Home Depot Consumer Reviews - Page 7

BOLTON, ON -- After picking out exactly which BBQ he wanted at the Home Depot in Bolton, Ontario, my husband and I took the van down so he could show it to me and we could buy it and take it home. This is a VERY quiet store (now we know why!) and it was 6:00 on a Saturday evening. We looked at the BBQs in the seasonal display (no employee to be seen), then looked at the two displayed elsewhere in the store, one of which was the one we wanted.

Behind the model, was a rack of huge boxes of these BBQs. We had ONE question to ask, also needed help with the box, and to pay and leave. We noticed 2 young employees not far away, roughhousing with each other. We called them over, but "it wasn't their dept.," they told us to go back to seasonal. We said no-one was there, and besides, the BBQ we wanted was right here. He said, "well, they're over there too (they weren't)." So we walked back, no employee (and no BBQ of that model).

In the next aisle over I spot an employee, with a coffee in his hands, talking to someone holding a pack of lightbulbs (not the lighting aisle). I went up and waited. Turns out they weren't discussing product, they were personal friends. I was close enough to hear all about the party. After standing there for 5 minutes, getting a look and a turn-away, I left. Went to the customer service desk, asked to speak to the manager. She asked why, we told her.

My husband is leaving at this point, totally frustrated. She says "oh here's the guy you need, the guy from seasonal." There is a guy rushing past and he says "I'll be with you after I finish moving these boxes." Well, you know, you can move those boxes LATER. AFTER you make an easy sale for hundreds of dollars. We left. We went through five different employees, NONE of whom were serving other customers, we were ready to pay and we can't buy because none of them will help us. Word around town is that this store is "in trouble." No kidding.
Luckily, there are lots of places that sell everything Home Depot does. Worst non-service I've ever experienced.

UPDATE: On Monday I phoned the store and relayed the above to an Assistant Manager. He agreed the above was unacceptable, and asked if we had already purchased another BBQ. I said "no, we hadn't had time to shop for another one yet." He offered 10% off, I asked for assembly. We did get the BBQ with free assembly. However, when I went to pick it up, the lid had 2 large, very noticeable scratches on it.

Come on, guys!! Why would I want that on a new BBQ?! So I asked them to change the lid, which they did. At first they wanted me to come back another day, but for 2 screws, I asked if I could please wait, I don't live around the corner. We now have our scratchless BBQ!

AMARILLO, TEXAS -- Back in 2007 we went to Home Depot to buy custom shutters. I had $700.00 of American express gift cards. I can't remember her name but she was pleasant and informative. I had Mr. Personality come to my house to measure. He did so very quickly and on the last window I stated "you know these are for custom shutters right?" Dumbfounded he stated that he was measuring for blinds. He then again remeasured quickly "I might add" and left. Previously I had put a deposit for the measuring of $100.00 to go toward the shutters. Never heard from them again. This is the store in Amarillo Texas on Soncy.

I attempted to call (must have been at least 10 times) to find out what the deal was. The gal that had taken my order was not available so I left a message. You guessed it! No reply. I called them 3 times after that and I was told to call back after 3:00 which I did and no response. Later I was told she had to go to the hospital for some type of emergency. I called the supervisor which I was put on hold forever and he said he would check on this. Never heard a word.

My boyfriend and I had enough so we went in. A Spanish gentlemen with a limp promised that he would call us once he found out the story. He tore the desk apart looking for the order reiterating the saleswomen was in the hospital. After several attempts later we went back in again and she was there. At no time did they state that they blew it and they needed to remeasure. Once again the promise came. I called the supervisor to let him know the progress and he stated he would check up on this. I felt that the people that I talked to were immature and most frequently passing the buck to someone else. It was getting to be almost comical. Needless to say I never received a call.

I guess I should have called corporate but that probably would not have made a difference. I lost 100.00. Then I get a call from the original saleswoman on my recorder 8 months later and she stated she was still looking for the order. Can you believe that? Now I am dealing with Penney's and no shutters. It has been 5 months + since I placed the order. (See my review under Penney's.) Anyway I guess I have a black cloud overhead when it comes to shutters. I even lost $900.00 to a man that was supposed to make outdoor shutters and took off with my money. I sued him and won but he is a lowlife and I will never see that money.

