Hilka Reviews 24

I purchased a Hilka Brake Bleed kit which uses air pressure to work alone. The kit comes with x4 different sizes cap to fit most models . However, although the caps have good seals when swapping caps you have very flimsy seals on the brass fittings which have to be moved. These are susceptible to damage. The kit should come with some spares. Mine broke and we’re not up to the job. Had to return to doing the brakes manually.

I purchased a Hilka grease gun but was having trouble screwing in the nozzle. So I asked them if it had a taper thread. They requested photos which I sent and then they asked for a video which I did not send because by now it was becoming clear to me that they do not know their "own" products as they are probably buying generic products and packaging them in a Hilka branded box.

Bought an extension washer for my car couple of years ago. A plastic tightening screw split recently. Got in touch with customer service who responded quickly but said it part was not available as a spare but they would check if they had any in the returns dept. Responded the following day that they had found one and would send FOC. That’s good old fashioned customer service, excellent

I bought a 3 M wash brush extension pole. It says it connects to a garden hose to feed the water through. It keeps blowing off. This is not good at the top of a ladder. It’s a new hoselock connector so no problem’s with that. 2 weeks ago Hika said they would send out a connector to work with my garden hose. Still not arrived. It could have come from China quicker !! . Still don’t no after several emails wether it going to come. Poor service from Hilka tools . UPDATE Hilka sent the adapter 2 days after review. It fits a lot better.

Removing the RAC tyre compressor from the 12V car socket the connector came apart - I hadn't noticed it was no longer screwed tight - and in removing, the end piece stuck in the socket. Reassembling the connector the little glass fuse was damaged.
Hilka don't stock spares but thought to check returned stock so were able to provide one - at no charge! I've seldom encountered such obliging and resourceful customer service. Outstanding in my book!

Bought two rack shelving units, from Very. One corner, one standard. Tried to put the corner together and the poor quality of slots and cheap aluminium meant that it bent easily, while trying to remove a support (because it wouldn't fit properly).

I wouldn't ever purchase anything from them again, if that is the standard of machining for their product.

Bear in mind that their racks come from China too, which isn't stated on their item description. My past experiences with cheap Chinese products have never been good. If I had known this, I would have shopped elsewhere.

You're better off spending a little more for Rapid Racking or another equally better product.

Avoid, if you don't want to end up sending the items back in frustration.

Top Customer Service.
Bought a tyre compressor and broke the 12V in car connector. Hilka replaced the item is less than a week....no charge. AAAAA*****

Experienced superb service with a replacement ratchet spanner. Great product, great service.

Bought a socket set from Robert dyas but dispatched by hilka tools. The package was damaged in transit, I called Robert dyas but they wasn't interested in helping me resolve the issue, so I decided to contact hilka directly and spoke to Nigel who solved the problem in 30 seconds with a replacement next day delivery.
Thanks again
Andrew.

Their safes are horrible. First, there is no key hole to be found. Ok, turns out it’s behind a lock cover, no problem. Confusing but it’s fine. Except the lock cover is hard glued. I turned the knob to the left before trying to remove it, tried to rip it off, literally nothing works and the manual isn’t helpful. Nice material though. 3/10

I bought a masonry drill bit set and discovered that the #6 was actually the wrong size. Hilka sent a replacement within a few days. Very helpful l.

I bought a Hilka power bank to jump start my car. I didn't follow the instructions properly and damaged the unit beyond repair.
I contacted Hilka Sales by email. Nigel replied promptly and went above and beyond to send me a replacement. Tommy Harraghy

I bought a pair of grease guns from a tool stall at a bike show recently, both of them were faulty, I contacted Hilka tools and although I didn’t have any proof of purchase Hilka promptly sent out two new grease guns. I would rate this as fantastic service and I would be happy to purchase Hilka products in the future

I purchased a new Hilka lock to put on my tool shed, it worked fine for a few days, but now I am locked out!

Today I will have to break into my own shed as the Hilka lock refuses to unlock, I haver tried all 4 keys that came with the lock over the past week to no avail, so I would seriously recommend you do not buy this lock

My Hilka 2.5T 4x4 Trolly Jack (bought as a present by FiL) sheared a castor while jacking up a car.

Unfortunately, I can't share a photo of it, as the weld holding it together had little to no penetration into the actual metal of the two sections, and I'm amazed it hadn't sheared sooner. Luckily when it did so there was a wheel fitted so the car didn't just collapse!

On contacting Hilka support, as I couldn't find any spare parts for their products online, I received the following reponse:

'Thank you for your support ticket. Unfortunately we do not stock any spare for our jacks - this is for safety reasons as we do not suggest any of our customers to make alterations. Instead, we recommend taking your jack to a specialist jack repairing centre where they will be able to advise and assist further.'

So, basically 'F- Off, not our problem and we won't provide spares, but you can pay to fix our poor quality item...'

Based on that (lack of) response and the poor quality of the trolley jack, I won't be getting a Hilka product to replace it...

Top Customer Service
Great effort by the Sales and Warehouse team when I manageed to lose the pulley for my Hilka Hoist. They managed to souce a spare for me. Regularly kept me updated on progress and despatch. Top tools and even better customer Service.

Have always used them for cabinets and storage, really well made stuff but I managed to lose the keys to one of my cabinets, i emailed Nigel with an enquiry and he had a replacement set to me in less than 48 hours, superb company, customer services are up there with the best of them,

I contacted Hilka with a query about using one of their drill bit and accessory kits. They responded promptly, kept me informed of progress and resolved my query. I was very impressed with their helpful advice and support.

Approached HILKA TOOLS with a issue with a rac branded battery charger model 026, which didn't seem to be working as wasn't charging batteries..spoke to their technical guy Roy, who was helpful in diagnosing the problem..no voltage output. As it was out of its warranty he told me to open it if felt able & ring back with findings. 4 screws later it was open & straight away saw a burn mark on heat shield, a blown output chip & water damage to the board. Rang Roy at HILKA back & was told to blow a chip like that, it must've been heavily loaded or exposed to water as had a main fuse.. Explained never been outside, amp needles never moved, it was decided it was possibly sold faulty by Screwfix. I approached Screwfix Torquay, who said sorry out of warranty, can't help you!
Spoke to sales manager Nigel at HILKA TOOLS who kindly assisted by writing a email, after suppyling Torquay Screwfix address to him explaining my situation, their position.
After Nigel contacting them, Screwfix Torquay agreed to do a like for like exchange, but for one that worked this time, even though out of warranty by 6 months.
Thank you HILKA TOOLS for your assistance & Screwfix for replacing the faulty charger, couldn't have done it without HILKA TOOLS help! :-)

I have just purchased a hllka drill, and followed the manufacturers instructions to charge the battery. After at least five hours ( careful observations) of charge the red light would not go green. Not wanting to damage the battery, i tried it on the drill. All the lights did come on, although the red light was the brightest(usually means it is NOT fully charged). Contacted the company to ask for a replacement battery, they have refused claiming it is normal!!! Their instructions clearly state NOT to over charge a battery, although a four or five hour charge is expected. How then do you guage when to take it off charge, if you follow their manufacturers instructions!!?
Their email reply to my in box would NOT let me reply to their comment.