MAYDAY Hardware on Washington

Really? I'm a female and I don't think I have a repulsive appearance and Jerry has never given me a bad vibe. Far from it. He's helped me with many home repairs. Sure it's not a frilly hardware store like Pintchik (don't get me wrong, I love that place), but it has the basics. And if Jerry doesn't have what you're looking for, he doesn't hesitate to direct you to one of his competitors.

liftandcut wrote: Well I'm the guy who always has his skateboard with him. If we've met then you already know my name. Jon.

hhhmmmm.... you've been to my apt. before.

Subject: Mayday vs Pintchik

Maybe if he knew the way he treats his employees had such a bad effect on the way his customers viewed him he'd lighten up. some people have no idea how they look from the outside. Been there many times, do prefer Pintchik but Jerry's alright with me altho I can see where the complaints come from. Is he not related to the Guy who owns/runs Love Liquor? that place is a trip. I prefer it to the 24 hour Lotto/Liqour store across the street from me.

moufaisbad wrote: i am a big fan of Pintchick.
the guy that manages (maybe owns) it has always been really helpful and attentive. I have had a few decent encounters with the guy at Mayday but to be honest the stuff he carries is crap. The paint, the tape, the hardware.
The last time I was at Pintchick they had 3 people helping me. They knew a lot about the products they were selling and the stuff is good quality.
I would much rather pay $2 more for a roll of painters tape that actually works and doesn't seep paint all over the wall I just spent 2 hours masking and another hour painting.

damn. the guy(s) at pintchik didn't give me any help at all and rolled their eyes any time I asked for something they had locked up behind glass. Mayday may not have their selection (and maybe not the same quality), but after my experience at P., I am a loyal customer. Plus, it's just so damn convenient and Jerry gives out free advice.

An example, for those who care: my roommate's closet rod fell down because my landlord thought it would be fine to just sink a screw into plaster without an anchor. This clearly sucked, so I went to Mayday, got a package of anchors, and came home and tried to sink them in. No luck. Went back to Mayday, asked Jerry. He gave me the biggest size and told me that if the plaster continued to crumble I should come back and get this other thing (basically concrete). Dubious, I went home, got one anchor in fine, and the other still sucked. So I went back to Mayday and Jerry showed me the stuff, told me how to mix it, explained how it worked, and sent me off again. Ten minutes later, the closet rod is up and secure. Given the blow-off I was given at Pintchik, I can't imagine I would have even gotten past stage one. Sometimes, service and knowledge trumps selection.

But both! A quality hardware store is a beautiful thing.

Of course, he may also be a total lech. In which case, he sucks.

Subject: stay away

I had to have the our front door key made there 7 times before they got it right. I never had any problems with personalities there, however, they never quite have the thing I'm looking for.
Would love to support them but can stand the service or the mark-up.

bumping this thread to add my story to others here of why i’m done with mayday:

i’ve defended them on this board and supported their business. it’s a neighborhood, mom-and-pop store and i was glad to pay a little higher prices to have a useful business like a hardware store in the neighborhood instead of another nail salon.

but a few days ago i needed a small spring and a spindle to fix an old door-knob set. they didn’t have exactly the right parts but sold me some they said would work with a little effort on my part. and to make sure, they wanted to sell me another part, which i didn’t need and i knew would not work in my door but for which i still got a hard sell from the owner, who insisted it was what i needed, that he’d give me my money back if i didn’t (which in retrospect i better understand) and basically that i was an idiot for not buying it.

i bought just the 1.5-inch spring—it was $4-something—and the spindle, for a total of $12. it was a bit of a rip, but it was there, i was busy and wanted to just get my doorknob fixed. i handed him the $12 and he went back to someone talking to someone else. i stood waiting for my receipt, which didn’t come. a moment later, he turned back to me and said that’s it, we’re done, and i said i was waiting for the receipt. he then got all annoyed and said the register had already been cleared, he hadn’t known i’d wanted one, but he wrote one out anyway that said “spring, spindle, $12.”

