I would say that they’re worse than local hardware stores. Not only is it really difficult to get help in a Home Depot, but they rarely have any even remotely specialized. Lets say you need a specialized gasket to fix your bidet. Home Depot probably doesn’t have it, and if they do, they’ll make you search for it for an hour, and then make you buy 12 of them for $10. The local hardware store will have a little white haired dude who knows exactly what you need, exactly where it is, will explain how to prevent it from going bad again, and will sell you one gasket for 37 cents.
I think they are all locally owned though. Every ACE in my area is like this, smaller but with helpful knowledgeable staff who either take care of you or tell you where to go if they don’t have it.
I would say that they’re worse than local hardware stores. Not only is it really difficult to get help in a Home Depot, but they rarely have any even remotely specialized. Lets say you need a specialized gasket to fix your bidet. Home Depot probably doesn’t have it, and if they do, they’ll make you search for it for an hour, and then make you buy 12 of them for $10. The local hardware store will have a little white haired dude who knows exactly what you need, exactly where it is, will explain how to prevent it from going bad again, and will sell you one gasket for 37 cents.
At least near me, I’ve found ACE Hardware to still be like this, despite being a big name chain.
I think they are all locally owned though. Every ACE in my area is like this, smaller but with helpful knowledgeable staff who either take care of you or tell you where to go if they don’t have it.
ACE hardware is definitely a lot better than Home Depot.
It really depends on who is working when you go, so of the younger guys just known where stuff is, not every arcane solution ever used in home repair.