Ooooh, I’m so angry right now! I needed to buy moving boxes so I figured, okay, I’ll go to my neighborhood Ace Hardware store. Ya know, support community businesses and save some gasoline, so green, right? I get there, and 20 small boxes cost $75! I buy the boxes anyway because I’m there with kids and calling my wife on the phone to confirm the $0.67 per box she paid proved fruitless as she did not remember what she paid. She sent a text later about it, but by then it was too late.
I simply couldn’t believe that Ace in competition with Home Depot would be charging so much more for boxes. Just shows what I know. Being irritated and knowing I’d need more boxes, I bit the bullet and drove to Home Depot and confirmed that Ace Hardware was indeed charging astronomically high prices for moving boxes. Yes, I got totally raped by Ace Hardware on those boxes.
I don’t have time to go back to Ace and complain or try to get a refund, but they certainly won’t be getting any business from me again if I have a choice. Next time I hear a sob story about how Home Depot is driving small hardware stores out of business, you’ll only hear laughs from me. Raping your customers is generally a bad business strategy.
Update: Ok, so maybe Ace is not so bad after all. Over the course of the weekend, I discovered that pretty much everyone except Home Depot sells moving boxes for the same relatively high rate! The Home Depot boxes got the job done for me, but I did note that they were a little softer than the more costly ones, meaning that you’re only getting one move outta these guys. The Home Depot boxes were made of 100% recycled paper though, which might explain the softness. Still, I’d go with those cheaper ones every time. I don’t know how anyone plans to compete with Home Depot with such a wide price disparity.