I needed to buy a 50' coaxial cable to hook up a TV in my bedroom. After looking over Home Depot's website, I found what I needed at this link.

Since it was something I wanted to have tonight, I headed over to my local Home Depot store. I found the cable I was looking for right away, but the price was $17.35, more than $10 over the price I set out to pay.

Maybe foolishly, I decided to go ahead and buy it since I didn't have a printout of the website to prove in any way that the price was indeed $6.99. I figured I would call customer service once I got home and they would sort it out for me. Ha! Wrong.

I called their customer service number and got Tracy. Tracy was nice, but said they do not price match between the store and the website. I asked for a supervisor. I got Michael. He also asserted that the store and the website are separate things, and they do not price match. It didn't matter how much I explained that I would have never gone to Home Depot in the first place were it not for the price on their website. The only answer I got was "we have to stand by our price match policy."

I let them know that their policy had lost them a customer, and that I would be telling everyone I know about the negative experience I had. No dice. They're going to stand behind their policy.

I know this isn't the biggest travesty ever sent to the Consumerist, but I hope you can get the message out there that the price on Home Depot's website does not in any way reflect the price you'll see in the store.

Near the footer on each page of their website Home Depot displays the following:

† Local store prices may vary from those displayed. Products shown as available are normally stocked but inventory levels cannot be guaranteed.

This fine print is in a light grey color and easy to miss, though—a small detail, but it matters when you're trying to comparison shop. We were also surprised by the amount of the price difference for the same in-store product, which is why we decided to go ahead and post this. A 10-30% difference might be expected, but the in-store product is almost two and a half times more expensive!

Ryan says:

Recently I purchased a cordless drill with battery pack at Home Depot. I went home and charged up the battery and went to tackle a project. Unfortunately, the battery did not hold a charge. Upon closer examination, the battery was scuffed and obviously used. Dejected I went back to Home Depot and just bought another battery knowing the customer service desk at my local HD would be of no help.

Stewing over having to buy another $35 dollar battery when I shouldn’t have had to, I called up Home Depot’s customer service line. A very friendly “Sharon” listened to my story and was able to pull up all my transactions in their Data Base. She then asked me what course of action I would find acceptable to keep me as a satisfied customer. I told her a HD gift card in the amount of the cost of the battery would be acceptable. She quickly issued the card for a slightly higher amount and said I will receive it in the mail.

Hearing stories of woe from consumers at other stores when faced with similar box swaps, I expected, and quite honestly would understand, skepticism on Home Depot’s part. I was pleasantly surprised with how well Home Depot managed the situation, despite they too being victim to someone else abusing their return system.

Good job, Home Depot!

If you've been sold a "Box of Crap" and are having a hard time with the retailer, check out our post: What To Do When A Store Sells You A Box Of Crap And Won't Take It Back.

(Photo: mroach )

Be sure to read our Ultimate Consumerist Guide to Fighting Back, a go-to handbook for the dissatisfied consumer. Once you've decided to go the executive customer service right, be sure you read this first so you know what to say when you call the corporate avatar of your choice.

The Consumerist Executive Customer Service Index

ACS
Adelphia
Air Tran
Alamo
Alaska Airlines
Allegiant
Aloha
Amazon
America West
American Airlines
American Express
Amtrak
Apple
ATA
AT&T
AT&T Wireless
Bank of America
Barnes and Noble
Bell Canada
Best Buy
Blizzard
Blockbuster
Blogger
Bloomingdales
Blue Cross/Blue Shield
British Airways
Borders
Busey Bank
Buy.com
Cablevision
Charter Communications
Chase
Circuit City
Citibank
Comcast
Continental
cox
Delta
Direc-TV
Discover Card
Dish
Disney
Ebay
Enterprise
Equifax
Experian
Fedex
Frontier Airlines
Fry's
Gamefly
Geek Squad
Georgia Power
Helio
Home Depot
Humana
HSBC
IKEA
ING Direct
Insight
Keybank
Lenovo
Loew's
Macy's
Microsoft (and Xbox)
Midwest Airlines
Motorola
National City
Nicors
Northwest Airlines
Norton
Office Depot
Office Max
Orbitz
Paypal
Pitney Bowes
Qwest
RCN
Regions Bank
Register.com
Ryan Air
Samsung
Seagate
Sears
Sirius
Skybus
Sony Ericcson
Spirit Airlines
Sprint
Sports Authority
Staples
Symantec
T-mobile
Target
Time Warner Cable
TransUnion
Uhaul
United Airlines
United Health Care
UNUM Life Insurance
UPS
US Airways
US Cellular
Verizon landline/DSL/Fios
Verizon Wireless
Vonage
Wachovia
Walmart
Washington Mutual
Wells Fargo

In the event you can't find the info you are looking for here, you can scan our backlog of contact info, or use Google to uncover the addresses yourself. In the event you find something we don't have, feel free to share at tips@consumerist.com.

Researched by Alex Jarvis
Last updated: 11/07/2008

Chandra Greer, owner of a luxury paper store in Old Town, decided to jump on the Christmas creep bandwagon for the first time this year. She held a holiday sale last weekend, offering markdowns of 25 percent to 90 percent on cards, stationery and wrapping paper.

"Not only have we never had a holiday sale, we never had a sale before," said Greer, whose store goes by her last name. "Given what's going on in the economy, we felt a sale would be well-received."

The promotion generated 75 percent more in dollar volume than an average day, even with the steep discounts, said Greer, who had planned to take the day off but went to the store to help clerks handle the crowd.

In these days of heady excess, we could all benefit by waiting until after Thanksgiving to kick off our holiday binge-shopping.

'Christmas creep' hits earlier this season [The Chicago Tribune]
(Photo: βonne)

Home Depot slashes prices, seeking to gain share [MarketPlace] (Thanks to Anne!) (Photo: Maulleigh)

From CNNMoney:

After flirting with aggressive promotions earlier in the housing downturn, both retailers have backed away. The moves indicate a recognition by the retailers that it will be several quarters before demand picks up - with or without big discounts, according to industry experts.

And while the approach might cost the retailers some customers in the near term, it's the right one longer term, said Sanford Bernstein analyst Colin McGranahan.

Even though Lowe's and Home Depot this week expressed hope that housing sales may bottom soon, few industry watchers expect homeowners in the next year or two to resume the kind of major kitchen and bath renovations that fueled home- improvement sales earlier this decade.

