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Being from the land of Menards, I could not wait for Home
Depot to get here. Menards, comparatively, is unbelievably
inferior to HD in almost every way. I’m not saying I’m
crazy about Home Depot but after all these Menards years, I
can’t complain.
Menards ruined some good local lumber/supply yards, they are
long gone. Our town has 10,000 people but I have to drive
20 miles to get drywall.
I hope HD kicks Menards right out of their own state.
Menards sells junk.
MAD Dog
Replies
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Here in Cincinnati we have a D-I-Y-S store on just about every corner. No lie-- we have a Home Depot, a Furrows, and a Lowes all within the same 1/2 mile stretch. I play the price game with them all the time. I recently bought a new router and went back and forth to see where I could get the best price. It turns out a little hole-in-the-wall woodworker specialty store had a price $10 lower than any of the big boys. I ended up going to Lowes and holding them to their pledge to beat any competitors price by 10%. HD said they wouldn't do it. How can these guys stay in buisness with so much competition? I bet when this building boom slows we'll see a lot of them go out of buisness.
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Mark,
Why didn't you buy it at the "hole-in-the-wall woodworker specialty store?" I'll bet they would appreciate the business more than Lowe's.
Rich Beckman
*Not only would the little guy have appreciated it,but....Who has time to spend on all that running around to save a mere $10?
*Penny wise, pound foolish.
*I do my price chasing on the cell phone. That 10% deal saves me hundreds, plus I don't waste a trip for out of stock items.
*After reading all of the Homer bashing and beat-the-company-out-of-their-last-nickel talk I will toss my coin in here. Today I went up to my local Homer-ville because Maynard's has even worse service and lower quality material. The difference between Kmart and Target you could say. I picked out some paint for the inside of the cube van I picked up and asked the fellow at the counter if the paint would be OK. "Sure." Loads of help, that is why I made my own decision. When I went to check out, the cashier says "oh the Tree Cutter!!!" She remembered me from other purchases when I was building the treehouse for my clients. I VISA all of my purchases and to hopefully foil anyone who might steal my card I wrote "SEE ID" on the back. She said that she did not need to see my ID becasues she remembered me. That is small town service in a big town store. All of Homer's minions don't fall under the bonehead umbrella. For any of the anti-Homer camp out there, try to hire AMYONE these days. I am impressed when I get ANY service in a store. I know that I have lowered my expectations but that is what happens when we have negative employment. Homer gets my business, and I still go to my local store front hardware store and paint store too.Tom the Tree Guy
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Ever notice how the HD outside "helpers" are nowhere in sight when you're loading two dozen 80# bags of ready-mix, but as you get ready to pull away, some weasel runs up to "check your receipt," reading it like some East German guard at Checkpoint Charlie?
Even better is waiting 10 minutes while one of the orange aprons counts out 400 fence pickets, one at a time, two times over to be sure.
*
e. get on the phone, request "Fred", turn to the customer and say "Fred will be right over" and book out of that isle.
*Hi.. My name is Barry and.. I've shopped in a big box! It's not my fault the are all around me, Depot, Lowes, Payless, Menards, I can't get away from them. Help me! One of our local Menard's called the police to pick up a shoplifter. The cop went into the yard to pick him up at the back door, but when he went to leave the security guard stopped him and asked him to open his trunk so he could check it. :)
*In defence of the hired help at Home Depot, I have to say that When I have went to the store in Independence,Missouri, the outside help was excellent. Considering all the DIYers these kids,and I mean kids, put up with I can understand their desire to avoid helping. Huffy
*Need help on a decision.....I have been asked by the manager at our Home Depot to volunteer to teach a few classes for their "Home Depot University" series. I really hate this store, and the manager, but I feel that I could really be of some help here. A friend of mine suggested me for this, and I am confused as to what I should tell them.I am a certified Vocational Teacher, and I have doen a few years of teaching. This is something I enjoy doing.My problem is this... Every so often I get to see a class in session, as I am passing through buying something or another, and I see some of the local contractors in the back, kinda watching. Every once in a while one of them says something like "You don't do it that way unless you want it to fall down", or something similar. Sometimes they say things just to say them, and have no earthly idea what they are talking about. It kinda shakes the student's confidence in their teacher at this point (a contractor is telling the instructor he's wrong). I really don't want to get in the middle of teaching something, and have this happen to me. Should this happen, I am sure I would get in the middle of an argument with the contractor, and show everyone why he's not correct. This would create a situation that draws teaching time away from the students. Anyway, should I go for it, or back away and excuse myself? This is NOT a paid position, nor is it permanent. James DuHamel
*Let's see if I got all this - You hate the store, you hate the manager, you're nervous that you'll get into a pissing contest with a contractor/instructor wannabe, and the experience doesn't pay anything. Duh, sounds like a tough decision.
