Orchard Supply Hardware

I’m giving this review five stars simply because an employee here, I believe the guys name was Marcello, helped us out so much and was super friendly about having to go through a hassle to get things down with the forklift (he has super fork lift driving skills) and loading things up into our car and van. Awesome guy, he was super nice to our big pup too. We’ll definitely ask for him next time as far as helping us load things up and everything. The cashiers inside and a few other employees we asked questions to didnt seem like they wanted to help us at all. Five stars for Marcello, someone give that guy a raise.

Came here on a casual date with fish bowls in hand. We headed straight to the nursery area where we scrutinized the different succulents and cacti on display. The wind chimes, and bird sounds made us feel at one with nature. An older man with a hint of an accent assisted us and provided cactus mix soiling and some decorative stones to help pot our succulents and cacti into our new little terrariums. (soil and little rocks were free!) It was rather fun and laid back sort of experience which costs us about 6 dollars total (for the plants, and the mini fishbowls). My plant is sitting on my desk in my room. It only needs a light spritz of water every 2 weeks as this type of plant is typically grown in arid climates. Sort of perfect for California given the present drought of the century.
Anyhow, this OSH has a very nice plant nursery, and it seems like the workers were very helpful. Thus the 4 star review.

For me this is one of best OSH in Bay Area. In terms of selection available, flexible on coupon use and friendly helpful employees. I lived in Belmont but I rather go to Millbrae location than Redwood City and Foster City. Even they handed discount coupon and inform what and when they offer saving. One time forgot to bring club member discount coupon, no problem they gave me discount. All employees are efficiently working in the store, make me come back again and again

I’m not sure if I like the remodel job yet. There are some cool knick-​knacks they added to their repertoire and I like the entrance/​exit from the garden center with a cashier station.
The service is very hit or miss, but overall lax for the most part. I’ve had two ladies who were above average and made me feel like I could possibly be helped if needed. Other than that, there is still a lot to be desired in the service department, although they seem like saints compared to Home Depot and Lowe’s employees.

OSH always has what I need and the service is why I always go back to support OSH.
The clerk on Saturday went out of her way to assist me with a lime green heater for my boat.
Keep up the great work and service!

Great hardware store to go if you are looking for something specific. They have great employees to help so do not hesitate to ask someone for assistance.

Great customer service– it’s always a relaxing experience to go into this store. Employees are helpful and kind and I can always find someone! Way better than the crappy Home Depot. I love this OSH.

You would think that with other competitors like Home Depot having a worse reputation for customer service and the ability to navigate the store, that these guys would overdo it in service. Not so much.
They are a bunch of mean tempered, socializing, self important and slow people seemingly more interested in when closing time comes around than actually helping a customer.
Home Depot, here I come.

Awesome place, does not always have everything I need –so what — — no place does.

So they might not have the selection that Home Depot or Lowes has, but the staff is very knowledgable and friendly, and the selection suits my needs well. It’s close and convenient (I live in Burlingame) so I don’t have to hassle driving to Home Depot and get lost in that massive store. They have a pretty good selection of flowers and potting soil and pot for my garden.

I shop at this place all the time to spike the fact that their inventory is very limited. Almost have never been here and gotten everything I wanted — they just don’t have many items. The exception is Landscaping stuff, of which they have a lot. Anything else, I promise you you will have to go elsewhere.

Nice friendly people. My first visit to this location for flowers was a positive experience. There was a station for making painting planter pots and filling them with soil and pretty flowers for Mother’s Day. The employees were very helpful and patient with the young children. Great activity. I hope Orchard Supply Hardware continues this tradition. Thank you folk. We still have our flowers.

OSH is a bit overpriced, but the staff are friendly. It’s nice to come here if you want services and not a budget.
The store is very nice and organized.
Shared parking lot with KFC.

I LOVE LOVE LOVE the Foster City OSH store. Everyone is so nice and so helpful! Unfortunately, the exact opposite is true at the Millbrae store. So much so, that I’ve decided I will no longer shop there as every experience turns out to be a bad one. Just a few examples — arrived at the store at 5 minutes before closing and the manager wouldn’t let me in. Another time I was there looking for chaise lounge chairs that the Foster City store ran out of and no one would help me find them. The Customer Service girl said she couldn’t help me unless I had a SKU number and she was too busy to look it up because she was counting the cash drawer. I asked her for the manager and he sauntered up and appeared to be disinterested in helping me. I ended up walking out and giving my $ 400 sale to Home Depot instead. The last straw was last month when I made a $ 7.50 purchase with $ 10 in cash coupons (earned from my massive purchases at the FC OSH). The cashier took the $ 10 and didn’t give me any cash or credit back for the difference. She was completely confused as to why I would want the difference back. Another cashier came by and said the «thought» my account would be credited back but he didn’t know for sure. To no surprise, OSH kept the difference and the cashier kept my receipt so I have no way of pursuing the matter.
If you want a pleasant shopping experience, avoid the Millbrae store!

