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Home Depot: Excellent customer service

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The AC transformer for my sprinkler system controller quit sometime over the winter, so I called up Home Depot to make sure they carry replacements before I drove over and wandered the cavernous store looking for them. The web site didn’t show them, but for some reason hardware stores won’t show their entire inventories online.

Someone at the front desk answered the phone on the first ring, I asked for the irrigation department, was put on hold for about two seconds, and quickly someone in irrigation answered. Not only did he tell me that they carry the part, but without me even asking, he walked over to the aisle and looked up the price—$12. He said that there’s a bunch of sprinkler stuff on clearance right now and walked over to the clearance section, found a transformer for $6 and told me that it’s on aisle 14 in the second set of shelves, two shelves from the bottom on the right.

That’s the sort of service I only expected from the local hardware store (which didn’t carry the part).

Aurelia and family (around 50 people )
November 26, 2007 4:29 PM

Customer of Home Depot: - your return policy is up to store manager - read and discover first how your claim will be handle with producent of item you dream about it - have english-english translator ready by your side - have spare batteries (you needed if on hold) - have Prozac handy (for your frustration) - do you really need that item ? - Are you sure that your marriage can handle stres of bying at Home Depot? Sorry but all the above is NO for me, is not acceptable if you care you loose one good costumer this time for lifetime. For your information: stay away from Paloma tankless water heater for residential use.

Piilani Aki
December 10, 2007 6:43 PM

Our air conditioner was making noise and the only person that really helped us out was this Sales Person named Larry who works in the appliance department, in our Hilo store. We didn't know how to shop for a new one, but he was very patient and understanding. He told us that we needed to measure the old one on the wall (width and length). Then we had to measure the width of the room and the length to know how big of an air conditioner we could go. But he was a God's scent and an angel. Thanks Home Depot for having a wonderful salesperson like him.

Cliff Wicks
December 27, 2007 7:31 PM

I have been trying to get Home Depot to resolve a bad product situation for 6 months with no luck. They are totally unresponsive and couldn't care less. The patio door I purchased from them arrived with defects. To date I have received two shipments of defective repair parts and the latest shipment is defective. Quite honestly I am giving up and moving on in my life and will never do business with them again. Calling their "customer service" representatives is a waste of time. All they want is the money without any ownership of the sale. Totally frustrated and worn out by this experience.

marte
January 30, 2008 4:47 PM

I went to Home Depot Kyle, Texas on January 27 to purchase a ceiling fan and I saw the one that i liked and it was $99.97 and had a tag that said "NEW" on it. So I looked on the floor and on the shelves and saw not one ceiling fan like the one that hung in the ceiling. I asked a worker of home depot about the fan and they called one of the workers that worked in that department and they looked like i did and didn't see any. The next step was to the computer, well they went to the computer and low and behold only one store had 2 but the store was too far away. One of their mgrs. oofered to bring it to the store since they had to go past that way and they took all my info and said they would call at the time I wrote on the paper. The next day I got a phone call and it was one of their representatives and she stated that the St. Johns store actually didn't have the fan, so I asked well what about the one you have in the ceilinig that says new and does it have the remote control. Of course, it wasn't her place to say yes, crazy me for even thinking that. She said that she would ask the electrical department mgr and have her to call me, but she was off the next day and would call me on Wednesday. Wednesday I had to call them cause noone called me, the mgr just got in and is in ameeting and she will call you as soon as she got out. !hr 45 minutes later no call so I called and spoke with someone in electrical explained the situation from Sunday to wednesday. Maybe it's on clearance he said, how ccould it be if it is new I said. He looked on the computer no it's not on clearance, but we can't sell that one too you after he states we have none and I knew that 2 days prior. I'll have the mgr to call you and she finally did and she states it's on clearance. Well that's funny the other guy said it wasn't and noone on Sunday said it was and if it was then why is the sign still saying "new". Well it's been on clearance since December, hmmm we are almost 3 days from February and she said the vendor never changed the sign. Well isn't that your responsibility I asked, well you can't buy that one and we can't sell it and basically to make this long story short "YOU ARE S.O.L. " 3 people before getting to the store mgr and he tells me 2 people already told you it was on clearance, he gives me their names and one of them i never even talked to. Phone disconnects, I call back and the story changes noone told me, but I just heard you say that 2 people told me, no it was a mistake he said. The MISTAKE IS I SHOPPED AT HOME "The POT" instead of Lowe's... Customer Service 1st. Bah humbug. From the Store Mgr to the representatives they all are worthless. DON'T SHOP HOME DEPOT GO TO LOWE'S......

