It took me about 8 checkins at 6 venues, just FYI.

It's weird, I checked in to the same Ace Hardware two different times. Then I checked into a Home Depot, and in that same day checked into that same Ace Hardware... and unlocked it.

It's a weird one like Great Outdoors. Hope someone has more insight

i got it in 3 checkins... all 3 had hardware in the title of the name of the venue and were also tagged as hardware.

Make sure that the main category is Hardware. It should have the Wrench icon for the venue. 3 Home Depots did it for me.

Thanks. I've already done all of the above suggestions and still it's not unlocked for me. Guess I'll just have to pass on this one. When foursquare makes it too hard it's no longer fun.

Yeah I've checked into 4 different Hardware stores (2 Home Depots, 1 Lowes & 1 Menards), I've checked in at least 2 times at each of them, they are all categorized correctly, but still no badge.

Me too...

Now I just did it with these three venuses:
https://it.foursquare.com/venue/15929027 Hardware Bussiness (West Dover, VT)
https://it.foursquare.com/venue/11713010 Aubuchon Hardware (West Dover, VT)
https://it.foursquare.com/venue/15929053 Hardy Things (West Dover, VT)
They all have the wrench sign... be sure!! The ones at the beginning did not work for me.

I got this badge and it shows on foursquare in color. In my phone in the gallery it is grayed out? Why is that happenning? Why is is gray?

it just depends on the page u r looking at to see what badges you have. foursquare.com is going to be the up-to-date correct list of ur badges. i get the same thing all the time too... and if u ever look at foursquare mobile they will only have like 40% of the badges you have in color on there and the rest grayed out. u still have the badge just not everything gets updated on all devices ans api's

Hey peeps, hope this helps to those who haven't unlocked it. I just got this badge this weekend. I actually checked into an Ace Hardware and a Home Depot, both in the same day. The following day I checked into the same Ace Hardware and a Sherwin Williams. I got the badge when I checked into the Sherwin Williams.

I checked into 3 different ones in one day then tested the same Home Depot 3 days in a row. Both worked

I checked into my third Hardware venue today and no luck:
(1) https://foursquare.com/venue/103541
(2) https://foursquare.com/venue/113460
(3) https://foursquare.com/venue/239459

They're all correctly categorized and my check-ins at all three were successful with no errors. =/ Sounds like for some reason this problem isn't uncommon, so I'll just keep trying.

@ruffian23 I checked into your 3 venues one after another with a clean account and the badge unlocked for me. Try deleting the three prior check ins and re-checking in using the mobile site. Also, how old are your first two c/i's? Some badges require that you do the c/i's within a certain amount of time. I haven't tested a "within a month" stipulation for this badge so that may be the problem. Let me know if you have any luck!

All three check-ins were within the last 60 days, though the first may have been more than 30 days ago. How bizarre. I tried deleting the most recent check-in and re-checking in on the mobile site as Tymora suggested (didn't want to do this for the first two, since I wasn't at those locations today) and still no badge. I'll just find a reason to go back to one of the other two places and give it another shot.

I got this badge after checking into 2 different home depo 3 times each, lowes 3 times, ace 3 times and an 2 miscellaneous hardware stores. I think maybe it has to be onnthe weekend

@Morr I got mine on a wednesday at 2 or 3 am so I don't think so

@ruffian23 idk they worked for me and jr. That is strange. Try the same one over 3 days

@ruffian23 the only thing I can think of is you're not getting credit for the check-ins. this could be due to rapid fire, too many check-ins in one day, or you're too far away from the venue so it's not giving you credit. just a thought.

@ruffian23 this is a long shot but did you look at your badges? I've had about 3 badges pop without even getting the unlock message. It happened twice when I earned 2 or 3 badges on the same check in and once it was just a weird glitch. No notice of any kind and I panicked and checked my badges anyway and there it was.

