Ace Hardware of DeLand — Local services in DeLand

For clarification, all Ace Hardware stores are a co-op (short for cooperative), meaning that all the stores are independently owned and choose to be a part of the Ace buyer's group. It's vaguely similar to a franchise except that Ace corporate does not make rules for operating hours, what products you have to carry, and you don't pay royalties-you simply source product from the Ace warehouse at a cost lower than you could buy it as a single hardware store operator and then sell it to the public at a profit. Ace corporate makes some profit from wholesaling the product to the store owners, spends some of it for advertising and administrative expenses, and then distributes what's left back to the store owners. Some owners own one, two or three stores. Some owners own ten, fifteen or twenty stores. The same situation exists for True Value and most of the other nationally known hardware brands. They are retailer owned entities, not corporate stores. It's kind of like how all of the independent NFL team owners actually own the NFL, just because they say NFL on the jersey doesn't mean that the NFL owns them. And, each team is responsible for their own business; they are INDEPENDENT. In this case, one store owner is not going to take a product in that you bought at another store; if you aren't happy with a product, take it up with the guy you bought it from. Now, if you buy from a store owner with multiple locations, they will probably do a return on an item that was bought at one of their other stores as they usually operate all of their stores off of one inventory management system-you just need to know which stores are owned by that same operator. For the record, most franchise operators will not do a return on an item that you bought from another franchisee's store either because they aren't going to be reimbursed by the mother corporation for something they didn't sell to begin with, so they'd be out of luck for that money. And, keep in mind that just because a store has a nationally known name brand on the sign doesn't mean that they are a deep-pockets corporate entity that can afford to give you your money back for an item you bought somewhere else and want to return after you've gotten your use out of it and then call it defective, or say that you 'didn't really need it after all'. Most of coops and franchises are local, small businesses owned by someone who lives down the street from you. One last analogy in case the point hasn't sunken in yet: if you go to your local grocery store and buy Oscar Meyer hot dogs and open a hot dog stand on the beach advertising Oscar Meyer hot dogs, you are not going to give someone a refund for a hot dog that they bought from another hot dog stand further down the beach that happens to also be selling Oscar Meyer hot dogs. The two hot dog stands are both INDEPENDENT, they are just selling the SAME PRODUCT. If you want the portability of being able to buy and return items to and from various stores around the area, you might want to stick to a big box corporate owned store, with their Disney-sized parking lots and lack of...

I’m writing to inform the leadership of an incident that occurred this morning when I went into the Ace Hardware (18844) in DeLand, FL. I placed an on-line order and went to collect. I arrived at the store, I purchased another item at the register, stated my name to the cashier and informed her that I also needed to collect my on-line purchase. The cashier called out to someone stating that I had a pick-up order. The cashier asked me what I’d ordered and again I provided my name stating that the order was in my name. The cashier again requested to know what the items were, so again, I provided my name and informed her that my order should have my name attached to the bag. After a third attempt to get me to name the items, I stated that there should be a bag in the store in the name of Schuyler Williams as I received a confirmation email. The cashier did not relent so, I tried to recall the items that I’d purchased, which was a little difficult, as I was confused as to why I needed to prove my purchase via naming the contents of the bag. After the four or fifth attempt, I relented and named the items in the bag. Once I did this, a second staff member immediately went into the back area and returned with my package which had a receipt in my name stapled to the order. I find it extremely upsetting that I was questioned in front of other staff and customers and forced to prove that I’d purchased the items via playing a game of “What’s in the bag”. My name, which was also the name attached to the order, should have been sufficient to collect my purchase. A verbally presented name that matches the name on the receipt attached to the purchase was not enough. To collect my on-line order, the staff of Ace Hardware (18844) in DeLand, FL, forced me to tell them what was in the bag thereby proving that I’d purchased those items and was not stealing items belonging to another customer. This type of attitude and behavior towards a customer is not only reprehensive, it and devalues the basic definition of good...

They run off good paying customers. Dog parade was going on 1 block over. They had absolutely nobody in the store. I spent over $100 in the store and walked down the street for all of about a 45mins to an hour, mind you I was the only customer in the parking lot that whole time. They had a manager and two other workers there that I could see. The manager had enough time to sit out in his vehicle waiting for me to return and Advise me to never do that again. I was parked way out back and again not a single soul in the parking lot or the store. I explained to him I just spent $120 in his store and he told me I should return the merchandise and never return myself. Since the store has been at this location, which has not been very long, I have not seen many customers at this place at once. They definitely should not be running off paying customers and telling them they are not special, especially after they have spent $120 at their store. I drove all the way across town to go to Ace but I can promise you that I will never go back to that location. I will go to Lowes, it's much...