If the folks who run this outfit are related to the company of the same
name that used to run home improvement stores in Maryland and other east
coast cities, this report is no surprise. The was, without
qualification, the worst retail experience I've ever had in terms of
service and merchandise. They finally closed their retail stores about
six or eight years ago. I wouldn't buy anything from these folks if
they were the last shop on the web.

Cap'n

Steve W wrote:
If you are considering buying tools from this site, use caution. For those
that want to skip the story, here is a quick summary of my experience:

They did not respond to multiple cancellation emails sent within 12 hours of
an order.
They did not respond to phone requests to confirm the cancellation made
within 24 hours.
They billed my credit card two weeks before they shipped it (in spite of the
attempted cancel).
They would not help me stop shipment.
They did not respond to the AmEx inquiry after I asked for a hold on the
payment.

Here are the details:

I ordered a TS on 3/23, but found it for about 150.00 less on Amazon later
that day. According to Hechinger's site, orders can be cancelled without a
fee before shipping. I cancelled the order less than 12 hours after it was
placed, then called them the next morning to confirm the cancellation before
ordering the other TS. The rep told me she could not confirm, but she would
give the information to the cancellation department who would get back to me
within a week. This sounded a little fishy to me, but with the way Amazon
prices bounce around I went ahead and ordered the other saw.

The Amazon order went through fine and I had the saw within a week. then,
on 4/5/06 I got a shipping notice from Hechinger! I emailed them, called
them and called the shipping company to stop the shipment. Everyone said
they could not stop it en route and the Hechinger rep could not explain why
the order was not cancelled after 2 emails and 2 phone calls to be sure on
3/24. By the way, I never did get the cancellation confirmation email or
any email response at all for that matter.

I asked AmEx to stop payment and they said they had already charged my card
on 3/24! AmEx investigated the claim to get Hechinger's side of the story.
Hechinger never responded to them so AmEx refunded my money. I was able to
send to saw back when the delivery guy called me to schedule the drop off.
A close call, but I came out of it ok.

Not only is their shipping slow by modern standards, but they seem to either
be very disorganized or dishonest. I have never had an online shopping
experience like this and suggest others steer clear to avoid a similar
problem.

-Steve