Rockler Woodworking & Hardware

The customer service at this place is amazing. I walked in with an odd request. We had custom ordered an urn that was supposed to come with a hand made custom cherry wood lid and when we opened the package low and behold — no lid. We had the package overnighted to be delivered on Friday since the service would be on Sunday. So when we call of course they were closed and on Saturday morning we were told there was nothing the company could do. So I went to Rockler’s looking for a miracle and I got it. I brought the urn with me, told them my issue and they were amazing. The guys there were able to look around what they had in the store until they found a piece of wood they could work with. The manager I believe, was then able to turn this normal piece of wood into a beautiful custom made lid that looked better than what the original piece would have looked liked. Although there were quite a few customers in the store and he was busy when I got there, he took a good hour of his time to help me out. The excellent customer service and generosity of this store will not be forgotten. It’s nice to know there are still good people out there wiling to help you out. Thank you!

I bought a new, unfinished mahogany door and needed expert advice on how to finish it. They were extremely helpful and recommended a great gel stain, and walked me through what I needed to do. The only negative is that I was told to use a paint pad to apply the varnish and be sure to wash it first because otherwise it could leave fibers on the finish. I did this but still had to pick white fibers from all over the door. Should have just used a foam brush.

A haven for all woodworking needs, Rockler is a great resource for woodworkers. This location is large and well stocked. From specialty woods to veneer, finishing supplies, books, tools and bits all the way to turning blanks and hardware. I can spend hours in here and love when I get to go. The staff is knowledgable and the manager, Mike, is a great resource. You can also come here on select days, usually weekend days, and complete a select project and learn a new skill. They also have demo days, showcasing new tools. They also hold a bi yearly old tool swap meet in conjunction with the San Diego Fine Woodworkers Association as well as sponsoring woodworking competitions. The prices can be a tad high, so be prepared for that, but the quality of the products is high.

Been shopping here for a few years now. I started out such a newbie, I wasn’t even sure how to use a toothpick. All the staff here have been very helpful in showing and explaining how things work; and recommending things I hadn’t thought of. Mike (the manager) has been especially helpful, but so has Paul and Alan. I’ve been doing woodworking for about 4 years now and this store is my go to place.

This place sucks. I purchased 10k worth of equipment here over the past year. A saw stop and some jet equipment. They have hobby guys working there that don’t know enough about the equipment to be selling it. Delivery takes forever and then the guys don’t call when it is there and put you off when you keep calling to see if it’s in yet. Then you pick your new cast iron equipment that’s obviously heavy and the young guy tasked with helping you load it crys when his hand gets scratched on your anti skid Bed liner like a girl. I’ve seen guys cry less after cutting a finger off. The old manager is the only one with any real knowledge of the products. God help you if you get Alan from the south. Amazon is getting my future business. Also they all use a weird excuse about how corporate doesn’t allow them to do their job correctly when the guy can’t help you, bizarre!!! So basically your typical bad customer service store that I’m finding more common these days as well as a huge lack of customer service and qualified employees. I hate to say it again but if you know what you are looking for and want just Amazon it. This plays blows big balls why doesn’t San Diego have a better option yet?

Seems like a good store but the workers are not informed about how the system works. After driving to the store and finding an idem out of stock one employee told me to call in the next day to put one on hold. I call today and I am told that the shipment hasn’t been gone through and to call back later. After calling 4 times and being told to call back I get someone who checks the system and tells me that with the shipment they have a –3 stock fro the idem. I am so mad right now because this store was a complete waste of my time. I talked to 4 different people and only 1 person knew what was going on. This has been a horrible experience and I am not looking to ever go back. Good luck with you business but you will not have mine!

We went in here looking for some pegs and a slide for a cribbage board we are in the middle of making. They did not have what we were looking for, which isn’t necessary the issue. While we were there the employees (who had NOTHING else going on) never asked if we needed help, one employee even had the audacity to walk passed me to ask an older gentleman if he needed help finding anything (he never acknowledged my presence at all). Needless to say I walked out of there feeling discriminated against and without the pieces I needed to complete my project. Luckily amazon had what I needed at a much better price.

