Posts about Home Depot
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Think quickly: if you saw the "USA Quality Guarantee" seal on a product you found in a store, where would you assume that it had been manufactured? If you guessed "China," you're an awfully cynical person. You are, however, correct.
Reader Stuart, who writes a blog about tools, noticed this little badge of dishonor on a knife for sale at Home Depot. If it's not meant to make customers think that the knife was made in the USA, then are the words just for decoration? More »
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—>Two months ago, Mike and his wife decided to re-do their floors. They're expecting a child in November, so they made sure that they ordered the materials in plenty of time to get everything taken care of before the end of August. Mike even scheduled time off work and had family members come in from out of town to help out. More »
—>Rather than make up some line about needing to make sure customers receive everything they paid for, Home Depot is now openly treating its customers like shoplifters. More »
—>Starting in January, you'll be able to buy Martha Stewart-branded patio furniture, storage bins, and toilet wine kits at your local Home Depot, thanks to a new multi-zillion dollar business deal the two companies have cooked up. Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia's old deal with Kmart—which a company tells the Atlanta Journal-Constitution earned them upwards of $1 billion annually at its peak—expires that same month. More »
—>Giovanni and his wife bought a counter from Home Depot, but caught a nasty surprise when he called to check on the order. Suddenly he was told he had to cover a minimum order and he'd have to pay hundreds more than the agreed upon price. Now kitchenless in New York, he writes: More »
—>Sure, there's probably a perfectly innocuous explanation why a woman called the Home Depot in Jacksonville, Illinois and asked how to remove a large quantity of blood from her carpets. But that doesn't stop people's imaginations from running wild, and didn't stop the employee who took the call from alerting the police. More »
—>Umbrellas, toy beach chairs, swingsets, and mysteriously collapsing benches. What do they have in common? All of them have been recalled for various reasons in the last month. More »
—>Theoretically, if you buy more of something, you should pay less per item, or per unit. That's the entire point of buying things in bulk. Right? Not necessarily. To confuse the logical part of your brain this fine morning, here's a collection of instances where customers pay more when they buy more. More »
—>Bryan was proud to pay off his $8500 Home Depot store credit card balance. Then received a bill the next month with $130 in finance charges. Finance charges on a $0 balance? Wait, what? How does that happen? More »
—>Reader Chris bought a GE hot water tank from Home Depot, only to find out that it was broken. He noticed a sticker on the back telling him to call a 1-800 number for warranty repair rather than returning the tank to the store. So he did. And he got the runaround. More »
—> Did the Home Depot not improve your home? Did Citibank mess up your mortgage? Which is worse? More »
—>Reader Shawn submits this photo that he took at Home Depot. The sign begs you not to leave the store if you've experienced bad customer service... More »
—>Reader Warren says that Home Depot raised his APR to 25.99% — causing him to cancel his account. Yikes. More »
—>Reader Jerry has shopped at the Home Depot in Van Nuys for over six years, but this weekend was the first time he feels he's ever received good service. There was a helpful greeter at the door with a map of the store, and it seemed like everywhere he turned there was an employee willing to help. "It took a few minutes, but it finally dawned on me. Home Depot was trying to provide customer service!" Is this just a fluke or a part of a renewed effort to earn your business during the recession? More »
Here's a tip: The guy who works at Home Depot but can "get you everything for a discount" is probably not doing something legal. [Bakersfield Now] More »
—>We've seen food items, airline mile programs, and credit card limits all shrink as the economy worsens. Now it's time for other rewards programs to become just a little less rewarding—and somewhat sneakily, too, in these two stories recently sent in by readers. More »
—>Home Depot will close 34 "Expo Design Center" stores as the demand for massively overpriced toilets and light fixtures appears to be waning. Actually, never mind... Home Depot says that Expo was always a failure. "Even during the recent housing boom, it was not a strong business," they said. More »
—>According to the South Florida Sun-Sentinel two scammers convinced an elderly man that they'd found a bag of money in a Home Depot parking lot — and that they'd split it with him if he gave them a "good faith cash payment." More »
—>Remember, Home Depot's price match policy doesn't apply to online listings, including its own website. At his local store, Michael paid more than twice the online Home Depot price for a coaxial cable, but Home Depot refused to refund him the difference. They even say as much in small print on each page of their website. With Home Depot, be sure to call and get a valid local price quote before heading off to purchase something you saw online. More »
