Home Depot Sucks

[chessrock]

Hello,

This is the first time I've ever, uh, posted in this "Studio Building" forum. Usually, you can see me wandering around being a loudmouth on the other sections of the bbs. Wow, I feel like a total newb.

Anyway, I just wanted to let everyone know that Home Depot sucks. I just needed to let that be know, just in case any of you is under the falst belief that they have anything even closely resembling a legitimate retail outlet.

Okay, I know. Fine, Chess. Thanks for sharing that tidbit of info, but would you mind letting us know why you felt the need? Do fill us in.

Well, it does relate to Home Depot in that my basement studio continues to be in the development stage at this time thanks to their idiocy. Just thought I'd let everyone know. Thanks for letting me vent.

 

[Dom Franco]

?

What did they do?
or not do?

I shop there often....

tell me what to look out for.

Dom

 

[mixmkr]

Oh...I know....he was an employee there, not much over 10 years ago, participated in their stock purchase plan..even as a stock boy, and is now approaching being a millionare... (kinda like the Dell computer story). Now he can't decide whether to buy another $100 V67g mic with all his money, or if he should take back the hammer that broke when he beat his MXL2001p to death....or maybe he found out sound DOES travel thru liquid nail!!



so...?? being a newb...you outta tell the story without making us come back and see if you've reposted chapter 2 (or chapter 11 )

 

[chessrock]

How did you guess all of the intimate details of my life story, Mix ? ? ?

Chapter I: So I go down to the Home Depot sometime last month . . . I get all of the right boards assembled and even got them cut right there in the store. I take it to the Special Services desk, and tell them I need it delivered (I had phoned in ahead of time and learned this wouldn't be a problem). She told me that they would have it all delivered to me in a few days.

Well, the delivery date arrives, the truck pulls up to the curb . . . and I start pulling the boards out. Only one problem: They're not the boards I purchased. They're not even cut. So I load it all back on, and tell the delivery guy to take it back. I call Home Depot . . . they apologize and tell me that all my cuts got thrown away, because you have to have all the cuts and measurements notated on your invoice or they don't know what to do with them.

Whatever. So anyway, I re-ordered them with the proper cuts notated. My delivery date rolls by, and this time I am told that they can't be cut because one of their saws is broken. I talk to the manager the next day, and he informs me that the saw is now fixed, and they will deliver it the next day. The next day, I get another call informing me the saw is actually still broken.

Chapter II: (The refund that wasn't) Finally, I decide I've had enough and I want my money back. Special Services informs me this is no problem, and that I should look for a credit to my bank card in the next few days. A few days later, I call my bank to verify. Luckily, the teller alerted me to the fact that, yes, I did receive a refund . . . but that I WAS ACTUALLY CHARGED TWICE for the boards that were lost, improperly delivered, and then not delivered.

Now I'm mad. You see, where I come from , a refund on your merchandise means they give you your money back. Charging you twice kind of defeats the purpose. So I call up the Home Depot, and they apologized for the error. How nice of them.

Chapter III (Glutton for punishment): So after all of that gets straightened out, I decide to try my luck with the other Home Depot location which is only a little farther away from me. I figure maybe these guys will get it right. So I take the same order to them . . . make all the notations on the cuts this time . . . and they tell me they'll have it to me the next day. The next day rolls by, and hooray! My boards have arrived. But uh-oh! ONLY HALF OF THEM ARE CUT ! ! ! So I send them back.

I call up the manager of this Home Depot and inform him of the problem. Wanna' know what he gave me as a response?

"Our saw is broken."

Now I find it interesting that not only does it appear to be a trend among Home Depots across the nation to have so many defective saws . . . but it also appears to be a trend that their outgoing telephones have similar defects. You know, the ones normally use to call and inform their customers that they f&*%'ed up your order.

I'm glad my phone works fine -- The one I'm going to use to call their Home office with to file a complaint agains both stores.

 

[ChuckU]

This really sucks!

Chessrock,
What you're telling us is that everyone who leaves Guitar Center goes to work for Home Depot!