*Ok, I had three dozen spindles for a deck railing. Three bunches of twelve. Each bunch was two rows of six.Damned if it didn't take two of them to count em out.He counted the first row of six, then counted the adjacent row. "Well, that's twelve so far... wait a minute, I hope I didn't count wrong, shouldn't it be ten? ... "Customer service on register 10 please..."
*Cast iron. Welcome to Cook County.PS - never been real fond of Texas - too damn hot. Loved the year I spent on the Artic Cricle in Sweden - 40 below for the entire month of January!
*drvnputt, some times when the light goes on, it's all worth it. Joe H
*If you know your subject, if you know the various techniques used to reach the same end result, if you enjoy instructing, I say do it. I hate to broach the subject, but are their any liability waivers involved to protect you "just in case?"As a recent thread on the forum showed, in brief, for tile jobs there are full mud jobs, there is cement backer board, there is just plain ply. If you can explain the good, bad, and ugly of each you should be able to deflect comments from anyone using any method. You also have to let the students know if there are better methods then the one you teach, but they may be beyond their capabilities so you're going to show them a simpler method. BTW, if the "pro" in the back row is such an expert, ask him 1) why isn't he out on a job; 2) why is he sitting in on a class for DIYers; 3) what the heck is he spending his free time in a HD for?Hey, people are going to do the work themselves. They can do it wrong and have someone fix it later, they can do it "okay" and live with a semi-botched DIY job taunting them everyday they look at their semi-botched whatever, or maybe you can give them a few techniques to put them over the top. That may just result in one less ugly something-or-other out there in the wacky world of construction.No compensation? Press for, as a minimum, a hot italian and a UBC rootbeer at the Lucky Dog shack out front.
*You have those hot dog shacks, too? My son loves it.It's IBC root beer, the best ... just remember "International Building Code," if that doesn't make it taste bad :)
*Thanks Everyone.I got the paper work that details curriculum (subject matter and how it is to be taught)and it seems pretty straight forward. Everything is to be taught on two principles - 1) code for area, and 2) manufacturer's installation instructions are to followed to the letter. I think I will try it for a little while and see how it goes. This is a whole different ballgame than when I was teaching in the public school system. I have taught adults before, and that's no big deal. What concerns me, and I have voiced this concern to the manager, is the fact that they LET hecklers interfere with the classes. We don't have the hot dog stands in our local HD. Wish we did. City banned hot dog/corn dog vendors outside stores because they had a small war going on a few years back. Several charity groups wanted to open stands outside Sams stores, Wal-Mart stores, Target, etc... and the city would only issue permits for one stand per location. The various groups started fighting over spaces, and the city just banned them all. It was about the only fair solution to the whole problem. We've got some strange people here in my neck of the woods.Drvnputt... you sound like one of the hecklers in the back row. Teaching is a calling. It is not really a thing, or an action, but a way of life. Until you've been there, you just couldn't possibly know what it's like. Even when situations look bad, instinct and calling are drawing you to it. Sometimes common sense and wisdom are lost out during this calling. That's when we have to suck it up and ask for opinions and advice. We want to be sure that we are approaching these things with thought and wisdom rather than instinct. Thanks again everyone.James DuHamel
*James, you ask for opinions, then when one is different to the answer you want you call him a heckler. Did you want opinions or validation? Sounds like you were going to do it anyway so do it. Try defanging the back seat "experts" when you start by telling the class that there are as many ways to do things as there are contractors, (and if they don't believe that have them read this BB :) and this is one way that works for you. They may hear "heckling from the back row, but that why your up there and they are in the back. In the mean time work on that skin ;)