—>Here's a happy story from someone who bought a "Box of Crap" (this is what we call a box that looks new, but contains the wrong item or a used item, due to return fraud). Instead of accusing reader Ryan of some sort of crime, Home Depot simply issued him a gift card. Hooray! More »
—>Inside, email addresses, phone numbers, and addresses for over 100 different companies to inject your customer service complaints into their corporate executive offices, and get it well on the way to success. More »
—>The Chicago Tribune confirms that Christmas is creeping up earlier this year as skittish retailers try to stay ahead of the ever-crescendoing non-recession. Walgreens, Kohls, and Home Depot were all singled out for defying the calendar, but blame also belongs with consumers who fuel seasonal ignorance with their buying choices. More »
—>Looking to spruce up the ol' nest? Home Depot announced a big sale today, with temporary pricecuts of 5-50%, with 400 items being announced each Thursday for the next three weeks. More »
—>Home Depot and Lowe's are starting to realize that the surging housing market — which had fueled their own sales for the last few years — is really and truly over and it may not be coming back for a good long while. What does this mean for their customers? An emphasis on lower prices every day — and fewer promotions.
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—>Although stores often claim they employ receipt checkers to make sure you got everything you paid for, you still might get ripped off. This past weekend, three stores tried to sell us items that did not match their price tag or description. Each time, we politely pointed out the difference to a manager, and each time, we were rewarded for doing so, either with a reduced price or a better item than the original one we wanted. Let us tell you about our exciting weekend, inside. More »
—>Reader Dan thought we'd be interested in this sign he spotted in his local Home Depot. It reads: "Why pay cash even if you could?" More »
—>Reader Curt saw this sign at Home Depot. He writes: More »
Home Depot has started a nationwide compact flourescent light bulb recycling program. "At each The Home Depot store, customers can simply bring in any expired, unbroken CFL bulbs, and give them to the store associate behind the returns desk." CFL bulbs contain mercury and can be damaging to the environment if thrown into regular landfills. [New York Times] More »
—>Remember Matt? He was detained by an off-duty police officer who was employed as a security guard by the Home Depot because he did not show his receipt. Matt complained about this to the Home Depot and received an apology from Frank Blake, the CEO. He also filed a formal complaint with the Metropolitan police. He says the police found his complaint to be unfounded. More »
—>Perhaps you recall the strange story of Bob Dougherty, a Home Depot customer who sued the retailer after being glued to a toilet seat at their Louisville, CO location. Mr. Dougherty contended (before the case was dismissed) that the incident gave him post-traumatic stress disorder and that he developed diabetes as a direct result of Home Depot's negligence. Now, nearly 4 years after Mr. Dougherty became affixed to the Home Depot toilet, a Mr. Haywood R. Rosales of St. Louis, MO has filed a similar lawsuit, claiming that Home Depot was negligent in allowing a "copycat" incident to happen to him. More »
—>Reader Jim wanted to share with us a pleasant experience he had with a crew of helpful Home Depot employees in Winsdor, Colorado which was recently hit with a tornado. Fortunately, Jim was ok but his house was not. While surveying the damage to his house, a truck filled with a crew of helpful HD employees arrived who volunteered to board up the broken windows on Jim's house since he had no lumber or power tools. Jim's letter, inside... More »
—>Home Depot's shareholder's meeting was filled with investors requesting that the big orange home improvement giant improve its notoriously crappy customer service. Suggestions included improving employee pay to lure back quality workers who defected to Lowe's, and hiring more "aprons." More »
—>Reader G writes in to let Home Depot know that he's really, really tired of hearing about their "special promotion for home owners" while he's trying to shop. More »
—>Michael launched an Executive Email Carpet Bomb after Home Depot twice failed to deliver an undamaged washer and dryer. Home Depot's CEO Frank Blake quickly thanked Michael for his even-handed letter, and promised that the local store manager would make him a happy customer... More »
This is Round 42 in our Worst Company in America contest, Home Depot vs Wellpoint! More »
—>Reader Helen went to Home Depot to buy some various and sundry items, but left empty-handed after the self-checkout refused to let her complete her purchase without disclosing what she planned to do with her items. Helen says: More »
—>This is Round 20 in our Worst Company in America contest, Wellpoint vs Charter Cable.
