Portswood Hardware 197 Portswood Road, Portswood, Southampton SO17 2NF

"A proper Aladdin's cave. I have rarely failed to get what I need here. You can spend hours looking at things you never even knew existed!"

"Excellent little shop that pretty much everything under the sun stocked! Helpful staff, such an asset to Portswood thank you."

"I can't bear that the last review is a negative one. I've been using this on and off for about 20 years and it never fails to disappoint. It's a treasure trove! I was last in there to try and find some bits for a guitar amp I was building. Found everything I was looking for and more! Good prices as well. I'm very pleased and would recommend."

"gender discrimimation. Grumpy old man refused to sell me several tools that I asked for because according to him "you don't need them". I did not ask for any advice at all. I asked for specific tools that I wanted to buy, which they kept in a locked area that required an employee to unlock. The business replied below that by asking for a specific tool it means I was asking for advice. It should occur to that man that some of the women who come to this business know more than he does, and could teach him a thing or two. Just because a customer is a woman does not mean she is coming to the store asking for advice - what they've done here is called gender discrimination. He would not sell me the tool because he first needed to know what I wanted it for. But, why do you think a woman wants a tool? Does a woman need a reason to buy a tool? Am I required to tell you a reason why I want a tool in order to make a purchase? I used to have a collection of many tools but no longer have a collection. The man insisted that the tools I was asking for were for a specific job and therefore I should not have them on-hand for any other jobs, so he decided that I can't purchase the tools! As if i would never use the tools again! That's ridiculous. Regarding a utility knife, I was told to use a kitchen knife (seriously!). Do women really belong in the kitchen, is that "my domain"? Regarding channel-lock pliers, I was told to use my hands with a marigold glove and "really put some force on it" (seriously!). Is that how you remove old bolts that are in a small crevice close to a wall? Are you superman? Even after I explained how silly all of that is, and how that just would not work for my situation, he still REFUSED to sell the tools because I'm a woman. I wasn't able to complete sevaral of my jobs, so I had to buy my tools online. Later when I told the men at my property what had happened, they said that as men they would never, ever be treated like that in a hardware store and felt very sorry for my experience."

"This store is basically a tardis. Despite looking small, it somehow manages to sell just about everything - hardware, kitchen stuff, wool and sewing things, gardening, household... And probably loads more I've missed! Staff are amazingly helpful and friendly, been in many times not knowing quite what I need and they've always been able to advise. Fantastic shop."