R. A. Cashner
March 2, 2008 5:48 AM

Dear Sir/Mam, We have been long time customers of Home Depot. Out relations started some 30 years ago in Atlanta. We have since moved to NC where we have continued to make many purchases with Home Depot. We have even travelled back to Atlanta to make purchases at Home Expo. We recently did our second kitchen remodel with Home Depot. The first was in Winston-Salem, NC and the second in Charlotte. The W-S project had some problems, but nothing like the recent remodel in Charlotte. As you know, redoing a kitchen is no small project or purchase. We had spent time making a decision about choices and moving forward with the project in Sept of 2007. It took a month to get the cabinets in. (Turns out that all the necessary cabinets and supplies were not ordered, or not correctly ordered, incorrect sizes, incorrect cobinets.)The whole project was a series of problems and messes and the project dragged out to the middle to the end of Jan 2008. There were errors in measuring, there were errors with ordering the wrong cabinets, not ordering some needed cabinets, errors in ordering appliances, error in odering of kits for cabinet doors on appliances,there were errors with not ordering needed cabinets and supplies and on and on and on. The so called installation is "complete" according to Home Depot. I never felt that Home Depot or it's installers really cared if the work was done to our satisfaction, in a meticulous way or that they wanted to make us happy customers. The job we are left with looks very unprofessional and rigged together to just get done, although not correctly. We were told that the reason that there was a problem with measurements is that our old cabinets were from Canada and had metric measurements. I actually called the cabinet manufacturer in Canada and found that the cabinets that are made for US delivery are NOT metric but were done in inches. It was as though the Home Depot and their installers were trying to manufacture stories to make their errors justified. I am sure if you pull company records on this purchase/project, you will find out about all of the problems and errors. We purchased Thomasville all-wood cabinets thinking they would be of the same quality as that of the Thomasville furniture pieces we have in our home. But, the quality of these cabinets is not as I imagined and less than satisfactory. Less than a month after installation, paint has started to chip off. Our house is occupied by just my husband and me-no children, no teens. The course of events surrounding this project has left a bad taste in my mouth about the way things were handled by Home Depot and store #3640. If you need further information on this complaint, please do not hesitate to contact us. We do expect a response. Thank you, Bob and Glenda Cashner, 6818 Seton House Lane Charlotte NC 28277. It is my hope that you are able to make us want to come back to Home Depot. We miss your "old" customer service and the fact that you at one time made sure that your customers are 100% satisfied. What happened? There is a Lowe's across the street from our Home Depot store. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Delicious ideas to please the pickiest eaters. Watch the video on AOL Living.

Mattie Eldridge
April 7, 2008 2:13 PM

I purchased a backdoor from home depot in the early part of March,2008. I explained to the service rep at the store that the only time someone would be home would be on a Saturday. I asked if it would be possible if the installer could come out on Saturday. The service rep. said yes. The installer called me 1 week later saying that the only way he could come is when he had more jobs to do on a Saturday. I waited 3 weeks and still no installer came. I called Home Depot to let them know that I was not satisfied. The installer who's name was Marcus called on a Friday evening saying that he would be there the next day around 12:00 n and install the door. He didn't show up at all. I called him and he said that he would have to reschedule because his boss had him to do something else. A month has gone by and still no backdoor. I called Home Depot again today 4/7 and spoke with the Service Desk Supervisor named Demika, I explained the situation and told her to take the door off my account. I was going to Lowe's to get a door and I'm sure I would get better service. She was very nice and understanding and ask me to wait a few minutes and she would make a call. She came back on the phone apologized and said that someone would be at my home by this coming Saturday 4/11. The Installer's suck at Home Depot on Flint Ridge Rd in Fairfield, AL. If it had not been for Demika trying to help and find out why my door had not been installed. I really was going to close my account at Home Depot and go to Lowe's. My hat off to Demika. You need more people like her that really cares. She even told me that she would make sure someone would be out there this Saturday.