My boyfriend saw him in a parking lot and attempted to chase after him with no luck. I should have known something was fishy from the start. His answering machine was very discrete. When my boyfriend attempted to call him again he said that he had been sued many times and this was no big deal. I also gave him $300.00 worth of wood and paint. I did have a contract but again I will never see the money and his credit has probably been ruined for some time now. It is a shame that some construction guys actually screw you.

I will never get another job done by using the yellow pages and no references again. He even commented on the first meeting that construction workers that take your money give the honest ones a bad name! I also had a man give us a quote on making the stairway. We agreed and a contract was signed. Upon entering the house, he looked at Bill and said he was going to have to charge us $5000.00 more for reason unknown. I really know why. The house is in a very rich neighborhood. My boyfriend told him basically to get out. He was so surprised and I chimed "don't let the door hit you on the way out!." Isn't that a sham? Good to vent.

I am a current Home Depot employee and I look forward to the day when it becomes the new K-Mart. I will be leaving this employer soon because it is a rotten company. Granted, it behaves like most U.S. companies, meaning it is only interested in profits and will say whatever sounds good to the public but will always do what pleases short attention span investors.

This company is rotten from an employee's perspective because it steals from the employees. Granted, the average sales person in the store may not be considered a highly skilled or valued employee in the U.S. economy but when an employee is not treated well, then they DO NOT treat the customer well. One plus one equals two and when an employee is not valued then the employee does not value the company or its customers. Dump your Home Depot stock and buy Lowe's stock.

Home Depot steals from its employees in several ways. I can address the way it has stolen from me. I joined the company some six months ago and was told I was joining the company as a full time employee. I worked full time hours. After the initial three months, they changed their mind and now said I was actually a part time employee. Being part time cost the company a lot less money and brings a lot less compensation to the employee. I disputed this change and was basically told tough.

I could have fought and perhaps even sued, maybe perhaps even fostered a class action suit against the company. In the end I just decided to leave and in the meantime to not give my full abilities to the company. Someone else will hopefully soon be pissed off enough to start that national class action suit.

This is how they can Win it. Home Depot regularly hires people full time but then later say it was really part time thus saving themselves lots of money. Proving this can be tough because, "he who has the gold makes the rules". But put the first fact together with how at the same time, and in the same store, they hire people who want to work part time and then assign them full time hours. Together this should be enough to convince a jury in a class action suit to find for the plaintiff. Granted, the lawyers in a class action suit will take home most of the money but the bad publicity for Home Depot will be enough to make my day.

The next time you get rotten service at Home Depot, realize that the employee has been treated rotten first. When you get a peek at the grassroots of how the average Home Depot employee feels about the company, you realize that easily well over fifty percent do not like the Home Depot. I'm not saying that employees who work for a rotten company should give rotten service. I'm saying that given human nature, it just gets passed on. Never again will I buy something from Home Depot. Even now, when I need some nails or an air filter, I go to Lowe's.

Reading these reviews makes me worried about the people shopping in Home Depot more than the people working in Home Depot. How is it that one customer will have an outstanding experience in a HD and another customer has a terrible experience. For each bad experience at HD there are more than a hundred good experiences. If you have a problem with the level of service you received in a HD you can bet someone had the same problem at Lowe's. Do you honestly believe that Lowe's does anything differently than HD or vice-versa?

To expect that Lowe's or HD is going to be so much better than the other is to ignore your own god-given intelligence. The same type of people work at either store and in many cases employees at one place came from the other. Does that mean that all of a sudden that person is a better employee. Ridiculous. Some of these reviews have a valid claim but most of them are ridiculous. It only takes working in a HD or Lowe's for one day to realize why these situations arise and how stupid many of these customers are.

If you want sound advice on how to do home improvement talk to a REAL EXPERT. The employees at these stores are usually not experts and even the so-called experts screw up. Home improvement is a ** area anyway and if these big-box retailers hired REAL experts the products in the store would have to cost more to pay their salary so stop complaining. Simple economics and business knowledge would tell you that in order to meet the expectations the spending would have to increase on everyone's part. This includes the store paying employees more which in turn means higher prices on products. Not a terribly complicated idea.

