Shoppers, You've Been Warned: This Is Consumer Reports' Bottom-Ranked Appliance Store

While some appliances are a waste of money, most are a necessary part of modern living. In fact, life can get hectic when even one stops functioning as it should. Fortunately, with online retailers and wholesale clubs selling appliances alongside traditional appliance stores, consumers have more options than ever when shopping for things like new fridges, washers, or microwaves. However, not all retailers are equal in price or customer satisfaction, and that's abundantly apparent with Consumer Reports' (CR) appliance store rankings, as of August 2026. According to CR's overall scores, Menards ranked last among both major appliance sellers and small appliance sellers, with the lowest score in the selection category (for large appliances) and mediocre scores in categories like pricing, customer service, and in-store atmosphere.

Menards' scores place it just behind Sears, which is perhaps unsurprisingly given Sears' bankruptcy and brand collapse in the 2010s (amazingly, a small handful of Sears locations remain open in 2026). However Menards' ranking is a bit more of a mystery. The Wisconsin-headquartered retailer has over 300 locations across 15 states, and, according to a 2026 Forbes profile, is the third-largest home improvement chain in the U.S., after Home Depot and Lowe's. While neither Home Depot or Lowe's are ranked near the top of Consumer Reports' appliance store roundup, but both sit higher than Menards with average or above-average rankings in every category. Pricing also appears to be comparable across these chains meaning there may be other factors negatively affecting customer reviews of Menards.

When shopping for large mainstay appliances like refrigerators or dishwashers, things like rebates and warranties can sweeten the deal. Unfortunately for some Menards customers, the opposite may have happened. Menards holds a "bad" 1.6 score out of 5 on Trustpilot, with common customer complaints including a lack of follow-through on product warranties and frustration with the store's rebate program.

In fact, the rebate program has even caused legal issues for Menards on top of bad customer reviews. In December 2025, Menards was ordered to pay a $4.25 million multi-state settlement over claims that it purposely misled consumers with its rebate program advertising. Per the allegations, Menards advertised 11% off all of its products, implying that such a discount would be taken off at the point of sale. In reality, the retailer only offered this rebate in the form of store credit on future purchases. As of August 2026, the rebate program is still active, with the fine print on the store's website explaining that its advertised 11% off savings can only be used on future in-store sales (and it can't be used on website orders).

Menards' poor performance in pricing, selection, service, and atmosphere indicates that it's a far cry from the best place to buy appliances, per Consumer Reports. However, taking a deeper look, it's worth noting that part of the retailer's low CR ranking could be due to a lack of data in certain categories.

In CR's rankings of appliance retailers, Menards has no data for categories like website usability, home delivery, or installation (as of August 2026), whereas the top-ranking appliance retailer, Abt, has perfect scores in those areas. Per Consumer Reports' own explanation of its rating methods, products or brands without sufficient data in a particular area are assumed to have an average score. So, whether or not Menards actually has a lackluster website experience or home delivery and installation service remains to be seen. As for every other category, it still might be worth shopping elsewhere.