Aborn True Value Hardware

Never have I ever encountered a store owner as abusive, confrontational, and downright mean than Jose Monroy at True Value in Brookline.
I walked in looking for a space heater. Jose pointed me to the aisle. I chose said space heater and approached cash register where I saw a sign that said «AC units cannot be returned.» This prompted me to wonder what the return policy of the store was so I asked.
«What is your return policy?»
Jose said, «Why, are you going to return it? «
I said, «Not unless there is a problem, and I would just like to know what the return policy is.»
«What’s the problem going to be?» he asked, taking the space heater from the counter where I had set it.
«There is no problem,» I replied. «I’d just like to know the return policy.»
He then got visibly angry and said: «Don’t think you can come back here after you open the space heater and return it. You can’t just bring it back here after you use it. We don’t take returns.»
«Oh, okay. Well that’s good to know, and you really don’t need to get an attitude with me. I’m trying to buy something from you and don’t appreciate how you’re talking to me,» I said.
«Attitude, I know I have an attitude,» he responded. «I have a bad attitude!» he said. He then proceeded to yell things I honestly can’t remember because it was just bizarre. I remember saying «This is no way to treat a customer,» and he said that I thought I was special.
Here’s the moral of the story. I will never return to this store because of the complete disrespect of the owner, and I would encourage anyone to walk a few blocks across Comm Ave and go to any number of the houseware stores. Or shit, I’d support the global Amazon conglomerate over this terrible businessowner any day.

The owner is not a very nice person, who doesn’t offer customer service that will make you want to shop in this store. Apparently I’m not the only one that thinks the same thing.

The owner is an old, overweight man with thick glasses that looks unhappy all the time. When you try to ask him for help he is condescending and gets very upset. He is grumpy and most of his employees are the same way (bad role model). The selection in this hardware store is very limited. I would go to Model Hardware at 22 Harvard Ave that has 5 times the selection and great customer service. The prices here are also high. It is about 30% higher than prices you find at Home Depot. The owner thinks he is doing you a favorable by selling you his products so he can earn a living. Don’t waste your time and money here.

Useless staff working there. You might as well need to come in knowing exactly what you need to get for a project since none of the staff members have any ideas or suggestions.
I went in looking for a few things to properly get water pumped and misting into a terrarium and when I asked the guy at the store (unfortunately he didn’t have a name tag or I would call him out here) if they had a bulkhead for my plumbing purposes, he just blankly stared at me and said, «I don’t know what that is.» How do you work in a hardware store and not know what a basic piece of plumbing equipment is?
Of course, rather than get someone who might know he just stared blankly at me. He was very rude, very short and could take a few basic lessons in manners.
I guess I should’ve expected as much from a hardware store that piles up many of its items outside the store front like trash.
Save yourself the frustration and just go to Home Depot in Watertown.

The employees are nice and helpful BUT the owner is mean. If you return anything even if you have the receipt and the product is unopened, you are treated poorly.
He will throw your credit card down in disgust and acts like you are committing a crime. The owner needs to take a lesson in customer service.

No improvement since the last visit. I came in again for garden containers and the owner clearly gave me a dirty look once I decided not to buy.
On a different note, does the owner of this crappy store pay Unilocal for high stars or st? Just saying

The owners and employees are so helpful, and usually have what I need in stock. I love this place, and patronize their business whenever I have the opportunity.

