Been very lucky here on a few occasions. Great traditional hardware shop. Very helpful staff. Fantastic stock of all the little bits and pieces you need for minor ongoing repairs. Garage door cable?..go to VAR, o ring for sink plug? don't want to buy a multi piece selection box of 200 just a single o ring...go to VAR. Paper towels for community loo or just for wiping off your dipstick, VAR does not fail to deliver. Great resource.

Still top dog for DIY service and range. If Vahs doesn't stock it then I doubt it exists. They seem to be able to locate anything in this tight and warren- like store. You will discover what you want along with what you thought you might not need....but now do. An institution as much as a shop.

Nothing is priced. Be prepared for a shock when you go to pay. Prices seem to be just guessed at the till. Expect to pay 3 to 4 times that you would pay anywhere else. No exaggeration.

Great service. Lots of stocked products. The Tardis of hardware stores! If you are not sure they will stock it, ask, because it's probably in there. And on the off chance it's not, they can order it for you. Impressive place.

Popped in during a diy kitchen tap change, great service, even one of their customers helped me out before one of the shop keeper knew exactly what I needed and found it in seconds. Will always use this as my first stop shop before going to major brands. They look like they’ve got everything you need, haven’t look upstairs.

Checking my Calor Patio Gas prior to our last BBQ of the season I realised the gauge was showing empty so had only two hours to get a replacement. These cylinders are supplied by two independent companies' Calor and FloGas. Before travelling to Berkhamstead, not wanting to waste a journey, I phoned ahead to check their Calor gas 5Kg Patio Gas stock and was told by a young lady, yes, they have them. They didn't; they had the FloGas variety ! Horror, because they're not exchangeable so had to pay another £30 deposit for the Flogas (bp) cylinder and am now left with two empty Calor gas cylinders, the nearest stockist for which is in Ivor, near Heathrow if I want to get any of my deposit back. In shop, I first explained to one gentleman what my issue was but he had no idea what stock they had. The younger man who stood right next to him as I was explaining, and must have heard my request, made me repeat myself all over again when I was anxious about the extremely difficult parking outside this shop. He might have offered to help carry the two Calor cylinders back to the car, but didn't. So for the misinformation, cynical and unhelpful customer service and impossible parking they were not prepared to help with, I'm afraid minimum stars.

The phrase if VAHs don't have is a mantra you hear over and over, having only ever "succeeded once" it rings true over and over. The staff are very friendly, helpful and knowledgable and I'm amazed with all the items stocked they can point you to the location very quickly. A treasure of a local shop

Pros: - They have most things and it has a 'tardis' feel - Good hideout for zombie invasions - Friendly staff Cons: - Shop is a labyrinth; I'm sure people emerge from there having not seen sunlight in days. - A health and safety officer's nightmare; if there was a fire, those escaping would trip over everything first. - A big con: Tear-able compost bags which were unusable and had clearly been in-store too long. Check your stock quality. - No prices or receipts - Minimum £5 spend on cards* * Depending on the card provider this is illegal, but poorly enforced - the only reason for doing it is to avoid payment processing fees, and a benefit of not doing it is forcing the customer to pay more (which I did, via surprisingly expensive unusable compost bags).