Wellpoint: is a health insurance company that's part of BlueCrossBlueShield. They don't believe anesthesia is necessary for colonoscopies. That pretty much encapsulates all you need to know about them. More »
—>This is Round 19 in our Worst Company in America contest, Dell vs Home Depot.
Dell: Formerly the king of direct to customer PC sales, Dell now has a well-deserved reputation for abysmal bad customer service ever since they outsourced their Home and Home Office customer service departments (secret trick: always order from Small Business, it's US based and the reps and techs still know what they're doing). Horror stories of botched warranty repairs abound. Just Google "Dell Hell" and you'll know what the company is so reviled. More »
—>The Times is reporting that recession-fearing chain stores like Best Buy, Home Depot, and Circuit City are increasingly more desperate to clinch sales by negotiating prices. Hit the jump to see how ordinary shoppers are wielding research and charisma to knock added savings out of retailers. More »
—>Home Depot's CEO, Frank Blake, responded to Matt's complaint about being unlawfully detained by the Washington D.C. Metropolitan police after refusing to show his receipt to a Home Depot employee. More »
—>Reader Matt has launched the dreaded EECB (Executive Email Carpet Bomb) on Home Depot—attaching a copy of a formal complaint that he filed with the Metropolitan Police in Washington, D.C.. More »
—>The email address for the CEO of Home Depot is Frank_Blake@homedepot.com. The corporate email address format for Home Depot generally follows the format firstname_lastname@homedepot.com. Good for when you've tried the basic customer service lines but you still find your home improvement customer service needs improving. More »
—>The Wall Street Journal has an interesting article about retailers who hire law firms to engage in something called "civil recovery," in which alleged shoplifters are harassed into paying thousands of dollars... even if the case against them has been dropped, or the retailer never intended to sue at all. More »
—> Oh look, Americans also enjoy putting shocking phrases on receipts. Yesterday's UK restaurant surprise reminded one of our interns of a receipt sent in a few weeks ago from Brad in California: "got this receipt from home depot today.... look closely just below the total and you will see something surprising.... lol." Probably NSFW, unless you work at Home Depot or Joe Delucci's Italian Restaurant. More »
—>Johnny was pleasantly surprised when the $199 power tool he grabbed off the clearance rack rang up at the self-checkout for just $0.01. Home Depot, of course, stopped him before he could leave and asked for the item back, but Johnny wasn't fast to part with his new toy.
