Menards — Local services in Saint Paul

Wow, this hurts to write this review as I have been a long-time fan of Menards and am a very non-confrontational person especially when it comes to retail and front-line workers.

I came into the St. Paul Midway Menards store this past Saturday to exchange a dehumidifier that was purchased in September 2021 and was still under a 3 year manufacturer warranty. I had already spoken to the manufacturer, and they said I just needed to bring it back to Menards with a proof of purchase and it will be swapped out for a new unit, easy enough. The problems started when I went to use the receipt lookup kiosk that Menards has near the returns desk. When I swiped my credit card (which I have had since 2020 and is the only card I use for home purchases), the machine only seemed to bring up about 30% of my historical transactions with Menards. Most frustratingly, there were 0 receipts showing for the entire year of 2021, whereas my bank statements show over 10 unique purchases at the exact same Menards just in the last half of 2021. Additionally, my bank verified that it has been the exact same card and card number since 2020, so it's not due to a card being swapped out or anything like that.

While the gals at the returns desk were very kind and trying to help find a solution, the front desk manager Karma and general store manager Justin were very much the opposite. Karma quickly made it clear that he did not care to resolve my situation. He stated that it is "much more likely that I am making a mistake than their machine, which is highly accurate". After clearly explaining to him that I have bank statements showing purchases on the very same card at his store in 2021, whereas their "highly accurate machine" shows nothing for the entire year, he lectured me that I should have kept my receipt after "making such a big purchase". Normally I do save receipts for larger purchases, but elected not to with Menards as they have this kiosk that should in theory save all receipts for you. Karma seemed to think I was "bragging" about how much money I spend at his store, while I was simply trying to highlight how their kiosk showed no transactions for a year where thousands were spent.

After it was clear that Karma did not care to find any other way to resolve the situations (like possibly reaching out to an IT or accounting support team to see how all of my 2021 receipts seemed to not populate), I asked to speak to the store manager, Justin. Justin handled the situation not like a manager at a retail chain, but more like a bouncer at a bar. He was rude and demeaning in his responses, and only seemed to want to let me know that it is my problem that their computers can't produce a proof of purchase. After realizing that neither of these managers had any interest to try and find an adequate solution, and after several stern looks from the nearby security guard, I left the store after over an hour of wasted time and feeling as if my dignity was taken away by the judgmental pair.

I plan to explore a resolution via a complaint to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and will update this review based on any further contact with Menards. In the meantime, I want to make anyone that chooses to do business at Menards aware of the fact that their receipt lookup kiosks are faulty to the consumer's detriment, and realize that the management at least at this Menards location have zero desire to actively listen to customer complaints and apply critical thinking to resolve issues on...

Zero humanity thanks Menards for once again, showing me that I should never shop here and that you have the worst customer service I could possibly imagine! You have a giant parking lot with 100s of empty parking spaces and yet you’re gonna have my car towed because it broke down and I can’t get a replacement part until tomorrow so you give me a deadline of 10 PM tonight or you’re gonna have it towed, your reasoning if it’s just an alternator that it needs to be out of here com Because it’s JUST AN ALTERNATOR, is that somehow make it easier to fix than if it was a flat tire or I guess I don’t understand the reasoning but at any rate it may just be an alternator but the car I would use to drive to pick up that alternator is broken down here. It’s also 5° outside in the middle of winter so I’ll do my best to walk to the store to get the alternator which is miles away and/or pay for an Uber which I don’t have any money for because my slush funds were just eating up when I was hit head on by another driver, who didn’t have a drivers license and or insurance, causing me to have to pay for all my damage to my vehicle this weekend and eventually causing this mechanical issue, So I’m a little low on extra funds And my used car breakdown savings account actually doesn’t have a mechanic on standby with delivery Access same day. But besides all that I’m sure I’ll be able to get back here to work in the dark , in the -10° weather Attempting to fix my first ever alternator problem. Least my fingers will be warm because I came inside and bought some toasty gloves from you guys. They were way overpriced but I get 11% rebate, right! That’’ll come in handy in six weeks when I get it. It totally makes sense, I mean the conditions are perfect for me to have this thing fixed up in a jiffy I wonder what would happen when Menards people have things go wrong or do you not have things go wrong? are you one of them lucky ones or blessed ones or just way smarter and or better than me, and you just structured your life so well that you don’t have issues like this if so congratulations , but the thousands of people that you serve many of which are blue-collar workers who live paycheck to paycheck we don’t have that same affordability to just snap our fingers and have an alternator Magically fixed and once again, so happy I chose to go inside your store and spend my money here trying to figure out the problem, For you guys to turn around and show tie true humanity thank you general manager By not allowing me to use one of Hundred plus parking spots that you have open until I can get the replacement part in the morning, once again thanks for showing how much you are for the people! It’s funny cuz you mentioned that you walked by me on your way in today, I don’t recall you saying “excuse me, sir can I help you” I mean it’s not like you work for a giant store full of tools and I’m trying to work on my car with none! I meani just can’t can imagine how you could help me. I can’t imagine how you could help me. Oh yes, how about getting in touch with your humanity and not have my car towed because if it were you I’m sure you would like the extra few hours considering it’s the coldest it’s been all winter and I’m a, was a...

I shop at Menards all the time. Today however I witnessed weird and dangerous behavior by the security guards. I was a neutral bystander and I am providing a detailed account because I think people deserve to know how Menards treats its customers.

I had just finished checking out when I saw a security guard approach a gentleman who was leaving. The security guard started off aggressive immediately. To be clear, there was no allegation that the man stole anything. Instead, the security guard wanted to know why the man had opened a box while he was shopping. The man said he had not. The security guard then escalated, getting in the man's face and raising his voice to ask why he was looking so stressed ("why are you clenching"). I spoke up and said I'd be stressed too, but the security guard told me to stay out of it. At this point two more security guards appeared and practically surrounded the man, getting aggressive and looking like they were about to hit him.

It looked like a bad scene, especially since all the security guards were white and the gentleman was Black, and we all know how that can end. The Black man was not fighting in any way, he just wanted to leave with the merchandise he had paid for, but they wouldn't seem to let him.

At this point I was worried I was about to watch them beat the guy down or get him wrongly arrested, and I pulled out my phone to start recording. A manager or a senior security guard appeared, shoved his hand in my face and told me that was not allowed, and that I would be taken off the premises for trespassing. (MN does allow recording people without their permission, so I was within my rights to record.) I told him I would go outside and I did so, but he continued to get verbally aggressive with me as well now. By this point the Black man had gotten outside the doors and the security guards had followed him out yelling at him to leave the premises because he was trespassing, which is absurd because he was trying to leave the whole time. They had literally detained him preventing him from leaving the premises and they were going to call that trespassing?

I was prepared to stick around and serve as a witness if needed, because this guy did not deserve to be taken to jail for trespassing. But they finally let him leave, and once I was sure they weren't following him I left as well.

I don't know what these guys were thinking, but all I could see was a bunch of angry dudes throwing around their power to harass and scare a regular customer. They seemed to be itching for a fight and intentionally provoking the guy. The manager's top concern should have been de-escalating this and instead he was threatening other customers to get them not to record. I guess it never occurred to him that there would be no worry about recording if his team was handling this appropriately. Nor did he ever consider that he and his team had just threatened false charges of trespassing people while being recorded. It's like they thought they were in a war zone dealing with terrorists, when really it's just their paying customers. The way they handled this was unnecessary...