As someone who is not a homeowner, and has moved 4 times in the past 5 years due to graduate…read moreschool, I generally do not spend a large amount of time at Ace Hardware for home improvement reasons. I did, however, find myself at Ace several times over the past month for various reasons, the primary reason being that I live in Gloucester and there are so few places to purchase the items that I needed. My first visit was for an air conditioning unit. I don't do well with temperatures above 75 degrees, so summers are basically 3 months of sweaty hell. A helpful young lady pointed me in the right direction to find several different models, and another helpful gentleman helped me to load that monster into my car. I noticed that the box had been damaged, but assumed that the box was just a little worse for the wear and went home. Unfortunately, upon unloading the air conditioner, my boyfriend and I realized that the entire rear of the AC had been caved in and it was very broken. I had kept the receipt, and we returned the following day to exchange the unit. When we returned, it had apparently been a very busy day, and the woman I spoke to seem flustered and stressed. She was unable to help us, but got her manager. I explained what had happened, requested an exchange, and showed him my receipt. He did not apologize for the inconvenience and curtly said that he would have someone look for the same model in the back. When he was able to locate one he did not ask us if we needed help getting it to my car, and the experience left me with a bitter taste in my mouth. I would return if I needed a product ASAP, otherwise, I'll likely order from Amazon Prime.

Save yourself a headache and go anywhere but here. The employees are not helpful or courteous…read more Snarky employees and clueless. I went in after being sent there by Timberline on a search for deck paint. I wasn't certain what kind of paint I needed but thought I needed oil based paint and was informed by the employee at the paint counter that Ace does not carry any oil based paint only acrylic. I explained that I had a very old deck and needed to cover the old pressure treated wood that was being scraped and repainted. After being ignored, then passed over to a new employee since it was his lunch break, the paint attendant employee sold me stain along with rollers and paint liners - staining an old deck is not appropriate and would not had enough coverage. I went home and was immediately told by my partner that the stain would not work and that we needed something with a primer included. Given I have not opened the can of paint I thought I may be able to return it and get the right stuff which was absolutely not allowed apparently. When I went back in to talk to Ace in Gloucester to try to rectify the situation I was greeted with clueless employees who called the team leader up to the counter who called the paint department who called up another woman. How can a team leader, store manager, department manager not be able to assist and also say that the stain was the correct deck paint? I bet if I were a man they would not have been so patronizing and rude. After explaining the situation to 5 people, I left the unopened can of $55 stain, my receipt with them and left the store and I will never go back to this Ace Hardware. What a shock since I have been shopping at Ace for many many years just not the one in Gloucester. They are horrible. Now I am back online trying to figure out what kind of paint I need to for the old deck - is Hometown Ace a Hardware store? Shame on this store manager - If this review does get read by an owner please please focus on training your employees correctly and tell your employees to hold the snarky.

I shop here all the time and the employees have never been anything less than completely helpful…read more Great selection and the quality of the lumber is orders of magnitude better than anything you'll find at HD or Lowes. Prices are a little higher than the big box stores, but to me the quality is worth it - saves me an hour round trip drive to Peabody, and I'm happy that my money is supporting a local business that's been part of the Cape Ann community for years.

What are you guys, nuts? First off Ben T. from San Francisco: Over here you actually pay more for…read moresurliness in the older employees. It's like a luxury tax. And how in God's name would you know you were in New England, otherwise. And Allison S, Seriously? Home Despot? Yeah, cheaper sometimes. More stuff there, true. But help? Come on. You can get people in orange aprons to ask you if you're being helped. And then they help you by wandering around for 45 minutes looking for the one person in the store who knows ANYTHING and can help you. Local lumber stores are pros. Sometimes surly. But there's a reason builders use them instead of Depot and Lowes.

Compared to the ACE store at Gloucester Crossing, the employees here are rocket scientists. Helpful…read moreand knowledgable, at the least the women I've dealt with, are responsive and notice if you're trying to look for something. The men tend not to. Forget ACE, forget Building Center, come here.

So they actually didn't have what I was looking for. So why four stars?…read moreBecause Ken Monroe, Millwork guy there helped me find what I needed elsewhere. Old school helpful. And the kind of service that means from now on I'll be buying every gallon of paint, every 'honeydo' bolt, every bag of grass seed (which I will immediately kill) from the Building Center. Seriously, every business needs more guys like Ken.

ABSOLUTELY HORRIBLE!! WARNING Do not buy anything here. They oversell and use deceptive practices…read moreand they do not stand behind their products. Replacement cabinets came in the same or worse condition. Damaged cabinets, separating paint, dents, peeling paint. Stay as far away from The Building Center as possible.

This is an excellent source of welding equipment and gases…read more Their prices are fair, their knowledge is practical , and their friendly service is a joy. I hope they can maintain this family business when it seems nothing matters except $$$.

I have been a customer for almost 2 years and I love them! They are friendly, professional and…read moreaccommodating. I highly recommend this family owned company. They go above and beyond.

Out shop facility wanted to install touch screen locks and lock box security details. Bob…read moreWhitmarsh was immediately responsive. He came when he said he would. He did clean professional work and took the time to be sure we were clear on functionality details. We will need other services in the near future and without hesitation will call Whitmarsh Lock to handle the job. We highly recommend Whitmarsh. -Bob C

Bob Whitmarsh charged me $1,017 to install two decent deadbolt locks on two very basic doors. I…read moreknow he's been in business forever, so I trusted his name. Is this pricing normal? It isn't, from what I've researched. I didn't ask for prices beforehand, and of course now I wish I had, but I needed the locks put in. I was estimating it to be around $600. I also wish I had read the reviews before I hired him. They are all terrible. He told me it would take 2.5-3 hours. It took 4.5 hours, and that's with me helping him carry tools up, and down my stairs. I see a common thread in the reviews that I wouldn't be proud of as a business owner, especially one my grandfather started. I do not recommend Whitmarsh Lock & Safe, I am very sad to say.

I ordered kitchen cabinets and matching bookcases/lower cabinets for family room. The delivery date…read morewas first week in November 2019. A number of cabinets were defective. Grands Banks arranged for replacements. Several of the replacements were defective. Grand Banks fought with their supplier until all the components were acceptable. It took 6 months. They graciously helped with some of the extra cost with repeated defective pieces

The best place around for building products. Anything from the basics to completely customized,…read morethis is the place to go. Incredibly knowledgeable staff and always a pleasure to deal with. If looking for the best that Cape Ann has to offer, look no further