NO VALUE!!!
Before we begin, lets just keep in mind that the reviews for this store are rather tainted. Meaning when the original owner was around and reviews were being put up on Unilocal with great reviews it has since gone completely down with the new owner Jose. So you have original owner reviews and new owner reviews on the same page. If this Unilocal page on True Value was solely based on when Jose bought the store the rating would be down to only 1– 1 ½ stars!
With that said.
After reading all the reviews on this store its quite obvious the Store Owner is an incompetent scam artist with a bad attitude and the idea that He is always right and the customer is not.
The other day I moved to the neighborhood and my gf wanted a dolly. We went to True value where a man was watching her intently threw their window (–jose– a little creepy). Immediately when entering he jumped in front of her to know what she wanted. She asked for a dolly and he took us to the basement??? Items were all over the place and huge window screens covered the item. Took him awhile to move them. I asked how much the dolly’s were and his reply was, «They are all good price, cheap». I said that’s all good but how much. He refrained from saying. Hard to see in the dim lighted area. Not a good way to sell an item. I just said fine give me the smallest one you have. We traveled back to the main floor and he turned the basement lights off. Jose moved so quick with the item I didn’t get a good look at it and then scanned it behind a counter. I had things to do so My gf was to take care of it. Upon seeing my gf a bit later I realized the item was warped. The middle section was bent at two different sections. The price of the dolly was 40 bucks. a 300 pound warped dolly with scratches and dents for 40 bucks when I could have just went to Lowes or Home Depot for a NON USED one for 30 dollars. I thought in a crowded area where everyone knew your name you would refrain from scamming people and lose face, perhaps I should have demanded to see the item more closely but I was running on good faith that day, perhaps I was on fumes. My gf said no problem since I was busy and she’d just return it. It states on the receipt that it can be returned within 30 days of the transaction. So I continued moving into my new place while she returned the item. When she walked into the store asking Jose if she could return the dolly, he immediately stated «No «. She told him what was wrong with the product. Then Jose told her that she was the one that warped, scratched and ruined the dolly and that she was being dishonest! That he would not refund her unless she told him that she knew what dishonest meant. Eventually he put the money back on her card and then literally threw it at her! I did not find out about this until later.
Jose is just as everyone on here has said, He is bad tempered, scams his customers, starts becoming beyond upset and Violent if you have any type of issues. Its obvious that Jose is not a people person, actually he seems to hate his customers. He must have fought with so many of them he is now re-​using words like dishonest etc to his customers that im sure they used on him for insults. If you read all the reviews its obvious he scares the community. This man needs to lose his store, he is not fit to sell items to the hard working community. He needs to start acting right before someone gives him a real wake up call.
Pro’s: There is an Ace hardware down the street where people know what they are doing and can help you on projects where True value (read the reviews) Cannot.
Con’s: True Value is a known brand unfortunately The Owner is a Jerk and needs serious therapy. People are afraid of the owner and True Value should strip their name from this man’s «business» as he is giving them a really bad reputation.

Don’t waste your time on visiting this place. The owner is dishonest and will ask you to never return to his store. Yesterday my bf and I bought a Dolly to help with moving some boxes. So Jose showed what type of Dolly he had in stock and we opted for the cheapest one. Upon leaving the store we notice there were dents on the Dolly it has already been used. So my bf asked me to return the dolly back to the store asking for a refund. I told Jose what happen he accused me of being dishonest and I was offended by his accusation. He refused to refund me unless I admitted being dishonest and I said I wasn’t being dishonest. He finally refunded my debit card telling me to never return. He call himself a Friendly neighborhood hardware store, in reality he should be calling himself the king of scamming the good hardworking people of brookline.

Normally I’m a fan. Tonight, my friend is in the hospital and I need to copy her keys so I can go feed her cat and give them back to her. I looked online and it said aborn was open, so I came down, fed the meter and went to get my keys. And they were closed. I understand, they maybe closed early for the holiday, but they are getting the crappy review because there was no sign on the door, nothing on their website, and the employee who came to the door was a total asshole about it. It’s not that hard to put a sign on the door and a note on the website.

I’ve gone in here only for odds and ends that I needed, but they always had what I wanted and at a reasonable price. Costumer service has always been great here for me as well.

Since taking over the adjacent City Housewares, Aborn is now a hardware store and home goods store in one. Neither side of the store is particularly big, but I’ve usually been able to find what I need (tools, random sized screws, laundry bag, canning supplies, cooking implements, you name it) although choices are limited. I’m willing to choose from a limited selection to support a neighborhood business, and the convenience is worth a lot.
HOWEVER, as a small neighborhood business, service should be better. Service isn’t rude, but it isn’t friendly either. The owner or an employee is usually available to show you where to find what you are looking for, but don’t expect much in the way of project or product advice (which you usually can get at hardware stores and even at the big box stores).
As an example, on a recent weekend I called to ask if they could cut down a couple of wooden boards for a project I was working on. I was told sure, just make sure everything is measured because they don’t help with that. No problem. Except that the employee who was sent to do the cutting spoke didn’t seem to understand when we asked him to position the wood so the saw blade would be to the outside of our line, which resulted in too much being cut. On top of that the blade was super dull, and splintered my wood pretty badly, and the employee also didn’t understand when I asked him to flip the wood for the remaining cuts so at least the splintering would be on the back. In the end my pieces were cut roughly to size, so I figured I couldn’t complain too much — until I was charged $ 10 for the service! Home Depot does it free, with much better equipment, and they’ll even help out with measuring.
The neighborhood hardware stores understandably can’t compete against the big guys on selection or price, but they should be able to provide superior service, and Aborn falls short.

