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One month and 28 days ago I ordered 66 LF of crown moulding from HD. Didn’t wanna do it but I had to match some existing crown and they were the only source. $400 set up fee to mill only 66 feet was too much.
First, the special order was the wrong type and wrong footage. Send it back. That’s trip #1. That’s funny, but it takes me, in person, to see that a mistake has been made.
Reorder comes in, right type but short 16 feet. Their procedure dictates cash refund for shortage and need to reorder. That’s trip #2.
A couple of weeks go by and I get a phone call that my crown is in. It’s not. That’s trip #3.
Eleven days later I get another phone call that my crown is in. It’s not the right type. Send it back and reorder. That’s trip #4.
Two weeks ago I get a call that my crown is in. I call the store to confirm. The girl goes to look in receiving. Meanwhile, a different clerk picks up and asks if she can help. I tell her I’m trying to confirm if my moulding is in. “Yep, right here”, she says. She says she’s actually looking at it, I ask her to describe it, etc. The first girl comes back on the phone, says it’s not in, don’t know why anyone would’ve called to say it was. I hop in my truck to go pick up my crown. It’s not in. #5.
Nine days ago I sent an e-mail to the HD big cheese. Nice but assertive. To this day still no response. Five days ago I get another call from the store but this one is to tell me when my crown will be in. I figure the HD brass barked at the store so now it’s CYA at HD so that explains the phone call telling me when I can expect my crown to come in. (I don’t care when you think it’ll come in. I just want to know when it does come in.)
Doing some errands today I swing by HD, after all they expected my crown to be in yesterday and I was in the area. The girl tells me it’s not in but she’ll call the vendor and speak to her manager. She goes away and a different clerk walks up asking if she can help. I tell her what’s up and she goes off towards receiving to check because she recognizes my name. (Cripes, by now the whole store should recognize my name.)
So I’m standing alone at the special order desk and I look behind the desk, against the wall, is some crown moulding. Looks like the footage I need. With my name on it. I can’t believe it, I found my crown.
The first clerk comes back to tell me I need to go to receiving to talk to the mgr. She’s back there climbing through the big orange racks like a friggin monkey to get at ‘my’ crown. Down it comes, all 208 feet- 16′ lengths, but it’s not mine. A clerk standing by points out some moulding down on the floor. It has my name on it, but I don’t need 176′. I cut open the bundle, grab the best looking stick and head for my truck.
On my way to the front I see the original clerk and tell her it’s finally settled, I’m outta here. She wants to know if I want the crown behind the special order desk. From what I saw today I figure they have 480 feet of which I had only ordered 16′ to bring the original order up to the footage I required.
The store manager catches up to me at the front of the store and apologizes. I tell her I’m not mad at anyone, but I (this is when I put on my stage voice) am a contractor and if I had this kind of sloppy cust. service I would be out of business. Furthermore, I will never come back here even for one nail. Also, I’m just one customer and I imagine this kind of stuff happens alot. There have been so many problems with just my one order that it’s too confusing to try to think about it all. See ya.
Replies
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AAAAAHhhhhh!
...no more will people "go postal," in the new millenium, they'll "go depot."
Sometime this past summer I needed 100+ sheets of 2" foil-faced polyiso RFBI. Cleaned out the locals for about 40 sheets, would have taken them a week-plus to get the rest in, so...
I called HD.
They had 162 sheets. One-hundred and sixty-frikken two sheets!
Drove out there to find nothing. Nothing. Not a single sheet.
Went out front, spoke with the clerk who gave me the "162" quote over the phone. "Sure we have it," as he lead me away...to a stack of half-inch drywall, 162 sheets high.
Sez Mongo: "This is drywall."
Sez the clerk: "Yes, but it does offer some insulating value...just put in on thicker." He was sincere when he said it.
"Just put it on thicker" has since caught on as the new phrase when working, used when something just ain't right.
*It's unbelievable that they can be so consistantly terrible at gettng things right, that everyone they hire is so incompetant and uneducated in construction, that every contact with them is frustrating and still they are able to build new stores and make a profit.So the company figures they're making money the way they are so why bother fixing anything.I hate HD and tell anyoine who will listen how horrible they are.
*RichI feel your pain,Thats why i havent been there since my "ID" post. id rather pay the extra bucks go to a molding house and pay them to make it if it custom or buy if its stock. it cost more but the frustration level is way low. I also wonder how they can stay in business. Like I told the little hottie at the return desk when I returned anything I bought from them " Ill let the market place dictate your policy" "I choose to take my money else where". and I have.
*its all in the adv. "we are the cheapest in town...do it right do it yourself.....", people do not know any better and couldn't find the local lumber yard if they drove by it daily, so they just assume that things are that way everywhere. That and the cheapness of some never ceases to amaze me, drive 20 mi out of their way just to save $1.00 or less ( can not think of the gas or what their time is worth). everyone who has a home cespot story have a cold one on me.
*If it ain't on the shelf in front of you, and IF you don't need any assistance AT ALL it is the cheapest and best place in town. It's a self serve kinda place...generic...standard everyday stuff, need anything else...go elsewhere.