Of course these stores tell you that they can help with anything. What are they supposed to say? I would not trust the plumbing or electrical problems to some kid hired right out of high school who is just trying to make it through college. The few highly knowledgeable people who do work at these stores can't be there all the time and if you expect them to be you are living on another planet. Someone with that much knowledge probably is being paid more to work somewhere else.

It is YOUR responsibility to make sure your house is improved correctly and up to local building codes. By policy these associates are not supposed to concern themselves with things like building code because codes are different in different cities and it would make them liable if they told the wrong code. That's why codes are public knowledge.

As a homeowner it might be smart to make yourself knowledgeable about the improvements you are about to make or have a REAL expert do it for you. It is just lazy to expect that some kid at a home improvement retailer will be able to explain how to wire a new outlet or plumb a new bathroom. Complicated stuff that even so-called experts get wrong. Look at the whole picture instead of just your narrow view. I value these consumer reviews only as much as I agree with each one. Most of these are garbage and should be valued as much as garbage.

MISSOULA, MONTANTA -- Being the financially-strapped young family that we are, we decided to have Home Depot do our kitchen, in an effort to save money. Do NOT make this mistake! Day 1: My husband takes the day off work, having been advised that he must be there to sign off on the cabinet delivery. Also, a subcontractor from Home Depot is supposed to come and take a wall out in our kitchen. The clock ticks and ticks and neither guy shows up. At 6 PM (yes, P.M.!) the cabinet guy calls to say, "Yeah, I'm not going to make it today." The other guy never even calls.

When we finally track him down, the next day, he whines "Well, it's hunting season!" Since this is only day one, I still have a decent sense of humor. It makes a good anecdote to amuse my friends. 2 weeks later: Yes, it's taken us this long to get the wall removed so we can get our floor put in before the cabinets are installed. We have now been 10 days without a kitchen, have exposed wires running from floor to ceiling, and we are living in this house with our two small kids, aged one and four. My sense of humor is beginning to flag a little. Still, I am optimistic that our beautiful new kitchen is mere days away.

3 weeks later: We finally have cabinets installed. Home Depot told us it would take only one day's labor to install the cabinets in our small kitchen after my husband did the tear-out. However, it took somewhat longer, because the installer claimed he had a "family emergency" (we later heard him talking with the countertop guy about the hunting trip he'd just returned from!) and sent his worthless buddy to do the work for him.

The buddy took 5 days, which spanned a weekend, to do this work because he never showed up earlier than 11 AM and then had to measure everything 3 or 4 times before he finally got it right. And the 5 days spanned a weekend, so it ended up being 7. Also, he refused to give us the $400 refund we were promised for the tear-out, saying we had to take that up with management, and complained a lot when we asked him to clean up the worksite, as specified in our Home Depot contract.

5 weeks later: Yes, today marks 5 weeks that we have been doing our dishes in the bathtub and trying to keep our small children from sticking their hands into the exposed knife drawer, because we STILL have no countertops, hence no sink and no dishwasher. All traces of my sense of humor have now vanished without a trace. Home Depot didn't bother to inform us, when we ordered Corian countertops through them, that the Corian could not be ordered until after the cabinets went in (which, you may recall, took quite some time) and that it would take 2 weeks from that date before we had counters or a sink.

Well, it was supposed to take 2 weeks. Today was the day we were supposed to have our counter tops installed, but naturally the countertop guy did not show up (I was not at all surprised), and when we called this morning, he said he had no idea where we'd got that date from (he'd told us the date himself!) and that he had us "penciled in" for Thursday.

So, I have now called every manager I can reach at Home Depot to complain, but am not hopeful this will bring any results. With Home Depot, you pay your money in advance, and they've got you over a barrel after that... They take no ownership or responsibility whatsoever for the work (or lack thereof) of their subcontractors. Please, please, don't make the same mistake we did. Spend a little extra money and get a reputable contractor to do your kitchen right! Home Depot's service (or lack thereof) explains why so many couples get divorced over remodels!