I told the manager well that's to bad because I ALREADY PAID FOR IT!!! and if you don't return MY PRODUCT!!! that I PAID FOR!!! that I would call the cops because you are now stealing from me. I will call Weights and Measures. OH YEAH and my attorney.Read the full story after the jump. More »
Ladies and Gentlemen... Boys and Girls... The final tally for lead recalls is in. More »
A customer says his complaints were met with indifference after reporting that mice had infested the bird seed at a Mass. Home Depot, leaving torn and spilling bags in their wake. Not only that, the store wasn't clean up the dead mice. Seems the store employees don't know which aisle contains the pest control products (or dustpans), nor do they care to. If they want to be "green" about it, they could just go over to PetSmart and get a few cats. Felines have been killing mice for us humans since the dawn of grain storage, so maybe it's time to kick it old-school. [Wicked Local] More »
—>Here's a probable answer for that reader who complained Friday that HomeDepot.com won't let you use gift cards, forcing him to drive 20 miles away to get his tool fix. It's probably better than driving all the way there, only to find his gift card was empty. If you recall, last year there was a big problem with thieves stealing git cards.... More »
—>Just wanted to let anyone know that if they plan on giving a Home Depot Gift Card as a gift this year that they can NOT be used at homedepot.com More »
—> WBAL news in Balitmore did the usual investigation into Home Depot's notoriously crappy contractors and were hit with a tsunami of similar complaints after the story aired. More »
—> You know what? We're just going to buy our own. Thanks. More »
—>A man who purchased a lawn tractor at the Edwardsville, IL Home Depot went back inside to buy some more stuff while employees loaded his tractor onto his truck. More »
—>Yellow stickers at Home Depot indicate a clearance sale. Except at the store in Somersworth, New Hampshire, where yellow stickers mean 0% off. More »
—>Scary man tools will be replaced by decorative trinkets and stylish furniture at the new Home Depot pilot store designed to attract women. Tragically dubbed "Her Depot," the store will abandon Home Depot's warehouse aesthetic in favor of shorter, "cleaner" aisles that emphasize home organization and interior design.
"There is a showroom of doors and windows unlike any other we've ever tried," Feldman said. More »
—>Robert and his wife ordered a deck from Home Depot with the understanding that it would be installed around the middle of August. It turns out that Home Depot didn't have necessary certification in order to build the deck. Home Depot is now requiring Robert and his wife wait until around Thanksgiving while their engineer does his paperwork. More »
—>Bob Dougherty went to Home Depot. He wasn't feeling very well in a "Jo-Ann Fabrics" sort of way, so he used Home Depot's bathroom. More »
—>Home Depot really wants you to think of their much ballyhoo'd "Eco Options" program as a quick, easy and painless way to be an environmentalist. More »
—>Attention Home Depot Employees: They really will fire you if you attempt to stop a crime in progress. That's what happened to 24-year-old Dustin Chester. He worked at a Home Depot in Murfreesboro, Tennessee until he caught and restrained a thief who he caught prying open a soda machine with a crowbar. Now he's unemployed. More »
—>Home Depot has finally rid itself of the commercial business supply division that was often blamed for the chain's miserable customer service and lagging stock price. The commercial supply division was accused of stealing resources from the stores, and was the pet project of disgraced former CEO "Big Bob" Nardelli. Home Depot had to chop $2 billion off the asking price, but they got the deal done. More »
—>Home Deport employees didn't feel like using the saw, so they hung a sign that claimed: "saw not working." This offended marketing guru Seth Godin:
When I noticed this sign on the big saw, I took a picture, intending to write about how important it was to have key customer service feat ures up and running. Then, a few minutes later, a guy in an orange smock walked over, took the sign down and asked what he could cut for us. More »
—>You can't keep a good CEO down! Or something. Robert "Big Bob" Nardelli, the CEO who famously ran Home Depot into the ground by deemphasizing customer service in favor of the "business supply" division and then ran away with over $200 million in severance pay and other bonuses, has been named CEO of the Chrysler Group. More »
—>Don't doubt the power of the unidentified tipster: Home Depot recently sacked four corrupt purchasing managers accused by a whistleblower of taking bribes. In exchange for the payoffs, the managers arranged for Home Depot to stock tiles and other flooring products from Asia. From the AP: More »
