Ace Hardware

Worst hardware store experience ever. Been there a few times because we live so close. Many details but to sum it up the female manager at this location hates her job and it shows. She literally does everything she can to drive customers away. She must be a relative of the ownership of this location because there is literally no other reason why she would stay employed. Go anywhere but here.

Very poor customer service. My husband purchased the wrong product and I tried to return it the next day. I told him to purchase granite sealer and he came home with marble polish. I even looked at the shelves to see if there was a granite sealer on the day I returned the polish to see if he overlooked it, but no. Ace didn’t sell granite cleaner. And I only found a shelf tag and empty shelf for the item my husband had purchased.
The cashier had to call her manager since she was unsure of how to process my return (I did not have my husband’s debit card). I did have the receipt. Instead of helping me with the return, the manager left the register, went to the back of the store for about 6 minutes with the bottle. She returned and told me that the bottle I returned didn’t weigh what it was supposed to weigh. I told her I didn’t know what it was supposed to weigh, that I had not used the product, and it never left my bag and I didn’t even have any marble in my house. The manager again said it was half empty and said she couldn’t resell it and would have to damage it out. I was pretty confused and bewildered and then outright irritated when my son, who was standing next to me, asked me quietly if the manager thought I was lying. Well, yes, she was. She was implying I had taken the product home, used half of it, and was now trying to return it to the store for a full refund. By this time she STILL had not told me how I was going to get my refund and stated to me that she was surprised that someone hadn’t noticed the half empty bottle when my husband purchased it. Finally she tells me she’ll put the $ 8.64 on a gift card, to which I replied «that’s fine» simply to get out of the store. I was standing there over 15 minutes just to return a bottle of polish. She gave me the gift card and receipts and threw the bottle into the damaged basket. I was so embarrassed to have this happen in front of other employees, customers and most of all, my SON.
What kind of manager accuses someone of fraud over an $ 8 bottle of marble polish? I have frequented that store for years and bought hundreds of dollars worth of merchandise, but never again. I wrote a letter to the manager and returned my gift card the next day. I have no use for it since I will never go back there. And the $ 8 is obviously more important to that manager than it is to me. I even found out from my husband after I wrote the letter that an employee actually went and retrieved the item from the shelf when he bought it. It was handed to him.
I take pride in supporting local businesses in my neighborhood, but this one is one I will never support again.
Update: 8÷23÷13. Today I received a sincere letter of apology from the owner of Cowan’s Ace Hardware, a cash refund for my original purchase and a $ 100 gift card.