$50 and $99 Carpet installation deals are a good example of the type of promotion that the big two will no longer be offering:

The Atlanta company, which a year earlier provided whole-house carpet installation for $99, is now charging $199. It has also pulled back on some of its credit promotions - offering a standard no payment, no interest promotion on purchases of at least $299 on its proprietary credit card for a 6-month term instead of the 12-month offer it has occasionally made.

Home Depot's "judicious" use of promotions and improved forecasting of sales, margins and inventory helped it expand gross margin despite weak demand and rapidly escalating costs, Lehman Brothers analyst Michael Lasser said.

Lowe's, meanwhile, recently raised the price on its whole-house carpet installation deal by $50 to $249 after the promotion hurt gross margins in the first and second quarters. President and Chief Operating Officer Larry Stone told investors and analysts that the No. 2 home-improvement retailer is focusing on "easy-to-understand promotions with a fewer, bigger, better approach."

Home Depot, Lowe's Pull Back on Promotions To Guard Margins [CNNMoney]
(Photo: meghannmarco )

At Ikea, we were interested in a $20, natural wood step stool, until we found a bright blue floor model for $15. We couldn't find anything but the natural finish in the warehouse, so we spoke to a manager, who told us that the blue one must have been from last year (it was kicking around in one of those "Look at how much Ikea furniture I can fit in my 200 square foot apartment!" displays) and the price had gone up. She happily wrote us out a price override, which allowed us to buy the step stool for $15 instead of $20.

We tried to buy a cheap drill at Home Depot, but when we brought home the drill that was advertised as coming with 26 bits, we were surprised to find only Phillips and flathead bits. We went back to Home Depot and returned the item, thinking we had grabbed the wrong one off the shelf. Then we noticed that they were advertising one model but stocking and selling a different one that only came with two bits. We pointed this out to a manager and suggested he give us a separate bit package for free, and he ended up giving us a package with more bits and lowering the price of the drill. Unfortunately, he didn't seem very interested in removing the misleading sign.

The next day, we went to Bed Bath and Beyond to look at towels, and picked some nice towels that rang up at twice the price. It turned out that all of the bath towels that were advertised were actually extra large bath sheets, which cost twice as much. The employee we talked to suggested coming back the next day and seeing if they had any towels, but we instead went to a manager, who rang up the sheets at the same price as the towels.

At the end of it all, we got a drill for a reduced price and a better bit package, a 25% discount on a stool we were going to buy anyway, and two bigger towels for the same price as the smaller ones. We did this by speaking with someone who has the authority to change the price of an item—each time the corrected price rang up, the cashier selected an option called "customer satisfaction." That such a menu item exists shows this is not an uncommon procedure; we didn't have to argue with any of the managers, and they all seemed happy to oblige, but if we hadn't sought them out and complained, we would have been stuck with overpriced, mislabeled items. We have friends who wouldn't bother complaining; they'd either keep an item they're not satisfied with, or return it and buy something more expensive. We doubt we have to tell our readers this, but just in case: don't be afraid to complain.

(Photo: Getty)

While we do recommend you pay for large purchases with a credit card and then pay it off immediately in order to take advantage of the credit card's various warranty/ purchase protection benefits, we sort of suspect that Home Depot is suggesting something else.

So how about you answer Home Depot's question in the comments. What are the benefits of paying cash?

Se Habla Espanol? Hope not.

Apparently, speaking English saves you $50 as a Home Depot Contractor.

Whoops...

My complaint to the police department was determined by them to be unfounded. The investigating official told me that the police officer was working off-duty employment to provide security at Home Depot, and therefore her actions weren't those of the police department. He also stated that she had the right to detain me in her capacity providing security at Home Depot, even though she was wearing a full Metropolitan Police Dept uniform.

We're not exactly shocked that the Metropolitan police would shrug this off as "not their problem", but it's still frustrating that they don't take responsibility for people who are wearing their uniform. Since you were able to resolve the issue with Home Depot, however, we'd say your efforts were not in vain.

Anyone out there know more about Washington D.C.'s shoplifting laws?

(Photo: Marike79 )

From the complaint:

The Home Depot knew or should have known, that after the incident in Boulder, CO that there would be a strong possibility that instances of copycat behavior would occur, especially since the Home Depot sells a wide variety of adhesive products and that same could be used in a similar manner to recreate, or to cause a similar situation.

Mr. Rosales claims he was "rendered unable to work" by his injuries, is seeking in excess of $25,000 in damages.

Glued To His Seat [The Smoking Gun]

Consumerist:

Lately Home Depot is getting a lot of bashing (and deservedly so) in the
Consumerist. However not all HD employees are bad. On May 22, 2008 a
tornado destroyed parts of Windsor Colorado where my fiance lives. We
were not allowed back to survey the damage until Saturday May 24th. On
that Saturday while my fiance and I are insepcting the damage, a truck
from Home Depot pulled up. A crew of HD employees led by John Kliminski
asked if they could help board up the windows. Since I was lacking in
plywood and power tools, I said yes. 30 minutes later the crew boarded
up the windows for me. I am truly grateful for their assistance.

Enclosed are two pictures of the HD crew

Sincerely ,
Jim

We wouldn't be so jaded as to think that HD was doing this simply to drum up business in a community of houses in need of repair. (We'll leave that to the commenters.) Nonetheless, it was a kind act and deserves a tip of the Consumerist fedora.

From CR:

As we reported in our June 2008 story “Scrimping Doesn't Pay,” the Valspar Ultra Premium Satin ($24 per gallon) and the Valspar Ultra Premium Semi-gloss ($24) exterior paints are less expensive than the California 2010 ($38) and Kelly-Moore Acry-Shield ($32) finishes that we rated just above them...If you hire a contractor, then labor costs will add another reason to choose a longer-lasting finish. A finish that lasts for a decade will cost you less than a cheaper one that fails after five years.

Protect Your Investment: Buy quality paints [CR]
(Photo: traci_todd112 )

From Reuters:

At the company's annual meeting in Atlanta, investors complained that efforts to improve the shopping environment have not fully trickled down to all stores. Finding goods on the shelf and helpful workers who make eye contact with customers is difficult, they said.