Home Depot/Lowe's = Guitar Center/MARS

I finished framing my attic last week, which included a partition for a shower. I went to Home Depot to ask about mounting the shower valve. Three guys were working the plumbing aisle and the two that I talked to led their answer with "I'm not a plumber, but..." FWIW, though, I usually get good advice there.

I can't say the same about my local Guitar Center. NOBODY in the Pro Audio department can give me better relevant info than you, Gidge, Track Rat, Blue Bear, Shailat, Ethan and a host of others.

Superstores live by the premise that consumers will put up with bad service in exchange for low prices. Shame on us. We put up with it.

 

[chessrock]

Funny, I was just at a Sam Ass store earlier this afternoon.

So I'm looking around for the last D.I. port they got in stock, and I overhear some clueless guy who obviously has lots of money to spend, talking to some kid about $2,000 Neumann mics. He wants to get a pair to go with his new hard disk recorder.

I overheard him ask: "Yea, I understand they're $2,000 mics, but do they sound $2,000 better?" The kid was obviously pulling words out of his ass in response. I couldn't help it. I had to burst in. I said: "What kind of preamp are you using?"

He says: "Well, that's the thing. You see, I have this dbx 376, and it has a tube in it, so I'm sure I'm all set there." I just kind of laughed and said: "Do yourself a favor; grab one of those Rode NTK's over there, and plug it in to one of those boxes over there that say 'avalon.' " Much better way to spend your $2,000. And you might be surprized what you'd get for your dbx on ebay.

Poor kid. I couldn't help it.

 

[Dom Franco]

Okay Thanks for the..."REST OF THE STORY"

I've never had a problem at home depot, but I always buy lots of extra wood and cut it myself.

Dom

 

[VOXVENDOR]

This story doesn't suprise me at all... Well, I AM suprised that you actually found a few straight pieces of wood at the Depot..

They suck...

I went in there this past Chirstmas looking for Lights for the front of my house.....

Can't find 'em......

I ask.....

I am told they don't sell christmas lights, and Im better off going to walmart for them....

I say.. "This is the fucking HOME depot, and you don't have christmas lights for a house?"

....Anyways.... I just walk out, and say "Fuck it"..

 

[eyeslikefire]

Sheeit Chess! Thats messed up!
I know what you mean though,... the Home Depots in my area are either Great or they totally blow. There's no frekin in between, you can go in one day and have no probs. then the next day your experience can be like shittin nails.

 

[ChuckU]

I was in Home Depot the other day and they had a big sign in the window. It said:

Metal band located in up state ny seeking singer who can sing and scream. music reflects bands such as. Sepultura, tool, life of agony, inflames, acid bath, soulfly, slayer and other heavy stuff if you live in up state ny and would like to give it a try e mail gate713@aol.com

Man, that son of a bitch is everywhere....

 

[DigitalDon]

Went to a Home Depot or Lowes (I forget but they're the same) a couple of years ago for wood fence posts. The stack that was unbanded had nothing but crooked posts full of holes and rot. I asked the "customer assistance specialist" to break open another stack because these were all bad. "I'm sorry sir, we can't open another one until that one is gone." I gave her a book of matches, instructed her on what to do with it and went to another store.

 

[Michael Jones]

chess, in my town, you could have rented a trailer for 20 bucks.

 

[maddrummer]

Hey I work for Home Depot!!!! Hehe, that's ok though. Yea that does suck. But I don't think that your one experience means that Home Depot sucks all together. But to each his own....

 

[Framer101]

How did you guess all of the intimate details of my life story, Mix ? ? ?

Chapter I: So I go down to the Home Depot sometime last month . . . I get all of the right boards assembled and even got them cut right there in the store. I take it to the Special Services desk, and tell them I need it delivered (I had phoned in ahead of time and learned this wouldn't be a problem). She told me that they would have it all delivered to me in a few days.

Well, the delivery date arrives, the truck pulls up to the curb . . . and I start pulling the boards out. Only one problem: They're not the boards I purchased. They're not even cut. So I load it all back on, and tell the delivery guy to take it back. I call Home Depot . . . they apologize and tell me that all my cuts got thrown away, because you have to have all the cuts and measurements notated on your invoice or they don't know what to do with them.

