"DeepDiver" wrote in message
...
"ATP*" wrote in message
...

I figure if Home Depot allows people to buy tools, use and abuse them
and then return them for full credit/cash back, they'll probably be
pretty
liberal with the warranty,

I have to admit, I'm surprised by some of the things I see HD take back on
return. The other day, a customer brought in a set of plastic landscape
lights (the kind you often see alongside driveways). He had them in a heap
of parts and pieces in a plastic garbage bag, along with the
flattened/destroyed box that looked like it had been left in the rain for
a
week and then run over a few times by a car. His reason for returning
them?
"Plastic lights are cheap and they never last long. So I decided to buy
and
install expensive professional metal ones instead." As if he had no idea
what he was getting when he bought the plastic set. Remarkably, the
manager
let him return the remains for a store credit.

I think it's great when a store takes back new items for any reason. Why
not
if it can be returned to inventory? And they certainly should credit the
customer for defective items. But when customers abuse the return policy
like this guy did, it's the rest of us that pay through higher product
prices.

- Michael


A buddy of mine used to work for HD and he tells about the time the manager
gave in and "took back" a car battery... even though they don't sell car
batteries...

In general, there is a reason why someone is just a floor clerk and not a
manager. While you might run into someone who is in line for a promotion
and actually knows what he's doing, generally you need to talk to a manager
for anything but the most routine things. And it goes without saying,
you'll generally get farther faster by being friendly, courteous and
reasonable. It is certainly reasonable to get a defective item replaced and
if you approach the manager with the attitude that you're a happy customer
and replacing it is the most routine thing in the world, he'll probably just
take care of it just to keep you happy and coming back and buying things...

Jerry