The person pictured in their description is a real Jerk. His customer service skills are absolutely the worst. You ask him for a little extra help and he becomes upset. The lady who works there is very nice and helpful, maybe he should take some lessons from her. The Jerk apparently use to sell encyclopedias back home and now that he’s come to this country and opens a business in Brookline Ma, he’s too privileged now and does not believe in customer service. Reading other reviews about this business i found i am not the only one who has had issues with the owner jerk.

Recently moved to Allston after living in Fenway and shopping at the Economy true Value where everyone was very nice. I had one one of the worst experiences of my life here the other day when I went in to return an unused item and was informed by the owner (Jose) that they do not take returns for items that have been opened. How is someone supposed to know there are missing or faulty pieces if they never open the packaging?! I informed him that I had never heard of a hardware store that wouldn’t take an opened item as a return and he rudely called me an idiot and told me not to come back. This man was the rudest person I have come across in Boston, and that’s saying a lot. If you have a choice, never go to Aborn True Value!

Came here a few times. Every time I thought they might not sell what I needed. How much can you stuff into a store that size? Well a lot, it turns out, and always what I needed. The staff is helpful and know what they sell. When you walk in they ask immediately what you’re looking for and the guide you to it, if they have it (which they will). Prices are good, especially considering it’s around the corner.

I’ve been going to this local hardware store for 2 years. While the prices are sometimes higher than Home Depot, they have always offered excellent customer service.

I went to True Value to get one copy each of two different keys. When I left the store, I somehow ended up with 4 copies of one key, and it was clear that they had copied one of the originals over other original, rendering the key useless. I couldn’t get in to my apartment building anymore because they had ruined the key.
I brought it back in an explained that I knew they couldn’t do anything, but because it was their mistake asked if they could at least take care of the invoice from my management company for the new key and lock change I would inevitably have to pay for. While one of the employees could clearly see where the original key had been cut, Jose and his wife were extremely rude and refused to take responsibility. Absolutely TERRIBLE experience, and the WORST customer service I have ever encountered.

This was my first time at this store. I bought a bag a perlite here. The manager had to go back to there stock room to find it for me and it took awhile — no big deal. The bag was dusty but she wiped it down. When I got home and opened the bag, the perlite was all wet and smelled very moldy. In fact my whole apartment smelled like mold for several hours after I opened up the bag (and promptly closed it). Upon further inspection I noticed mold on the outside of the bag and holes where it looked like the bag had been crushed due to improper storage in their stock room.
I like to support local stores but not when I end up paying more for a product that has gone bad. This experience has made me question whether I can trust the quality of products at Aborn. Next time I will probably just go to Home Depot.

I’m deducting a star because of my first few visits here.
The first few times I came in here, I was pretty annoyed with the staff. They made it seem like it was a big that a girl was shopping at a hardware store. Not only that, that I was buying «real» supplies and not just stopping in for decorative tape or something. On more than one occasion I was if I knew how to use what I was buying at check out in a way that was really condescending and not really a helpful customer service question.
After a while, the staff stopped making comments about my purchases and have just been friendly sales people.
The selection is pretty good. It’s certainly not a Home Depot, but they keep a little bit of everything in stock from construction supplies to Christmas lights.

I must echo what has been said before: it’s mind boggling how many things are able to fit in such a small store! Though, if you show up before they open in the morning, to try to be one of the first in, you’ll see them unload a TON of things onto the sidewalk — this must help with the interior spacial relations of things. It’s just such a TEENY space!
I have been able to find a lot of things here that I need for work and for home improvement reasons at chez Julia F. I have never been wowed by how great the customer service has been, nobody has been mean to me, but nobody has been all that outwardly nice either.
Much like Economy HArdware used to do, there ar ea whole bunch of small appliances in the place for sale. Coffe maker? Yup. Plumbing fittings to finish fixing dishwasher? Mmmhmm! Large0ass roll of painters drop clothes.