Notan wrote:
larry moe 'n curly wrote:
Stephen Blackpool wrote:

March 8, 2007
Is Home Depot shafting shoppers?
http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com....aspx?GT1=9215

By cutting back on employees, the home-improvement retailer is putting
the screws to the people it needs most: its customers.

By Scott Burns

I think that they're trying to be more like Lowe's, where the staffing
is thin (ten minutes to get help, even during lax periods) and the
training almost nonexistent (three employees didn't know where the
room air conditioners were stocked -- in July -- in Phoenix). Home
Base did that when they tried to copy HD, and they're gone now.

Maybe it's just 'cause they're new in our area, but I find Lowe's to be
cleaner, the salespeople are more helpful, and they actually have sales.
(Sales with prices that are lower than everyday prices, at both Lowe's
and Home Depot.)

Lowe's looks nicer, and at first I thought that their people were
less
competent because they lacked experience, but they've been open
here for at least 2-3 years, and they're still making the same
mistakes --
can't find products, don't know much about the products, lots of
mismarked
prices.

Me: "What's the battery warranty on this cordless drill? The box
doesn't say anything."

Lowe's: "Uh...uh...hmm...it doesn't say. I don't know."

HD: "90 days. The whole drill is warranted for two years. This one
uses plastic
gears, that one metal."

I've yet to get an intelligent answer from Lowe's, except in their
lighting dept.