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diddypc
join:2011-07-07

diddypc

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Menards even worth it?

For all who have been doing business with Menards, have you been having nothing but trouble? So I need to order 1 10' piece of sidewall flashing from Menards website. They're site quotes me $237 shipping and handling for a small piece of metal. Obviously this is a glitch. After repeated attempts to get customer service to respond to emails, the idiot rep. says "Thank you for your e-mail. I am very sorry for any inconvenience, but the shipping charge is correct." I've been having nothing but issues with the last few "big" orders from Menards. I think it's time to forget about them. Anyone else have any horror stories to share? The only option to contact anyone is via email or the store manager. From past experiences the store manager is nothing short of an ineffective tool in my opinion. Looking them up BBB.org shows nothing surprising considering my past few experiences.

nunya
LXI 483
MVM
join:2000-12-23
O Fallon, MO
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nunya

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I occasionally order from Menard's. My biggest complaint is the shipping cost, although not nearly as bad as yours . The other problem is the length of time it takes them to ship something. At those prices, it should be much faster.
I usually just pick "ship to store" so the shipping is free. It takes forever though.
For me: Lowe's usually takes about a week with STS. Home Depot usually takes 3-4 business days with STS. Menard's can be anywhere from 1-3 weeks with STS.

I've found Menard's to be the least "customer-centric" of the big three HI stores. That being said, they seem to beat both HD and Lowe's on price for quite a few items.

I personally find the B&M Menard's store to be annoying. Whoever designs their store layout / parking lots is an insane sadist. I think they intentionally have no rhyme or reason to their layout in order to force you to wander aimlessly through the store in hopes that you'll buy something you didn't set out to get.
XXXXXXXXXXX1
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join:2006-01-11
Beverly Hills, CA

XXXXXXXXXXX1

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said by nunya:

I personally find the B&M Menard's store to be annoying. Whoever designs their store layout / parking lots is an insane sadist. I think they intentionally have no rhyme or reason to their layout in order to force you to wander aimlessly through the store in hopes that you'll buy something you didn't set out to get.

That is probably correct. Macy's has openly said that their cosmetics section is set up like a maze in order to keep eyes on their products as long as possible to maximize sales. Pretty standard marketing technique actually..

Jan Janowski
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join:2000-06-18
Waynesville, NC
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15 Years agoWe had 3 doors- 2 high end entrance doors and one steel garage door ordered from them. Took 3 deliveries before we accepted the 2 high end entrance doors, as they kept trying to delivered scratched items as "Good"....

First one was immediately returned.... On the second, however, delivery guy tried to get Wife to accept a scratched unit, and that time our installer was there, and he called manager, who expedited a third order.

Third Delivery was pristine.... and all 3 doors are still in good shape!
18189353 (banned)
join:2014-10-28

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said by nunya:

That being said, they seem to beat both HD and Lowe's on price for quite a few items.

HD and Lowe's will both match Menard's then give you 10% additional off so they BEAT Menard's. This is the way I 'use' Menard's.

Hall
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join:2000-04-28
Germantown, OH

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said by nunya:

Whoever designs their store layout / parking lots is an insane sadist. I think they intentionally have no rhyme or reason to their layout in order to force you to wander aimlessly through the store in hopes that you'll buy something you didn't set out to get.

Inside the store, I don't have a problem with the layout. I do dislike the one-entrance and one-exit only layout though.

As far as customer service, their stores haven't been here long enough to judge but at this point, it's very good. By that, I mean, Lowes and Home Depot were the same way when they first opened and both went noticeably downhill over time. Then, when a competitor opens, remarkably, their customer service improves !
Hall

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said by diddypc:

So I need to order 1 10' piece of sidewall flashing from Menards website. They're site quotes me $237 shipping and handling for a small piece of metal

It's not "small". I get the same S&H rate. I suspect the problem is the length. UPS, FedEx Ground, etc won't accept it (I think) so they're forced to ship by truck. LTL shipping almost has a minimum charge of ~$150 (for a reasonably short distance and low weight) and then you have to add the residential surcharge.

IowaCowboy
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Springfield, MA

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I wish we had Menard's in this area.

