New Albany Ace Hardware — Local services in Columbus

PROOF: This Ace Hardware will take your money in unfair and shady means, if not outright fraud, if given the chance. BE CAREFUL GOING TO THIS STORE. My story -- I went to Ace Hardware with the goal of getting a car key cut and reprogrammed. I heard Ace Hardware did this so people did not have to go to the dealership. Great. I went there with a key I bought online. I asked to get it cut and reprogrammed. They said it would be $57 since I brought the key in with me. They made me sign a small piece of paper, that someone else had already signed (strange), that ONLY STATED "you hold Ace Hardware not liable if we damage your 3rd party key or if the 3rd party key does not work." THE PAPER SAID NOTHING ABOUT $57 FEE BEING NON-REFUNDABLE EVEN IF THEY COULD NOT GET THE KEY TO WORK!!! After signing, they take me up to the front desk to pay $57 for the service (AGAIN, NO ONE GAVE ANY VERBAL OR WRITTEN WARNING AT THE FRONT DESK THAT THIS $57 FEE BEING NON-REFUNDABLE EVEN IF THEY COULD NOT GET THE KEY TO WORK). I paid. Then the Ace Hardware rep and I went out to my car the rep tried for 15 minutes to get my newly cut key to work and the car reprogrammed. THE REP COULD NOT GET THE KEY TO WORK !!! It is at that point, AND ONLY AT THAT POINT, that the Ace Hardware Rep told me that most 3rd party keys do NOT work and that is why Ace Hardware sells their own keys. We walk back to the store. ACE QUOTES ME $159 TO ORDER AN ACEHARDWARE KEY AND REPROGRAMMING! I then say, "Ok, well since you could not get my key to work, let's refund that charge and I'll order the $159 Ace Hardware key." ONLY THEN WAS I TOLD THAT THEY DO NOT OFFER ANY REFUNDS FOR 3RD PARTY KEYS, EVEN IF THEY FAIL TO GET THE KEY TO WORK!!!! I was shocked! The Ace Hardware Rep had a look on her face that she knew what she was doing was wrong. But said "Dave the manager" will have to be called and asked to see if Dave will approve the refund. After 2 days of waiting, "Dave the manager" finally gets back to the Ace Hardware Rep who gets back to me that the best they can do is provide a $20 refund (NOT a full $57 refund). THIS IS HOW THIS ACE HARDWARE STORE DOES BUSINESS. THIS IS HOW THEY TREAT THEIR CUSTOMERS. BUYER BEWARE... ACE HARDWARE IN NEW ALBANY AND DAVE THE MANAGER IS TOO...

I have been a loyal Ace Hardware customer for many, many years because the stores are locally owned, convenient to get to, and most importantly, because the staff was knowledgeable and helpful. Unfortunately, this is no longer the case. I walked into this store and the young man behind the counter asked me if he could help me find something. I replied that I was looking for ceramic tile adhesive and grout. He had no idea what I was talking about and turned to his coworker at the next register. She looked at him and said, “Don’t look at me, you’ve worked here longer than I have.” They called for help and a third employee came to “help”. I told him what I was looking for and he took me to the caulk display. I had to explain that caulk is not grout or tile adhesive and I was able to locate the grout in the same aisle. As I was trying to find the adhesive, he stood there looking completely lost and offered no help whatsoever. On the positive side, he was able to find the right aisle! As I was walking out of the store, I asked a fourth person if I could speak with the manager. It turned out that she was an assistant manager. I expressed my dismay that three out of three employees had no clue what grout and tile adhesive was, which was contrary to Ace Hardware’s brand promise ("Ace is the place with the helpful hardware folks."). At least she knew what I was looking for and offered to help. It turns out that the store either doesn’t carry tile adhesive or they were out. I suspect the former since there was no empty shelf space where the adhesive would be kept.

I had another horrible customer experience this week with Ace Handyman Services, (who I've used in the past) but I’ll provide feedback on that on the appropriate site since the services group has no direct relationship to the retail stores and store owners.

Being of a certain age, these recent experiences harken me back to the late 1980’s and early 1990’s when these types of bad experiences began creeping into Sears retail and hardware stores. Perhaps my recent in-store encounter is unique to this particular store, but I won’t be finding out because other outlets are not convenient to get to. In any event, I hope Ace can straighten the ship before they go the...

If I could rate this store a negative 5 I would!! I went to Ace this past Saturday to get more paint like I had previously purchased. I ran out mid project so I went back to get more. They told me they are doing away with what I had but they said they have a better one still the same brand and the color would match, ok cool I'll take it. Next day when painted my room I noticed bubbles everywhere in the paint and on my wall, when it dried the bubbles have now popped and there is spots all over the wall and on top of that the color doesnt match. I looked at the paint and it is a exterior paint not a interior paint like I had. When I went to store to get more I even took my old can to match. I went in today to point out their error which has now ruined my walls and the only thing they would do is replace the paint and would not do anything about the screw up of the employee that caused damage to my wall. Only thing I asked for was to replace the paint and to supply the sand paper it would take to fix my walls and they refused. I took my refund on the wrong paint and will know take my business to Lowes even though ace is a mile...