Mattie Eldridge
April 7, 2008 2:13 PM

I purchased a backdoor from home depot in the early part of March,2008. I explained to the service rep at the store that the only time someone would be home would be on a Saturday. I asked if it would be possible if the installer could come out on Saturday. The service rep. said yes. The installer called me 1 week later saying that the only way he could come is when he had more jobs to do on a Saturday. I waited 3 weeks and still no installer came. I called Home Depot to let them know that I was not satisfied. The installer who's name was Marcus called on a Friday evening saying that he would be there the next day around 12:00 n and install the door. He didn't show up at all. I called him and he said that he would have to reschedule because his boss had him to do something else. A month has gone by and still no backdoor. I called Home Depot again today 4/7 and spoke with the Service Desk Supervisor named Demika, I explained the situation and told her to take the door off my account. I was going to Lowe's to get a door and I'm sure I would get better service. She was very nice and understanding and ask me to wait a few minutes and she would make a call. She came back on the phone apologized and said that someone would be at my home by this coming Saturday 4/11. The Installer's suck at Home Depot on Flint Ridge Rd in Fairfield, AL. If it had not been for Demika trying to help and find out why my door had not been installed. I really was going to close my account at Home Depot and go to Lowe's. My hat off to Demika. You need more people like her that really cares. She even told me that she would make sure someone would be out there this Saturday.

Laura K.
June 4, 2008 12:40 PM

I've had several bad experiences at different Home Depots. All have involved contractors who don't seem to know what Home Depot advertises relative to their particular products/installs. In March I ordered a garage door from the Home Depot on Forest Dr. in Annapolis. I chose my door based on the fact that people in the Millwork department assured me it would be installed within 10-14 days after measuring. In fact there were even glossy brochures in the door department advertising this 10-14 day install program. However, the measurer didn't show up within the 3-day timeframe promised (came day 5 or 6) and then the Clopay representative literally told me they have no idea why the store would advertise 10-14 days because all doors take a minimum of 28 days. Someone named Laura at Clopay worked very hard to try to get me a door installed--although it couldn't be the door I wanted it had to be whatever door was available at the installer's warehouse. In the end, however, I cancelled the $2000 order and went with another contractor. As a result of this experience, we went with a different window contractor to install $9000 worth of windows because we just didn't believe Home Depot would install the windows as promised by the in-home sales representative. Right now, I'm in the middle of trying to get the Home Depot store in Lewes, DE (1604) to live up to its promise to have a storm door installed by the date they promised. I had to get customer service out of Maine involved, and it still doesn't look like they'll be able to do it as promised. Now I'm in a situation of deciding whether to just cancel the $500 door altogether because I'm renting that beach property out and don't want to inconvenience people on their vacations. So, the Home Depot has already lost $11,000 of my business to their competitors and it looks like another $500 is about to come out as well. Very frustrating.

Joe
July 20, 2008 8:22 PM

I couldn't help but notice the post regarding the Butler, PA Home Depot. I recently moved to the Butler area from Pittsburgh, and my impression of the Butler store has not been a good one. I was already aware of Home Depot's poor reputation before I moved to Butler, yet I was still hoping that this store might be a good one. No such luck; not even close. It's a poorly run/managed store in every regard; filled with more than it's share of uninterested and unknowledgeable employees. I usually wind up driving to the store in Cranberry Township; which is approximately 15 miles away. While not a perfect solution, the Cranberry store is infinitely better than the Butler one. Getting back to the Butler store... You'd think that with a Lowe's right next door, the place would be better, but it's not. It's no wonder the adjacent Lowe's parking lot is always so much fuller than HD's.

MARY LEVIN
October 15, 2008 5:53 PM

I VISITED A STORE IN COLUMBIA, BOUGHT 1 QUART OF PAINT AND SOME BRUSHES, DID SELF SERVICE CHECKOUT, PICKED THE BAG UP, IT SPLIT AND THE PAINT DROPPED TO THE FLOOR, SPATTERED MY SHOES AND CLOTHES AND THE MANAGEMENT SAID IT WAS MY FAULT FOR USING SELF CHECKOUT...DID NOTHING FOR ME, MY CLOTHES THAT ARE RUINED...THIS IS FROM THE LEGAL DEPARTMENT....AT HOME DEPOT...

Ryan
December 21, 2008 12:56 PM

Home Depot at the leaside location has the absolute worst service ever. Mike henton the store manager does not know the first thing about customer service. I ordered custom doors back in august and they of course messed up the order. I ended up storing the wrong doors in my unit for 3 months. Then the following order was delayed because its 'chrismas' - not back in august. It is now December 21st 2008 and I still do not have my doors. maybe 7 hours of my time was consumed with a mere $150 off my $1100 order. Never will shop there again - alos the home depot computer system is a piece of shit that takes 20 min to turn on and states nothing about the customer hence no CRM. Also if an employee doesn't know what to do (if they speak english) they will just disconnect you since there is no record of one's call. Shop lowes or anywhere else because Home Depot SUCKS!