"I want you to know how badly we need more aprons on the floor," said Gary Patton, a 16-year Home Depot employee from South Carolina. "I just long for the days back in the beginning when we were the destination store. Now we're just one of the other stores."

Shareholder Ken Kaplan said he hoped a move to boost the bottom line would not keep the retailer from spending money to attract knowledgeable workers.

"Pay what it takes to get the ones who defected, the good ones, back from (rival) Lowe's.

In the past year, Home Depot's stock has fallen about 30%.

Improve Service Home Depot Shareholders Say [Reuters]
(Photo: cmorran123 )

I wanted to share a recent annoyance at 2 Home Depot locations. The first occurrence I was actually a little surprised when an HD associate approached me, I assumed with would be the usual "Finding everything". But it was an attempt to interest me in the special promotion for home owners they're running. Apparently its some service with Trane to inspect your home air conditioning. Fortunately there was a sucker beside of me who spoke up and I moved along. A few minutes later and a few asile away who do i see coming but the promotion guy. Again I get the "did you hear about our new promotion". Wow, yes and still not interested. Even though I was quite annoyed I didn't think that much about it until at a second store a few days later same sales pitch. That's enough for me, I'm not going to shop where I'm going to be bothered with these pitches.

Submitted to HD's customer support form:
Over the last week I've had the occasion to be in 2 different stores in the Charlotte area several times(Steele Creek #3662 and S Boulevard Charlotte #3646). At each location while I was trying to find my items and continue with my daily life I was approached by an HD representative who wanted to tell me bout the special promotion for Home Owners. Apparently this is some attempt to sale AC services with Trane. I have to say how annoying this is that I can't simply shop at your stores in peace, I'm going to be accosted for hard sales of services. This is not acceptable to me and will make me hesitant to return to a Home Depot store in the future. Regards.

We suspect that stores like Home Depot underestimate how annoying these sales pitches can be. Has a store ever lost your business because their sales force pestered you to sign up for membership cards, credit cards, or special promotions too often? Who are the worst offenders? Let us know in the comments and we'll round up the best stories in another post.

(Photo: Den-Mod )

The store manager gave Michael two options: he could keep and use the dinged-up appliances until Home Depot found suitable replacements, or he could come back to the store and pick out new models that were in stock. She "even offered that should the only models they have in stock be slightly more expensive, that I would be upgraded free of charge."

The 'slightly more expensive' models ended up being $800 more expensive, a difference the manager approved "without hesitation." She then refunded the delivery fee.

Here's what Michael wrote to Home Depot's CEO:

Hello Mr. Blake.

I am writing to express both my satisfaction and displeasure with my Home Depot experience. First, the facts. My wife and I purchased a set of front-loading washer/dryers on May 6th for $1,293. Since they were not in stock, we made a "special order". We were given a delivery estimate of 5 business days. The first time our order was received at the local store, (Garden City, KS) it was damaged. We received a call from the store informing us of this. We were told our only option was to wait for a 2nd order. When we asked if this order could be expedited, and if our order could arrive quickly, the store's response was "Well... I hope so." Today, May 23rd, I checked my order status online, in hopes of finally receiving our appliances soon. I saw a notice of ANOTHER cancellation and subsequent re-order. I was not informed of this by the store. I called the store, spoke with a special order representative, and was told that yes, our order again came in damaged. Again I was told that I needed to wait on a re-order. At this point I called Home Depot's 1-800 number to ask for assistance in this matter. I am 100% satisfied with the help I've received from the staff at the 800 number. (More on them later, I will first continue with the bad...) After their intervention, I was told that I would receive a call from the store within 2 hours, and that they were searching stock for a similar set of appliances in the same price range. This was at 11:15 AM. It is now approaching 5:30 PM, and I just got off the phone with the Garden City Home Depot. The only reason they EVER called is because I again had the help at the 800 number intervene. (2 hours indeed...) On the phone, I was informed by "Justin" that there was in fact a washer/dryer set, the same models that I ordered, in stock that could be delivered. This leaves me puzzled, so I ask Justin how this could be. (When I came into the store, they weren't in stock. Both the first and second shipments were damaged. How could they be in stock?) Justin's response was "I wish I could tell you". In addition, he informs me that delivery can't be made until Tuesday... 4 days from now. I am to report to Home Depot later tonight to inspect the appliances for damage.

It's going on 3 weeks since I made this purchase. This washer/dryer set isn't a luxury item like a DVD player or a pair of shoes. This is something I ordered because my family NEEDS these appliances. Mooching off of co-workers to get laundry done is not a past-time of mine. Having said that, I am very upset that the exact models I ordered are sitting in stock at the Garden City Home Depot. Have they been there the whole time? Why did I have to escalate the situation to even find out that they were there? Do you even care if my order is ever fulfilled?

Now, I promised that there was an aspect of my experience that has been satisfactory, so here goes. Abdi (Extension 41553) at customer care has tried very hard to rectify this situation. He has been sympathetic of my problem. He has called to check on me nearly every 2 days since my first busted shipment. He as intervened for me when the Garden City staff proved that they were completely indifferent to my needs. He has even returned my calls when he said he would! Go figure! He has been the only one to get answers out of this local store, since all that they'll tell me to do is to wait for the next shipment. My order experience continues to worsen, but Abdi has been trying his damnedest to help me out. I very much appreciate his attempts, even though they have proven essentially fruitless to this point. Kudos to Abdi and the entire staff at the 800 number's customer care.

I sincerely apologize for having taken up so much of your time with this lengthy letter, Mr. Blake. I just thought you might like to know the that the level of support at the local store and at phone support are polar opposites. I am enthralled with the special care with which Abdi has handled my case. Conversely, I am thoroughly disappointed with the care I received at the Garden City store. My saga isn't over yet, and I have a feeling in the pit of my stomach that it will only get worse from here. And despite the excellence of your 800 number's staff, I can not in good conscience ever recommend the Home Depot to friends or family again. And I can never again shop there myself, the taste in my mouth right now won't allow it. Good day.

Sincerely,

Michael

Notably, Michael launched the Executive Email Carpet Bomb before reaching a seemingly final resolution. We usually recommend that you exhaust all normal customer service channels—in this case, returning to the store—before launching an EECB, but Michael's timing clearly worked out well.

