is Home Depot turning over a new leaf?

[Gene Bickford]

Grab a drink, this is long winded


I drove to a lumber supply 40mi round trip to get a 8"X8"X12' on Sat.
Friday I was driving by so I stopped to see if they had any. "yep, we have 2"
When I get there Sat, a worker and I search the yard. Only 8X8 they have is 16'.
ME: "well, how bout you cut 10'(all I needed was 9' 8") off this one and that will leave you with a 6'".

Worker:"no way the boss is going to allow that" (starts getting pissy)

ME: well, lets load the other stuff and then I'll go see the boss about getting this cut.

Walk into office
Boss: I guess I owe you a refund.

ME: Ahhhh,, NO! what you owe me is a 8X8X12 beam that YOU said you had yesterday, so I just drove all the way her from Pittsfield on your say so.

Boss:(starting to get pissy) Well, you can by the 16'.

ME:(:mad:Real pissy) How the F#$K am I going to fit a 16' in a 12' trailer?
and now it's 1:00 on a Sat and every one is closed.

Boss::eek: O.K., O.K, well cut it for you.

Go back to the yard, worker has 16' on the lift by the building ready to cut. He's all pissy now because it's now 1:10 and he should have been out at 1:00. He and his attitude come out of the building with his pissy little swagger.

Worker:Guess we aint cuttin' that after all. The big boss is not here and he's the only one with a key to the tool locker.

ME: WHAT THE F$%K!!!!ARE YOU F%&KING SERIOUS? THIS IS BS.

go back inside and the only worker thats actually trying to help is explaining to the boss whats going on. Boss seams like he could care less.

I slam my paper work down on the counter.
ME: GIVE ME MY F#&KING MONEY BACK!!!! THIS IS TOTAL BS. YOU GUYS JUST F*&KED ME FOR 3 DAYS. IS THE OWNER GOING TO BE IN MONDAY?

good worker: I know this is BS sir and I'm getting sick of it. One manager took the gas saw home with him last week and the other manager has the keys we need for the electric saw. :mad:They keep taking the $hit we need to do our jobs and then we get blamed for not getting $hit done. (looks at boss) I'm coming in Monday morning to talk to carl. I'm sick and tired of this BS.

ME: Just bust the lock off. I'll pay for a new lock. I NEED THAT BEAM AND I NEED IT TODAY.

good worker: (to so called boss) hold on a minute before you give him his money back. I'm going to go see what I can do!

I wait a few sec's and tell them I'll be outside having a smoke so I can calm down some.

30 sec,s later, boss comes out and tells me to go outback, he's got the saw out.

I get out of the van and hear
good worker: (to miss piss worker as hes walking off) and you tell mike, I'M THE ONE that cut the lock, and he's got a f$%king problem with it he can go ahead and call me right up!

Good worker: OH WHAT THE F*%K!!!!! now the extension cord is gone. For Christ sake. (looks at me:rolleyes:) I swear, this friggin' place.

ME: I've got a cord

We get the beam cut and loaded.

ME: (to good worker) Thanks for your help man, I appreciate it. And don't worry about that lock, I'm calling the owner Monday to b1tch about this whole thing.Sorry I got so loud and $hit I know it's not your fault you don't have the tools you need to do your job.

good worker: Yeah, I think it's time for me to have a little sit down with the owner to.

So, all of that for one beam:rolleyes:

Get to the house and get the beam in place.

Now for Home Depot

Candy returns from 44mi round trip to Home Depot with a wall paper steamer. Opens the box and no power cord.:mad:
Here we go again.
We jump in the car and head to HD and I prepare myself for yet another fight, because Heaven forbid a company should do the right thing.
44mi trip at 32cents a mi is roughly $14 I want back.

Get to customer service desk and ask to speak with the manager. She says sure. Hold on one sec, he's right behind you with a customer.(Oh great, it's Keith:rolleyes:. I've been around with this guy before a few years ago, when I had to wait a 1/2 hr to get someone to mix paint because they were so under staffed. This after waiting so long to get wire off the wire rack I figured out the code and just did it myself. They were so under staffed, no one even noticed me.
Anyway, Keith comes over.

Keith: How can I help you?

ME: Yeah, my wife just drove 44mi round trip to buy this steamer and it has no power cord. We obviously want one with a power cord but first I want to talk to you about compensation for the extra 44mi trip.

Keith: How much is the steamer?

Me: $60.

Keith: um.. O.K., how about we take $20 off the one WITH a power cord;)? Will that work for you?

I'm thinking:eek::shrug::shocked2:. What no fight. No arguing about proper business.
No nothing. He's just going to do the right thing and thats it?:bravo:
The kid in the paint section even had the new steamer that was on the top shelf when we call to make sure they had more, on the floor and ready to go like he said he would.

AND the call only took 2 mins.

AND during the 10mins we were in the store, we were TWICE asked by employees if we needed any help.

I don't expect HD to know of every nut/bolt/power cord in every box but when something does go wrong I do expect to be taken care of and yesterday for the first time HOME DEPOT did just that:bravo:.
Keiths decision to treat the customer right, with out a fight made what could have been a negative experience a VERY positive one.

Having to go back was kind of a pain but for the first time in my life I can say, I'm glad I shopped at Home Depot!!!!

[gear junkie]

Reading that was better than watching a VH1 reality show.

[Frankiarmz]

I've dealt with some good workers at Home Depot, but my store is still not run very well. They hike up prices and don't keep a lot of products in stock. They killed the competition years ago and now they really don't seem to care.

[cactusman]

I have had reasonably good service at "one" Home Depot and "two" Lowe's

Not all stores are the same..they rely upon good management.

I went to a KFC and the food was outrageously salty and the tops of the cabinets were dirty [I'm 6'4" tall and always look up].
A few weeks later I noticed a sign "under new management"
I figured OK let's see....
The place was spotless and even smelled clean and welcoming. I placed my order and the food was perfect!

I'm just disappointed that Ridgid has not forced Home Depot as their authorized dealer to improve the availability of consumables with respect to the product lines....This includes plumbing supplies not just batteries and sanding sleeves. If Home Depot can't provide the support then how about extending the LSA program to other vendors and sources?

Again, I'll rant here there are more Ridgid parts and tools [new] offered on E-bay.

With the tracking of serial numbers Ridgid should be able to determine a way to provide the LSA or similar to items sold from a full kit. I say this as more times than not you need/want a specific tool and the only access to the tool is buying a full kit!

The lack of after purchase support really cuts into future sales of said products!


Cactus Man

[PLUMBER RICK]

actually had this conversation 2 weeks ago with the store manager at osh/orchard supply hardware.

seems that they too have new management. the store was spotless, the shelves were stocked and the employees were helpful.

made his day when i called from the truck to talk to the manager and praise him and his fellow staff by name;)

told him that over the years i spend more at osh, than i do at h.d.

guess that made his day.

rick.

[garager]

Wow, I felt like I just read your post in a tornado.... LOL

Weird how karma works, eh.....