I rarely leave reviews, but my experience with Reliable Hardware and Steel was beyond disappointing…read morefrom start to finish.
In February 2026, I came in and met with William about building custom standing marquee frames for my business. He drew up plans and told me they could make adjustable frames that would hold my marquee letters and numbers. After several days with no follow-up, I had to repeatedly call and leave messages before someone finally called back and apologized.
I returned to the shop and William admitted he had forgotten about the project and had misplaced the original drawings. We went over everything again from scratch, and he even brought in another senior welder to discuss ideas and create a mock-up to make sure the final product would work correctly.
I made it extremely clear that these frames were needed for booked events, including the Sonoma County Cheese Festival on March 21st. I was assured multiple times that the project would be completed in time. I was also told the work should only take a few hours plus material prep, so the pricing discussion sounded reasonable at first.
At their request, I brought in my marquee numbers so they could properly mock up the frame and ensure everything fit correctly. After dropping them off, communication once again completely disappeared. I called multiple times trying to get updates and eventually stopped expecting responses because of how poorly communication had already gone.
Over a month later, long after the deadline had passed and after I had already been forced to look for other solutions for my clients, they finally called me to come see the frame.
The frame itself was rusty, had water inside it, and the quoted price ended up being around $1,150 for ONE frame -- far higher than what had originally been discussed. What upset me even more was the condition of my marquee numbers when they returned them. They were dropped off in excellent condition, freshly painted, and barely used. When I got them back, they were filthy, stained, covered in rust residue, and appeared to have been left sitting in water. The wooden bases were compromised and now require repairs and repainting before I can even rent them out again.
As a small business owner, this cost me time, money, missed opportunities, and damage to equipment I worked hard to build.
To make things worse, after I declined the frame because of the condition and pricing, the interaction became hostile. Instead of handling the situation professionally, I was told to "get the fuck out of my shop," followed by additional insults from management.
The lack of communication, missed deadlines, poor care of customer property, and unprofessional behavior made this one of the worst business experiences I've had.
