R & H Ace Hardware

Not so much with the friendly neighborhood hardware. One staff member’s overbearing rudeness — particularly towards women — ruins the whole experience. I’ve tried going here several times, only to leave empty handed and /​or irritated. I finally learned my lesson and stopped shopping here, and that decision was reinforced after talking to others in the neighborhood and finding that other women had similar experiences with this clerk. Meanwhile, at Lowe’s & Home Depot — which are further away, true — I have never been treated with anything other than respect, even if they ultimately didn’t have the item I was looking for.
Example one, I had to buy salt when the snow was really bad. They didn’t have the smaller bags, so I was ready to buy the 50 lb one. Older male clerk refused to help me pick it up and put it in a cart, telling me — with a sneer and a nasty tone — to «Go to Gerrity’s or Tractor Supply, and get it.» I ended up at the Tractor Supply down the road, paid much less and got friendly service to boot. Thanks, R&H Ace, for letting me know that Tractor Supply also stocks convenience hardware items! Another time, I asked if they had any garden edgers in stock and he refused to tell me if they had them unless I told him what I wanted to do with it. I ended up buying that somewhere else too.
Example two, a neighbor came in with a screw that her husband needed more of for a project he was working on and the same clerk refused to help her find more of them, and said, «Why don’t you tell your husband to come in and get it himself?»
Example three, my significant other who also has Asperger’s syndrome was publicly mocked and humiliated by this clerk when she asked him for help locating an item, and left the store in tears. Even worse, the clerk joined in with a buddy who was in the store in mocking her in front of other customers. The owners /​managers refused to deal with it in a manner that addressed his continuous disrespect for female customers, as well as this horrific treatment of a special needs customer. Our money and her money is just as good as their high school buddies’ money.
I hope that clerk is worth that much to R&H Ace Hardware. I’ve since spent a *minimum* of $ 300 buying necessities for all my home projects at Tractor Supply, Lowe’s, and Home Depot even though R&H is closer. I’ve even gone to Family Dollar or Dollar General for the small things in a pinch, rather than R&H.