Ace Hardware

This local Ace stinks. Customer service by stock people and cashiers is the pits. My last visit there was typical. I picked a $ 2.99 doorbell button off the shelf, went to pay, and was charged $ 6.99 plus tax. I was told by the clueless cashier I was mistaken, and they lost my personal information for the hokey Ace Rewards card as they always do. I no longer admit to having one, as i got tired of repeating all my info every time I buy something there. It took more than 20 minutes to get this minor issue straightened out. With the exception of the kind and helpful manager, the employees are zombies who don’t give a shit about their customers. Most other people I know in various trades avoid this location like the plague, and go to the Norridge store at Lawrence & Cumberland. They are a separate franchise, so they don’t always honor Ace flyer coupons, but the employees there are trained to be knowledgeable, courteous, & helpful.

I called and was put on hold for 10 minutes then disconnected.

Don’t go here if you expect friendly customer service. If somewhat snooty, arrogant paint snobs are more your thing then this place is for you. Ace is not the helpful place here in Park Ridge. 4 guys standing all behind the paint counter and when asked which finish would be the best for our specific project, no help was given. Unless you count throwing a paint chart at us helpful. Save the frustration and go down the street (about 1.5 miles away) to the other Ace in Norwood Park. Much friendlier service and helpful too.

Although this store is much smaller than their bigger competitors, they always seem to have what I’m looking for. The prices are a little higher, but I expect that. The service is also really good and it seems like there is always someone around to help, unlike other bigger stores that leave you wandering around trying to find what you need.

They gave me a huge hassel trying to return a $ 4 window lock without a receipt.

This is one of my last «support services» write ups: The guy that runs this place knows absolutely everything about everything and I’m not being facetious. I won’t tell you his name ’cause I don’t think he has a «900» number up yet. Most of the employees here are pretty adept at giving you a helping hand. They are a little more expensive than HD but there are plenty of folks here to help you and I like good customer service.

Wow don’t know what happened here in the last year. Not the store I’ve been going to for 15+ years. Rude management. That’s all I’ll say because they removed my old post.

The staff have little knowledge of the products or locations of things.
The guy in the glass dept was good however. I live nearby so I always try to go here first but it always turns out they don’t have what I need.
I bought some things at an ACE in the city. Decided I didn’t really need them and tried to return to ACE Park Ridge. They would only return the items plus suburban tax and not the city tax I paid. It was only a dollar and some change. I asked the manager why and he said because he could !! He didn’t want to give me back the exact amount I paid. According to him «why should I lose the dollar»
Well why should I ever come back was my response and I left almost 40 dollars worth of things I would have bought.

«Ace is the place with the helpful hardware man.» I still remember the old TV commercials. Well, they try to be helpful at this place but seems they never have what I need at the moment when I go there. This Ace is about 1 mile from me, yet I’ve only come there a handful of times. From those few visits, I’ve walked away with nothing most of the time. Kudos for having 2-​stroke engine oil for my snowblower the last time it snowed, but as I walked in the door, a handwritten sign read «No Salt». Luckily, I wasn’t looking for any that day, but it is consistent with their store.
That said, Ace simply cannot keep the large inventory of a Menard’s or Home Depot, but they can be more informed of what people actually use or need. Last summer, I could not find a small 10-​pound bucket of patching cement for some cracks on my sidewalk. The hernia-​inducing Sakrete 80-​pounders were all they carried. Another time, I was looking for a particular size of wood screw. They had the really long ones, the really short ones, the right length in the wrong thread size, but were out of the popular size I was seeking.
Since I gave my local Home Depot a poor review recently, I generally try to avoid going to that one already. Ace could have been a nice alternative being so close to home. Well, guess not. I’d rather go a little farther to the Norridge Ace on Lawrence & Cumberland. At least there I found my cement mix and a lot of the other items this store doesn’t carry. Except for some loyal old-​timers who might frequent this place, I wonder why people go there as much as they do.