This review is for the on-​the-​phone-​customer service experience I had this morning with a man named Jeff at Rockler.
There is a paper ad we received in the mail (2^nd half of July ad) for a free stand with any DeWalt planer purchase and the planer model we wanted (the DW734) was not available in-​store, but showed as available online.
With nothing but a friendly, helpful demeanor, Jeff helped me get the stand deal along with the planer we wanted in a very timely fashion over the phone. I have not called to order an item in a long time from any retailer (thank you, Amazon, lol!) and was pleasantly surprised by how easy this went.
We look forward to getting our planer soon and making some awesome, true items!
A big shout-​out again to the wonderful customer service received this morning from Jeff.
FWIW, the store has great items and gorgeous wood/​stains to choose from as well.

I find it unfortunate that this is one of only 2 places in san diego that I am able to find certain woodworking items. They are overpriced and rude. The hours are rediculoys. They open at 9am. I do most of my material and equipment runs before 6 am. The location is aweful. I have never had a job anywhere near here. I just wish there were more options in this town.

I called a month ago looking for a Kreg jig for a pressing job. I was told they were out of them but would have more in a few days. I asked where I could get one ASAP and they recommended another store. I went to the store they recommended and soon felt as if I had leprosy. No one seemed to want to help me and when they did they pointed vaguely and walked away. Eventually i learned that they too were out but could have me one in a week. Disheartened, frustrated and having no sense of loyalty to this new discovery I assessed what this store was good for and drove to Rockler to order one. When I got to Rockler I was offered help by (what seemed to be) the youngest man that worked there (sorry, I forgot his name). When I told him what I was looking for he led me to the spot where it should have been displayed. As expected there were none there. He looked up with a far away look, and spoke in a low voice, as if only to himself. «I know I saw one just the other day. Maybe it sold …» he snapped out of his musings and said «Hold on … I want to check something.» Five minutes later, apologizing for the delay he returned carrying exactly what i was looking for. My job got done on time and I really appreciated his conscientious effort that seems common to Rockler staff. However, despite my feel that this is a five star place, the erroneous response to my initial call, forces me reluctantly knock off a star this time.

I was so incredibly new to woodworking when I walked in to Rockler. it was like a candy store. I am a Black retired police officer and I no doubt stood out amongst the middle aged white suspender wearing, very experienced looking clientele. Within 10 minutes, a bearded employee was on my heels following me all over the store. When I got in the corner near some books, I turned to look at him and he said, without hesitation, «You’re new to woodworking and you don’t know where to start… am I right or am I right?» I asked him how he knew. He said the way I picked up certain woodworking items and stared at them in a way that suggested I’d never seen them before. I couldn’t stop laughing, ’cause he was so right. He suggested a few items to think about and strongly suggested I not buy too much in one visit. He said if I spent too much in his store on my first visit, it would put my marriage at risk when I bring it all home. He suggested I sneak a few items home at a time. We both laughed. My point here is, these guys are great. They know their stuff and they will impart their knowledge on anyone who asks. They have periodic sales on really cool items. I would suggest you give them a try. They’ve been around for a long time and there’s a reason for that. As a bonus, they’re very military friendly. Active duty and retired duty gets an immediate discount… how cool is that?
P. S. I’m sending this review out on my wife’s Unilocal account… hopefully she won’t read it.

THE WORST IN CUSTOMER SERVICE!!! I felt that being a person with skin color other than white and not having a vast, superior knowledge of woodworking put me in the second class citizen category.

Good selection of woodworking items. For a newbie, however, I did not feel welcome. I’m new to the area and the craft. I guess it’s a niche crowd and anyone else may be a candidate for a shoplifter. Bummer. I did buy close to $ 100 bucks of items that I wanted to see and feel instead of getting them on amazon.
I’m an engineer by profession and teaching myself woodworking, a very quick study and I have enjoyed what I have created just from books and videos. Sad this is not newbie friendly place or at least friendly to me. I don’t feel welcome by having someone follow me around the store and looking over my shoulder. I would expect that over a bigger franchise, not from a specialty «neighborhood feel» local store.
I hope you have a better experience if you end up going.