B. CLINTON
January 19, 2009 5:28 PM

THE HOME DEPOT IN BUTLER PA HAS THE WORST REPUTATION FOR CUSTOMER SERVICE IN THE WORLD. THERE EMPLOYEES COME FROM SATINS ASS. I DIDN'T NO THAT HOME DEPOT EMPLOYS PEOPLE FROM EAST ASS COAST IN ASS LAND ON ASS WORLD. I WOULD GLADLY PAY MORE MONEY FOR AN ITEM THAN TO CONTRIBUTE ANY FUNDS TO THOSE POT SMOKIN BUTT BURGALERS. FOR THE PAST 9 YEARS, EVERY SINGLE TIME I HAVE SHOPPED THERE IT HAS BEEN A COMPLETE DISAPIONTMENT EVERY TIME. THERE SALES SUCK. THERE PRICE MATCH SUCK. THERE RETURN POLICIES SUCK. THERE VALUES SUCK. THERE CUSTOMER SERVICE SUCKS. THERE ABILITY TO COMPREHENED THAT A CONTRACTOR WHO SPENDS OVER $300,000 A YEAR IN SUPPLIES SHOULD BE TREATED WITH A LITTLE RESPECT, MIGHT BE THE ''THING'' TO DO, BUT NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO. THEY TREAT YOU LIKE A CRIMINAL OR YOUR A RAGHEAD ON A PLANE. IF WE WERE IN IRAQ I WOULD THROW A SHOE AT THEM. I HOPE HOME DEPOT GOES BANKRUPT AND THEY PUT A HOME IN FOR THE MENTALY INCAPABLE TO WIPE THERE OWN ASS. THAT WAY THERE EMPLOYEES WILL HAVE A PLACE TO GO. SHOP AT LOWES CAUSE HOME DEPOT SMOKES POT.

tim
February 20, 2009 5:07 PM

I am a current Home Depot employee and I look forward to the day when it becomes the new K-Mart. I will be leaving this employer soon because it is a rotten company. Granted, it behaves like most U.S. companies, meaning it is only interested in profits and will say whatever sounds good to the public but will always do what pleases short attention span investors. This company is rotten from an employee’s perspective because it steals from the employees. Granted, the average sales person in the store may not be considered a highly skilled or valued employee in the U.S. economy but when an employee is not treated well, then they DO NOT treat the customer well. One plus one equals two and when an employee is not valued then the employee does not value the company or its customers. Dump your Home Depot stock and buy Lowe's stock. Home Depot steals from its employees in several ways. I can address the way it has stolen from me. I joined the company some six months ago and was told I was joining the company as a full time employee. I worked full time hours. After the initial three months, they changed their mind and now said I was actually a part time employee. Being part time cost the company a lot less money and brings a lot less compensation to the employee. I disputed this change and was basically told tough. I could have fought and perhaps even sued, maybe perhaps even fostered a class action suit against the company. In the end I just decided to leave and in the meantime to not give my full abilities to the company. Someone else will hopefully soon be pissed off enough to start that national class action suit. This is how they can win it. Home Depot regularly hires people full time but then later say it was really part time thus saving themselves lots of money. Proving this can be tough because, "he who has the gold makes the rules". But put the first fact together with how at the same time, and in the same store, they hire people who want to work part time and then assign them full time hours. Together this should be enough to convince a jury in a class action suit to find for the plaintiff. Granted, the lawyers in a class action suit will take home most of the money but the bad publicity for Home Depot will be enough to make my day. The next time you get rotten service at Home Depot, realize that the employee has been treated rotten first. When you get a peak at the grassroots of how the average Home Depot employee feels about the company, you realize that easily well over fifty percent do not like the Home Depot. I'm not saying that employees who work for a rotten company should give rotten service. I'm saying that given human nature, it just gets passed on. Never again will I buy something from Home Depot. Even now, when I need some nails or an air filter, I go to Lowe's.

John Bullock
November 27, 2009 1:38 PM

Monday, November 23, I was purchasing some dead blots at the Home Depot on Hatch Road in Ceres, California. I was helped by a very knowledgeable, friendly and helpful sales person named Kaylen, in the hardware department. She went above and beyond to help me purchase the correct items needed for my project. I shop a lot at Home Depot both for business and personal use. John Bullock, Modesto, California

Stephen W. Sheftz
March 6, 2011 1:21 PM

I often shop at the Home Depot store in Burliegh, New Jersey. I try finding things I need by myself. Whenever I can't, I rely on your Mr. Nelson Phillips. He knows where everything is in the store. Also, my favorite cashier is a woman nemed Kathy (per my reciepts her identification number is KJM358. She is always kind, courteous, and answers questions. On my llast visit, she was training a new employee and doing a very good job.

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