Saturday, May 10, 2008
How Does Home Depot Stay In Business???
Somewhere around the last part of March The Squeeze and I ordered our Armstrong vinyl flooring from Home Depot. That was our first mistake. The floor of the ensuite measures 5 1/2' x 8'. They sell the flooring by the square yard, so we ordered 2 yds. x 3 yds. (6' x 9') or 6 square yds. We explained to the guy in the flooring department exactly what we wanted, so we assumed he would order things correctly. That was our second mistake. We were told it would be two to three weeks before it would arrive. Fair enough.
A couple of weeks went by, and we received a call telling us that our order was in. We picked up the flooring and a few other things and brought it home and parked it out of the way for a week or two while we waited for the people who were coming to install it for us. That day, I brought the flooring up to the bedroom and as I talked to the people who were there to install it, I noticed that I was leaning with my elbow on the end of the roll that was standing up beside me. OK, who can tell me what's wrong with this picture? Give a cigar to whoever said "how did you get your elbow to the 6' level?" It wouldn't be a problem if I was 8' tall, but I'm about 6'1", meaning that the roll of flooring was a fair bit shorter than me.
I got the measuring tape and discovered it was only 4 1/2' tall. There is no way a ensuite that size should have a seam in the floor. What the hell went wrong? Upon inspection of the label, I discovered that they did, in fact, send 6 square yards, but it was 4 1/2' by 12', not 6' x 9'.
Needless to say, I took it back and spoke to another woman in the flooring department. She was very apologetic, and she promised to get us an explanation for the error and most importantly, get us the proper size ASAP. A few days later, after not hearing from her, I called the store. She wasn't working in the flooring department that day, but I did speak to the department manager who went searching for information. She called back and explained that the flooring comes on a 12' roll, so they sent 6 square yards and apparently (ya think?) didn't pay attention to the dimensions stated, although upon closer inspection, she didn't notice the sizes were actually mentioned. She said that since the original salesperson didn't explain the 12' roll thing, she wouldn't charge us for the extra. She did have one question. Did I want 6' x 12', or 9' x 12'. Oh. My. God. I was stunned. Why would I need 9' x 12'?
So anyway, she ordered the new piece of flooring and told me it would be in within two weeks. Friday night I received a call saying that the new flooring was in. Saturday evening I drove back to Home Depot to pick up my new piece of flooring. I checked in with the girl at the front desk, I signed for the flooring, and she walked me way down to the lumber end where the computer indicated it would be. Outside. WTF? Why is a roll of vinyl flooring being stored outside with the lumber. Well, apparently it wasn't out there, because she couldn't find it. We walked all the way back to the special services desk at the other end of the store. Did I happen to mention that I have a pinched sciatic nerve that just shoots from my ass to my foot when I stand or walk? Ya, pain. Big time pain. So I'm limping around the store for about 20 minutes or so by this time.
This girl called someone from the flooring department to come up and see if they could find the flooring. Guess who showed up. The very first guy who put our initial order in. He wandered about the store for about 20 or 30 minutes before returning to say he couldn't find it. The girl reversed the pick up slip and had me sign another paper.
"We'll have to have the department manager locate it and give you a call tomorrow," she said.
"And who will be delivering it to my house?", I asked.
"Umm...I'll mention that to the manager."
"This is just absurd. This whole ordeal has been the biggest pain in the ass, and it will be the last time I order anything from this place," I informed them. "I'll be dealing with Lowe's and Rona from now on."
I would have loved to just leave my cart with the few items I picked up while waiting sitting there as I stormed out. Unfortunately, I was using a gift card that I still had over fifty dollars on. I pushed my cart as I limped behind it to a cashier to get my few things rang through. I still have over $30.00 remaining on the card. Apparently I WILL be back.
That was the man's equivalent to storming out of a room and slamming the door behind you, only to realize that your dress got caught in the door.
So I wait and see what happens. I'll be sure to update.
A couple of weeks went by, and we received a call telling us that our order was in. We picked up the flooring and a few other things and brought it home and parked it out of the way for a week or two while we waited for the people who were coming to install it for us. That day, I brought the flooring up to the bedroom and as I talked to the people who were there to install it, I noticed that I was leaning with my elbow on the end of the roll that was standing up beside me. OK, who can tell me what's wrong with this picture? Give a cigar to whoever said "how did you get your elbow to the 6' level?" It wouldn't be a problem if I was 8' tall, but I'm about 6'1", meaning that the roll of flooring was a fair bit shorter than me.
I got the measuring tape and discovered it was only 4 1/2' tall. There is no way a ensuite that size should have a seam in the floor. What the hell went wrong? Upon inspection of the label, I discovered that they did, in fact, send 6 square yards, but it was 4 1/2' by 12', not 6' x 9'.
Needless to say, I took it back and spoke to another woman in the flooring department. She was very apologetic, and she promised to get us an explanation for the error and most importantly, get us the proper size ASAP. A few days later, after not hearing from her, I called the store. She wasn't working in the flooring department that day, but I did speak to the department manager who went searching for information. She called back and explained that the flooring comes on a 12' roll, so they sent 6 square yards and apparently (ya think?) didn't pay attention to the dimensions stated, although upon closer inspection, she didn't notice the sizes were actually mentioned. She said that since the original salesperson didn't explain the 12' roll thing, she wouldn't charge us for the extra. She did have one question. Did I want 6' x 12', or 9' x 12'. Oh. My. God. I was stunned. Why would I need 9' x 12'?