*James,my wife teaches (by choice) in a local parochial school at about 55-60% of public school salary,so I definitely understand the calling to teach.With that said,I can not for the life of me understand why you would want to be involved in this situation. You are gonna be donating your services to a store and manager you hate,and subject yourself to heckling from hostile obvservers.You already showed a tendency to fly off the handle when someone offers a different opinion than the one you want to hear(RE:DRVNPUTT).The entire situation seems to be a disaster in the making,not to mention a collassal waste of time.As a serious alternative,why not donate your expertise to a local Boy Scout group?They all have construction related requirements to work on,often take on building work as service projects and could actually benefit from your knowledge and skills.Good Luck,Stephen
*Agreed -- HD is a commercial enterprise. At a minimum they should let you buy some materials at cost.
*Hello Again, I did not mean to sound like I was blasting drvnputt. Actually, only one sentence of his made me think of the hecklers. It was the last one..."Duh, sounds like a tough decision". This sounds just like these backwoods, Deliverance looking, illiterate contractors around here. (NOT that drvnputt is anything like them, that one particular phrase just reminded me of the way they talk everyday). I only meant to explain to drvputt why this decision for a teacher is not as easy as it may seem. If you are not a teacher, then it is extremely difficult to understand why someone would even consider this sort of thing. I am not doing this for HD's benefit. I will not have to deal with the manager at all. I am doing this because I have eaves dropped on a few of their lessons, and the majority of the class is single women, probably around 40, they all seem to have kids, and they were trying to learn how to do repairs around their homes because they just couldn't afford a contractor. The "instructors" were simply HD employees, and they didn't know much at all. They were basically reading instructions, and trying to look like they know what they were doing. I feel sorry for them. They are trying desperately to learn how to repair their homes, and they aren't getting a lot of real instruction. They remind me a lot of my sister. She was in the same situation, and could not afford a contractor. When the kitchen sink plumbing leaked, she just turned off the water and used the sink in the bathroom. When the termites ate out a wall, she just covered the hole with a blanket in the winter. She did not know how to do these repairs, and she could not afford to have them done. (She lived about 4 hours away from me). These kinds of situations is why I am considering this. BTW... I really dislike this manager because of his attitude. I was at the customer service desk a while back, and a lady was asking why her order was two weeks late. The manager came out to talk to her, and she called him incompetent. He got really pissed, called her a dumba$$, told the cashier to cancel her order, give her money back, and then told the lady to go buy it somewhere else. I thought to myself.."This guy will be unemployed by the end of the day". He's still there, and his attitude is about as bad. He's about 25, fresh out of college, and thinks he is an expert on every facet of home repair and improvement. The assistant manager actually runs the store, and deals with the contractors. If he didn't, I don't think contractors would do business with them.As for the thought that I "flew off the handle"...I am actually one of the most passive people you would ever meet. I have an extremely large amount of patience (courtesy of the United States Navy), and I am very easy going. I do not know drvnputt, nor do I know anything about their skills or experience. He/she did not say or do anything to me that I could even remotely believe was hostile. Why on earth would I fly off the handle at him/her? I have seen many people here "fly off the handle", and believe me, when it happens, you'll know. This is a board where people discuss, disagree, discuss some more, disagree some more, and offer explanations, details, input, and experience. I aplogize from the bottom of my heart if anyone has ever been offended by any remark or statement I have made. I am here to learn, discuss, and trade ideas. I am definitely not here to offend anyone.Thanks,James DuHamel
*James,you are making some good points,but I still feel the whole situation benefits H.D. more than anyone else involved.The heckling from the "backwoods,illiterate" contractors may be undeserved and rude, but it probably stems from a perception that H.D.,(and you as an instructor) and the whole DIY concept take food from "backwoods,illiterate" contractors table.Quite possibly these guys are just as economically disadvantaged as the single mothers you want to help.Is it feasable to run your classes through a local community college continuing education program,a YMCA,YWCA,church group or some other neutral organization?Good Luck,Stephen
*oops...I'll have to reset my keyboard and move the "I" and "U" keys away from each other.