Whatever. So anyway, I re-ordered them with the proper cuts notated. My delivery date rolls by, and this time I am told that they can't be cut because one of their saws is broken. I talk to the manager the next day, and he informs me that the saw is now fixed, and they will deliver it the next day. The next day, I get another call informing me the saw is actually still broken.

Chapter II: (The refund that wasn't) Finally, I decide I've had enough and I want my money back. Special Services informs me this is no problem, and that I should look for a credit to my bank card in the next few days. A few days later, I call my bank to verify. Luckily, the teller alerted me to the fact that, yes, I did receive a refund . . . but that I WAS ACTUALLY CHARGED TWICE for the boards that were lost, improperly delivered, and then not delivered.

Now I'm mad. You see, where I come from , a refund on your merchandise means they give you your money back. Charging you twice kind of defeats the purpose. So I call up the Home Depot, and they apologized for the error. How nice of them.

Chapter III (Glutton for punishment): So after all of that gets straightened out, I decide to try my luck with the other Home Depot location which is only a little farther away from me. I figure maybe these guys will get it right. So I take the same order to them . . . make all the notations on the cuts this time . . . and they tell me they'll have it to me the next day. The next day rolls by, and hooray! My boards have arrived. But uh-oh! ONLY HALF OF THEM ARE CUT ! ! ! So I send them back.

I call up the manager of this Home Depot and inform him of the problem. Wanna' know what he gave me as a response?

"Our saw is broken."

Now I find it interesting that not only does it appear to be a trend among Home Depots across the nation to have so many defective saws . . . but it also appears to be a trend that their outgoing telephones have similar defects. You know, the ones normally use to call and inform their customers that they f&*%'ed up your order.

I'm glad my phone works fine -- The one I'm going to use to call their Home office with to file a complaint agains both stores.

Dude Do You not Know hot to Cut yourself are you that lazy let me guess you expect them to build you a house next right get over it i run a local hardware store not the home depot or any thing like that but i have a saw there but it is in a box and has a price on it. peopel have just got lazy. let me guess when you go to fast food places you call on them when you go to your barber and he gaps your hair a little you call on him.. oh i forgot you are one of thoes peopel who complain about everything. Exp.. Your holding some shoes they fall out of your hand into a puddle of water . your gonna call the store you got your shoes from and complain because they fell out of your hand.


ps. GET OVER IT.

 

[rpe]

Dude Do You not Know hot to Cut yourself are you that lazy let me guess you expect them to build you a house next right get over it i run a local hardware store not the home depot or any thing like that but i have a saw there but it is in a box and has a price on it. peopel have just got lazy. let me guess when you go to fast food places you call on them when you go to your barber and he gaps your hair a little you call on him.. oh i forgot you are one of thoes peopel who complain about everything. Exp.. Your holding some shoes they fall out of your hand into a puddle of water . your gonna call the store you got your shoes from and complain because they fell out of your hand.


ps. GET OVER IT.

Did we get up on the wrong side of the bed this morning??????????

 

[Jeff_D]

I too have had MANY bad experiences with Hom Depot, and I've learned a few lessons...

Home Depot is Good if,
-- You pretty much know what you need to do whatever task you're
buying for.
-- you need a wide variety of selection
-- you want the cheapest of anything
-- you have time to sift through thier stack of junk lumber to pull a
few striaght boards
-- are looking for convenience
-- if you are the habit of returing a lot of things- there pretty
good about that

Home Depot is VERY VERY BAD if;
-- you are looking for specialty items.
-- you think they will deliver anything but the junk off the shelves that
everyone else sets aside to get to the good stuff.
-- you need any type of assistance from thier sales clerks other than
to ask where something can be found on the shelves (even then its
hit or miss)- i mean- it is a pretty big store
-- you want to special order anything

Home Depot has never EVER successfully got any of our orders right and for that reason I will only buy things off the shelf that i can get home myself. Anything over a couple of hundred bucks or that would have to be ordered / delivered I WILL NOT purchase through Home Depot.
I'm pricing a new front entry door and garage man door for my house now with about $2k - $3k to spend and Im not even considering Home Depot.

