Ace up your sleeve

[wingriderz]

Ace hardware let me say ours in the rural aera where we at are awsome. The staff there is always very good. Here is the deal they sent me a coupon in mail two differant cards $ 10.00 off an item $50.00 or more. Wife is out of town with the coupons in her purse. I think ok send me picture of it and I think that will work. They expire mid month. I take ride on bike yesterday to drool at the Case knife sections. They have very nice selection there a bit pricey on most of them charging full retail. But with the $ 10.00 off I found one that I could live with . Wrong they wouldn't use the picture of coupon. I ended up not buying one. I thought it was a bit odd . I asked the clerk if they would honor the coupon he said let me check. He came back and said no sir we have to havethe coupon. No worries I said I just wait till wife gets back in town. He did say well you know they expire mid month coupon wise. This wasn't a had to have item for me . This store is about 20 some miles from home. It was a nice motorcycle ride but still a trip. I went to this one because they do have such a big display of Case knifes. Me being retired and mananged many auto service stores for 30 years I always honored coupons even if expired just to keep the customer. I belive I did the right thing. Thoughts on this? The knife would have been in the $ 60.00 range.

 

[S&WsRsweet]

Well I guess they have their policies they go by but our ace hardware here Ot in the country has good knife selection also . My wife generaly gives me a case knife for Christmas and birthdays.

 

[soFlaNative]

Shame they would rather log the inventory than make the sale.

 

[mule69]

I like Ace Hardware as the one close to me sells reloading supplies and a pretty good selection. Sure beats driving a 150 mile round trip to Cabelea's or Pro Bass Shops

 

[Cardboard_killer]

Thoughts on this? The knife would have been in the $ 60.00 range.

As long as a clerk is polite and reasonable, I never blame him/her for what I might think of as a poor policy. As for the sale, I would just enjoy the ride and wait until the right combination of coupon, ride and opportunity arise.

With the economy heating up, I think that more stores' attitudes will fall from a focus on customer service, which is easy to do when the economy is good. The best stores will remain consistant.

 

[wingriderz]

Being I was in the retail business for so long it hit a note. Some of my customers would be shocked when I would tell them no worrires will give you the coupon price. Where glad your here. The picture of coupon has my name on it and number they needed. That in its self should have been enough. I dont buy they actually send the coupon in for credit. The tracking number takes care of that.And then my old mananger thoughts kicked in. Ace has hired a marketing company to run that coupon . Its not a cheap date by any means. Then add the postage to 100 / 1000 customers. Some of my manangers use to whine about ads we had out about it being to low or free services. I use to school them on how that builds the customer base if done the right way. Too many stores and manangers clearly dont get it sad

 

[JSR III]

I would first ask the wife what the heck she is doing with my hardware store coupons.

Unlike your situation, I have often gone to Harbor Freight and never seem to have their coupon on board. I merely look one up on my iPhone and show it to the clerk. They scan it without issue and 25% comes off the bill.

I would send the owner a note and tell him that they lost a sale and possibly a customer. Normally stores/store owners take that information seriously because unhappy customers tend to tell lots of folks whereas happy customers rarely say anything.

 

[Farmer17]

Have you looked at the same knife online to see the price? I bet you will find it cheaper than the coupon price and most ACE hardware stores do have good customer service but their prices are pretty darn high.

 

[BigBoy99]

I liked Ace but our local store closed it doors about a year ago and building is now sitting vacant. I liked them because they usually had what you were looking for while the Big Box stores carried only the standard common stuff. Also the Ace store gave a 10% discount for veterans.

 

[JayFramer]

I like Ace. They have some hard to find items such as the copper chore boy pads for de-leading revolvers. They are a little high but the store is easy to navigate and they have 95+% of everything you'd need for most household jobs. Home Depot might have more but they're huge and the store is always a pain to navigate.

 

[Golddollar]

I'm guessing but I think the coupon policy may be a reaction to fraud.

We have a big Ace Hardware in our town. It usually has everything I need at any given time and the prices usually are competitive enough to justify shopping there rather than killing 1+ hour going to a big box store in the next town. Plus as a minor public official I am a believer in trying to keep trade where I live.

 

[Infidel137]

I don't see how they stay in business. My typical trip to Ace involves looking for 4 screws, 4 washers, and 4 nuts, or something like that. Invariably, one of the staff insists on helping me find exactly the right pieces, which takes about 15 minutes of his time, and it all adds up to about $1.57. I appreciate them when I need a few screws and washers, but I feel guilty every time.

 

[TX-Dennis]

I'd rather go to Ace than the big boys. Some things they don't have, but when it comes to actual hardware - screws, bolts, plumbing parts, various bits and bobs - they can't be beat on selection. If I need it they have it.

 

[cballman]

But have many of you thought that they must have the coupon in hand for reimbursement of sale price from company. I have worked retail for many years and no coupon no deal. Now if we had repeat customers we would go to the back and pull out coupons. But if you are just buying one item and never to return then no. Also it was a fairly small town. People knew each other places they shopped knew them. Not that way anymore. You walk into a place to purchase you pay the price or have a coupon or tough ****. No small town friends and family deals anymore.

 

[Marshwheeling]

Ace generally seems to have the best hardware stores, but the stores vary quite a bit in the depth and range of their stock, the best one in the area closed a few years back. This was a legendary hardware store that catered to the trades but was also very friendly to the consumer. It had narrow aisles, stacked to the very high ceiling with goods. For a lot of it you had to have a clerk get it down for you. The staff was very knowledgeable and helpful.

The quality of their tools and hardware was way above what you find now in the big box stores. The prices were a little on the high side, with healthy discounts for businesses, contractors and the trades.

Most of their stuff can be found elsewhere, but not concentrated under one roof. The family that had run it for several generations was running out of fresh blood to keep up the business. I don’t suppose that competition from the big box stores and Chinese hardware helped.

 

[THE PILGRIM]

Was coming out of Harbor Freight.
There at the door was a guy holding a 4 page Harbor Newspaper ad.
I told him, You do know that none of those items can be found in this store?

 

[jeffsmith]

I Like Ace too
one Major Reason is I can get Exactly what I need/want
Without having to Hike through a Huge Building to get it