*James, Teach the class, then point out to the DIYers that Lowe's will undercut HD's prices by 10 percent. You serve your calling to teach, you help the DIYer preserve a bit more cash, and you get one up on the manager.
*Ouch!
*Woweeazie Duhamel!!!I like that "single women--40's style".That's enough for me to pull my woodie up to the pulpit @ HD, Big Box Store.Every single babe in their early forties could use a man like you dude, especially one who is handy around the house and knows how to handle the tools!!!YippeeeeIaaaa!!!!Duhamel ain't no fool!!!Yo, you in the orange smock..???? Which aisle are the batteries and neck massagers?(NOW LISten to ME!!!! I did not have sex with that lady in Aisle 11 between the screws and the PVC!!!) I was only helping her with her P-trap!
*JIM,ya did too,they published the security cam pics in their newsletter,caption read..."Home Depot voted most entertaining place to work". Someone is looking to build an outdoor structure...Wants to know what kind of wood to use... a) Tell him that cedar or pressure treated is good wood but somewhat over rated and expensive. b) Tell him spruce is cheapest, it should work fine. c) Guide the customer over to the poplar aisle, (knowing full well that they will be back for more materials in a year or two). d) Advise to use MDF, saying it is just as good as long as you paint it well! A customer approaches and complains of a broken tool...wants to buy parts. a) Tell the truth...Tell him we don't sell parts. b) Go through the motions and look up the part numbers, carefully marking them in today's notebook only to pitch it in the garbage at the end of the day. c) Tell the customer you know exactly what he needs and tell him it will take 3 weeks to get the parts. d) Tell them you just started working here and have to stay in this 10 square feet like you were told....*h.d. patented deer in the headlights look*Lar
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I have been reading this thread with interest, and have resisted the impulse to jump in, for several reasons. One, which I will cover first, is that I expressed opinions before, in this forum, on the fact that there are contractors and there are those who call themselves such. It was a lengthy thread that the moderator (to his/her credit) let run. It was bare-knuckle and no-holds-barred. There was a small group participating that fundamentally thought that ALL DIY'ers were thieves and scum. They thought that their state tickets were franchises. They felt that DIY'ers discussing things and asking questions in the forum were stealing right from their pockets. Now I know what they do on weekends! It is rude and inexcusable to engage in that type of conduct. I've seen such 'customers' as were described at the HD classes. Their ONLY hope is to DIY and hope for the best. The mortgage payment and groceries are challenge enough. But the guy with the big monthly on the fancy pickup could care less. That's HIS money! He's entitled to it! He's got a license from the state that says so (he thinks!). You will not change those guys. It is obvious that the manager isn't going to suggest that they go elsewhere (because they might!), and he doesn't seem to have much going for him in the way of manners himself.