His letter is spot-on, highlighting Home Depot's customer service shortfalls while remaining reasonable. Michael comes off as a customer that you would want to help, which made it easy for Frank Blake to respond with this:

Michael: I apologize for the bad experience you've had. And I thank you that in the middle of it, you still took the time to recognize one of our Customer Care associates. I will have someone contact you as soon as possible to address this problem and if you're not satisfied with the resolution, please let me know directly. – Frank Blake

Here is the response from the store manager:

My name is Jan Morgan, the store mngr at the GC Home Depot. I am trying to contact you to set up the delv of your appliances. I understand that Justin asked if you could look at the product before we deliver. If this is not able to happen, that is ok, the driver will wait while you look them over.

From the research I did on why this set is at the store, this is a canceled order from another customer that was upgraded again due to received damage.

Looking forward to speaking with you to correct this situation.
Jan Morgan
Store Manager
2219 Home Depot
Garden City, Ks.
620-275-5943

By 9:30 the morning after I sent my letter, I had these responses as well as a missed call from the Garden City, KS store manager. When speaking with the manager, Ms. Morgan, I was given the option of accepting the busted merchandise to use at home until a satisfactory shipment was received. I declined, and countered that instead, we could replace the models I chose with something of comparable value that was in stock. She agreed, and even offered that should the only models they have in stock be slightly more expensive, that I would be upgraded free of charge. Awesome!

I showed up at the store about an hour later, and from then on was taken care of by Stan and Sarah. After searching their stock for me, they found that there were no front loading washer/dryers in stock. They then offered to give me floor models instead, should I find their condition to be acceptable. At this point I say that whatever is closest in price to what I originally purchased is fine. They directed me to a set of LG's, priced at $699 a piece. This would have been a comp of hundreds of dollars, so I was delighted to accept their offer. The floor models had been stacked onto each other for display, and had seemed to be in great shape. When they were taken down for shipment however, it was revealed that these were also damaged! Having been stacked for so long the bottom appliance had significant damage on top. At this point Stan says, "Well, what about the grey ones? Are they OK?". I replied that yes, that would be fine. Soon after saying this, I realize that the sticker price on these appliances is $999, and $899 respectively. Holy crap! (GE Washer model WCVH6800J0MS, Dryer model DCVH680EJ0MS) When Sarah informs Stan of the difference in price between these models and the ones I purchased, (At about $530 a piece) and if she should just write-off the difference, he says yes without hesitation. As we finalize our exchange I thank them both profusely for helping us so much. I'm still stunned as I'm writing this letter that this worked out so well.

I will be writing Mr. Blake back to let him know what happened, and that despite what was said in the letter, I will indeed be purchasing from Home Depot again. How could I not? You have no idea how guilty I felt throughout the process. I mean, that's almost an $800 difference! They even refunded the delivery charge!

I didn't expect in my wildest dreams for my EECB to turn into this. Thank you so much consumerist!

We knew EECBs worked; we've seen the results; but even we didn't think they worked this well! Great work, Home Depot!

(Photo: ZacharyTirrell)

Here's what readers said in previous rounds about why they hate these two companies...

Home Depot:

"These are the guys who took four tries to get my living room carpet installed, coming by three times with defective carpeting. They sent the same defective roll out to my house twice, and before the third try the installation coordinator in the store swore up and down that the new roll had been opened and checked in the store before it was brought out— lies, it was still sealed in the factory bag and it, too was defective. The first two installation crews spoke no English at all, and one of them cut himself on the tack strips and wiped his blood all over my freshly painted walls. And the first crew came out with someone else's measuring and cutting instructions, and no clue how to get the right ones. I called the store and had it faxed to my house so they could get started.

And I'm looking for someone now two and a half years later to come back and reinstall it correctly since it's rippling all over the place from not being stretched and anchored properly in the first place. Bastards. "

"I've never really gotten the impression at Home Depot that they give a damn about what I need. Especially when the area is also surrounded by Lowes stores."

"After spending 5 years of my life working for home depot (they offer tuition reimbursement....sweet sweet college tuition money), my vote will go to home depot. I can't even begin to describe the horror stories. 8000$ cabinet orders being ordered wrong...3 different times, then blaming the customer for the designer's mistakes. Installers faulty wiring their kitchen leading to electrical fires, basement flooding, not honoring warranties (extended or normal 90 days), not honoring signs....sweet jesus I could go on forever."

"

Home Depot certainly did a number on me when it came to installing two external doors on my house. They got them both crooked, and one had a gap so large that the wind blew through it. The guy spent 2-3 days trying to install them, even staying until 4am. He was CLEARLY incompetent. He brought his girlfriend/wife with him to nag at him.

Home Depot's solution? No, we won't look at it to see if it was done right. But we'll be happy to send the same guy back to do even more work. Oh? You refuse to let him work at your house ever again? There's nothing more I can do. Okay. I'll mark this job as "complete".

Yes. For real.

BONUS: The crackpot installer, I am told by two people at Home Depot, was promoted to the position as an installation manager in Arkansas.

My further folly: A year or two later, I paid Home Depot to come look at the mess (which they agreed was f'ed up) and then they charged me $300 to fix it. "Because I didn't complain while it was in warranty."

Of course, I complained and complained when it was in warranty. Even wrote a letter to the store manager (who never replied and then was replaced). But their only solution was to keep sending the incompetent fool back out to my house.

I've since switched to Lowe's for everything. "

"I had a really bad experience with Home Depot this winter.

I bought some carpet from them to be installed. It was the nicest stuff I found for what I wanted to spend. I was given a rough quote based on my own measurements (46 sq yards) and set up dates.

I was told they'd match an installation price from Lowes. Then after they came out to measure (for which I paid $50 just for that), they told me they *wouldn't* price match, because it was different carpet. (Lowes doesn't carry that exact model.)

Then they tell me that although I have 46 sq yards of space, but they must sell me 56 sq yards of carpet (and 56 sq yards of padding!), because it comes in rolls. At this point if I wanted any carpet installed before Christmas, I had no choice and had to pay the inflated cost, and did.
But HD will never get another dime from me again."

"Home Depot because they take advantage of people who think they are the experts (or at least semi-qualified) and don't know any better. Their asshattery affects a lot more people in much worse ways."

"Isn't Home Depot the one that sent a contractor, who was also a registered sex offender, to a female customer's home?"

"Home depot sells it's lumber at loss when it comes to town to put local competitors out of business. As soon as they close up shop, prices skyrocket."

