You know, I was *happy* a year or so ago when they put a new Home Depot
within a reasonable distance from my home, because driving to the next
nearest "home center" was quite the pain. However, I just came back
from what has to be my eleventeenth wallowing in the mud of their
mediocrity, and I'm really getting sick of it.
I'm trying to resurrect the spring-loaded tilt mechanism on a nice
antique Crocker chair for a neighbor of mine, and I found myself
deciding that a 5/16" or 3/8" carriage bolt would be just the thing to
solve the particular problem at hand. Of COURSE, I didn't have one of
the correct length, so off I go on a special trip to Home Depot to
secure the item(s) in question.
As I'm looking through their collection, I'm starting to get ****ed off
because it looks like somebody has put all the wrong diameter bolts in
the various bins; the shanks on the 5/16" bolts look more like 1/4" to
me, and likewise do the 3/8" bolts look too slender. What the hell? I
wished that I'd had my dial caliper with me, but the best I could do was
to eyeball the diameter with a tape measure. They still don't look
right, but after running the bolts through their in-store thread gauge
and satisfied they were correct, I bought one 3/8" and one 5/16".
I get them home, and WTF? I finally realize what is wrong, and now I'm
friggin' ****ed because the bolts are worthless for my application. The
unthreaded portion of the shanks are a full 3/64" shy of their stated
diameters"!!! Oh sure, the outside diameter of the threaded portion is
3/8", but the shanks aren't even close. The shank on every other 3/8"
carriage bolt I've ever purchased has been a full 3/8"; I've *never*
encountered cheap-**** carriage bolts like these before. Some penny
pinching jackasses probably got a nice corporate award for coming up
with such a clever money-saving design.
Do I even *bother* trying to contact their complaint department (if they
even have such a thing)?
--
Repeat after me:
"I am we Todd it. I am sofa king we Todd it."
To reply, eat the taco.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bbqboyee/