Rona Home & Garden

This review is about the staff, specifically the man in aisle 8 who did everything he could to not help us.
For starters, I have never been to a Rona before.
I shop at my local Home Hardware, and on occasion Canadian Tire.
Even Home Depot.
But today I thought I’d give Rona a try.
An aside:
This Rona has a couple of great shopping carts for kids.
They look like big blue cars and have two steering wheels.
My grandson was delighted!
So: I wanted to buy some house numbers.
The staff at the door told us which aisle to go to.
Thank you.
There were three staff men in that aisle, and they were helping someone.
Well, talking to someone.
Yup, all three of ‘em.
No problem, because the boxes of numbers were well displayed.
I quickly found two of the house numbers that I wanted, but I needed one more.
I searched through all of the open stock.
Since there were only a couple of dozen pieces to sort through,
it was easy to see that the other number was not there.
Two staff women were walking toward me so I asked for their help.
They also searched through the open stock but could not find what I needed.
They agreed there might be more numbers in one of the cardboard boxes on a high storage shelf.
So they asked one of the previously noted three staff men to come over and check the stock.
This man kept chatting to the customer, but the women called his name –twice — so he sauntered over.
First, he looked through the numbers we had all already gone through.
I explained we had all looked there already.
He started humming and rifled through the open stock again !
I asked him please to check the boxes stored on the top of the shelves.
He looked at me like of course, I was just a customer and could not possibly know where there would be more numbers
and he started to sift — through — these — same — numbers — again !!!
This guy must have a heck of a contract to be «working» in that store.
And yes, I remember his name, but I will not mention it here.
On a scale of 1 to 5, clearly the number is «1».

Not a good day at Rona. I bought a plastic shelving unit last week. I noticed the package had been opened then taped
it was the last in store I asked the clerk if as pieces were there. She assured me they were as it had been taped up again. Got home only to find out 4 legs are missing. when I went back to exchange and ask for some sort of compensation (it is +15 Km there and back) the dept manager (Greg or Craig) replied in a very condescending way that if they did that every time there was an item missing they would go out of business !!!. What a way to treat people. I wasn t expecting much in form of comp, it was more the principle of the thing. Home Depot has a much better customer service. (They re also always 5 times busier than Rona). Now I know why… Rona thanks you Greg!!!

I made the trip to this location as when conducting a Google search for floor mirrors, Rona was one of the places that popped up. A $ 95 mirror marked down to $ 45.
Got to the store and found the area where they were, but it still had the $ 95 price on it. I waved down an employee and asked him the price. He took the universal code and wandered off, returning in about a minute with the answer I wanted. They were indeed on sale for $ 45.
Got them to the cashier and it rang it at $ 22.50 (half of the $ 45 price point). I mentioned to the cashier that the floor salesman I spoke to said they were on sale for $ 45, but she scanned it again and it still came in at $ 22.50. She then called a manager over who said the item was clearance and the weekend I picked it up, there was an additional 20% off… so tax in, my $ 95 mirror cost me $ 22. I felt like that IKEA commercial…“Start the car… start the car !!!“
Went back a few days later to pick up a french door… also on sale. Great value! I didn’t interact with any employees on the floor on that visit… just found the right size and walked to the front of the store.
Great selection of items, decent prices, ample parking… great store.
As the Rona in my neighbourhood has closed down, this is now the one I go to.

As far as Home Stores go, I would say it is okay. I’m comparing between the Home Depot which is across the street. Something about Rona irks me, not sure if it’s the terrible music they play or lack of expertise in the staff.
They do have comfy patio furniture for sale though, and is more appealing to the eye than Orange and Grey. At the same time, something about Home Depot is going to draw me back there, although they are very similar.
I would recommend checking out both, and the Canadian Tire on premises if you’re looking for something specific because they carry the same stuff.
There is a hot dog cart and a picnic table to eat, but also in the BACK of the parking lot is a resident BBQ cart with Pulled Pork Burgers etc. I wish I noticed it earlier!

We moved to the area fairly recently and have frequented all the hardware stores in the Stockyards area. (When I say frequent, I mean we’ve needed to make trips several times a month for the last half year!) The staff at this one are consistently friendly, and actually very helpful. I now make it a point to check Rona first.

Disappointing experience. Guess that’s why all contractors go to Home Depot next door. App is really poor and keeps crashing. Come on!

I’m quite happy with my experience here. I was looking for something, asked a person who pointed me in the right direction, then gave me some advice on the product I should buy. I was in an out in about 10 minutes. Perfect.

For a big box store, their customer service is excellent, I’ve been shopping here for all my needs for three years. I’ve only had a couple of bad service experiences, the vast majority of the time the service is on par with what I’d get at a small, neighbourhood hardware store. There’s a customer service desk in the centre of the store when you can’t find help and returns are hassle free. Lots of eco options too.
They do not have the selection that Home Depot has but it’s easier to navigate since it’s smaller. Besides, I’m not a contractor and their selection is good enough. Throw in air miles, the fact that they’re Canadian and the prices are comparable to Home Depot and Lowes, I won’t shop anywhere else.

Finding someone to help you in this Rona is more difficult than solving a Where’s Waldo. I was looking for a specific item that I found on their website. It wasn’t available in this store (the website can’t tell you this!), and so they directed to another Rona, where the service was equally as poor (I guess that’s why people like big box stores-​consistency). Admittedly, I did go on a weekday evening, not exactly prime home-​improvement shopping time. With a Home Depot across the street, I don’t know why you would shop here.

It’s a bit depressing coming in here because it seems so empty compared to the Home Depot. But if you are price-​shopping, you gotta check and sometimes you’ll luck out.
Their lumber yard is great.
Don’t bother with the Tim Horton’s kiosk. It’s got to be one of most inefficient ones I’ve ever encountered (the worst one ever was at Eglinton east of Yonge in what is now some sort of restaurant. That Tim’s mercifully closed a few years ago).

This location has really friendly help and checkers. They know a lot of their customers by name and act like an old-​fashioned hardware store despite being a big box.

I always like coming to this Rona, since it’s never crowded like the nearby Stockyards Home Depot is, and they also give Air Miles points and have the occasional good sale. The selection on some items (like hardware) isn’t quite as good as it is at the Home Depot, but at least my money is going to a faceless Canadian corporation rather than a faceless American one.
But now it’s time to vent: I was in this Rona in early October, and they had a bunch of Halloween crap in their seasonal section. When I was back there a few days ago (before Thanksgiving, even) the Halloween stuff had been replaced with Christmas crap. That’s gotta be a new record for Christmas decorations! Who the hell is buying this stuff now (or ever, even)? What if I was on the fence as to whether I should get a life-​sized animatronic Jason Voorhees for my front lawn? You just lost a sale, Rona. Shame!