"Ive only had one good service experience and that was from the door greeter who did his best to help me find glue (the actual guy who KNEW where it was didnt bother to help me after pointing it out.

"Glue's right there, its all the same, bye". "

""replaced them with surly low-paid workers".. Boy is this ever true. We have completely given up going to HD for anything. The people working there are total morons. They don't know how to do a damn thing and they act like you're bothering them when you try to order something that's not stocked...Bunch of f*ing idiots!"

"I had to vote for Home Depot, primarily because of their former CEO Robert Nardelli. He has to one of the worst when it comes to the "heads I win, tails you lose" style of corporate leadership. He's the one primarily responsible for turning Home Depot into a joke.

His stupidest idea was the effort to get into contractor sales. So long as HD is selling 'installation services' that makes them direct competitors with the local contractors. If I were one of the latter, why in the world would I do anything to help HD's bottom line.

Last but not least, you have to admire Nardelli's diabolical genius: he was able to walk away from his legacy of incompetence and mediocrity with over $240 million in compensation. Like I said, "Heads I win, tails you lose.""

"Just this weekend, it took them 40 minutes to check in a rental sod cutter I was returning. The problem? The guy had thrown in ramps "for free" so I could roll the thing in and out of my van. However, the "free" ramps ended up being $8, a charge which they didn't show me until the contract was "closed." It took them about 35 minutes to figure out how to open the contract back up and delete the cost of the ramps.

When I was renting the sod cutter, they had 2 in stock, one with a full tank of gas and one empty. They tried to push the empty one on me. WTF???

Oh, and the previous time I rented equipment from them, the guy tore up the door gasket in my van, then proceeded to swear at me for his decision to help me load the equipment. Home Depot's insurance paid for a new gasket and I got an apology from the guy's manager for that one."

"My last trip to Home Depot was to involve getting a piece of material cut, only to have a nice old man tell me that the cutter is broken and he has asked management to get it fixed for weeks now and he is pretty sure that they will never bother to fix it because that would cost money. At least he was honest!"

"The managers at Home Depot are little more than gatekeepers. They just open and close the doors, they have no real authority. Everything is micromanaged from Atlanta, even the air conditioning is tied to the weather there!"

"My vote goes to Home Depot, if only because its stores in Central Florida haven't banned con man/handy man Jim Metts from trolling for victims in its aisles. A link to the latest development in his saga is here, courtesy of the Orlando Sentinel"

" It's American big business in general. American corporations reduce customers to sheer numbers. The individual consumer is meaningless. Stock price is all that counts

Rather than spend a God damned dime on customer relations, companies will instead spend billions on asinine TV and print ads touting how wonderful they are and how they LOVE their freespirited customers.

All their ads use the same basic formula: HAPPY HAPPY CHEERFUL INTELILGENT employees who in turn are EAGER top help and serve HAPPY HAPPY CHEERFUL customers.

If you, the individual, don't have the same HAPPY HAPPY experience in real life, then YOU are the problem. Probably because you hate America. It certainly couldn't be the fault of our company. Heaven forbid.

Rather than build a company's reputation on solid customer care, quality and service, most companies find it more economical and profitable to create the ILLUSION of customer care, quality and service through expensive TV ads."

"out here in the pacific northwest home depot is using general contractors who refuse to hire union workers. specifically, carpenters. guess lower wages are the reasoning behind the former ceo's 300 million dollar golden parachute, right? don't know about you but i no longer shop home depot, period."

"I work weekends at HD, where we're forced to use 19th century (or so they seem) Dell computers. Both suck, but I voted HD because our equipment is always broken, we carry far more products than we can reasonably fit on the shelves, and we're severly understaffed. Today, I covered 6 departments."

"

I have worked for the Home Depot for a number of years. I voted for the Home Depot, and I hate Dell. HD stores are completely understaffed, and it might get worse. This is a bottom line issue for corporate. I once inquired at a district meeting as to the problem of having only 5 associates covering an entire store during the hours of 6-9 am. The response from district leadership was to respond to my question with a question "How many customers do you help between the hours of 6-9 am?". You early morning shoppers are NOT important to the business.

TRUE: Stores replaced master electricians/plumbers/generally useful retired workers with underpaid kids who don't give a frack if you leave unhappy.

TRUE: Since the replacement of Bob Nardelli, stores have been required to rehire one experienced plumber and one experienced electrician per store. My store fulfilled this requirement with 2 kids in their late 20's who studied in each trade, but never made master.

But my biggest problem with the Home Depot is their hypocritical stance about going 'green'. Over last weekend we handed out earth bags and pamphlets about how to save the earth. Tomorrow we are celebrating earth day.

TRUE: Today we threw away a cart load of brand new sockets, socket extensions, and other brand spanking new hand tools that were on clearance that wouldn't sell. Because it is better to put them into a landfill than donate them or sell them on the cheap. This happens EVERY DAY. Light fixtures, ladders, tile, wire, virtually anything in the store, if it doesn't sell, we are forced to put it into a dump rather than donate/sell at a significant loss.

Today a woman asked me to get a yellow tagged discounted fountain down for her. It was marked ~$50. When she got to the register, it rang up .01. ONE PENNY. The cashier asked me what to do, and if I had followed company policy, I would have denied her the fountain she wanted, taken it and put it in the trash. That was the 'Right' thing to do, according to THD. I gave a generic sku and charged the woman $20. It was originally $299.

But honestly, many of the complaints I am reading here are just bad luck with bad people, possibly with bad moods. I am not without sin. On a day to day basis, I am either the best associate you can encounter, or the biggest prick you have ever met. I will cut you deals that you won't believe, or I will make you feel stupid and inferior if you rub me the wrong way. We are instructed to discount merchandise if customers mention they want to look elsewhere. I was commanded to do this by a "Senior Merchandising Executive" for the company. If we are out of a product, and you are told you can come back and get it in X number of days, that associate is not doing his job. We are supposed to offer you the next best product for the same price you wanted to pay. If you mention you want to go to Lowes/other local competitor to shop around, we are instructed to discount merchandise, even if it is only comparable, not exactly the same.

FRAK THD and every money grubbing, faceless multinational earth-raping corporation. FRAK Capitalism. "

Wellpoint:

"HMO that believes colonoscopies don't hurt beat incompetent cable companies any day."