—>Back in May Boston's ABC 5 tracked down a convicted sex offender who was working as an unlicensed contractor for Home Depot. Not only was the guy a registered sex offender...he didn't even refinish cabinets well. More »
—>Home Depot has been fined $750 by Westchester County, NY for operating without a license after one of their subcontractors allegedly gut the kitchen of a resident, dumped the debris on the customer's driveway, then never showed up again. More »
—>Is Home Depot's much-advertised PR darling "Eco Options" program an example of green washing or a genuine good? The NYT attempts to find out by interviewing Ron Javis, Home Depot's senior vice president overseeing the Eco Options program. More »
Home Depot has agreed to sell its Home Depot Supply Unit to three private equity firms — Bain Capital, the Carlyle Group and Clayton Dubilier & Rice for $10.3 billion, the buyers announced this afternoon, confirming a report by DealBook.Yay! Home Depot's troubled supply division has long been fingered as the cause of their notoriously crappy customer service. One can only assume that resources once diverted to the business supply division can now be refocused on consumers. Let's hope that's how it goes. —MEGHANN MARCO More »
—>Here at the Consumerist we realize that return fraud is a very serious problem for retailers. Nevertheless, this story puzzles us. Dana bought a thermostat from Home Depot, but it turned out to be incompatible with her heating and cooling system. When she brought it back, the customer service person accused her of bringing in an empty bag and receipt, shoplifting a thermostat and then trying to return the stolen unit. It's a common scam.... but... More »
—>A drop cloth is one of those items that doesn't have varying degrees of effectiveness. It either works or it doesn't. In Matt's case, it didn't work. Matt bought a canvas drop cloth from Home Depot. He did this because he was under the impression that a canvas drop cloth would prevent paint from getting on whatever he placed it over. Unfortunately for Matt, the drop cloth was too thin and paint soaked right through, ruining his carpet. Read Matt's email inside. More »
"We saw them with the merchandise. We saw them run out of the store. I never kept my eyes off of them. Then when we asked them for a receipt, and that's when they dropped the merchandise and they kept running. One guy still had a chainsaw while he was running, and that's when the cops tackled him," he said. More »
—>To say that Paul is upset about his refrigerator would be an understatement. More »
"The first thing Mr. Blake did when he got up on the stage was he apologized for last years meeting and he said it wouldn't happen again."Home Depot is turning into JetBlue when it comes to constant apologizing. —MEGHANN MARCO More »
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"I asked for a kitchen, and I never thought I was going to get a sex offender."— Home Depot customer Niki Lebrecque on learning that the home improvement store sent a convicted sex offender with an extensive history of violent attacks to refinish her cabinets. More »
NewsCenter 5's Sean Kelly reported that six years ago, [Diane] Turk hired Home Depot to install her new windows, but after shelling out thousands of dollars, she claims the job was never done right. "I don't think if you have a reputable contractor they would have left the window looking like this," she said. More »
—>For some reason, and we're sure someone will figure it out but we're not going to waste our morning, the Home Depot Tool Rental Search does not recognize Middlesex, NJ as a valid zip code. This irritated our reader enough that he wrote several letters to Home Depot, in a vain attempt to find a location in New Jersey that rented tools. Read his letters and Home Depot's replies inside. More »
—>When you buy a light bulb at Home Depot or a pair of pants at Walmart, you probably don't give much thought to the political leanings of said light bulb or said pants. Nevertheless, retail outlets, airlines, electronics manufactures, and record company executives do make campaign contributions, and when they do, we can look it up. More »
—>The Cars.com Blog "Kicking Tires" has some photos of some "alternative fuel only" parking spaces at a Chicago Home Depot., including one of a Land Rover parked in one of the spots. Either the dude in the parking spot hasn't figured it out yet, or he/she/it is running biodiesel? Has Chicago turned into California since we left? More »
While we agree with Mr. skeptical glasses in the video that it's a good PR move for Home Depot, and coincides with the launch of their "green label" line of "eco-friendly" products, you know, consumers need a push with this issue. It's hard for the shoppers at large to understand that while they cost a little bit more than your basic bulb, they will use less energy and save you money in the long-run. They also look funny. More »
