Who else has had a problem with HOME DEPOT?

[Obi-Wan Pinobi]

Obi Wan: Just where is Home Depot's customer service located? And how do I get ahold of a live body without waiting 30-40 minutes?

I called today Home Depot's customer service department to voice my complaint about the manager. The wait was 30 minutes. When I finally got a live body, it sounded like I was speaking to someone in India who didn't quite understand english. I swear, he repeated every single thing I said - twice! And for his answers, it sounded like he was like he was reading from a book. When I asked to speak to his manager (so I could get something other than the cookie cutter response), he said I'm not authorized to do that. What? Oh yes, and just to start speaking to me, he had to have my first name, last name, address and telephone number. I started to give him my personal information but once I figured this was going to be 20 questions, I declinded.

The corporate headquarters is in Atlanta. I believe there's also a call center or other facility in Tampa, but I wouldn't be surprised if some of the customer service calls are outsourced to India. OTOH, Atlanta does have a pretty good size immigrant population. There were even a couple of kids from India when I was in high school, and this was a small town in GA in the early 1980s.

I imagine the customer care centers' computers are tied to the store systems in a similar manner as the corporate HQ. They can get your info from the system, but to do so they would need your name, address, and phone number. Store-to-store info, OTOH, is very limited.

As for the manager, the best thing I'd recommend is to get in touch with the District Manager. If you don't feel comfortable asking someone at that store, call a neighboring store for the info. There are certain things that come from corporate that the stores can not override -- discounts applying to certain brands like John Deere lawn tractors, for example -- because of vendor agreements, but the DM definitely needs to be informed about the SM's treatment of you.

 

[lowie]

Did you know that the Home Depot store won't match their on-line Home Depot sale prices? I placed an order for patio furniture at a Home Depot store and shipping has been delayed twice. In the meantime, the same furniture has gone on sale on-line. Well, the store won't price match because the on-line Home Depot is "different" from the store Home Depot. Does that make any sense? So they'll price match another store but they won't price match their internet pricing?

And where is customer service? I was treated like a complete moron by a condescending manager who yelled at me in front of the customer service desk. Then, when he figured he was done talking to me, he turned his back and made a call on his cell.

Now that this has happened to me, I'm being told Home Depot horror stories by friends and family. So what's your Home Depot story?

why don't you cancel your in-store order and reorder it online??

i have so many bad home depot stories it's just crazy. but i keep going back... why? you ask... well, because everytime they screw up an install i get money back! just this january i had to replace my hardwood floors that were ruined by water when hurricane wilma came through. we decided to get porcelain tile because they were a 'special buy' so the price was awesome and also they won't get ruined if we have another hurricane and water comes in.

well, they botched the job, not so bad that it has to be re-done. after a few calls to corporate and dealing with the managers they waived the install fee and that was about half the money. we still have some issues with them and it's JULY but at least i used a big company that i had some recourse with.

good luck! i hope you get your patio furniture before summer is over!

 

[bicker]

why don't you cancel your in-store order and reorder it online??

I believe beachbunny mentioned that there is a restocking fee that would be applied.

 

[Carl]

I've always gotten good service at Home Depot. For example, we bought vertical blinds for Christmas and they were defective. Home Depot ordered new ones and had the installers come replace them. The second set were also defective and Home Depot also replaced them. Just the other day I had a pond pump go out that had a 2 year warranty and they immediately exchanged it when it went out after one year. Most places want you to ship the defective product back to the company who makes it.

 

[HOGFAN]

thats why I stick with Lowes

 

[bicker]

I have noticed better service at Lowes than at Home Depot, but I've attributed that to the fact that the Lowes is relatively new. I suspect that, over time, everything will even-out.

 

[RitaZ.]

I have gotten much better service at local businesses than I do at the Home Depots of the world.

I had to purchase a new lock/handle set for the new front door. I went to a local locksmith because you can only get Medeco locks through them. I did receive really good service from them and told them so. They went out of their way to get a specific handle that I wanted. I ended up buying a set that they had in stock because it matched the door better. Their service was beyond anything HD could ever offer. How much did I pay for the lock/handle set? Almost $700! For real!