"HMO's have been a thorn in the side of the health care industry that needs to be pulled and burned. More people have died under their care from bureaucratic stupidity vs being insured by a regular insurer, even BCBS."

"$2600 root canal - they covered about $435. filling? $16. right, like any licensed dentist is going to do a filling for $16. the freaking novocaine dose costs more. it's at the point that i'm trying to convince my employer to drop the dental coverage & switch us over to a savings plan w/ some sort of employer contribution."

"Personal information that may have included Social Security numbers and pharmacy or medical data for about 128,000 WellPoint Inc. customers in several states was exposed online over the past year, the health insurer said Tuesday."

"I don't want market forces to decide whether I should go see that doctor for that infection. No gas for a thing shoved up your ass? Not a chance."

"I just had a colonoscopy done. No freaking way would I get it without sedation. With sedation, the worst part was the prep. I wasn't even aware they had done anything as I went right to la-la land and woke up an hour or so later feeling more or less funky-fresh."

STILL OPEN FOR VOTING: Wal-Mart vs Citibank, Capital One vs ATT, Sallie Mae vs eBay/Paypal, TransUnion vs Diebold, Best Buy vs CompUSA, DeBeers vs Verizon, Exxon vs United Airlines, Sony vs Ticketmaster, Comcast vs The American Arbitration Association

On Sunday, May 4, 2008 I went to the Home Depot on Joppa Rd, Baltimore County Maryland. My purchases includes several plants, pots, and tile sealer. I went to the self check-out line because of the speed and scanned my items. Before I could indicate I was paying by cash the machine wanted me to enter a zip code, I entered 11111 because it's really none of their business. The next screen wanted me to key in if my items were for home or business use. I had no ability to bypass this screen even thought I did not want to answer this question.

I requested assistance from the employee assigned to the area because again I do not feel I need to report to Home Depot where I plan to use items I purchase. I was told my transaction would not be completed without providing the information requested. I left without my items.

What next? Is "big brother" going to screen my cholesterol levels before allowing me to by diary products at the grocery?

I have e-mailed my concern over this interaction to Home Depot and all I have in response is some statement about sending this on to someone else in their system. Clearly, most individuals who utilize the self-checkout want to get out quickly and do not stop to question the invasion of privacy issue. If this is an attempt by the Home Depot to collect information as a survey, I would hope they would have the sense to request an individual's cooperation.

Thank you for the forum where I can at least vent to a group who seems to care.

Sincerely:

Helen

Yuck. You already emailed the store, but if you're really concerned about letting Home Depot know that this stupid survey cost them your business, feel free to launch an EECB (executive email carpet bomb). The CEO's email address is Frank_Blake@homedepot.com. For more information about launching an EECB, click here.

What do you think about "surveys" like this one? Do they affect where you choose to shop?

(Photo: cmorran123 )

Charter Cable: gets all-around poor marks for quality of service, customer service, and technical support. They're on the record as admitting to blatantly lying to their customers. One time they irrevocably deleted 14,000 customer's email accounts, including all their emails, even the ones that you have to scroll all the way to the bottom to find the secret message. Whoops.

This is a post in our Worst Company In America 2008 series. The companies nominated for this honor were chosen by you, the readers. Keep track of all the goings on at consumerist.com/tag/worst-company-in-america/

STILL OPEN FOR VOTING: Dell vs Home Depot,
Sears vs Citibank, Wal-Mart vs TJMaxx, Mattel vs ATT, Capital One vs Video Professor, eBay/Paypal vs COX, Apple vs SallieMae, Diebold Vs Pfizer, MTV vs TransUnion
CompUSA vs DirecTV
Target vs Best Buy
Allstate vs Verizon,
DeBeers vs 1800 flowers, Starbucks vs United Airlines,
Exxon vs Crocs, Google Vs Sony, Ticketmaster vs Wachovia, Facebook vs The American Arbitration Association, Comcast vs Menu Foods

Home Depot: Got rid of all the nice retired electricians and plumbers on its floor staff and replaced them with surly low-paid workers who didn't know a brick from a brace, and didn't care. They let their in-home installation business line be contracted out to incompetent unprofessional local contractors and then didn't hold those teams accountable when egregious mistakes were made and seemed to make it a policy to, at the store level, ignore customers who complained. Perhaps because these were the same guys whose business Home Depot was trying to attract by focusing on the lucrative contracting and construction industries.

This is a post in our Worst Company In America 2008 series. The companies nominated for this honor were chosen by you, the readers. Keep track of all the goings on at consumerist.com/tag/worst-company-in-america/

STILL OPEN FOR VOTING: Sears vs Citibank, Wal-Mart vs TJMaxx, Mattel vs ATT, Capital One vs Video Professor, eBay/Paypal vs COX, Apple vs SallieMae, Diebold Vs Pfizer, MTV vs TransUnion
CompUSA vs DirecTV
Target vs Best Buy
Allstate vs Verizon,
DeBeers vs 1800 flowers, Starbucks vs United Airlines,
Exxon vs Crocs, Google Vs Sony, Ticketmaster vs Wachovia, Facebook vs The American Arbitration Association, Comcast vs Menu Foods

Michael Roskell, 33, a technology project manager from Jersey City, N.J., said he and a friend from high school periodically visit electronics stores. While Mr. Roskell expresses interest in buying an item, his friend acts as though he is dissatisfied with the price and threatens to leave.

"We play good cop, bad cop," Mr. Roskell said.

In February, he said, the friends got $20 off a pair of $250 speakers at 6th Avenue Electronics in the New York area. Earlier, he and the same friend negotiated to buy two 46-inch high-definition Sony televisions at P. C. Richard & Son, a New York-area electronics chain.

List price: $4,300. Price after negotiation: $3,305.50.

"My parents never did this," Mr. Roskell said. "But once you get it, you realize there's a whole economy built on this."

The strategy can even work when buying pants. At least it did for David Achee of Maplewood, N.J., who said he went to a Polo Ralph Lauren store in the SoHo neighborhood of Manhattan last month and became interested in a pair of pants on the clearance rack for $75. He told the salesperson that he had seen a similar pair on the Internet for $65, adding that he thought the pair on the rack looked worn (even though he did not really think so). He got the pants for around $50, he said.

