E&H Ace Hardware — Local services in Hamilton

Been here multiple times out of convenience since it’s within walking distance of my house.

Employees are friendly and eager to help, but their knowledge of items within are limited at best.

One time I went in and purchased a simple stud finder at a price higher than I would have liked but the convenience prevailed. I went home and found the stud finder would not seat the battery properly and thus would not work. It wasn’t broken per se, it was a device with a significant design flaw. I’m not sure how Ace managed to shelve an item like that.

The worst offense, however, are their prices. I’ve attempted to purchase a few things but was totally turned off by their prices and just drove the few minutes to Lowe’s instead. One example is a simple 15A/125V electrical plug outlet was $4.00+ while a single one at Lowe’s was $0.80. The cost disparity is not worth the convenience.

I can’t really bring myself to this store anymore, it’s just not worth the cost and frustration.

Edit: in response to the owner’s reply, just a couple of things I’d like to clarify:

I did return the defective stud finder, the process of which was at least quick and painless.

As for the outlet, my wife went to the store on her way home and picked up the item for me. All I needed was that outlet, just one. She’s not as home improvement savvy as I but it’s a fairly simple item that even if she couldn’t find, an employee could without issue. My wife found an employee who then handed her a 15A/125V outlet but one with a specialized fitting, hence the $4.00. The $4.00 was overpriced anyway but it was also the wrong item given to my wife from an employee who wasn’t knowledgeable enough to know the difference. I don’t blame my wife not knowing the difference, I do blame the employee though. This too was at least returned without pain

I do want this hardware store to work for me since I do a lot of home improvement work, but I’ve returned more items here than I’ve kept. I’ve run out of excuses to continue...

Craig and Daryl were super nice, and very helpful. I needed a specific air hose fitting for a project, and was planning for this to be a difficult thing to accomplish, but Craig and Daryl made it easy! They helped me find the exact specific part I needed, and it was even more affordable than I expected. They took time out of their busy day to be welcoming, warm, polite, and positive. As someone who worked many years in the retail industry, this sort of above-and-beyond service is definitely a memorable experience, and deserving to be acknowledged. Thanks again,...

In ALL my life of shopping retail stores I have NEVER met a more honest manager than Craig. He treats you the way he would want to be treated in your situation which is how I live my life. Everyone needs to shop here to be treated right and honestly. People like Craig are SO RARE especially in these greedy times. I needed help with a backed up drain and explained what was going on and he said to try try the cheapest solution first. What manager would say that. I will be shopping here...