To say I love this place is an understatement.
I picked up a wood stain from lowes by my house and embarked on refinishing my kicthen cabinets myself… do you see where I’m going with this???
After sanding for hours and applying the stain I purchased from lowes, I panicked. And by panicked i mean it was more like a nervous breakdown. My cabinets went from looking like 10 year old honey oak to 1980’s oak. It was disgusting. After trouble shooting with inexpireinced paint people at lowes i started my internet research. I found a ton of good reviews for general finishes and rockler was an authorized retailer.
At 6:03 pm on Saturday night, 3 mins after closing, some one from rocklers picked up the phone. It felt like I needed a 24 hour crisis line at that point. He was so reassuring and knowledgable. Another bonus, they were open on sundays. I had the same guy help me the following day. They refered to him as the stain master, just what I needed!!! He was amazing. Not only did he take the time to help me find the product (unlike other stores that just point you in the direction), he gave me great tips for my project. And spent quite a bit of time showing me how the product would work on the cabinets I brought from home.
I was impressed with the quality of their products, but HIGHLY impressed with their level of service. I am about 25% done with the cabinets now and the stain looks beautiful.
Thanks again for saving my kitchen!!!

Do not expect this location to have the items you’re looking for in stock. Do not expect this store to honor the sale prices published online. Don’t expect the associates to be much help either… unless you consider politely offering excuses to be helpful.

I went there to ask a simple cabinet question today, and even though the store was dead, the gentleman really was of no help to me and acted basically like I was bothering him. He continued doing his other work (busy work) while talking to me, even walked to another area of store with me talking to him… but not to show me anything… Very poor service.
I really think they should have better customer service if the store is dead like that.
Guess there is a reason people go to Home Depot and Lowe’s…at least they act like they might be able to help you…

I called for an inquiry on some custom work. I was hung up on. Do not use them. Disgusting customer service.

We recently stopped by this hardware store for some parts needed for our cabinets. We called ahead of time to make sure that they had the items we were looking for on hand, considering the store in LA only had a few in stock. Everything was all good until we went to the cashier to pay. My dad has a Rockler account which allows him to get his items slightly discounted. When he told the cashier that he had an account to get his discount, the cashier kept thinking that we wanted to return our items. After a couple minutes of trying to explain that all we wanted was the discount and not a return, we finally got our items. I’m not sure how the word «return» could be confused with «discount» but if you go, you might have to repeat yourself a couple times for the cashier to understand what you’re saying.

I have patronized Rockler over the years, even back when it was known as the Woodworker’s Store. I have neither loved nor hated it, but often found it a good resource when I needed some obscure part. Usually the help has been friendly, but my last visit was different.
I went in and found the item (s) I was looking for, then walked up to the cashier’s desk to pay. Apparently, the clerk working at the station thought it was his mission to correct me because I committed the heinous customer crime of walking up to the closed side of his station. I hope that his little rebuke made him feel good, but it annoyed the crap out of me and will make me less likely to return and spend money in there.
Admittedly, this is not a big deal, but it does show a lack of professionalism on the part of their employees. Maybe they are nicer to their more regular customers, but after that I am not going to stick around and become one of them.

On the to-​do list was: find some hardware for hanging frames and browse the cabinetry handles and hinges for some projects.
It’s been awhile since arts and crafts class so I couldn’t fully appreciate all that Rockler has for its customers. There’s gadgets, do dads, knick knacks and whirly gigs all over the place. I spotted some This Old House logo stuff, circular saws and recognized wood. Thankfully I still know what fasteners, nails and the rest of the things I was looking for resemble.
Without the help of one of the employees, I wouldn’t have located their nails.
In addition to their willing and knowledgeable staff, you can learn from the free classes that they host. There’s a whiteboard and more information inside describing the classes they offer.
There’s overlap with Home Depot on items but Rockler’s specialized and has a lot of in-​house knowledge on their side.