Among his other tactics, he said, he sometimes threatens to walk out of a store and go to a competitor, as he did recently to get a price break on a drum set at a music store. But, mainly, he relies on researching prices and coming armed with information — prices he finds on the Internet and in ads from competitors.

"You can negotiate, but you have to do your research," said Mr. Achee, who works for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. "When I'm bargaining, I'm bargaining with information."

Of course none is this groundbreaking or new; it's just becoming more accepted and widespread. What are your best haggling tactics? Share in the comments.

At Megastores, Hagglers Find No Price Set in Stone [NYT]
PREVIOUSLY: The Rebirth Of Haggling?
Pick Up Some Haggling Tips At HowToHaggle.com
(Photo: Getty)

The lawsuit stated:

• Miller worked for Home Depot from March 13, 1995 to his termination Aug. 27, 2007. When terminated, he worked as manager for the Home Depot in Murfreesboro.

• When Miller arrived at work Aug. 20, 2007, the head cashier called to report a man struck a soft drink machine with a crowbar outside the building. From her tone of voice, Miller believed the cashier feared for her safety.

• Miller and assistant manager Robert Weiss saw two other employees detaining the suspect who was about 6 feet tall and weighed 180 pounds. When an employee asked for the cash taken from the machine, the suspect tossed the crowbar in a trash can and hurried away with the money. Two employees and Miller chased the suspect until they grabbed him.

• The manager counseled with the suspect, telling him he could stop using drugs and change his life.

He was not a customer of the store.

Murfreesboro Police took the suspect into custody. Police asked Miller for an affidavit for the arrest warrant. Miller obtained permission from the legal department to proceed with the prosecution.

• Later, Miller learned he was the subject of a company investigation. He was terminated Aug. 27.

Miller's lawsuit stated he acted in concern for his employees, perceiving the suspect to be a threat to employees and customers. Under state law, Miller was justified to use reasonable force to protect employees and property.

His termination to protect others and arrest the suspect "jeopardizes clearly established public policies," the lawsuit stated.

Gilley said Miller responded because the cashier feared the suspect with a crowbar.

"Rusty Miller instinctively has as we hope everyone would act when a human life is potentially in danger," Gilley said. "In response, he was terminated."

Miller offered to help the thief get help for a drug problem, his attorney said.

"How much more compassionate can you get?" Gilley said.

Attached to the lawsuit was the form Home Depot used to terminate Miller.

"Rusty pursued and detained a customer in the parking lot after the customer had broken into the vending machine outside the store," the document stated. "Rusty's actions are a violation of our company code of conduct — violation of asset protection policy."

Here's his response:

Frank Blake, CEO of Home Depot, writes:

Mr [redacted]: I apologize for the bad service you've received from us (and for the detention)! But I thank you for taking the time to send this note. We are working hard to try to re-direct our company and deliver the customer service you should expect. - Frank blake

Matt responded:

Mr. Blake,

Thank you for the prompt reply to my e-mail. I wish that my e-mail to you had been more concise and brief, but I was pretty frustrated at the time.

I received a voicemail around lunchtime from Bryan Dennison, the manager of the Washington, DC store. He apologized and invited me to call him back and to come and meet him to discuss the issues.

I did just that; he thanked me for bringing my case to his attention, and told me that he agreed with a lot of the issues I raised. Bryan took over managing the store a few months ago, and has apparently worked to tackle the many problems that have plagued this store for years. I met the various store managers on duty, who all apologized for the store's poor performance. Apparently, Bryan has brought in several new managers to improve the store.

Since I was planning to go to Lowe's this evening to look at replacement windows Bryan asked me to give his staff a shot to try and win me back. In the end, I was impressed with the service I received tonight, and wished that all the employees I'd met previously were as friendly, knowledgeable, and helpful as Wayne in the windows/millwork department. By far, Wayne was the most helpful person I've ever met at Home Depot. He completely understood what it means to do a project yourself, and related to this being my first time installing replacement windows. After speaking with me and understanding that I'm pretty handy and comfortable with home repairs, he answered all of my questions and explained to me what I needed to do step-by-step. With Wayne, I felt like I was back home in southern Virginia, where people are friendly and the folks at the hardware store are happy to take time to help.

As thanks for me giving his staff another chance, Bryan said that the one window I was going to purchase tonight was on him (I was going to purchase only one tonight, as this is my first time installing windows, and wanted to attempt one first, then buy others if I am successful). Hopefully, I'll install it with few problems, and can come back for the other 2 that I need at a later time, and eventually for windows for the rest of my house.

As I was leaving, I did ask about the policy of checking for receipts, and Bryan said that it's an issued he's raised with his superiors at Home Depot. I told him that I hate being treated like a criminal after buying merchandise, and he seemed to understand. I ask that you seriously consider this policy, as I know personally several people who no longer shop at Home Depot as a result of the receipt checking. In addition, I hope that the staff, security guards, and any Home Depot-paid police officers will be trained to understand that customers cannot be detained for simply not showing a receipt (there must be some suspicion that they have shoplifted), and the checking of receipts is voluntary.

Thank you very much for your time, and I sincerely appreciate your taking these issue into consideration.

Thanks,

Matt

Thank you for your note and for giving us another chance...also thanks for calling attention to Wayne. I'll make sure he gets recognized appropriately. To be honest, I didn't know about the checking of receipts until I received your note. So your note will have a broader impact as I look into our policy and the associated training.- Frank Blake

Sent from my BlackBerry

(Photo:IHP)

In addition to poor customer service and an inadequately maintained and stocked store, Matt says he was illegally detained by the Metropolitan Police and forced to return to the store to show his receipt to a Home Depot employee.

According to his police report, the officer stopped Matt without reasonable cause and forced him to comply with "store policy." Matt feels that this was a violation of his 4th amendment rights.

Why are the Washington D.C. police enforcing Home Depot's "store policies" as if they were laws? Nothing better to do?

Here's Matt's letter to Home Depot's CEO Frank "Li'l Frankie" Blake:

Dear Mr. Blake,

Since purchasing my home in March 2007, I've spent nearly $10,000 on various projects around my home; most of that was spent at my local Home Depot in Washington, DC. Despite the poor inventory, poor customer service, long check out lines, disorganization of the store, rummaged-through/opened/broken/incomplete items sold, and many other problems with the store, I've shopped there because it's local and has a good-sized lumber/drywall supply. After a recent incident, however, I'll likely not return and instead will probably drive a few miles further to a Lowe's in Maryland or Virginia in the future.