—>We've already mentioned this but people keep sending it in as a tip so apparently it bears repeating: Home Depot will be giving away 1 million (as in, not enough for all of you, Dear Consumerist Readers, for you are many and Home Depot is few) CFLs this Sunday in honor of Earth Day and as part of their new "green" labeling promotion. More »
Home Depot today will introduce a label for nearly 3,000 products, like fluorescent light bulbs that conserve electricity and natural insect killers, that promote energy conservation, sustainable forestry and clean water. More »
It was a concept he called "The three Es." More »
—>Shrubs can be a cheap (if you buy 'em small) and easy way to add dynamics to your home's exterior. Here's what a shrub can do: More »
Members of the House Financial Services Committee, led by Rep. Barney Frank (D., Mass.), approved a bill last week that would give shareholders an advisory vote on pay. More »
Frustrated by a bruising, and so far unsuccessful battle to open its first discount store in the nation's largest city, Wal-Mart's chief executive said yesterday, "I don't care if we are ever here." More »
—>Another painful reminder that you should read what you sign before you sign it, and don't let yourself be rushed. More »
Atlanta-based The Home Depot Inc. (NYSE: HD) also has applied to run its own bank...The bank would allow Home Depot to enable contractors to offer home improvement loans to their own remodeling customers. More »
—>Ok, we know we said we liked those mea culpas, but we're starting to regret it. Now new CEO of Home Depot Frank "Li'l Franky" Blake is getting in on the act. He's apologized to Home Depot's customers after a column on Home Depot's faults ran in papers across the nation. (We covered it in our Everyone Hates Home Depot Roundup...) More »
—>Consumerist Flickr Pool member brylyn says, "Saw this while shopping for ceiling lights in Home Depot." More »
I have no proof of this, but it comes from a reliable source (well, someone I consider reliable). More »
—>The stock market hates Home Depot. The stock holders hate Home Depot. The Media hates Home Depot. Our readers hate Home Depot.Everyone hates Home Depot. More »
Now, NBC4 has heard from customers in 22 states and from insiders from across the country, who have given NBC4 a paper trail of internal documents, suggesting the company overcharges customers on window and siding installations, kitchen remodels and on roofing jobs."More »
—>When Mark signed his receipt at Home Depot, doing so declared he, "HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO READ AND ACCEPTS THE TERMS..." of customer agreement #156326. More »
—>New Home Depot CEO Frank "Li'l Franky" Blake is making customer service "his No. 1 priority," according to the Wall Street Journal. Blake took the reigns after the resignation of Robert "Big Bob" Nardelli. Describing the renewed focus, one Texas manager said, "We are not to let a customer go untouched."
Mr. Blake repeatedly has told managers that the stores will be liberated from many of the time-consuming, mind-numbing tasks the home office required them to do over the past six years. Under Mr. Nardelli, stores had to measure everything from how many pallets were removed from a truck per hour to how many extended warranties each employee sold per week.Fewer mind-numbing tasks may allow increased face-time with customers, which for Home Depot, may not be a good thing. For starters, they can focus on hiring people who don't abuse customers, but do know the products they're trying to sell. More »
As Linda alludes to at the end of the newscast, the real problem lies in that Home Depot customers are forced to pay for their services in full, upfront. Typically, contractors don't get full payment until the job is completed to the customer's satisfaction. By denying customers this crucial check and balance, Home Depot encourages sloth and incompetence. More »
University of Michigan's American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) increased to an overall 74.9 score out of 100 in the fourth quarter of 2006, its highest level since the survey first started in 1994. That's a gain of almost 2 percent from the previous year and a 0.7 increase from the previous quarter.So who is winning and who is losing? More »
Home Depot Inc. (HD.N) said on Monday it was considering a sale, spin-off or initial public offering of its professional supply business to focus on its retail stores, reversing a controversial policy of former CEO Robert Nardelli to expand the unit.The professional supply unit and its drain on the retail-side of Home Depot was often named as the source of Home Depot's considerable customer service problems, problems that may have resulted in the firing of ex-CEO Robert "Big Bob" Nardelli. —MEGHANN MARCO More »