*Keith, I have always said you don't go to HD for service so on that point I agree with you. But I can regularly beat their price on much of the stuff they carry. It's not that I have great purchasing power, but because they are a retail op; 30-30-30.And the issue is not only their lack of service. They have a pricing schedule I happen to think somewhat duplicitous. F'rinstance, who else on God's green earth sells tile by the piece? So when the avg customer sees the HD unit cost he automatically will compare it to others. Never mind the itty bitty small print which says the unit cost is per piece instead of per sf like everyone else. Or, every stick of wood at HD is precut to length and marked a certain price. The avg customer is really not up on what constitues one board foot so they don't know how to compare that with the traditional pricing/bf. OTOH: such a pricing schedule constitutes a certain perceived value based on convenience because the avg Joe can avoid the 'hassle' of comparison shopping. Mrktg picks up the slack by creating a perceived value of their own. Everyone 'knows' a 'warehouse' offers the best deal. As long as th customer doesn't demand anything more than the avg, he'll never be the wiser. Unfortunately, that avg has been driven down into the basement. The whole reason I went there was because the only vendor who carried the crown I required wouldn't deal with me for only 66 feet. I tried going through by buddy's cab shop, no dice. It's funny, but the vendor who supplied the moulding through HD is the same vendor I use. So I know HD was full of BS when they tried to blame the whole fiasco on the vendor.
*They are definitely NOT the cheapest around when you compare prices. You've got to check your ticket too! I went in and bought six identical hinges. Signed the ticket and walked out with them. When I started to bill my customer a couple weeks later, I looked at the ticket to remind me what the price was. The register had charged me two at 2.49, one at 1.79, and three at 6.59. I think the price listed on the shelf was 2.49. Same trip, I bought a gate latch. The first one I picked up - I noticed the pack had been torn open and one of the components was missing so I grabbed another and handed the incomplete one to the clerk with an explanation. She sweetly thanked me. When I got home (this is 55 miles and a ferry ride) I find that this pack has been openned too and is missing another part. ARAUGH! So the next week,I go back for exchange and same clerk says, sure - just go grab another one off the shelf. I go back and the first one I grab is the same one that I'd already turned in - now neatly taped shut with a part missing. I know it's some piuke who did the deed but it's their staff that actively tried to rip off a customer by putting crap back on the shelf.
*I have to say one good thing about Home Despot, ever since they built one outside town, the local guys got real good about stocking the shelves and answering the phone. For that I'm grateful.
*Whiners!I used to remodel. I don't anymore. When I remodeled, I often would spend all day, traversing the city picking up odd items, sheet metal zip screws, electrical parts, drywall, etc. Each item was only stocked in each specialty house. Now I go to the big box. I don't special order anything without anticipating five trips. If the store is on my travel route, that means five trips of ten minutes wasted. No big deal. For that specialty molding, you could have charged the customer $600 to have it custom done, or only $200 for HD aggravation and six weeks waiting. Once you face the realities, the decisions are easier. Recently I found myself in need of an air compressor. Where do you buy air compressors? Lumber yards stock them as specialty items and overcharge you. Air compressor stores are 50 miles away. HD has one sitting there ready to go for $599. I buy it and am back in business in less than two hours. I easily would lose more than that trying to avoid them. If the compressor sucks, I take it back. Actually, it's working perfect. It's got a Honda 5hp and an Ingersoll Rand Pump. It's better than the same style model I purchased from my nail supplier.HD sucks and I'm happy as hell that they are there on every corner!blue
*I worked a 2nd job at one of the big boxes for a few months. I'm inclined to agree that they only employ the lowest level of people they can get. Even the managers are pretty much all losers. I once pointed out to the guy in charge that we were out of drywall corner bead, but the computer showed 160 pieces. Since we weren't selling any, the computer program was set up to i notorder any more. The supervisor said he would take care of it. Two days later when I worked it was the same story. I once again told the supervisor on duty (A different guy every night) and he said he'd take care of it. This went on for about 3 weeks before we finally got some shipped in. I'd suggest making the best of it. We aren't going to make the big boxes go away. But take advantage of things they can offer cheaper. Like power tools. They can sometimes sell them for about what a small lumberyard will have to pay for them. And don't bother asking any of the idiots working there for assistance. No way would I special order anything from them. You never know who's answering the phone, and will probably never speak to the same person twice.
*As I said in the bussiness posts a while ago, If you pay attention, HD will generate new & better customers for you. When you are in their take advantage of an associates inability to help a different customer. Politely point out the correct method, part etc. & you will be amazed at hwere the conversation can go. Most folks go to the boxes because they don't know where else to go.
*Rob,I think your right. I quit going there. I dont miss it. I used to go there outta convience. the way folks wander around the Boxes with lost blank stares gazeing off into space looking perplexed gives me that impression.
