Home Depot Rant #476,352,939

[Charlesaf3]

I never buy hot tools, or ones I think have any chance of being hot. That's some guys livelihood and it just encourages tool thieves to keep going.

 

[EdK]

Kinda late adding to this thread but my HD experience was similar to that of the original poster - N80, so I had to speak:

I needed a whole bunch of perf drain pipe which worked out to be an entire lift plus a few extra pieces. The bin had a 6-12 in it and there were a couple of lifts overhead and all strapped up. I speak with the department guy about my needs and suggest they just bring a lift out to the contractors' cashier/exit for me. He says no they can't do that... they must fill the bin and I must transport cart after cart load to the cashier!

 

[weldingisfun]

Kinda late adding to this thread but my HD experience was similar to that of the original poster - N80, so I had to speak:

I needed a whole bunch of perf drain pipe which worked out to be an entire lift plus a few extra pieces. The bin had a 6-12 in it and there were a couple of lifts overhead and all strapped up. I speak with the department guy about my needs and suggest they just bring a lift out to the contractors' cashier/exit for me. He says no they can't do that... they must fill the bin and I must transport cart after cart load to the cashier!

Well? What did you do about it? You really don't want to let us guessing or speculating.

 

[Soundguy]

Yep.. I'd have told them they just lost a sale and then walked..

soundguy

 

[Bedlam]

We had that same thing happen a year or so ago. We needed roofing shingles, just under a 'lift' A worker asked if he could help an the boss said yes get a fork lift and bring this pallet outside for us. He said that wasn't their policy that we would have to us the cart to take them.
The 'boss' asked for the manager and a guy came over and he repeated the request. The manager then said NP told the guy to get the truck and bring them out
so outside we went, with the 'boss' leaving his GF behind to pay for the shingles. Well after we got down the road she had only been charged for the cart of shingle and not the pallet
I'm not sure what id do, myself I think I would have gone back but he is dead set on ripping everyone off. even family so he just let it go.
Ive seen the same store bring plenty of pallets etc out with NP.

 

[dgl24087]

I went into my local Home Depot this afternoon, as I walked through the store, I was asked by 6 different employees if I needed assistance. The store was fairly busy considering it was mid-afternoon. This HD is in a smaller town, population about 30,000. I can drive about 25-30 miles away to a larger store in a city with a population of around 100,000, and the difference in service is amazing.

 

[Tig]

Times sure have changed from when I started in the building industry. For years I would pick up the phone and call Bud, the salesman that always handled my account, tell him what I needed and when I would have someone pick it up. It would be ready on the dock with someone to load it. Larger orders were always delivered the next day like clock work.

I still get that kind of service at Cole's in Brighton. They were the lumber yard of choice 25 years ago before I moved away. It's now a franchise of a small chain and the service and prices are still excellent.
BTW My daughter started a summer job at Home Depot as a cashier. Seems like a good place to work. Training was quite comprehensive and customer service oriented. Now that she has been there a few weeks I have to chuckle at the questions some people will ask a 19 years old girl working the cash. Seems pretty obvious to me that she's not the best person to advise you on tools or renovation.

 

[N80]

I did end up getting some of the lumber for my shed from our local franchise lumber yard, Carter Lumber. Good service, average price but man the quality of the lumber was awful. And they load you up so you can't be as picky as you can at Lowes, etc. I was shocked at how bad this stuff was. I also bought my metal roof from them which was fine. But I'm not buying wood from them again. There was stuff in that load they not only should they not have been selling but should never have accepted it themselves. Very disappointing.

It seems that Lowes is the only game in town.

 

[CaptPat]

go to a local lumberyard--ones on my area will deliver for free on orders of more than $500, this offsets the slightly higher price too Also my lumberyard has 20 boards when I need them not just 18 or 19 that seems to be the case at HD or Lowes.

 

[N80]

Well, that's what I did. See the post above yours. The wood quality was the worst I've ever seen. Hopefully that's not the case at most local lumber yards. It sounds like many have better one's than we have here.

