Kent A Bathurst
11-29-2011, 1:33 PM
I was looking for some exceptional-quality hinges and latch for a garden entrance gate for a client. I had come across hardwaresource-dot-com in searches before, but didn't go there because their name sounded like, well, you know......stuff.
Wrong, wrong, wrong. Their web page title says "The Hinge Experts". Hookay.........but then I got into it, and they have an absolutely terrific variety of products there - including the type/quality I was looking for.
I had questions. I got immediate answers from a very knowledgeable and friendly fellow. And then those led to more questions and anwers, and a third round. Prompt, professional, knowledgeable. Plus - and this was a big thing to me - he sent a back-of-the-envelope hand-drawn sketch to explain something to me. He was answering a quesiton I had not asked, but would have asked had I been smart enough to ask it. In fact, I got 3 specific pieces of information that were not answers, but warnings/guidance, which put me on the right track. He even answered my question "if this was your hosue, what would you do?" with an answer that was about $50 cheaper than the direction I was going in. Remarkable. Plus - get this - I want to install the latch in a [to-be-built] gate that is thicker than the max for that latch, so I asked if I could just order some of the correct dimension bar stock from Grainger and cut it to fit. He told me - yeah, you could, but you don't need to, because I will put an extra-long bar in your package, free of charge.
And then - to top it all off - I finally placed my order online. Less than 15 minutes after placing the order, I got a phone call from a very nice lady, explaining that there was going to be a delay in shipping the extra-long screws I needed, and did that effect what I wanted to do with my order? When did that ever happen to you? I get "backordered" notification from a wide variety of solid sources, but an instaneous phone call by an actual human? I had no problem with the delay on the long screws. The next day, the original support guy [who must have been montioring my order] told me he would watch for the screws. The day after that, he told me they would be coming in sooner than they had thought. The day after that, he told me the screws had come in and were shipping out in a few hours.
Oh - and the products I received over the holidays are top-shelf. As you would expect - solid bronze hinges @ $19 each, and solid bronze latch @ $288 [that is not a typo]. As I said - I made an assumption based on their site name, and I was wrong. "Book by the cover", and all that.
A very long story - sorry for that. But, I buy a lot of stuff from a lot of sources - including the customer service gold standards like LV and LN - but these people are the best. I have no interest in their business, other than as a very happy customer. I will certainly go there first next time.
PS: If you talk/type with Bill Haynsworth or Kathy [don't know her last name], you are in tall cotton. I'd bet the same is true of everyone else there, but those two are the ones that helped me.
Wrong, wrong, wrong. Their web page title says "The Hinge Experts". Hookay.........but then I got into it, and they have an absolutely terrific variety of products there - including the type/quality I was looking for.
I had questions. I got immediate answers from a very knowledgeable and friendly fellow. And then those led to more questions and anwers, and a third round. Prompt, professional, knowledgeable. Plus - and this was a big thing to me - he sent a back-of-the-envelope hand-drawn sketch to explain something to me. He was answering a quesiton I had not asked, but would have asked had I been smart enough to ask it. In fact, I got 3 specific pieces of information that were not answers, but warnings/guidance, which put me on the right track. He even answered my question "if this was your hosue, what would you do?" with an answer that was about $50 cheaper than the direction I was going in. Remarkable. Plus - get this - I want to install the latch in a [to-be-built] gate that is thicker than the max for that latch, so I asked if I could just order some of the correct dimension bar stock from Grainger and cut it to fit. He told me - yeah, you could, but you don't need to, because I will put an extra-long bar in your package, free of charge.
And then - to top it all off - I finally placed my order online. Less than 15 minutes after placing the order, I got a phone call from a very nice lady, explaining that there was going to be a delay in shipping the extra-long screws I needed, and did that effect what I wanted to do with my order? When did that ever happen to you? I get "backordered" notification from a wide variety of solid sources, but an instaneous phone call by an actual human? I had no problem with the delay on the long screws. The next day, the original support guy [who must have been montioring my order] told me he would watch for the screws. The day after that, he told me they would be coming in sooner than they had thought. The day after that, he told me the screws had come in and were shipping out in a few hours.
Oh - and the products I received over the holidays are top-shelf. As you would expect - solid bronze hinges @ $19 each, and solid bronze latch @ $288 [that is not a typo]. As I said - I made an assumption based on their site name, and I was wrong. "Book by the cover", and all that.
A very long story - sorry for that. But, I buy a lot of stuff from a lot of sources - including the customer service gold standards like LV and LN - but these people are the best. I have no interest in their business, other than as a very happy customer. I will certainly go there first next time.
PS: If you talk/type with Bill Haynsworth or Kathy [don't know her last name], you are in tall cotton. I'd bet the same is true of everyone else there, but those two are the ones that helped me.