at home, after unsuccessfully trying to jerry-rig a wrong-size spring for nearly an hour, i gave up and headed to pintchik. they had the right size spring—it was about a dollar—and the right spindle. total: less than $5.

i fixed the doorknob in no time (amazing how easy it is if you have the right parts) and a couple of days later headed back to mayday to return the spindle. (the spring was history.) the guy takes the spindle, says it was $4.98 and hands me $5. i asked how that could be—the only other thing i bought was the spring. he gets all huffy and says he doesn’t know but he knows that spindle is $4.98. rather than fight, i left. but that would have meant the 1.5-inch spring that cost $1 at pinchik and which he charged me $4 for now cost $7. (and even if the spindle had been only $4.98, there still should have been tax to refund too.)

so either he lied about the price when he sold me the items or lied about them when i returned. it’s just a few bucks, money that out of support for a neighborhood business and my being too lazy to walk the extra blocks to pintchik, i was predisposed to pay. i feel a bit sorry for the guy—maybe competition from pintchik and home depot has driven him to desperate measures.

but not sorry enough to ever shop there again.

pintchik isn’t that far away.

I object to giving my money to non-local businesses.... but I object to giving my money to A-holes even moreso. No Mayday for me.

Mateo wrote: I object to giving my money to non-local businesses.... but I object to giving my money to A-holes even moreso. No Mayday for me.

not that i'm shilling for pintchik, but they're quite local, and the people are helpful and knowledgeable. although on weekends it tends to be mobbed and it can be a wait to get someone.

Where is this mythical pintchik? The only reason I have been going to Mayday was cos I thought they were the only hardware store nearby...is pintchik open Sundays?

Supa fly! Thanks, sweet tea

You know what is annoying? Such subjective complaints like this. It is a joke. I hate reading about peoples complaints at restaurnants too- like "waitresss was ignoring me, food was cold" its a joke. who says this shit happens all the time? give me a break.

Ehm, aren't all reviews "subjective"? Anyway, caseopele's Pintchik review is not "subjective" in the way that you mean it.

In a neighborhood where some small business owners treat you like an old friend, Pintchik's customer service is not always up to snuff. It's not terrible... but it may be best to go into "the Pintchik experience" expecting rudeness or indifference, and be pleasantly surprised when you don't get it.

It's not fair to blame Pintchik employees. Some clearly have no concept of basic customer protocol (helloooo checkout line), but is it possible that others are overwhelmed by the volume of business? Some are universally helpful every time, no matter how busy it gets. And to be fair to Pintchik in general, you should go to Home Depot if you want to experience total failure of customer service (do they even have employees anymore?).

Back to the subject at hand: a trip to Mayday is like watching a train wreck. It's horrific, but you can't turn away. Visit Mayday and prepare to be astounded.

I too stuck up for them but i had an odd experience this weekend. I bought some items that came out to $8.50somthing (like 54,55,56). I gave the lady a 20, she gives me .50 back and starts dealing with the next person. I just stood there and she looks at me and says "what did i forget?" "I gave you a 20." I dont know what i did but she surveyed me - look at the drawer and said "you're right...you're right" and gave me my $11. Now whats weird is that she didnt even give me change for a $10!!!

oh and I recently "discovered" pinchik. I almost cried. its SOOOO much better than Mayday its sad. its a REAL hardware store!

Mr. Tips wrote: I too stuck up for them but i had an odd experience this weekend.

I think the previous guy talking about his, "nice experience" said so tongue in cheek.

I totally agree, if you don't like the service you get at a store don't shop there. I don't make a decision like that based on one bad experience (unless it's really bad). If I'm consistently treated poorly in a store that's it for me. Being in the service industry I understand an employee having a bad day and don't let that color my decision. But there's a huge difference between that and totally rude or incompetent employees.