*There is another downside to the HD story. Used to have about six reasonable building supply stores in town, two good and the others OK. HD walked into town with big inventories and low prices and that beat any written quote crap. I hate to admit it, but I fell into the trap until frustration drove me out of the store. After a couple of years, HD prices are up above the level we used to deal at before they came, inventories are narrow and inconsistent, and four of the six local stores are out of business. We are really fortunate to have one store left that seems to be able to compete effectively. Their trick is that they encourage the trades and discourage the consumer. Just reroofed my house and these guys beat HD right out of the gate by ten percent on a superior product.
*Dick, that's not a downside. The HD's ween out the weak. They make the good guys better.blue
*Could well be blue, but I`d sure like it better with two good stores and they can keep each other sharp.
*The local yards around here, north central MA, suck. I avoid them at all costs. Last week needed some p.t. to finish a deck, so I went to the local yard, paid then went to pick my lumber. Seeing the 2x12's I was gonna use for stringers I had to laugh, the things looked like I could use em to make a spiral staircase. I asked to the yard lackey for some lumber that wasn't crap and he moaned about how that is what we have. A little more pleading and he was gone for 15 minutes so in the meantime I picked a few 2x4's p.t. that I needed. The boards were just as warped and even had a bunch of mold growing on them. Meamwhile, lackey comes back with a new bunk of 2x12 and slams them on the rack at about 7' high,cuts the straps and drives away with an attitude. Seeing as how my shoulders are already killing me I didn't feel like culling boards so high so I said screw it, went back to the counter and got my money back and left. Went to HD picked my lumber and loaded my truck in about 5 minutes and no mold either. Plus at HD the woman are cuter than the lumber yard guys. cc
*piffen... where do you live ?<>... no wonder the freight on thsoe walljacks was so high...my dad was captain of the Yankee: Prov-Newport-Block Island..and brother was a deckhand on the BI-Galilee run...
*Crosscut, that's the attitude that I always used to run into in the supply houses around here. I hated almost everyone of them. I'm not saying that the HD's are any better, but I think they've lit a fire under a lot of the other manangers. They no longer have the luxury of saying "screw you, take it or leave it!" which was their attitude before the big boys showed up.blue
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One month and 28 days ago I ordered 66 LF of crown moulding from HD. Didn't wanna do it but I had to match some existing crown and they were the only source. $400 set up fee to mill only 66 feet was too much.
First, the special order was the wrong type and wrong footage. Send it back. That's trip #1. That's funny, but it takes me, in person, to see that a mistake has been made.
Reorder comes in, right type but short 16 feet. Their procedure dictates cash refund for shortage and need to reorder. That's trip #2.
A couple of weeks go by and I get a phone call that my crown is in. It's not. That's trip #3.
Eleven days later I get another phone call that my crown is in. It's not the right type. Send it back and reorder. That's trip #4.
Two weeks ago I get a call that my crown is in. I call the store to confirm. The girl goes to look in receiving. Meanwhile, a different clerk picks up and asks if she can help. I tell her I'm trying to confirm if my moulding is in. "Yep, right here", she says. She says she's actually looking at it, I ask her to describe it, etc. The first girl comes back on the phone, says it's not in, don't know why anyone would've called to say it was. I hop in my truck to go pick up my crown. It's not in. #5.
Nine days ago I sent an e-mail to the HD big cheese. Nice but assertive. To this day still no response. Five days ago I get another call from the store but this one is to tell me when my crown will be in. I figure the HD brass barked at the store so now it's CYA at HD so that explains the phone call telling me when I can expect my crown to come in. (I don't care when you think it'll come in. I just want to know when it does come in.)
Doing some errands today I swing by HD, after all they expected my crown to be in yesterday and I was in the area. The girl tells me it's not in but she'll call the vendor and speak to her manager. She goes away and a different clerk walks up asking if she can help. I tell her what's up and she goes off towards receiving to check because she recognizes my name. (Cripes, by now the whole store should recognize my name.)
So I'm standing alone at the special order desk and I look behind the desk, against the wall, is some crown moulding. Looks like the footage I need. With my name on it. I can't believe it, I found my crown.
The first clerk comes back to tell me I need to go to receiving to talk to the mgr. She's back there climbing through the big orange racks like a friggin monkey to get at 'my' crown. Down it comes, all 208 feet- 16' lengths, but it's not mine. A clerk standing by points out some moulding down on the floor. It has my name on it, but I don't need 176'. I cut open the bundle, grab the best looking stick and head for my truck.
On my way to the front I see the original clerk and tell her it's finally settled, I'm outta here. She wants to know if I want the crown behind the special order desk. From what I saw today I figure they have 480 feet of which I had only ordered 16' to bring the original order up to the footage I required.
The store manager catches up to me at the front of the store and apologizes. I tell her I'm not mad at anyone, but I (this is when I put on my stage voice) am a contractor and if I had this kind of sloppy cust. service I would be out of business. Furthermore, I will never come back here even for one nail. Also, I'm just one customer and I imagine this kind of stuff happens alot. There have been so many problems with just my one order that it's too confusing to try to think about it all. See ya.