Elliott's Hardware — Local services in Mesquite

Why I won't shop at Elliot's anymore. I am a life long Mesquite resident, middle aged, and prefer to pay a dollar more to do business with a local merchant rather than shop at big box stores. When Elliott's opened in Mesquite I was pleased because I had done business at their Maple Ave. store for years, it was located near my place of employment and I always used them, even traveled there occasionally on weekends for personal projects. The culture of my local store is no longer representative of my demographic. A visit there today exposed me to a foul mouthed employee standing in the middle isle sharing some story with his co-worker. The employee's only adjectives were cuss words not allowed on television or radio. Frequent F-bombs. Maybe this is the common language today and everyone is numb to it. I find it offensive. Since my wife was accompanying me and there are female employees there I found it unacceptable. I asked the foul mouthed young man wearing the Elliott's red apron if he had a manager. He identified himself as a manager. I asked again, if he had a manager. I was directed to a man at one of the counters. I explained to the second manager what I had experienced and how offended I was. The first manager offered the excuse that he didn't know I could hear him. (I guess I was out of line for eavesdropping?). I asked the second manager what he would do about it. He responded quite unenthusiastically, " I will talk to him". These are the managers. That is store culture. They are disconnected from their customer base. If Elliott's lost my business because I moved away or passed away that would have no affect on them. The fact they are driving me away means I am not the only customer they are losing. I am representative of their demographic. We still have other options before Home Depot; Ace hardware, Tractor Supply and I am willing to drive to Terrell to shop at McCoy's rather than spend another dollar to keep these thugs employed. There are places I expect to hear foul language and places I do not. A retail store employing several women and where my wife or daughter might shop is not a place I expect it. I was disappointed to learn this was a manager followed by lack of concern from his manager. It is sad because not all the employees are thugs, for some reason those aren't...

The attendants at the mower parts counter are consistently unhelpful and unfriendly. I work as a sales engineer. I take calls all day long that require patience, understanding and effort to assure a successful outcome for my end users and partners. This kind of attitude would get me tossed on the street inside of a month. I have had bad experiences over and over with these people. I'm not sure if it's because I am a civilian and not a pro landscaper that I get this treatment but I'm done with it. I came in with my mower model number, looking for the correct oil and oil filter. I did not have my Briggs and Stratton engine model but I knew it wasn't going to be a heavy lift to figure it out. My first minute (a full minute or more) I spent being completely ignored 2 and half feet away from the counter person as he was entering some parts into an order I guess. After he finally acknowledged me I asked him about the oil and filter after giving him the model number (twice of course). He did a quick search of his database and turned to his partner and asked if he knew which filter I should use. The reply was that he couldn't possible say as B&S made many engines. OK, I could tell they were done with me. I stepped away from the counter a simply Googled my Ariens mower model number and had the engine model and the oil filter in two minutes. I went back to the counter and gave him the oil filter part # and the only reply was "that's not in our system". Needless to say, I needed to be done with this experience. When I got home from a few more errands I typed the part # into Amazon and it was in my cart and could be delivered to me BY 2PM TODAY! I do try and support small business and I choose Elliott's constantly over HD and the like. I know the prices will be higher but I do it anyway. I don't know if I will continue to do it and I definitely won't try to buy mower...

Needed an extra battery for my new STIHL lawn mower a couple of months ago. Waited in line at the counter behind 3 or 4 people. When it came my turn the clerk (Joe) motioned for me to come to the counter. As I approached he noticed someone needing help close by. He tells me to wait just a minute while he helped the other guy. After about 15 minutes I decided to go return to the line and wait for another clerk to help me out but alas I wound up with the same salesperson (Joe again). I made a remark that it took more than a minute to which he replied "it could have taken longer". That was just too cute for me. I started to walk out but decided I would talk to the manager. Turns out the other clerk behind the counter was the manager. When I told him of encounter with the other clerk (Joe), he said he would talk to him. As we were talking, the other clerk (Joe) was laughing at my complaint. I even pointed that out to the manager. He didn't act like there much he could do about the situation. I went ahead with my purchase with the manager but vowed I would never return to Elliott's hardware again as long as Joe is around. I wonder how many other customers Joe has insulted? I've worked in retail many years and have never responded to a customer in this manner. I would have expected to loose my job for being rude to a customer. We'll see how this turns out for Elliott's Hardware...