BRIDGEWATER, NEW JERSEY -- I have been to the Home Expo twice recently. The first time it was OK, didn't notice anything great or not great about it. Then today, I needed to go there again. I had pretty much made up my mind what bathroom vanity I wanted to order, so I went there to order it.

I went once more to see the vanity I liked, then headed straight to the section where desks were, looking for help. There was no one around except for one man sitting at a desk helping two ladies. I continued walking around the bathroom section and there was no one else. I went back to the desk and politely asked: "Excuse me, is there anyone else around that can help me?" And the man said he was almost finished if I wanted to wait. So I said "OK, no problem." So I walked off and browsed some bathroom items while waiting for the two ladies to finish up. About 15 minutes passed and I saw them get up.

I headed back to the desk and the man said: "I have to finish this order," without further explanation. I asked politely again, "Oh, OK, will it be a while? I have a long drive back and have to pick my son up from school at 3pm. So I have about an hour here." "Well, I can't help you right now." It was weird - it was like he was saying "Get lost." So I said, "Well, can you call someone who can help me then?" So he picks up his desk phone. He picks up his desk phone, and tells the person on the other line he needs help because there's an impatient customer there who can't wait to be helped.

When I heard that I said: "I am not impatient. I asked for help and you made it seem like you could help, and I just need to know how long I'll be here before someone actually helps me." So he gets touchy with the person on the other line and starts complaining into the phone that he's the only one out there. Now I'm aggravated, made to feel like I am totally imposing on this person. So out loud I say: "This is a store. People come to store to buy stuff, sorry if I'm bothering anyone." So I wait. And wait. And wait some more. No one comes.

I go to the tile department and ask the tile guy if he can help. He starts heading for the other guy. I said: "He's busy." "I'll have him call someone." "He already did." "No one came?" "No, no one came." So he goes again, and has the guy call someone again. So a lady came a few minutes later and starts heading straight to another woman that was standing there waiting to be helped also being ignored by the desk guy. (Actually there were now 3 total - me, a man, and the other woman.) I had to say "Wait, I've been waiting." So finally, the lady took me to the price book and gave me the prices but I was disgusted already.

They aren't the only company that sells the Strasser vanities so after getting the prices, I left, figuring I would go instead to the Great Indoors, a Sears-owned company. When I went to Great Indoors, I was repeatedly asked over and over again by super friendly staff if I needed help. People who smiled, who genuinely wanted to help. A guy even called a company to check a product for me and called me on his day off to give me the answer. I should have gone there in the first place. They are even closer. I don't have to drive an hour and ended up treated poorly anyway. Well, I learned a lesson. I won't bother with Home Expo anymore.

MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN -- Let me preface this by saying I generally love shopping at the Home Depot store, but this one and only online experience with them will be my LAST. My husband and I ordered a patio set with umbrella & umbrella stand on 7/22, shipped on 7/25, arrived at our house early August. The box with the table in it had a hole in it (which the shippers noted), and when we opened the box, sure enough, the table was badly damaged (frame was bent). Turns out one of the chairs also had a bent leg (manufacturer defect).

I called HD the next morning, and it took over 1/2 hour on the phone to get me "into their return system," but finally the representative told me a new replacement table and chair would be sent. I received an e-mail from HD on 8/7 saying it was being shipped from the mfr. and would arrive in 7-10 business days. YAY. :) Well I waited until 10 business days had past and called back last week. First representative told me they would e-mail me the tracking number within 24 hours. Called back 24 hours later (when I didn't receive any e-mail) and 2nd representative told me the matter needed to go to "Escalations" (whatever that means??).

She said if I didn't hear anything by today (Tues) to call back. I didn't, so I called back this afternoon, and was informed by a ** that a ** had called and spoke with me this morning (gee, imagine my surprise at the conversation that never happened). They even documented that I had told them it was "OK" that the chair was on back order for 2 weeks. Well I never got that call, nor ever talked to anyone since last week. That's WHY I called them back today.