@ruffian you can keep checking into your hardware store, as I said earlier the number of check ins was high for me. If you wish you could create a new location near you and define it as a hardware store o check the theory that it needs to be a second store

This is completely irritating. I had a plumbing emergency during the past week. I went to Home Depot (two separate locations) and OSH this week at least four times during the past seven days. I still have not unlocked this badge. I honestly don't know what I'm doing wrong.

@BlastOffGirl Can you post the venue numbers for the places where you checked in?

I concur this took me a million check-ins and the big box stores didn't help. I had to specifically make sure my local hardware store was categorized as hardwear and then check in. Even the larger guys who WERE categorized as hardwear weren't working. I lost count of how many times I had to check in. Maybe it was a number of checks in within a certain time frame? I have no idea....

Tymora - here are the venues I checked into when I had my plumbing problems. As you can see, they are all correctly labeled as hardware stores:

https://foursquare.com/venue/40306
https://foursquare.com/venue/98434
https://foursquare.com/venue/359606

I checked into these places within a three day period.

@BlastOffGirl. I checked in using your venues and the badge unlocked. I did them one right after another using mobile. I'm thinking is that you may not have gotten credit for your checkins. Do you Remember getting points for all the checkins? If so, my only other theory is that 3 different places on 3 different days does not work. We have tested the same venue over 3 days and 3 venues in one day. I am going to test 3 different over 3 days and see if that does anything. In the meantime, delete your prior checkins and check back into those venues one after another and you should get the badge

Well, I FINALLY got this one today. I just went back and totaled up my checkins, it took 45 checkins total: 35 at one Home Depot, 6 at another Home Depot, 2 at a Menard's & 2 at a Lowe's. I pretty much had given up.

5 separate venues categorized as "Hardware" (wrench icon), three of which were different Home Depots, yet no badge. I've been unlocking other badges with no difficulty...all my check ins are getting credits. I'll keep plugging away...

I've checked in three times: no badge!!
How come?

@Bianca2512 My fault. I dropped the ball. I was supposed test 3 different venues over 3 days since that seems to be where people have issues. I got busy and forgot. If this is the case with you hang tight and I will let you know in a couple days. As of now, 3 different places in 1 day or the same place over 3 seperate days will work as long as your checkins count (not exceeding amount of checkins per day or 15 minites) you will know they count by making sure you are getting points for your checkins

Do TOTAL cumulative checkins count or is it only within a designated time frame? Here's the thing: I've been on Foursquare since May 2011. I had 2 checkins to 2 different Lowe's early on. 2 weeks ago, I checked into a Home Depot. I didn't get the badge. I recently checked into 2 more hardware stores, another Lowe's and another Home Depot. No dice.

These are all hardware stores, they are all properly categorized as such, and I got credit for my checkins. I am beginning to think this is one of those elusive badges that don't have a set number of checkins for everyone.

@LilacStar79 As far as a time frame...we aren't sure. We haven't done a far-spaced checkin test. It may be like the Don't Stop Believing badge where ot has to be within a month or within 60 days. Also, I need until tomorrow to check on the 3 different places in 3 days theory. I've popped the badge with numerous test accounts numerous times with 3 checkins and I've done it with venues that members have said they checked into and didn't get the badge. The only reasoning left is time frame and user error.

Just finished the testing. I did 3 different venues on 3 seperate days and the badge did not unlock. I deleted the checkins and re checked in at the same 3 venues and the badge unlocked so 3 different venues on 3 different days will not unlock this badge. I used the three venues provided by @ruffian23 when he was trying to unlock the badge. I will add this to the unlock instructions

I'm with @LilacStar79 - I've checked into 5 different hardware stores, all categorized the same with no luck. I've checked into the same venue 3 times, nothing. What's the deal with this badge? It reads like it should be no problem to get it, what am I missing?

I unlock at Ace Hardware of Tribeca > https://foursquare.com/v/ace-hardware-of-tribeca/4bbb8d12e4529521c2d654a4

Unlock instructions updated to reflect new "level up" ability