- Report: #402067
Complaint Review: The Great Hardware Store - Chesterton Indiana
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Author Confirmed
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The Great Hardware Store
802 Wabash Avenue Chesterton, 46304 Indiana, U.S.A.
Phone:
219-728-1708
Web:
N/A
Categories:
Business Rating:
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The Great Hardware Store ,Dean Vander Woude ,Grand Rental Station Credit Card Scammers Posing As An Internet Retail Store Chesterton Internet, Indiana
First off, I should have known not to buy from them. Their site looks very amateurish, hardly any of the items have any pictures, and the names of the items were strangely written. It looks VERY sketchy. However, they were the most legit looking place that carried the ant killer that I needed. Besides that, their "warehouse" is just a little over an hour away from me (not that it helped me on the cost of shipping, to the tune of $40 to ship 10 pounds), so I figured I'd give them a try.
BIG MISTAKE!!
My ant killer was supposed to ship within "1 to 2 business days", so I figured I'd have it in a week, tops. NOPE. Two weeks go buy, no ant killer. I sent an email asking for the status of my order. No response after two days, so I sent another, slightly angry email. NOTHING. Now I know I've been scammed. I call the number listed on the site (NOT an 800 number like a legitimate business would have), and no one answered. I was going to leave a long message asking where my stuff is and why haven't you answered my emails, but the voice mail was full and wouldn't take my message. I tried calling two or three times a day for the next several days. Finally I was able to leave a message after nearly a dozen calls. So I wait and I wait and I wait. NO RESPONSE!!!
Three weeks now, no ant killer. I was at the point that I was just going to file a complaint with my credit card company. That's when the first email response came, telling me how sorry they were that they couldn't ship that product to me due to some wacky restriction their vendor has. I responded, asking why they don't make that information available on their site, and to kindly refund my money. No response, NO REFUND!!!!
Trying to contact them about this issue is a rehash of my first attempt at contacting them. As the 30 day mark passed, I went ahead and filed a complaint with my credit card company. THAT sure got their attention. I got an email accusing ME of fraud, and a phone call from 219-405-3327. A guy named "Dean Vander Woude", claiming to be the owner of the business, accusing me of the same. How anyone in their right mind could think that I was scamming them is beyond me. After going ten rounds with him on the phone, I just couldn't belive what I was hearing, so I hung up. The same number called my phone eight times before giving up.
Shortly thereafter I receive a response from my bank, telling me that the "merchant" is disputing my claim, and claims to have package tracking information that clearly shows that I received my bug juice. WHAT?!!?!
I sent them the email from The Great Hardware Store telling me about why they couldn't ship the stuff to me in the first place. After over a month, I got my money back.
The long story short is that they held $200+ hostage for nearly 55 days!!! I've filed a complaint with the BBB and both the Indiana and Illinois Attorney General's office. Who knows if it'll do any good, but this place is insane.
Unhappycamper
Chicago, Illinois
U.S.A.
BIG MISTAKE!!
My ant killer was supposed to ship within "1 to 2 business days", so I figured I'd have it in a week, tops. NOPE. Two weeks go buy, no ant killer. I sent an email asking for the status of my order. No response after two days, so I sent another, slightly angry email. NOTHING. Now I know I've been scammed. I call the number listed on the site (NOT an 800 number like a legitimate business would have), and no one answered. I was going to leave a long message asking where my stuff is and why haven't you answered my emails, but the voice mail was full and wouldn't take my message. I tried calling two or three times a day for the next several days. Finally I was able to leave a message after nearly a dozen calls. So I wait and I wait and I wait. NO RESPONSE!!!
Three weeks now, no ant killer. I was at the point that I was just going to file a complaint with my credit card company. That's when the first email response came, telling me how sorry they were that they couldn't ship that product to me due to some wacky restriction their vendor has. I responded, asking why they don't make that information available on their site, and to kindly refund my money. No response, NO REFUND!!!!
Trying to contact them about this issue is a rehash of my first attempt at contacting them. As the 30 day mark passed, I went ahead and filed a complaint with my credit card company. THAT sure got their attention. I got an email accusing ME of fraud, and a phone call from 219-405-3327. A guy named "Dean Vander Woude", claiming to be the owner of the business, accusing me of the same. How anyone in their right mind could think that I was scamming them is beyond me. After going ten rounds with him on the phone, I just couldn't belive what I was hearing, so I hung up. The same number called my phone eight times before giving up.
Shortly thereafter I receive a response from my bank, telling me that the "merchant" is disputing my claim, and claims to have package tracking information that clearly shows that I received my bug juice. WHAT?!!?!
I sent them the email from The Great Hardware Store telling me about why they couldn't ship the stuff to me in the first place. After over a month, I got my money back.
The long story short is that they held $200+ hostage for nearly 55 days!!! I've filed a complaint with the BBB and both the Indiana and Illinois Attorney General's office. Who knows if it'll do any good, but this place is insane.
Unhappycamper
Chicago, Illinois
U.S.A.
2 Updates & Rebuttals
SomebodyThatYouUsedToKnow
Chesterton,Indiana,
Well...
#2UPDATE EX-employee responds
Tue, September 30, 2014
"The Great Hardware Store" was actually a business in Chesterton, Indiana, purchased and taken over by Dean Vander Woude, former owner of Grand Rental Station. He purchased this internet venture, and some items were legitimately shipped out from the Chesterton, IN location. I know this, because I personally helped package some items when the business was first taken over. However, most of the product was sent out via a dropshipper. Don't get me wrong, I am not defending this man. He is as crooked and two-faced as they come. The reason there was no 800 number is because he is just as much, if not more of a cheap skate! This man is my former employer, so I definitely know first hand. I am sorry you never received your product and were put through such nonsense. I hope you eventually got it resolved. As far as I know, "The Great Hardware Store" is no more. I guess it wasn't so great afterall. He got out of his other rental business as well. I will never work for or do business with that man again. Good riddance!
Dean
Chesterton,Indiana,
U.S.A.
Untrue Statements made about The Great Hardware Store
#3REBUTTAL Owner of company
Fri, February 06, 2009
The person that is making this claim about ant killer is not telling the truth. I have no reason to ever call a customer from any number but our regular company phone number 219-728-1708. The Great Hardware Store is a very legitimate business that adhere's to the highest standards and code of ethics! I would like to personally ask the person making this claim to call me at the office at 219-728-1708 to speak with me about any possible error that may have occured. To date I have no recollection of any type of issue that has happened like this. The Great Hardware Store has been in business for over 100 years and we pride ourselves in Great Hardware at Great Prices with Great Customer Care! We have an outstanding overall reputation with our customers and pride ourselves in being the best! Not to say we don't ever make mistakes as any human does however, we have very high standards and quality care checks in place to minimize any chance for errors or mistakes. In the event of an error, we will always go above and beyond to take care of our customers! I would encourage the un-named person making this claim about myself and The Great Hardware Store to call me personally because I do not believe what was stated is true. The Great Hardware Store processes many, many orders with very high customer satisfaction ratings! Again, I dispute the allegations and slander being made by the "Unhappy Camper" and wish you would call me personally to discuss any issue you may have had. If allegations are going to be made you need to be willing to give your real name and contact information so I can contact you. We appreciate all of our customers and do the very best we can to exceed expectations. Respectfully, Dean