The reason I originally switched to this location from the SSF OSH is because of the customer service. The reason I will never again return is because of the customer service.
Beautiful plants — lovely location — surly old women at the register who have NO interest in helping you out. This has to be the 3^rd or 4^th time I’ve experienced this. If I’m going to spend $ 100 on plants, I’m not going to continue to leave a store feeling like crap about myself because I did not successfully pick up a 25 pound bag of bird seed in the correct direction for the woman to scan it properly. They HAVE portable scanners. I have an injured back and so moving each of of my plants (there were so many of them) to the counter and then having to put them back again and then having to keep track of which ones she scanned (did I scan this yet? did you just put this up here?) is lame. At Lowe’s, Home Depot and Sloat they scan the plants while they are still in your cart. If you are not going to do that, at least have a rolling counter or a grocery store length rolling counter so that your stuff moves to the front automatically (since those lazy women sure aren’t going to move anything for you). The birdseed was an oversized item and lifting it up at an angle was awful and then having her tell me I picked it up facing the wrong direction!!! Who ARE these women anyway and where did they find them? They are so rude and condescending and SLOW!
I never do this, but I went back to the Customer Service desk to ask about whether the checkers could use their scanners and scan on the other side of the counter. She seemed irritated with me, as did the other employee standing there gossiping with her. Clearly I was bothering them. Anyway, in case anyone else ever needs to know this — it’s not the checker’s responsibility to «know» when to scan items in your cart, even if they are really heavy. My bad. I would think that if you have over 20 small plants that using a portable scanner would be easier on the clerk and the customer. My first experience with Millbrae OSH was awesome and the checker scanned all my stuff while it was still in the cart — and she was awesome and friendly and signed us up for an OSH discount card and I loved her. I’ve never seen her since.
Next time I spend $ 100 somewhere, it will be somewhere where I know I can get good customer service. No one wants to leave a store feeling as if they have been a burden — yet I certainly did today.

Pricier than the big box store, but always wait for the good sales they have, 20% off something of your choice, and you can print as many as you want.

They have a good selection of things here. Darlene is by far the best worker there, very knowledgeable and absolutely customer service orientated.

Friendly and helpful staff. OK selection of all kinds of hardware stuff. They’ve added a good size selection of appliances now (stoves, fridg, washer/​dryer …). Lighting choices aren’t as good as it used to be.
+many for the plant return policy. Something about replacing your plants if you got it from them … I’ve been too embarrassed to take them off on their offer as I’m quite a plant killer.
Aside from general hardware stuff, they also carry a lot of cool kitchen and garden stuff. Bön-​Ami powder, Myer cleaning products, canning jars in different sizes … neat isles to browse through.
For some strange reason … keys I get made at any OSH never really work well.

There’s something just a little special about OSH, and it’s hard to exactly pin down that special – it’s just kind of everywhere in the store. I went there yesterday, and it just proved to me again that this is a great place to look for home and garden needs.
Sure, you could go to Lowe’s or Home Depot and find an awesome selection, but you can get a lot of similar stuff at Orchard without that warehouse kind of atmosphere. Plus, there’s one thing that either Lowe’s or Home Depot can’t top Orchard with in a million years– Domestics. I’m not talking appliances (although OSH has them too now). I’m talking about kitchen items – canning jars, food containers, vacuum sealers, cooking/​baking supplies, even refrigerator magnets. They have camping supplies too.
Don’t get me wrong – this isn’t some watered-​down hardware store. If you want a hammer, you can definitely get one. They’ve got all the power tools and workshop supplies you’ll need, paint and solvents, electrical, plumbing and lighting – the whole enchilada – PLUS the other stuff I mentioned above.
Service is also an area where you can’t really beat OSH. Whereas at Lowe’s or Home Despot, where you’re looking in aisle after aisle chasing after customer «service» people who seem to run away from you, at OSH, a gentleman named Smitty was right there to ask if we needed help. He took us from one item to the next and was really helpful.
Next time I need to build something or get something for the garden, I think I may skip the warehouse and give these guys my business instead. For a few more minutes driving, it’s a lot less time looking around, and a lot less frustration.

I’m diggin’ this place hard core. Oh yeah.
I usually go to the Lowes in South San Francisco/​San Bruno area but they didn’t have the battery powered deadbolt I was looking for so I came here instead.
You drive into the parking lot which is adjacent to the A&W/KFC so not only do you get to pay yourself on the back for completing yet another DIY job, you can also get your grub on. I love this OSH for the small town feel it gives you with it’s low ceilings, the lawn furniture in the front and is that a whiskey barrel I spy? Really? Only 20 bucks? What ever could I store in that? Maybe I could slap some suspenders on it and make it a fun Halloween costume? The possibilities are endless!
Walk right in and you usually get greeted by at least 2 people. I’m like the cat with the jingle bell collar in a hardware store with my 4 inch patent leather heels (it’s my day off okay?!) and the always adorable look of, «which way did he go George? Which way did he go?» on my face. I’ve never had sales associates go so out of their way to literally walk you up the actual item you’re looking for.
I always have a great time at OSH. They have a small selection of power tool’s compared to the omniforce that is Home Depot and Lowe’s but it’s very convenient to find anything you need.
I had to return an item because my dumb ass somehow bought two. Easy return policy and somehow I got a $ 1 back because of the new state tax policy. So I get my money back and an extra dollar. Yay!
Side note: I’ll be back for more batteries when the battery powered deadbolt beeps it’s warning beep at me. Thanks Marc.