Tennies Ace Hardware — Local services in West Bend

It is not often that I post a negative review following a service experience, but I find it hard to justify remaining silent on this one. See Sara Arndt’s Google review of just a week ago about her experience with Todd at Tennies Ace Hardware. It seems Todd’s demeanor with me was not a one off.

I had purchased a new Dewalt table saw from Amazon and found difficulty in performing one adjustment in readying it for use. I did an online chat with Dewalt customer service seeking help. A person named Camilo understood my confusion using the instruction manual as there is an error in respect to this adjustment and also a lack of detail on how to complete it. Camilo politely referred me to the Dewalt service center network for assistance. After providing my zip code he provided me with contact information for Tennies Ace Hardware stating they serviced table saws.

I thanked him and immediately called Tennies. After passing through two associates Todd took the phone. I explained my question and asked if he could help. Unfortunately, Todd made the short-sighted choice to make me out the villain for buying online. He was condescending and rude. When his attitude went too far, I reminded him that Dewalt referred me to them as an authorized service center and that my local Watertown Ace Hardware, my go to tool store, does not carry the saw. It devolved from there with him taking pleasure in the berating.

It’s been some time since I’ve been this disrespected. As a retired business owner, I remember the importance of treating every customer inquiry as an opportunity to earn future business. Countless times I helped customers with products they purchased elsewhere. By the way, whatever happened to “The helpful...

CUSTOMER SERVICE IN A SNOW STORM !!! 5 STARS!!! This is insanely late, but I promised I'd write this review for how amazing the staff is here. Back one crazy snowy day this past winter I decided my parents needed a new snow blower, so I thought I'd order them one and they could go pick it up. But my husband said we should go pick it up and bring it to them... but Tennies was about to close in a little over an hour... we live near Oak Creek (almost an hour away) ... AND the roads were REALLY bad, so we had to drive slow. ... We called Tennies and had them hold the snow-blower model we wanted, promising we'd get there as they were closing. ... We got there maybe 10 minutes after they closed, but when we arrived, there were about 5 employees standing there, who had it all ready for us, out of the box and ready to go. ... We were so thankful!! We left it hanging out the truck of my Audi for the 3 blocks we had to drive to my parent's house, and my husband had to use his bootlaces to secure it!! 😂 My parents were SOOO happy we did that for them, and it was all thanks to Tennies for staying open for us. They were able to use the snowblower right away in the morning and my Dad (who has bad arthritis in his hands) still can't stop thanking us for the gift... even though it was really dangerous for us to drive all that way in a snow storm. 🤭 Tennies helped make it worth it! ...Also they have a way better selection than the big box stores, and we like to shop local.. My Dad was really happy it came from Tennies as he likes to frequent...

I have a love/hate relationship with this place. Buying something downstairs (including new or used implements)? No problem, staff is a dream to work with and very knowledgeable and helpful about what they have in stock and where it is. Buying something upstairs? Better have your model number and serial number in your hand ready to go, or you're treated like a second rate citizen and help will not be rendered. For instance, needed a drive belt for a Toro Recycler, a lawn mower that really hasnt changed much since its inception with very few belt options in the first place. I had incomplete information on the mower as its my parents, but I did have the belt with me for comparison. Think I could get the guy to match it up to one of the 2 or 3 common belt sizes for this mower? Absolutely not, I didnt have M/N S/N. Funny enough, I compared it to the few belts Menards had and got it there. Ive also had similar issues trying to buy accessory products for a commercial grade Stihl trimmer, even with the model and serial number, as well as other mowers and blowers. I'll continue to shop downstairs, but will not waste my time upstairs any more as I seem to be nothing but an inconvenience to those behind the counter. I get it, the place is always busy, but to run customers out the door when the part is there and requires little more than a...