What is realy surprising about this is that it happens at all. In our county (in California) we have four HD's. One is a Pro, for contractors. I have sat in at seminars at two, just to see what they are doing. I have never seen this type of conduct. In fact, at one, I went to a couple of seminars on tile setting. The presenter, a retired tile guy, knows his stuff. He puts every body at ease, and teaches it the same if it is two or twenty people. On one occassion, a local contractor dropped by, and helped him with the class, volunteering tips, and then talked to some of the DIY's after the class, about some more detailed questions they had. Now! Who do you think has a shot at the business if the DIYer decides he needs help? The guy who drops by just to listen, and maybe contribute? Or Cletus the Slack-Jawed Yokel? These guys are sowing the seeds of their own destruction. What do you do with them in the interim? Don't teach the class:(1)It is of a direct and immediate benefit to HD. They are a profit making organization. If the work is worth doing, it is worth paying for! (2) The hecklers! Tell the manager what they do, and what you feel should be done about it, AFTER you tell him you won't be doing the class. You look less involved and more objective at that point. If he can't find a solution, too bad for HD, too bad for him, and it's really too bad for his DIY customers. I sympathize with them. After being College Prep tracked, College Prepped, Colleged, Commissioned, Post Colleged, Management Trained, and Managed to near death, I had to go to Night Woodshop Classes at a local High School, to learn to make a wooden box. Through the next twenty years, I've come to the conclusion that a lot of self-proclaimed experts are about as smart as their hammer, but not quite as bright as their tapes! And one hell of a lot of them are damned good Craftsmen (and women). It's the sorting that takes time and costs money! Regards, Good Luck, Buck
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Scdedule 40
b ABS
in Ontario, not PVC.
-pm
*Ten Years from now We might be wishing there were still a HD around or a Lowe's, like when thatlumber that we ordered over the internet arrives. They are just a sign of the times. Most of the local lumber yards here have either closed shop or would rather not be bothered with anyone ordering less than 1000 of anything. They've cut back on help and the new people they hire are either kids putting prehung doors together or are salesconsultants with lots of catalogues and fast with the keyboards. A few of the ones that got displaced ended up at Lowe,s and HQ. These guys I've been dealing with twenty years or better. We know each other on a first name basis. They knew what they had, what they didn't and who did. They would refer jobs sometimes. They have gotten lost in the shuffle. Some of them just ate it at HQ. Don't really know what's going on any where else. Yep 10 years from now the first time You may see the material You bought will be when the trailer pulls up in front of the job, or the UPS man delivers Your new drill. In the mean time I'm gonna educate some of those HD guys, get to know them by their name, bitch at the manager about the dead heads and write to corporate when I've got a bitch with the manager. Somebody's got a better idea I'm listening. Skip
*
I happened upon an HD application today while hustling through for some plumbing parts (would have gone faster if some *&^$% hadn't stolen my cart with the parts list!). Here are a couple of the Q's:
1) If a customer asks for a product you've never heard of, you should:
>(a) deny it exists;
>(b) question customer's motive in requesting it;
>(c) tell customer to go to the "Outdoor Garden" department;
>(d) pretend not to speak English.
2) If you spot a customer with a vacant helpless look, you should:
>(a) offer to help, only if you know nothing about the department;
>(b) smile broadly, say "How are you doing today?" and book out of there before customer can respond;
>(c) pretend to be utterly engrossed in UPC codes of nearby boxes;
>(d) turn off the "beep-beep-beep" thingy on the forklift and mow them down.
It's just been one of those days. Anyone know some of the other questions?
*Andrew, extra peevish towards Home Cheapo today?
*Uh-huh. (1)(a)/(b) happened today, although I said, look, I bought one of these here before. i found it myself and showed it to the clerk. And I love (2)(b).
*Ahhh. The "whut do ya need that for/hell no one uses that" approach.Now you know where old WallyMart store greeters go... Home Cheapo, in a Dept. where a little knowledge could be good, but they's just guessin'.
