The Home Despot takes a turn for the worse.

[BobR]

Ask a Doctor how many free consultations they are asked to do outside of their offices. What really gets me is just how many people think they are entitled to that FREE help.

[Robert Neville]

Probably because the person at the front of the store is part of the loss control department and the people working the departments get charged to the departments. Easiest way in the world for a department manager to improve profitability is to reduce labor costs.

[Kurt Ullman]

Heck ask a Nurse. One of the benefits of going into Psych is I don't have to answer many questions. "I don't work with that. Now if your tonsils start TALKING to you, I'm your man!"

[K]

I haven't noticed that really, and there are three local HD stores. Someone always mets me at the entrance and asks if I know where to go, etc. Most times I do, but I was looking for a floor squeegee a while back, and he walked me right to them. They still have some of their knowledgeable old-timers, and last year I was even able to find a breaker for my Federal-Pacific box.

Keith

--- news://freenews.netfront.net/ - complaints: [e-mail] ---

[Jeff Thies]

No.

I felt better because I knew I could get help if I needed it. I knew the return I had would be no problem.

I only come to expect problems from the Despot anymore, and they don't disappoint.

Jeff

[Jon Danniken]

And 'ya know, sometimes you don't know what those thingamajigs are until you just "hang out" for a few minutes, quietly, and take stock of what kind of parts they have. I wouldn't know half of what I know if I didn't have the opportunity to just look at things and make a mental note of their construction and/or purpose.

Maybe it's just me, but I used to find a lot of entertainment as a boy perusing the shelves of the local (wooden floored) hardware store.

Jon

[aemeijers]

It ain't just you- it runs in my family as well, and probably for most of the regulars on here too. Even now as a grownup, I can waste way too much time hanging out in hardware/tool aisles, like a kid in a toy store.

[Nancy Young]

I live near a hardware store like that. Same wide planked creaky wooden floors. They even have a counter where you can bring your knives/tools/whatever to be sharpened. Bins of nails and screws. All kinds of stuff, I could hang out for quite a while. I buy what I can there because I don't want to see the place go, not that they're hurting for customers.

nancy

[krw]

Not a tooth in sight, either.

[krw]

Do the "department managers" have control over their labor costs? My son was "manager" of a software store. As the store manager he had no control over labor costs. That was all done at the district level (where they didn't have a clue). I wouldn't expect staffing decisions to be made at the department level in a HD, rather at the store manager level, with a *lot* of direction from above.

[krw]

That's what my wife calls the woodworking stores; "stores for big-boy toys" (not for big boy-toys;). We found one in Atlanta that's really nice. It's not the typical chain store[*], rather looks like an old wood-floored hardware store. She even likes looking at the tools in that store while I'm drooling over the toys. ;-)

[*] There are four woodworking stores we make the rounds of when we're in Atlanta, every couple of months. The others are typical strip-mall store-fronts.

[krw]

It's actually pretty easy for stores like that to compete with the BORGs. Often it's the best news that they can get if a BORG opens right next to them. The same reason that furniture stores and car dealerships tend to coagulate. ;-)

[krw]

I've noticed a big regional difference between HDs. Not so much with Lowes, for some reason.

[BobR]

I took my wife with me to Rocklers recently, found everything I was looking for, checked out and then spent another 1/2 hour trying to get her out of the place.

[h]

If I'm on a business mission to buy something weird (to make a free-standing medieval pavilion, to wire up an anime costume made entirely out of leather belts, etc.), then I go to HD, because there are NEVER any employees to bother you in mine. I just wonder around various departments looking at all sorts of things until something designed for a completely different purpose jumps up and yells, "Over here, I'm what you need! I can help you make it work!"

If, on the other hand, I'm looking to buy something to repair or improve my home, I go to Lowe's, because they have a lot of very helpful people who smile, but don't bother you. They wait until you have a question, and they can usually answer it. And the answer is almost always correct! Ok, so the store's less than a year old, but still.

The local Wayside hardware is great, but only open 10-4, M-S. The Ace Hardware is good as well, with slightly better hours, but still usually closed when I need something.

[aemeijers]

She's a keeper.

[krw]

Rockler's, at least the one in Atlanta, is really strange. I like browsing in the store but I rarely buy much. I spend a *lot* more in the Woodcraft (and since I found it, Highland Woodworking). In fact, the ratio is pretty close to my Internet purchases; very little from Rockler and quite a bit from Woodcraft. I really don't know why.

[BobR]

ote:

OH YES! And I have kept her for over 35 years now.

Did I mention that she also helps me and supports my longest running project building an airplane? She does insist that I get a few things done around the house though.

[BobR]

e:

I know what you mean but I have bought some things there that I haven't been able to find elsewhere or at least couldn't find the quality I wanted elsewhere. Bought their dovetail jig, router bits, and some specialize jigs for cabinet making that were of much better quality. I also found the best selection of drawer guides there.

[Jeff Thies]

I'm unfamiliar with Rockler's but I've known Highland Hardware before day one. I was there first!

I've been doing all my general hardware shopping here:

One of the last of the real hardware stores with knowledgeable help that actually know their merchandise. All the standard stuff that you get blank looks at at HD, they have no problem with. The owner, rightly so, says he can only compete on service. It's kind of like going in Rosing to buy paint. They don't waste your time and they don't sell you stuff you will regret. And they stay very busy because of that. When you only think price, the cheap comes out expensive.

I still miss having a real lumberyard nearby...

Jeff

In fact, the ratio is pretty close