Long story short, I refused to show my receipt to exit the store, and was detained illegally (albeit briefly) by a uniformed Washington, DC Metropolitan Police officer in the 5th District on February 21, 2008. I've submitted a formal complaint to the police department, which is attached. I refuse to be treated like a criminal and be held at your store illegally in the future. As you probably know, most retail shrinkage/loss occurs as a result of internal theft by employees, not customers, so the store "requiring" customers to display receipts at exits likely isn't doing much good anyway (not to mention that customers are not legally required to display receipts).

In addition to this incident, I've experienced the below within the past few months:

-Lack of knowledgeable sales staff

-Discourteous sales staff

-Inattentive sales staff

-Trouble receiving replacement parts missing from a ceiling fan kit; the local Home Depot associate actually opened up a new box for a different fan, gave me parts he assured would work, and sent me on my way. The parts didn't fit my fan at all, and now the local Home Depot has yet another opened and incomplete item; the Chinese manufacturer was more efficient and shipped the parts to me as a courtesy.

-Saw used for cutting/ripping plywood and other lumber has been out of service for some time (forcing me to go elsewhere)

-Initial refusal by a cashier to allow an exchange of a Commercial Electric brand item; she claimed that the item was not purchased at a Home Depot, even though this brand is sold exclusively by Home Depot (after wasting 30 minutes of my time, a manager overrode the decision)

-Inaccurate inventory numbers, resulting in perpetually out-of-stock items (e.g.: one time, the store's inventory system indicated to a sales rep that the store had hundreds of an item in stock, yet no associate could find the large, oddly-shaped item, forcing me to go to a competing store out-of-state, which has helpful staff and plenty of the item readily available)

-A store security guard grabbing my person and my purchased items and not allowing me to leave the store; my father had the receipt and already left the immediate area (Again, this type of action is unlawful; store employees or contractors have no legal right to touch/assault customers or prevent them from leaving, even if no receipt is shown. After purchasing the items, a customer's obligation to the store ends.)

-Common items out of stock (one more than one occasion, I couldn't find a CPVC 1/2" elbow; this is a very common part, and it's frustrating to have to rig several components together to complete a project)

-A 40-minute wait to even speak to someone about ordering a sheet of laminate countertop material (I recently built my own kitchen cabinets and counters); three other associates were present and available in the department, but claimed that the one busy associate was the single person in the store who could give me a rough guesstimate of price (I gave up and drove a few miles out-of-town to Lowe's, which had a handful of popular styles of laminate sheets in stock, unlike Home Depot).

When I first arrived to DC, I was happy to hear that there was a Home Depot in town, as I was familiar with the "You can do it, we can help" attitude portrayed in advertisements. My experiences (only some are list above) have proven, however, that the Home Depot is most certainly not in a position to help as advertised. In fact, I wish I would have spend the thousands of dollars at Lowe's or other stores. Even with a further distance to travel and possibly higher prices, I wouldn't have left the store stressed out or frustrated nearly every time.

Mr. Blake, I realize this is a long e-mail, but I hope you— as Home Depot's CEO— will consider what I've said and work to institute changes at the Home Depot in our nation's capital; until then, though, I'll likely find a store that's well-organized and staffed with persons who are helpful.

In addition, I read today that Home Depot recently posted its first-ever annual sales decline, with a 27% drop in the fourth quarter of 2007. With those losses, I'm surprised that Home Depot hasn't gotten back to basics like having good customer service, sensible policies, and treating customers as they should be treated.

Please feel free to contact me via e-mail or telephone at [redacted] should you have any questions.

Yours,

Matt

UPDATE: Home Depot's CEO Has Responded To This Complaint

From the WSJ:

After Miami handyman Glenn Rudge was accused of shoplifting an $8 set of drill bits at Home Depot, he thought he'd settled the matter when he showed his receipt to prosecutors and they dropped the charge.

But a few weeks later, a law firm hired by Home Depot began sending him letters demanding first $3,000, then a total of $6,000, implying he'd be sued if he didn't pay it.

In an escalating battle against theft, retailers are going after anyone suspected of shoplifting, turning over their names to lawyers and collection firms, who pursue the suspects for stiff penalties and split the take with the retailer."

The WSJ says this process is a result of laws passed in all 50 states that were intended to help retailers cover the cost of securing their stores, but the way the laws were written has resulted in some strange behavior by retailers.

Lord & Taylor, for instance, never follows up civil-demand letters by suing suspected shoplifters, its loss-prevention manager said in deposition about a year ago, citing the cost of going to court. Lord & Taylor collected about $1 million in civil recovery from suspected shoplifters in a recent year, up from $850,000 the year before, the official testified.
The chain's letters to suspected shoplifters are sent out by a Florida law firm called Palmer Reifler & Associates, which also handles the task for four dozen other clients, from Wal-Mart Stores Inc. to Walgreen Co., keeping 13% to 30% of what it collects. A partner at the law firm has said that it sends out about 1.2 million civil-recovery demand letters a year but follows up by suing fewer than 10 times a year.

After he kept insisting he was innocent, the guard handcuffed him, walked him to an interrogation room in back and took the drill bits. Mr. Rudge asked to call home to have his wife bring in the receipt but the store wouldn't let him, he said in a 2003 suit in Miami-Dade County Circuit Court, since settled. Home Depot declined to discuss specifics of his account.

Prosecutors charged the handyman with shoplifting, then dropped the charge in February 2003 when he showed them a receipt for the drill bits. But about a month later, according to his suit, he got a letter from the Palmer Reifler law firm demanding he pay a little over $3,000 within 20 days.

He ignored the demand. Then he got a letter demanding an additional $3,000, as "pre-litigation" attorney's fees, for a total of just over $6,000. If he didn't pay, one letter said, the sheriff's office would be called to notify him if a lawsuit was filed.

Mr. Rudge was doing some handyman work for a lawyer and showed her the letters. "I took one look and said, 'This is outrageous,' " says the lawyer, Alison Harke. "These letters are designed to make people settle because they believe they are going to jail." She filed a suit against the retailer, the settlement of which is confidential.

Big Retail Chains Dun Mere Suspects in Theft [Wall Street Journal](Thanks, Joseph !)
(Photo:Maulleigh)