 

[Skyco]

I wonder what they do with all the real junk stuff nobody will buy? It amuses me to see the same 2x4 with a 90 degree twist and a 30 degree bend in the rack week after week...do they really think someone will buy it I just bought about 16 sheets of 4x8 1 inch thick foam insulation...I swear about 2/3 of the stack were damaged to the point I wouldn't take them. So where does all the stuff go that is rejected? It must be a huge place wherever it is

 

[tallyho8]

I wonder what they do with all the real junk stuff nobody will buy? It amuses me to see the same 2x4 with a 90 degree twist and a 30 degree bend in the rack week after week...do they really think someone will buy it I just bought about 16 sheets of 4x8 1 inch thick foam insulation...I swear about 2/3 of the stack were damaged to the point I wouldn't take them. So where does all the stuff go that is rejected? It must be a huge place wherever it is

Before Home Depot ran them out of business, we had a couple of West Building Material stores here. They sold their regular 2x4s etc for regular price and sold their "seconds" at a discount and their real bad ones, they called po-boy studs and sold them for half price. Strange thing, they always ran out of the po-boys first.

Our Home Depot keeps putting the picked-over junk wood on top of the pile and trying to sell it for regular price. Some people buy it because they don't want to move half the stack of wood to get to the good ones. When they get in a shipment and don't have any room to put it inside because the pile is full of junk wood, then they throw the junk wood in the dumpster. It sure seems like they would do better to sell warped, scratched, dented stuff at a discount, but they never do. It is against their policy.

 

[Bird]

It is against their policy.

Home Depot is certainly not alone with that type of policy; all or nothing. Awhile back I was in our Walmart Supercenter very early in the morning when they had almost no customers. A young fellow was stocking in the produce section where I had gone to get some asparagus. He was taking some bundles off and putting others up. When I asked why he was taking those bundles off, he said they had one broken spear of asparagus in each of those bundles and wouldn't sell. I told him I'd sure buy them if he'd give a little bit of a discount, but he said he couldn't do that; had to throw them in the garbage.

 

[Soundguy]

Heck.. they could have disassembled one bad bundle, and then replaced out spears in all the others, and then thrown away the one bad bundle with all the broke spears?!?

soundguy

 

[Tig]

The wood quality was the worst I've ever seen. Hopefully that's not the case at most local lumber yards.

Take the bad ones back. You wouldn't accept poor quality from any other store so why accept it from the lumber yard. I once rejected 44 sheets of tongue and groove plywood. That lumber yard was close by and cheap but their wood was always damaged by poor handling.
They told me they burn the bad wood but I later saw them cutting the damaged edges off tongue and groove plywood so they could try to sell it as regular ply. What an outfit that place was.
Around here it's not uncommon for contractors to order 10 to 20% more wood than they need and then send the bad stuff back for credit.

 

[Bird]

Heck.. they could have disassembled one bad bundle, and then replaced out spears in all the others, and then thrown away the one bad bundle with all the broke spears?!?

soundguy

That would have been too sensible, Chris, and would have taken a few minutes more. Instead, he was just throwing them in the garbage.

 

[RobJ]

Well, that's what I did. See the post above yours. The wood quality was the worst I've ever seen. Hopefully that's not the case at most local lumber yards. It sounds like many have better one's than we have here.

I didn't read all the posts but maybe there is another local yard. Actually Lowes will usually deliver to. I had planned on hauling up all the lumber for the weekend place because we have a sweet account at a local lumber yard. Hmm, 500 studs, 100 2x8, yikes!! BIL says get it local. How sweet that was. Even just a load of siding for the garage they delivered for free. 160 sheets of sheetrock, they sent 3 guys. Oh gents, can you place a pile here, over there, then the other 40 sheets upstairs, thanks!! Yes I gave then a nice tip...WELL worth it. A pic of the eaten into pile of lumber I did NOT have to move twice! Another nice pile for the garage. Then a special delivery for the siding. Delivery and unload!! Sweet!

 

[Soundguy]

That would have been too sensible, Chris, and would have taken a few minutes more. Instead, he was just throwing them in the garbage.

man.. I bet a pig farmer or chix farmer would love to get ahhold o f the bad produce instead of it being wasted..

soundguy

 

[WVBill]

man.. I bet a pig farmer or chix farmer would love to get ahhold o f the bad produce instead of it being wasted..

soundguy

I was just reading an article the other day about folks these days who live "minimal" or some such description. They're "normal" people with decent jobs who are dedicated "dumpster divers" - know when WalMart for example throws out their "damaged" asparagus and make a plan to be there right after that time - then "dive the dumpster". They say they get over half their food from this.

More power to them - but I wouldn't want to eat something that had been in the garbage.

WVBill

 

[Soundguy]

I tend to agree. Though i've got no problem feeding others leftovers to my animals!

soundguy