 

[gshanny]

We had a really hard time getting some special order blinds we ordered. It was supposed to take 2 weeks and ended up taking about 2 months and many many phone calls. I even had to finally contact the company they used and correct the order myself. It was a good thing too since they had ordered yet another incorrect blind. We had ordered a left and right lift blind. We got 2 left lifts and HD ordered us another left lift. If I hadn't called we would have been 2 or more weeks past when we finally did get them.
I sent an e-mail to corporate. They sent an e-mail back telling me to contact the store, despite me already stating in the e-mail I had contacted the store and they did squat for me. I called them and all they did was transfer me back to the store. Managers would never be available either at the store when we called.
The thing that made me the most irate was after I had asked what to do with the extra blind they told me they didn't know and would call(they never called). A month later some guy calls and asks if we got our order corrected. I asked him from which time. He was confused and I explained the long story to him. He didn't seem to care about the hassle we went through. He then told me I needed to get them blind back to them. I told him they could come get, that we live more than 30 miles away and I had no need to go to that town at that time and that none of this was my mistake. He made a nasty comment and hung up on me. I immediately called them and got some poor guy at the contractor desk. He was the ONLY person who actually seemed sorry and apologized for everything we went through. He even stated that there were employees in our town that could have picked it up and taken it with them to work. He went out of his way to find out what to do and he actually called us back to let us know what to do with the blind.
We had another experience where they sold our door out for under us.
I am sooooo not a fan of theirs.

 

[Jen_in_NH]

We only have Home Depot right now (although Lowe's is under construction), and dealing with them is kind of a pain. The people in most of the departments have no idea what it is they're selling, or if you need help figuring out what you might need to do something, you're stuck. DH is a plumber/electrician, so usually he's just going to pick up something. Almost always, he finds someone in there trying to get an associate to tell them what they might need for a particular project, and DH ends up telling them because the associate can't.

The customer service tends to vary. Some are excellent, but now that they seem to have a bunch of kids for the summer, it's gotten worse. I went in to pick up a cabinet that they were holding at the counter. I told the girl my name and what I was looking for. I also told her that it was the cabinet against the wall behind her. She proceeds to look it up in the computer, tells me that, yes, they have it, and then walks away. After I stand there for about 10 minutes, she comes back, and asks if she can help me. Um, yeah.... The cabinet?? She replies "Oh, did you want to pick it up? I thought you were just checking if we had it."

But the guys in our paint department are excellent! They'll spend all day making sure you understand exactly what you need, and how to do your project well.

Jen

 

[bicker]

We went out to the hardware store this morning to get new guts for our toilet. We have a narrow, tall one tank. Turns out that the hardware store doesn't stock those kind of replacement kits. He told me he could order it for me and it'll be in in a week or so, or I could just go to Lowes. I went to Lowes and indeed it was there (cheaper too).

 

[beachbunny]

Yet another update: The store customer service person who I have been working with said that if she could confirm that sale price with the catalog, I may get a price adjustment. Well, she was not working on Saturday or Sunday so another person was trying to help on Saturday but also could not reach a live person at the catalog. This morning, I called the store and after explaining the situation, the customer service person: 1. told me that the catalog was closed today - which was a lie (I tried calling immediately after I got off the phone with Home Depot); and 2. they never price match the catalog, even if you order from it.

I'm soooo mad my stomach hurts! I just wrote a really long letter to the store's general manager explaining EVERYTHING. I e-mailed it him and will USPS it to him on Monday. If that doesn't work, I'll move up the food chain to the district manager. Wish me luck!

 

[jipsy]

I have noticed better service at Lowes than at Home Depot, but I've attributed that to the fact that the Lowes is relatively new. I suspect that, over time, everything will even-out.

bicker do you mean that Lowes is relatively new where you live? Because Lowes has been around since 1946 whereas HD started in the 70's sometime.

 

[jipsy]

OP here's a ton of info for you on Home Cheapo:

http://www.consumeraffairs.com/homeowners/home_depot.htm

 

[bicker]

bicker do you mean that Lowes is relatively new where you live?

Yup, it's been open just about a year now.