When I asked the girl today about the status of the table, she literally kept putting me on hold, but came back to say they just didn't know. It needed to go to "Escalations." Hmmm, didn't we just go there last week? I asked if she would have a supervisor call me today at work and she assured me that she would. That was 3 hours ago, and of course, the day is over and no call. My husband is also at home, and they're not calling our home number either.

At this point, I'm saying, well, the summer is over, and what's the point of putting the whole set (well a partial set with missing pieces) in our garage all winter to store it until MAYBE we get the pieces when, next year??? I paid nearly $700 for this set, and basically all I want from HD right now is a complete refund (including their shipping charges) and to allow us to return the entire set to our nearest store (which I suggested, but they refused).

The set is worthless without the table, but it's all brand new, never used by us. Why can't we just return it? Thanks for letting me vent, and I hope that someone from Home Depot actually ends up reading this (someone that is, that actually has some customer service savvy and authority to do something)!!

EAST PALMDALE, CALIFORNIA -- On June 24, 2008 I special ordered two types of tile which were recommended as a set from Home Depot. The employee struggled with the order, but after about 45-50 minutes he completed it. The order should not have taken more than a few minutes since I had all the measurements required. When I went to pay for the order I discovered the credit card account had been closed due to lack of activity. I reapplied, received a new number, paid the fee, and went home to await my shipment.

NEXT DAY AT HOME DEPOT: When faxing the order to the vendor it was discovered the employee entered incorrect information for one of the matching tiles. The item is sold by piece and not by square foot, which I discovered on the day the tile arrived and was finally delivered. I was never informed of the change or the incorrect calculation. On the tile's near arrival day, July 8, I called the store to check on its progress. I was told the tile shipped on July 1 and was on a truck. The store's delivery dates were Mondays and Thursdays. I would receive a call when the tile arrived, but check the website for status updates.

The next day I discovered the tile had been moved to July 11 as the expected arrival date. I called the store and was assured it would arrive on that day. On July 10, I contacted the store to verify the tile's status and was told it was delivered to a store about 50 miles away. I was also informed that an employee had called me the day before to let me know of the shipping problem. As of yet, I had not received any phone calls or communication from the store, except when I initiated it.

The July 11 date passed and no word from Home Depot, so I called them on the 12th. I discovered the tile was missing... it was on a truck... no one knew where the truck was. The order was cancelled. I had been informed of its late delivery a number of times. Everything they told me was a lie. I called the "Customer Care" or perhaps it should be called "Let's pretend to make the customer think we care" line. I spoke with a gentleman who made me believe he was really involved and would have the store trace the tile and get back to me.

Later that day I received a phone call from an employee who stated the tile would be delivered Monday night. They would deliver it to me without charge no later than Wednesday. They had no control over the shipping company. The tile was not delivered to another store... the original order was never cancelled... all of it was just more lies.

YESTERDAY: July 15, 2008 I received a phone call stating the tile was in and ready to be delivered. I gave directions and waited for its arrival. When the truck backed up into the driveway I realized immediately that the amount I ordered was NOT what was being delivered. I spoke with the young woman making the delivery and showed her my invoice. She saw that I was short the necessary tile and calculated that it was short by 82.5 square feet.

Needless to say: I waited hours at the store to check on the tile, never spoke to a manager until the final delivery was incorrect. I am waiting right now for them to pick up the tile and return it. I went to a local tile store and purchased higher quality, lower prices, and quality service. I should have done that to begin with. Like others, I will never shop at Home Depot again.

CALGARY -- Home Depot ONLINE, company phone: 18006280525. Incident: I purchased ONLINE a PARAMOUNT electric fireplace. The merchandise was shipped DAMAGED by UPS. I returned the damage goods. Since I was renovating my basement and designed the fireplace with this particular item in mind, I ordered another PARAMOUNT electric fireplace online.

HOME DEPOT would not exchange the damaged fireplace for an undamaged fireplace; rather, they had me purchase a second fireplace, advising that they would REFUND my money on the first damaged product once it was picked up. The first damaged fireplace was picked up on July 15th, 2008. A second fireplace (which I paid for--now having paid for 2x fireplaces) was delivered on July 15th, 2008.

