilmor's products unless something drastically changes with their customer service.

[Chuck]

Hilmor has disappointed me greatly. I was going to start a thread but someone beat me to it. I really had high hopes for the "new kid on the block", but they have started out like a company who could care less about their customers and market.

I attempted to email Hilmor four (4) times and got no response. I was simply inquiring on how to purchase a set of their digital gauges for my tool reviews from a website other than Fierychill.com. I never received a response.

Speaking of their digital gauges, the price on Fierychill.com has already increased by $100 dollars over the original listed price. So has several of their other tools. The ship/availability date has changed 3 times and I don't think anyone has received any Hilmor products as of today.

I wanted to do some more research on their company and I started to read the "blog." The tool rep for my area has absolutely zero HVAC experience. It states he worked for NASCAR. While that is a cool job, what does that have to do with the HVAC field?

Hilmor is trying to make a name for itself in a field that has some high quality tool manufacturers that offer superb customer service. This is not a good start. I won't be reviewing or purchasing any of Hilmor's products unless something drastically changes with their customer service.

I talked to someone at Hilmor and the only distributors they had listed were in the southeastern US, nothing within 500 miles of me. Maybe some are closer to you. Fierychill was the only place online so far, and the prices are crazy.

I think they said Wittichen was a distributor for them.

[ga-hvac-tech]

I talked to someone at Hilmor and the only distributors they had listed were in the southeastern US, nothing within 500 miles of me. Maybe some are closer to you. Fierychill was the only place online so far, and the prices are crazy.

I think they said Wittichen was a distributor for them.

According to the fancy add on H-talk... East Coast was supposed to have them... Add actually checked and found where I live and gave me a list of dist in my area. Yet when I called East Coast... they literally never heard of the product.

Credibility is a BIG think in our HVACR world... these guys are not starting off well.

BTW: I had a similar experience with Emailing them... multiple Emails, no response.

[lytning]

I have heard that Hilmore is sending out a fleet of "sales", trucks to impress the hell out of us. Going to allow us to "trade" up.
Think I will take a pass on that.

[Mike19]

I have heard that Hilmore is sending out a fleet of "sales", trucks to impress the hell out of us. Going to allow us to "trade" up.
Think I will take a pass on that.

I saw a Hilmor truck going down the interstate today. Don't know where it was coming from, I was way up north, it must have been up in Duluth or somewhere else in northern Wisconsin or Minnesota. I haven't heard of any of the wholesalers around here selling it yet.

[beachtech]

meh, the h3ll with'em

there's plenty of suppliers for the same tools out there. it's not like they've come up with must have new tool that nobody else offers

[Tech Rob]

Credibility is a BIG think in our HVACR world... these guys are not starting off well.

If it's credibility they need, maybe they should make some tools that don't look like cheap shiny plastic toys. That would be a real innovation. How long will it be before our tools are so cheaply made that we consider them consumable truck stock items and have to start billing customers for them?

meh, the h3ll with'em

there's plenty of suppliers for the same tools out there. it's not like they've come up with must have new tool that nobody else offers

This is the same stuff everyone else makes, just a different color scheme.

[mark beiser]

This is the same stuff everyone else makes, just a different color scheme.

A couple of their tools, specifically the ratcheting tubing bender and hydraulic tubing expander, have some design improvements over others on the market.
I'd hold off on the ratcheting bender until they have a reverse bend adapter for it though.

[ga-hvac-tech]

If it's credibility they need, maybe they should make some tools that don't look like cheap shiny plastic toys. That would be a real innovation. How long will it be before our tools are so cheaply made that we consider them consumable truck stock items and have to start billing customers for them?



This is the same stuff everyone else makes, just a different color scheme.

Not sure about billing customers for tools.... however IMO more and more tools are designed to last for a couple of years and be replaced.
There are lots of threads suggesting Doug Lochart's DigiCool is not being handled by major chain supply houses because it will last too long. Evidently the big HVACR tool co's (read that YJ) want folks to buy throw away test tools. That way they can sell more and more and more.