*Andrew,Have you considered avoiding the help as much as they avoid you? There is almost nothing they know about their construction products that you don't know. Since they rarely know what anything but the most basic products are, they can't possibly know where to find them. Finally, the big signs well above eye level contain more information than they will give you. I remember the time I went to the local lumberyard and the salesman told me flat out that they did not have OSB. I was able to get him to admit he had waferboard and sell me some sheets. Once out in the yard we were confronted by the units of `waferboard' with 2' tall letters reading OSB.Joe
*Thank God I'm not the only one that gets pissed off every time I go into Home Depot (or Lowe's, or Sutherland's)I just love all those "Experienced Tradesmen/Women" who work there. They have those real big signs in each department telling you of some guy's years of experience (right under their picture). Had a guy in the plumbing isle a couple of days ago ask me what I wanted 4" schedule 40 pvc drain line for. He told me it was against code to use it for drain lines in a home. Then I looked over and saw his picture on the wall, and it said "40 years experience as a licensed plumber". I nearly spit my soda out when I read that. Heck, ain't no wonder he works at Home Depot, no decent plumbing company wants him working for them. I have to do breathing exercises before I go into one of these home centers. Kinda helps keep the blood pressure down. I have a motto for those places...If you know exactly what you're after, you'll be ok. If you have to ask anybody anything at all, you're screwed. I take some time every chance I get, and just wander around the place. I get to know where everything is located, and what they carry. Helps save time when I go in and am in a hurry. James DuHamel
*Andrew,I hope you don't mind me asking:Haven't you established a relationship with a professional plumbing wholesaler? I know you are new to construction and I can relate to the transition (lawyer/barrister to contractor) but you should really think about getting around to establishing professional alliances with realistic trade suppliers.[grin] Especially during the tradititional work week.Jeffieps: Would you like me to introduce you to some quality trade vendors in your neighborhood? I could, you know?
*Yes, there is good one nearby. But when you need a dishwasher drain hose, a trap, AND a tile rubbing stone plus 7' of quarter-round in a hurry, one-stop shopping is (usually) easier. The problem I had yesterday was finding an oddball adapter that sort of fit into 3 or 4 different categories in different areas. And the box was turned around, hidden from view on the bottom shelf.I admit that my misery was a self-inflicted wound. I don't usually ask for help -- but there have been many times when the guy/gal said sure, right over here! (Like the time the guy KNEW what a dielectric union was AND FOUND it.)Finally, I felt there was a comic aspect to the whole thing, clearly reflected in the employment application. I don't really mean to be cruel to HD employees -- it's partly a training/employee retention problem. Now, as for whoever stole my half-full cart, probably a customer, rot in hell.
*3) When your aimless chatting with a co-worker about the lousy working conditions your are both subjected to is interrupted by a potential customer, asking where a certain product is located, do you:a. Look at the customer with your best "deer in a headlight" look, and then continue talking to your co-worker.b. Tell the customer it's located near the vinyl siding, where ever that is.c. Send the customer down the aisle that has the most boxes, crates, and fork lifts in it.d. Simply admit the truth, and state "I have no idea about anything sold in this store."
*4) When ringing up a purchase which has 6 of our patented 'unremovable' UBC codes, none of which register when scanned, you should:(a) keep scanning it until your shift ends;(b) ask the customer if they remember the 35-digit product code, even though we are not allowed to take your word for it that it's 72 cents;(c) flip repeatedly through the little code book to avoid the burning glare of your hopping mad (and usually hungry) customer;(d) call your boyfriend/girlfriend over by walkie talkie so they can review their 'Question #1' techniques while flirting with you.I needed a pretty oddball gas flare fitting a few weeks ago. Apparantly the previous owner of my place had a few eastern European fittings kicking around and decided to plumb his dryer to them. We were on my second trip back (I finally shut off gas to my house - the oddball was a shutoff valve - and pulled the fitting) on the late shift when my dearly beloved decides to get help for me. She showed up with a 16 year old kid in tow. Fortunately, I was so irritated at this point (nothing, I repeat, NOTHING is ever found in the correct bin - the result of 10 years of dingbats randomly shuffling through bins) that it provided the comic relief I desperately needed. After a couple 10 minutes or so of watching him flounder about, I showed him (and my old lady...) that there was no 'answer' to the problem, and put together a replacement system. It had me a bit nervous, though. Most folks have the sense to 'smell' a poor gas plumbing job, even if they don't do a good job of checking for leaks. And, fortunately, most folks are scared to death of gas plumbing, so they'll leave it to the pro's. But for the folks in between... "Here you go, Sir; this one's pretty close..." I wonder what their liability there is? A lot of those bozos have no problem about giving out advice...
