Home Depot: On The Way Down Again?

I remember a bunch of years ago when Home Depot seemed to hit bottom: sales people would duck around corners to avoid eye contact/questions....

Then it got much, much better and stayed that way. Until recently I felt like I had a better-than-even chance of finding sales person who actually knew something about the products at hand.

But last few months I have had a series of, shall we say, "Less than optimal" experiences at Home Depot.

Today put a cap on it. Drove all the way there to get a string trimmer attachment for my Echo power unit. They had a bunch of power units with string trimmers attached, but no separate trimmer attachments.

My expectation was that, after explaining the situation to a manager, he would remove one of the bundled trimmer attachments, charge me for what it is priced at, and put the power unit up as just a power unit (which is how I bought the one I have: power unit + blower attachment sold/purchased separately at that same store.

But no... "That attachment is only sold online....".

I understand that somebody in product management made a decision to change the marketing strategy since I bought mine....

But it seems like attitude is the issue: surely this guy had the power.... just not the will.

Am I the only one who thinks this way?

Reply to
(PeteCresswell)
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You have to ask/insist for the department manager or maybe even the store manager to get action like you want.

Reply to
hrhofmann

One day someone broke into my work van and stole my Sawzall and I needed to get a replacement ASAP.

Home Depot was sold out but they did have a demo on display. All it took was for me to see the manager and they sold it to me.

OTOH: Unless I really need something ASAP I find that I am now ordering huge portions of what I need on-line.

It's so much easier and sure beats running to the store only to find they do not have the odd-ball stuff I need in stock.

Reply to
philo

Did you check online or call the store before you drove "all the way there?" I know what I'd put my money on.

Reply to
Gordon Shumway

Unless I need it very quick, I also do a lot of ordering on line. Just got an electric pole saw from Amazon and a 32 inch TV from Best Buy. They were the same as local with free shipping. Lowes is about 6 miles from my house and HD is about 20 miles. Best Buy is about 45 minuits from here if no traffic. I live in a town of only about 30,000 so not a lot to choose from locally.They are building a Harbor Freight about 5 miles from here also,so saves a 20 mile trip. I often look at the store inventory before making a special trip. It is not always accurate, but if they say they don't have any in the store I am not driving to find out.

Reply to
Ralph Mowery

Don't know why you have that expectation. I never saw or heard of any store unpacking an item and selling the parts.

It's just not done.

Hard to say. At least one person doesn't think that way (me).

Reply to
Dan Espen

I needed a 10.5" inner-tube for my wheel-barrow...I can't imagine where in town I'd find a place that actually had one in stock.

Just went to eBay and found one with no trouble.

There is a H/W store within walking distance of my house, and several that are no more than a five minute drive...but I did not even bother to check.

Reply to
philo

On 14 Jun 2015, Dan Espen wrote in alt.home.repair:

Maybe not quite the same situation, but HD resolved a problem in a good way for me. I recently bought a new track light system. I bought 8 heads in white. When I unpacked them I discovered that 4 of the 8 were missing the included LED bulbs (the boxes may have been returns and the original buyer must have kept the bulbs.) I called HD and discussed the situation with one of their customer service people. It turns out that I had bought the last of their stock and they might not be getting any more. She offered to give me 4 bulbs from their regular bulb section.

I went over there and picked out the bulbs and noticed that the equivalent bulbs were about $18 each. Not a problem, she said. But I had also noticed on this trip that they DID have more of the same light heads... but in black. I suggested that they could just take the bulbs out of the black boxes. She liked that option because they could return the bulb-less boxes to the manufacturer for a refund, rather than just writing off the cost of the bulbs. I liked this option best because they would be the same bulbs as the others. Everybody won. They were pleasant and cooperative and went out of their way to satisfy me.

I've had my share of sour experiences with HD, but they've been OK to good in general, and very good this time.

Reply to
Nil

Per Oren:

If the drills and chucks were sold separately as a matter of routine, I might prefer the drill without chuck if I already had some chucks on hand - rather than paying extra for a bundled part that I do not need.

The Echo power units *are* sold separately. I bought one.... that's how I have one. Bought the blower attachment separately.

Reply to
(PeteCresswell)

I was looking for an item at Lowes and wondered where I could find it in the store. Told a clerk that I had seen it in Lowes on-line and he said there are millions of items on-line at Lowes but stores can't stock all of them.

Did find what I wanted but I also buy lot of stuff on line. Big computer store where I bought wife's laptop did not have a replacement battery in the store but it was on-line for their store. I bought on-line elsewhere.

Reply to
Frank

At least a few people insist to try and buy local when possible. But, with computers, the world including Communist China is local. Truly, things are changing.

- . Christopher A. Young learn more about Jesus .

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Reply to
Stormin Mormon

Your expectations are too high. In the present world of bar codes and computer inventory, it is just not done. Maybe the corner store can do it, but not the big chains.

At Lowes I recently bought a wireless doorbell. It came with one button, but I wanted three. Nope, have to order the extras on line. Got them from Amazon.

Reply to
Ed Pawlowski

eBay is good for stuff like that, but if you need it today Tractor Supply probably has it.

Reply to
Ed Pawlowski

Don't think we have those in my area but we have booth

Fleet and Farm

and

Farm and Fleet

More than likely I could have gotten the inner tube I needed at one of the above, but it was no emergency.

Reply to
philo

Seriously, there are really fleet and farm stores????

Reply to
hrhofmann
[snip]

You in Mid-Wisconsin or Iowa to have both accessible.

Don't know your experience but when I've stopped at the Fleet & Farm stores and compared them to Farm & Fleet here in Illinois, it's like comparing Macy's to Dollar General

I'd love to have a Mill's Fleet & Farm down here.

Reply to
Unquestionably Confused

I consider a store local if I can walk into it and pay cash, which is what I do for most purchases. (I patronize local hardware stores rather than Home Depot or Lowes whenever possible.) I order online rarely.

Reply to
Roger Blake

See my comment to Philo.

I've been hitting the one in Rochester, MN of late when we go to visit the kids. Incredible store. You name it, they've got it and a wide selection of brands to boot. Farm & Fleet has a pretty good selection but nothing like Fleet & Farm. Farm & Fleet's like visiting a nice garage sale compared to Fleet & Farm which is more like a mid-range department store with all kinds of "guy goodies"

Reply to
Unquestionably Confused

It's just over 10 miles to the closest town - population less than 4,000 . I call the 2 hardware stores in town , and if one of them is close to the price I can get it online for ...I'll wait until the next time I go to town . But more often than not I can get it for less online and it's usually delivered before my next trip to town .

Reply to
Terry Coombs

There is a difference but I don't recall it being a huge difference.

BTW: My wife goes to Macy's every time we go to NY.

I usually do not even step inside, but this last time it was raining so I did. Once you get past the first floor, things calm down a bit.

I am now trying to imagine a nine-story tall hardware store with a base, two city blocks square.

Reply to
philo

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