Brothers Ace Hardware Plumbing & Heating — Attraction in Rutherford

It took me a little while to write this review because I debated whether or not it was worth it. Here’s my experience with Brothers Hardware Plumbing & Heating.

I placed an order on Friday night for Black Gold Peat Moss (3.8 Cu Ft) as their website showed they had 10+ bags in stock. This was the only local store that carried it, so I scheduled my landscaper for the next day and placed the order. On Saturday morning, I received an email saying my order was ready for pickup. I informed my landscaper and headed to the store.

When I arrived, I gave them my order number and received my receipt. As they were processing my order, I noticed three bags of peat moss by the door, but they were not Black Gold—they were a different brand called Berger. I asked if these were mine, and they confirmed they were. I mentioned that I ordered Black Gold, and the employee said they had run out of Black Gold and figured they’d just give me Berger instead, adding, “Peat moss is peat moss.” While I agree that peat moss is peat moss, the Black Gold I ordered was priced at $32.99, and the Berger brand they were giving me was only $23.76. I asked if they could adjust the price since the product was cheaper, but they said no.

To be fair, they did offer to cancel the order, but at that point, I already had workers at my house expecting the peat moss, so I decided to take it. Honestly, this wouldn’t have been a big deal if they had just informed me in advance. Instead, they advertised a more expensive brand online, gave me a cheaper product for the same price, and didn’t notify me beforehand. That felt dishonest. If the product was out of stock, they should have canceled the order or called to let me know instead of trying to substitute it without saying anything.

Now, as far as the Berger peat moss itself, it’s quite different from Black Gold. The Berger product has more chunks of debris, which means you spend more time removing that and, in the end, you get less square footage per cubic foot of product. This added a lot of unnecessary work and reduced the coverage I was expecting based on my order.

In the end, I called Ace Hardware support, and they were able to reimburse me the difference. This review is just a heads-up—if you order from here, double-check the product and make sure they don’t try to sell you a more expensive item while giving you a...

Horrible horrible customer service. I like to support small businesses but this is one place I will never patronize again. I had the displeasure of speaking with Anthony when he called regarding an item we purchased (on Saturday) for in store pick up. So Monday morning Anthony calls with an annoyed tone and states if my husband doesn't come pick up the item by close of business today he is canceling our order. I inform him that my husband has a full time job and his own business so would it be possible for me to pick the item up as I'm only 10 minutes away. He gruffly says NO! As I try to explain that because the website wouldn't populate the sale price of the item, we had to place the order via customer service and were not aware that we wouldn't be able to add an additional pick up person via the pick up email, he rudely begins to talk all over me, telling me that his wife puts him down as an alternate person when she orders from Walmart or target yada yards yada. I say "Yes, but those places also give you the option of adding an alternate pick up person when you receive the confirmation email." I even offer to have my license and have my husband text me his license and the credit card used to purchase the item. Once again he rudely barks NO and proceeds to say "at this point, he either picks it up by close of business or I'm canceling the order" mind you, our email confirmation states we have five (5) days to pick up the item before it is cancelled. The day he called was day 3! When my husband called to tell Anthony when he'd pick it up, he was met with the same nastiness as I was so he decided to let Anthony cancel his order because he'd rather spend his money elsewhere. I'll be writing a letter to Ace Hardware corporate because they should be made aware of how this small store is ruining their brand by their ugly attitudes and non existent customer service. Because this place has turned me off from other Ace...

Always a supporter of local business in the town so been buying from this place from last 5 year or so even though they are a bit expensive than other hardware stores. Went there today to return something and the old women was rude from the moment I was the at the counter. “Some” people get special treatment at this store than others (if you know what I mean by that) .. today was my last day visiting the store. By the way all other stores accept returns if you have the item in original packing and if you present the credit card with which you bought the item, THEY DON’T! Or may be the lady refused to take it back just because I “looked” different. Will never go there ever again!

Responding to the comment by the store below - The lady started talking rudely to me even before I could take the return items out. Her attitude changed as soon I stepped inside the store so clearly she didn’t wanted me in the store. FYI, I visited other stores with similar items and they were nice to me. Also please take some time to visit other stores who are more successful than yours and see how are they accepting returns- they either need the credit card or receipt. Even if you dont have the receipt, they will give store credit...