Ace Hardware

Full review
Ace is the "helpful place"? ... not so much!

I ordered products online. Selected ship-to-store, completed the order online and received an order confirmation email. All seemed normal.

When it didn't arrive in 8-10 business days, I called back to find out where it was. I was informed that the warehouse that ships to my area was out of stock and the order was cancelled. Me: "Why wasn't I notified?" Ace: "You can see the status online."

ME: "ARGH!"

Replaced order with the customer dis-service rep on the phone. They offered to ship it to me via UPS ground because of the snafu. Me: "Great, thanks."

When it didn't arrive in 8-10 business days, I called back to find out where it was. I was informed that product was too heavy to ship via ground carrier so the order had been cancelled. Me: "Why wasn't I notified?" Ace: "You can see the status online."

ME: "ARGH!"

Tried to replace order with the customer dis-service rep on the phone. I was told that since the product was out of stock at the warehouse that ships to my area I would have to call in every 10 days to see if it was in stock and THEN replace the order.

Me: "I have to call? Can't you place it on back order so it will simply ship when it is in-stock?" Ace: "Nope. You have to call." Me: "(expletive deleted!)"

So, I call 10 days later. The items are in stock. However, they can not tell me if they are in stock at the warehouse that ships to my area. Me: "You could tell me when it wasn't in stock in the warehouse that ships to my area, why can't you tell me when it is??" Ace: "I'm not sure who told you that, we have no way of knowing ... blah, blah, blah." Me: "ARGH!"

I roll the dice and re-place the order AGAIN (clearly, I really want these items ...). I am told it will arrive in 8-10 business days and I will be notified when they arrive at the store.

that was 10/3/07.

As of 10/16/07 the status of the order had not changed on the acehardware.com and I had received no notification. So I call. They couldn't tell me ANYTHING: had it been shipped? Where was it? Expected delivery? Me: You don't know??" Ace: The 'Ship to Store' option is not trackable. You have to call the local store" Me: "ARGH!"

So I call the store. I speak to the receiving guy. The product arrived on 10/10/07 - a mere five business days from the order ... WOOHOO!

It is now 4 business days after it was delivered and AceHardware.com did not know where it was, the local store had not notified me that it was in and my credit card had been charged back on 10/3/07.

I will never do business with AceHardware.com again. Local store? Yes. AceHardware.com? Absolutely NOT.