—>Home Depot has a new CEO! More »
Ever wondered why Home Depot has sucked so much in the past years? A post-mortem on former Home Depot CEO Robert "Big Bob" Nardelli's departure lays it out. Home Depot: More »
—>You know Home Depot's got a customer service problem when this happens... More »
The 2006 Deloitte report on gift cards is out, and it's official. Gift cards are the single most popular gift this holiday season. But are they a good buy? Sort of. It seems that due to consumer pressure, and FTC pressure, stores are improving their customer service/disclosure of fees when it comes to gift cards. But that doesn't meant there aren't still a lot of problems. The Montgomery County, Maryland, Office of Consumer Protection which assesses dozens of cards annually, has released their 2006 report. The report evaluates 40 different gift cards, looking for things like whether or not the card can be replaced if lost or stolen, whether the cards have an expiration date, and whether fees are assessed to the card's balance. Basically, you want to avoid the following cards: More »
—>Don MacAskill (pictured) is sitting in an unfinished $130,000 kitchen with two prematurely born babies. Home Depot said the kitchen would be done 9 months ago by Owens Corning HOMExperts . The home improvement store assured him that, "being a large corporation, they would have lots of control and organization around the project, and the contractors would be incentivized to finish the job quickly and thoroughly." More »
Home Depot claims you won't have to deal with subcontractors, but they do use subcontractors. When something goes wrong, and consumers complain, Home Depot avoids or ignores their repeated phone calls and letters. More »
Reuters tells that a "June poll of 1,000 U.S. homeowners by marketing firm Consumer Specialists found that 51 percent of respondents preferred to shop at Lowe's, compared with 49 percent for industry leader Home Depot. More »
CRMLowdown sifted through countless customer service surveys, studies, and real-life experiences to come up with a pretty damn impressive list of the best/worst companies for customer service. More »
—>Home Depot markets the GE SmartWater water heaters as "high efficiency." But when you read the government energy guide on the side, it turns out the boiler is inefficient for its class. More »
In this NSFW video, a man wearing a Nestle contractor card, identifying him as worker 705, curses off a group of illegal alien protesters in a California Home Depot parking lot. More »
—>I don't know grout. That's an area of expertise I'm happy to leave to the Polish workmen who magically appear every time I call my landlady and complain about the tiles dropping off my bathroom wall. More »
Softcore agit prop group Improv Everywhere sent 255 people to Home Depot in Manhattan to shop very slowly for five minutes. More »
—>The absurdity of self-checkout, summarized by a Home Depot employee as expertly as it was accidentally: More »
I know you folks prefer complaints, but here's a gold star for a firm: With the likelihood of hard freezes gone, I went to start up our lawn's sprinkler system again. Last fall, I had cut off the water from inside the house, removing the bleed cap on the cutoff valve so the water could drain out completely. Somehow, that bleed cap vanished during the winter. I had obviously not put the cap back on the cutoff valve, and it was not in any of the appropriate storage drawers. I went out to Home Depot and Loews, but they didn't carry the specific brand and model of valve (Hammond 8711 ball valve), and their generic replacement caps didn't fit. At this point, I was willing to buy an entire ball valve just to get the right size of cap. More »
Sandra G.'s dealings with Home Depot could have been worse—she didn't get the exact experience she wanted so she got her money back, albeit with a fair degree of hassle—but we figure it's time we let you tell us about your worst experiences with Home Depot. We'll start with our own: Why won't Home Depot let you use gift cards online? We've got a $50 card that we've had for a year. More »
• Amazon is taking pre-orders for the iRobot Scooba, the floor-washing counterpart to the Roomba, for $400. We are unduly excited about this product, but we really recommend waiting until some reviews come out before dropping four bills. There is also some question as to whether or not a Scooba owner will be tied to purchasing only the Clorox-branded cleaning solution, or if something can be whipped up at home. But still, new robot! Coupon code JANCLEAR takes off $25. More »
• It involves a rebate—a big, $150 one no less—but when you can pick up a TiVo Series 2 40-hour DVR for just $12, it might be worth the trouble. Dealhack has the coupon codes and rebate information. The discounts also apply to the larger-hour versions. More »