*Caveat doofus.The UPC tags will come off with a bright flame if subjected to a propane torch. OK for copper fittings; don't try this with plastic or, say, a can of propane or box of Remington loads...
*Being from the land of Menards, I could not wait for Home Depot to get here. Menards, comparatively, is unbelievably inferior to HD in almost every way. I'm not saying I'm crazy about Home Depot but after all these Menards years, I can't complain.Menards ruined some good local lumber/supply yards, they are long gone. Our town has 10,000 people but I have to drive 20 miles to get drywall. I hope HD kicks Menards right out of their own state. Menards sells junk.MAD Dog
*I've only been in a Menard's a couple of times. The place was a mess! And their commercials are obnoxious...they say to me "don't shop at Menard's unless you want crap!"Rich Beckman
*Lowe's is the only store of it's kind around here. Understand they did 35 million in sales last year, not bad for a town of 50 thousand in a state rated 48th to 50th on everything from income to education. The only list we top is unwed motherhood. I never ask for advice because the guy who knows has always left for lunch. I shop them because they usually have what I want at a good price. They are also open after the lumber yards (called "sheds" here), electrical, and plumbing supply houses have closed (and on weekends), a pluss when you are working long hours and can not break away for a "run." I deal with several lumber yards, and plumbing and electrical suppliers. They all work hard for my business but each has it's own peculiarities. Depending on what I need and when I need it I may go to one of them or to Lowe's.
*Awww c'mon JJ, somehow we all end up having to go there. They're so darn conveniently located.I especially like it when clients go there and ask the Home Depot Experts how I'm supposed to do it... Absolutely love it.'Cause then they can watch me and give me little tips.But today, we actually got to quote to a client, the manager of Home Depot as saying "Well that salesman was full of sh*t" referring to his employee concerning the advice said employee had given (our client). Actually, we spelled S-h-*-t to her so as not to offend her.It's not that I mind explaining how I'm going to do something, it's that idiots masquerade as experts and the client has no idea what the heck is really true, and my explanation becomes a lot more of a chore than a simple conversation.Here's one Andrew:When a customer goes to the check out line you should:a) Tell them how much time you have until you get off work... b) Tell them how much you don't like your boss...c) Tell them that your closed because it's your break time... ord) Just blink like an idiot.I just moved to this town and am still looking for the good stores. But there's a HD everywhere I go. I'm starting to get a better feel for exactly which ones (HD employees) to avoid.People here in Nashville are really funny. The unemployment rate is around 2%. Every idiot available is working. They think that if you show up, you get a paycheck. They don't realize you're supposed to work tooAnd they're right. They don't have to work. They just have to pass a drug test. -- Hence the 2%. Those that can't pass.
*Here's the quickest way for a customer to make me turn around and leave: "But we went to Home Depot and they drew a plan for our new kitchen right there..."Don't laugh, it's happened to me. One lady who we were doing a fairly complicated design for (kick up the roof, build over existing garage, etc., etc.) said this, complaining that our design process wasn't moving fast enough. We just told her politely that she could get Home Depot to install it then, too. After all, they are professionals (?).
*FWIW - PVC is not permitted where I live but is still sold at HD. Go figure.
*HD Does sell cheap stuff,, But every one buys it.. and lots have trouble with most of the stuff.. Have you notice they change ventor every two years..... WHY????? maybe they don't pay their bills..... And the vendors drop them...
*... & I bet it sells well, Bill.Cold yet in Chicago? 49° this morning in Virginny.