The second PARAMOUNT fireplace was damaged in what appeared to be the same location as the first. IN FACT, it appeared that the second fireplace was actually the first fireplace I ordered, just re-shipped. Of course, I contacted HOME DEPOT online and asked them to pick up the damaged product and simply exchange it for an undamaged product. I advised them that it did not seem appropriate for me to have to purchase a third fireplace just to receive one fireplace in good condition. I was told that if I wanted to facilitate an immediate order for another fireplace, I would have to pay again and simply await my refund. I asked to speak with a manager.

The employee put me through to AMER. Amer told me that he did not have a PRECEDENT for what I was asking and could not help. Since I have construction on hold, I asked AMER to expedite an order, and said I would in fact pay for the third fireplace and await the refunds if he would do so. He informed me that he could not as there was no PRECEDENT for that solution.

I asked what AMER's status was at Home Depot, to which he responded: "supervisor". I asked AMER for a MANAGER to which he responded that he could not do that because there was NO PRECEDENT for that. I told AMER to pick up the second damaged fireplace and that HOME DEPOT would NEVER get our business again.

Damage resulting: Construction has been on hold at my house for 2 weeks. The project could not be completed on July 5th, 2008 because of the damaged fireplace. Work was rescheduled for July 12th, 2008, which was cancelled because the second fireplace had not arrived. Work for July 19th has now been cancelled because I had to return the second damaged unit.

Consequences and damages are general frustration and annoyance with Home Depot. Now that the order has been cancelled, I have to pay the designer to find an alternative. To be clear, I understand that sometimes things get damaged and delivery of merchandise is not perfect. My major concern is the unwillingness of HOME DEPOT to direct me to a manager. It is frustration to deal with people who have no authority or inclination to help.

SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA -- I recently purchase a small place which required me to make a lot of trips to Home Depot for my own home improvement. At first, I was very happy with this place because of all the things that they have. Unfortunately, my first good impression did not last that long. As I was searching to remodel my bathroom, I saw a vanity top display that I really like. The advertisement said that vanity top will take 7 days for special order. I placed my order on June 7 and now is July 2 and no one that I called has an answer for me.

Beside this false ad, their service is not great either. When I was at the store around Story Road (San Jose, CA), I wanted to place an order. I found a guy that work there, he said that he doesn't do special order, he will find me someone else. And guess what, I was waiting at the spot, but the guy was disappear. I asked another one, who basically doesn't know it either and ask me to come back.

I still wanted that glass vanity top so badly, so I went to another store on Capitol (San Jose, CA). They seem nicer, but they still kicked me out because, there were not enough people for special order. I had to come back the next day, just to place the order. The guy is nice, but my order still not here. I guess I signed the paper that doesn't have an exact date that the order should be in as they advertise. Anyway, they left me a message that said my vanity is damage so they have to reorder. I called again to check, and they said it should be in about 1 PM on June 30, but I should call first.

Guess what, I called around 2:44 PM to check and they said my order are in. I asked them more than once that if everything is in, the guy that I talked to said yes. I went to pick it up, the vanity top is still missing. I talked to the manager, he said "Sorry, but I can't do anything." I don't really get it. If the manager cannot take care or know what is going on then who do we talk to?

I wanted to cancel, but they said you are not allowed to even if this was their fault. The manager told me he will call me today, but haven't heard anything from him. I called again today and talked to a lady. She seems very nice, but just like other people at Home Depot don't keep their words. I told her about my situation, she PROMISED she will call me right back, but never heard a word from her.

Anyway, what pissed me most is they don't give you an answer. Their attitudes are like "I'M A BIG store, ONE CUSTOMER WON'T MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN MY INCOME." I'm just sick and tired of waiting. I guess maybe I have to wait for 30 years to get my vanity which I fully paid. On top of that, I also have to paid the guys that supposed to fix my bathroom some fee so they can reschedule for they cannot work without a vanity.

My whole point is you better read those small print when you purchase stuff from Home Depot because they will trick you and waste your money. I hate writing and I spend this much time to write is clearly tells you how much disappointments I have with Home Depot.