So anyway, she ordered the new piece of flooring and told me it would be in within two weeks. Friday night I received a call saying that the new flooring was in. Saturday evening I drove back to Home Depot to pick up my new piece of flooring. I checked in with the girl at the front desk, I signed for the flooring, and she walked me way down to the lumber end where the computer indicated it would be. Outside. WTF? Why is a roll of vinyl flooring being stored outside with the lumber. Well, apparently it wasn't out there, because she couldn't find it. We walked all the way back to the special services desk at the other end of the store. Did I happen to mention that I have a pinched sciatic nerve that just shoots from my ass to my foot when I stand or walk? Ya, pain. Big time pain. So I'm limping around the store for about 20 minutes or so by this time.
This girl called someone from the flooring department to come up and see if they could find the flooring. Guess who showed up. The very first guy who put our initial order in. He wandered about the store for about 20 or 30 minutes before returning to say he couldn't find it. The girl reversed the pick up slip and had me sign another paper.
"We'll have to have the department manager locate it and give you a call tomorrow," she said.
"And who will be delivering it to my house?", I asked.
"Umm...I'll mention that to the manager."
"This is just absurd. This whole ordeal has been the biggest pain in the ass, and it will be the last time I order anything from this place," I informed them. "I'll be dealing with Lowe's and Rona from now on."
I would have loved to just leave my cart with the few items I picked up while waiting sitting there as I stormed out. Unfortunately, I was using a gift card that I still had over fifty dollars on. I pushed my cart as I limped behind it to a cashier to get my few things rang through. I still have over $30.00 remaining on the card. Apparently I WILL be back.
That was the man's equivalent to storming out of a room and slamming the door behind you, only to realize that your dress got caught in the door.
So I wait and see what happens. I'll be sure to update.
# posted by Dave @ 7:23 PM 
Comments:
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OK, a couple of things.
If the incompetent clerk had been male would you have called him a boy? If not, then the incompetent person was a woman, and not a girl. Unless that is, that all incompetent men are called boys.
Otherwise..WTF? you don't have a local hardware "home finishing" hardwood/kitchen supplier? Why in the name of anything holy would you be shopping at a big box store? You like your money going to China? Even the frickin' plywood is smaller than standard. BUY LOCAL. that would be the point.
Unless you didn't get it, ..if we are girls then you are boys. That and supporting local businesses for a few bucks more is the most important thing.
Thanks for considering these points of view.
If the incompetent clerk had been male would you have called him a boy? If not, then the incompetent person was a woman, and not a girl. Unless that is, that all incompetent men are called boys.
Otherwise..WTF? you don't have a local hardware "home finishing" hardwood/kitchen supplier? Why in the name of anything holy would you be shopping at a big box store? You like your money going to China? Even the frickin' plywood is smaller than standard. BUY LOCAL. that would be the point.
Unless you didn't get it, ..if we are girls then you are boys. That and supporting local businesses for a few bucks more is the most important thing.
Thanks for considering these points of view.
# posted by 
: 9:27 PM
: 9:27 PM
lb
I actually used 'girl' to indicate that she was, apparently, probably no older than 16. I'm thinking she was a part-timer still in highschool. The place is crawling with them. If the person was male, I would have said 'guy', regardless of his age. Do note that I did refer to the guy who came up from the flooring department as 'the guy'. Also note that I referred to a woman in the flooring department as a 'woman' because she was considerably older than a highschool student. BTW, I didn't consider her to be incompetent. She seemed to handle things fairly well. The incompetent people were the ones who hid the roll of flooring and put incorrect notes in the system so nobody could find it. I wasn't impressed with the whole situation, but I don't blame her. At no point did I accuse her of mishandling things. My frustration was toward the whole Home Depot system.
As far as using the big box store, well I'm somewhat guilty of that one. There's not much in my neck of the woods in the line of a small independent store that carries this type of thing. A local hardware store once chewed me out for buying two packs of staples and depleting their stock. I kid you not. I no longer shop there. I buy my staples at Home Depot where I can buy ten boxes at a time if I so choose. There are other larger chain flooring stores a bit of a distance away, and I did go to a couple, but they did not carry the same pattern (apparently a Home Depot exclusive) that we had decided upon at Home Depot. And it really worked for the room. We picked the tile and paint colours from that flooring.
Believe me, I own a small business, but when you just can't find what you really want, sometimes you have to bite the bullet.
I actually used 'girl' to indicate that she was, apparently, probably no older than 16. I'm thinking she was a part-timer still in highschool. The place is crawling with them. If the person was male, I would have said 'guy', regardless of his age. Do note that I did refer to the guy who came up from the flooring department as 'the guy'. Also note that I referred to a woman in the flooring department as a 'woman' because she was considerably older than a highschool student. BTW, I didn't consider her to be incompetent. She seemed to handle things fairly well. The incompetent people were the ones who hid the roll of flooring and put incorrect notes in the system so nobody could find it. I wasn't impressed with the whole situation, but I don't blame her. At no point did I accuse her of mishandling things. My frustration was toward the whole Home Depot system.
As far as using the big box store, well I'm somewhat guilty of that one. There's not much in my neck of the woods in the line of a small independent store that carries this type of thing. A local hardware store once chewed me out for buying two packs of staples and depleting their stock. I kid you not. I no longer shop there. I buy my staples at Home Depot where I can buy ten boxes at a time if I so choose. There are other larger chain flooring stores a bit of a distance away, and I did go to a couple, but they did not carry the same pattern (apparently a Home Depot exclusive) that we had decided upon at Home Depot. And it really worked for the room. We picked the tile and paint colours from that flooring.
Believe me, I own a small business, but when you just can't find what you really want, sometimes you have to bite the bullet.
DO NOT SHOP AT HOME DEPOT!!! They suck...as you've discovered. I'm actually amazed you found someone to help you every time you were there. I can NEVER get anybody to do so. For that reason, I go to Lowe's. So much more helpful.
Now listen up boys, There's a new language sherrif in town. Now everyone get yer birth certificates out and strap them to yer hats so's we know what ta calls ya!
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