*How would I know. I left Monday morning for Evansville, IN; then to Miami; now in Houston.
*... and still you keep in touch! How sweet.
*I see anyone with a head on their shoulders has their own approach in dealing with HD. Mine is to leave my house at 5.30 am to be there at 6.00 when they open. I find that somebody at least got there to unlock the door and all the others are still trying to figure out how to tie their aprons and figure out how that velcro stuff sticks together on the back belts. Sometimes while trying to get at the coffee, I think they even get stuck to one another in a big bunch. I always manage to get one of those coveted lumber carts, the crap I shouldn't buy there anyway and check out before the consumers arrive en masse. The one redeeming factor of HD is I planted 40 Arbor Vitae this season and with our drought in NJ, lost about 12. Their return policy allows me to indefinitely replace the ones that die since you actually return a DEAD plant! Then you buy a new one instead of just getting an exchange. Enjoy! Support your locals whenever you can!Rich
*Taken from the Menard's Employee Guide:When you spy a customer in the brass plumbing fittings area, watch him closely until you see a look of deep concentration on his face. This means that he is visualizing his prospective plumbing layout and mentally identifying needed components. At this time, stick your head around the aisle, and ask him, "Finding everything you need?" You will notice an immediate facial shift from deep concentration to blank surprise. Leave the area before it changes to blind rage.
*One group of folks that comes close to the "knowledgable Home Depot Employee" is the sub contractors that they dredge up to install the stuff that the unsuspecting consumer has bought. I think they're previous Home depot employees who went to work on their own, cause someone in the home depot academy told them they were experts in their fields.
*I generally avoid these places like the plague,But sometimes sheer convenience finds me in one. If I mistakenly enter with a tape measure clipped on my belt I am absolutely beseiged by desperate souls brimming with questions.They think I WORK THERE.( The horror,the horror)Sometimes I wake up at night now in a cold sweat imagining that I screwed up so bad I had to get a job and the only one available was at a DIY,H.D.,OR their ilk.Once my wife asked me to pick something up from Builders Square.My response...ARE YOU !@#$!@# CRAZY.IT"S SATURDAY EVERY !@#$%^&* DIY HOMEOWNER ON THE PLANET WILL BE THERE(wearing Dockers and LL Bean) I WOULD RATHER GO TO THE FREAKING MALL THAN GO TO BUILDERS SQUARE ON A SATURDAY.( I haven't entered a mall willingly in a decade.)
*What really pisses me off is knowing exactly what you want and the idiot your dealing with has never heard of it so he trys to make you look like an idiot. I asked at a local yard once if they had any reduced diameter #2 phillips tips, the kind that fit drywall screws better, and instead of just saying no he points to a bucket of Vermont American regular #2's and laughs, says" I aint ever heard ah nothin like that, that theres what everybody uses" Then he laughingly calls his buddy over and says "you ever heard ah,..... whad you call it? ha ha ha". So I boycotted them until the only other yard in town pissed me off and I swallowed some pride and went back. Maybe I'm just hard to get along with. Saw another customer ask for asphalt impregnated sheathing once and the sales guy just hoorahed and said "no we aint got nothing like that here" , on the wall behind him with some other samples was a 4'x8' sheet of black Celotex. Chuck
*Hey Bill, If not schedule 40 pvc,what do you use? They outlawed cast iron and steel a gazillion years ago here. I am about 70 - 80 miles east of Houston. How do you like this weather? Man I've been waiting a year for it to drop below 50 million degrees. Welcome to Texas.James DuHamel
*"They don't make that!" Or "They don't make those anymore." Said by someone who wasn't born when the one I have in my hand was made. How their mind copes with the existence of something that "They" don't make is beyond me. Doesn't seem to bother them any to be looking at an object that does not exist. The assertion that there is no such thing makes me consider picking up whatever is handiest & whacking 'em upside the head. Kinda like "Road Rage", maybe "Moron Rage"? Not only HD employees either. Joe H