For a while there (after they royally fucked up one of our orders and cost us a ton of time and hassle) I actuall refused to shop there at all- which is a bitch because Lowe's is like three time further away. But i came to the realization that I need to take Home Depot for whats its worth; a big box retail chain with little to no accountability for poor service.

My brother-in-law and I were hired to build a split rail fence for some people we know a year or two back- we placed the order with the closest Home Depot to the job (not the closest to where we lived) almost a week in advance- worth about $3,500- we scheduled a time to pick it up- first thing on Saturday morning- 6:30am. My bro-in-law called the day befor to confirm our order and our pick up time- so we get there about 6:45 am.
The guy is on the phone- trying to call my bro-in-law who is standing right in front of him- he tells us- "dude- real sorry- we dont ahve any of that material here". WTF!! So he tracks down what we need at another store- takes him 1.5hrs- while we are standing there waiting- he sends us to the other store many miles away- the other store said the would hold the rent-a-truck there for a 10 minutes til we got there. We get there and the truck is gone. WTF again- they said- "we cant hold the truck"- -turned out one of their fucking employees "borrowed it". Bullshit! They said- theres another Home Depot down the Highway a few exits- you can go rent there truck and come back to get the fencing here- so we go to the other store and they said that they will not rent the truck to us because we are not buying from THAT store.
Unfucking beleivable. WE eventually ended up renting a u-haul and picking the fence up in that- we got our lumber on site at about 2pm.

I've got a few stories like that one- but that was the last straw. No more ordering anything from Home Depot.

Do yourself a favor. If you are buying specialty type items or larger orders, dont bother with Home Depot. Find a reputable specialty supplier in your area (the kind that typically work with contractors that dont put up with the type shit that Home Depot dishes out). You might pay a few extra bucks but you'll save in the end.

P.S. hey framer! Do you work for home depot you douche bag.

 

[CavityCr33p]

Dude Do You not Know hot to Cut yourself are you that lazy let me guess you expect them to build you a house next right get over it i run a local hardware store not the home depot or any thing like that but i have a saw there but it is in a box and has a price on it. peopel have just got lazy. let me guess when you go to fast food places you call on them when you go to your barber and he gaps your hair a little you call on him.. oh i forgot you are one of thoes peopel who complain about everything. Exp.. Your holding some shoes they fall out of your hand into a puddle of water . your gonna call the store you got your shoes from and complain because they fell out of your hand.


ps. GET OVER IT.

Do I sense a Home Depot employee?

 

[cellardweller]

blah blah blah blah blah blah

ps. GET OVER IT.

Did you happen to notice the date of the original post?

I'm sure that Chess will be along shortly to tell us how their customer service has improved by leaps and bounds since '02...

 

[Jeff_D]

Did you happen to notice the date of the original post?

I'm sure that Chess will be along shortly to tell us how their customer service has improved by leaps and bounds since '02...

DAMNIT!! I didnt notice the date of the original post.
But i stand by what i said. And no- i very much doubt that their customer service has improved at all.

Whats up with all these old posts resurfacing!?!? lol

 

[PhiloBeddoe]

Having built my basement studio with many materials from Home Depot, Menards, and Lowe's, I'd say that they're all the same and not so different than any other big box such as Best Buy.

You have to be totally prepared and research everything beforehand. You were stretching their capabilities to the limit by asking them to cut stuff and deliver it. One or the other, maybe, but not both.

I had to send back some custom sized doors that I waited 4 weeks for because the millwork guy didn't listen to me about my rough opening size. The forklift on the delivery truck broke down when my drywall was due to be delivered. I screamed at the manager and ultimately he had guys from other departments in the store load and unload 100 sheets after hours by hand. I hate screaming at people, but you have to operate on their level.

Also, do not expect them or any contractors in the Chicago area to know anything about building a studio. If you find one, consider yourself very lucky.

At least for the most part the prices are what they are at these stores and they don't try to upsell you like at the music and electronics retailers. Just this week, when my mother-in-law's cheap old stereo receiver broke, she went to Best Buy to try to find something she could use to play her LPs. They told her she would need to spend $1,400.00. Thankfully she's too smart for that. I bought her a receiver on eBay for $30.00 and she's thrilled. It even does surround, but she doesn't know what that is.