My favorite Menard's story (my mother was there I wasn't as it was back in the '90s) was there was a guy pushing a cart out with a bunch of fluorescent tubes and they all went crashing to the ground in one of those "busby berkley" style dances and shattered. I wish I would of been there to see it.
18189353 (banned)
join:2014-10-28

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said by IowaCowboy:

My favorite Menard's story (my mother was there I wasn't as it was back in the '90s) was there was a guy pushing a cart out with a bunch of fluorescent tubes and they all went crashing to the ground in one of those "busby berkley" style dances and shattered. I wish I would of been there to see it.

Why would you want to see that?

IowaCowboy
Lost in the Supermarket
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join:2010-10-16
Springfield, MA

IowaCowboy

Premium Member

Because I was 14 years old at the time and I would have gotten a good laugh.

Kids will be kids but the adult was thinking oh shoot. I still think of it 16 years later.

If it would have been caught on video it would have made a good YouTube video. But this was 1998, back in the early days of the world wide web and video was on magnetic cassettes.

Camelot One
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Bloomington, IN

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My only complaint about Menards is that they seem to know what I am going to need, and put it on sale a few weeks before I am ready for it. I end up either busting my ass trying to get ready, or I end up trying to store bulky stuff in awkward places. (3.5x15x48 batts of mineral wool take up a LOT of floor space!)
wth
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join:2002-02-20
Iowa City,IA

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As for parking lot design, Iowa City's is the worst, it's like a maze of SHARP left & right turns just to get into the lot from street, and impossible to nagociate if two pickup trucks meet. As for the inventory, it's more like a Walmart with lumber.

ArgMeMatey
join:2001-08-09
Milwaukee, WI

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said by nunya:

I usually just pick "ship to store" so the shipping is free. It takes forever though.

In WI I've had custom-made doors delivered within a week. Probably because they make them in Eau Claire and run daily full truckloads to Milwaukee. But you know John Menard is not going to spend an extra penny for LTL shipping of your order to MO, etc.

They beat HD and Lowes by a longshot on many commodity items I tend to purchase, even without the 11% and bag sales. Menards near here also manage stock better than my closest HD, and the help is more helpful, so shopping at Menards tends to be less frustrating. Even though I live two miles from HD and ten miles from Menards, unless it's rush hour or I need something small, I'll usually go to Menards.

After getting poor-quality lumber at Big Green in the 80s, I quit buying wood there. Now recently I have bought a few boards there and they seem to be doing better.

On the other hand, I loved reading this article.
»www.milwaukeemag.com/art ··· BigMoney

And the local Fleet Farm had a photo on their customer service bulletin board, of a Menard truck parked in the Fleet Farm lot, with the caption, "Even the competition shops here".

tigerpaw509
join:2011-01-19

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Bagels are expensive.

Hall
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Germantown, OH

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said by wth:

As for the inventory, it's more like a Walmart with lumber.

That part can seem odd - you can buy dog food, potato chips, etc there. Heck, you can even buy cards (birthday, etc) ! That can come in handy !!

Charlesk
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Walmart with lumber? Ours is more like Big Lots with lumber.
edgyone
join:2014-11-28

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If there is a nearby Do It Best store nearby the online price is best and delivery is free of charge to the local store. The local store may provide free delivery. Ours does.
fartness (banned)
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Look Outside

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I notice with Lowes and HD that customer service is hit or miss depending on the store and or the associate. In one town near me the two stores are less than 2 minutes apart. In another town they're a little less than 10 minutes away from each other. Worse customer service at these ones further apart.

chip89
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join:2012-07-05
Columbia Station, OH

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Nope I don't even know where a menards is even though I see there ads every once in a while. I like Ace there's one right by house.
chip89

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yep Ikea is famous for doing that.
Expand your moderator at work

IowaCowboy
Lost in the Supermarket
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Springfield, MA

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Re: Menards even worth it?

Ace is on the expensive side around here, either they don't have what I need or the item is twice as much as it is at Lowe's Depot.

Same as a local nursery for plants vs garden center at Lowe's Depot. I'm on the cheap side so I shop at the box stores.

Lurch77
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join:2001-11-22
Green Bay, WI

1 recommendation

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Home Depot, Lowes, Menards. They are all fine with me. But I prefer Fleet Farm over them all.

UHF
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said by wth:

As for the inventory, it's more like a Walmart with lumber.

Exactly. Menards is the Walmart of home improvement stores.

I buy at Menards less and less. So much of what they sell is of poor quality. The problem is that the Waterloo Home Depot is understaffed, and often poorly stocked, and I refuse to purchase anything at the Lowes store there after multiple customer service snafus.