"Time Traveler" wrote in message
...
| Has anyone had a bad experience in using the Home Depot 800 complaint
| number?I refer to them taking your name and number and assuming you
| would get a call-back.When you call back they tell you they don't give
| call-backs.They have no answer to see if the problem is resolved,they
| just say they're sorry as if they are reading from a script to answer
| any question.

Gotta tell this story and vent a bit. My wife and I purchased a gift
card as a fundraiser for our kids' school and took it to Lowes to purchase a
specific dishwasher. We found the one we wanted and since it was a display
model, they took it out while my wife and I finished a little more shopping
and went to the register to pay. No sweat, and my wife pulled the truck to
the front to have them put it in the truck. I went to buy the kids some hot
dogs and a pretzel. While the pretzel was being heated (they were out) I
waited. After a few minutes two separate people came up to my wife and
asked if they could help her, and she told them she was waiting for an
appliance. After what seemed like an even longer time, it finally came out
the door. The fellow had it on a (get this!) a simple hand truck, and as it
cleared the threshold into the foyer place there, I watched it bounce off
the truck and hit the floor. Got a dumb look. As I was in the middle of a
transaction, I told him to take it to the truck right outside and I'd check
it for damage when he got there. Right when he got to the back of the
truck, he dropped it again! Giving me a dumb look, I strolled over, noticed
a bent frame (it wouldn't have mattered,) and since it was an electronically
controlled appliance rather than a mechanical, I immediately stated that I
didn't want it and to bring it back. Still the dumb look, but never a word
said to me. That didn't at all make me happy.
I immediately stopped at the customer service desk and started
explaining what happened. By now you can imagine I was not at all happy,
bordering on losing my temper, and they knew it. I told them I want my
money back, in cash in lieu of a gift certificate since I was taking my
money to Home Depot where I expected not to have the same problem with
careless employees. The manager got called and danced around for awhile
while I stood my ground. Offered me a heavy discount (I was spending about
$500 for it already!) and I refused, since it was visibly damaged and they
didn't have another alternative that I wanted. I kept at it, so the manager
overrode the gift card policy and gave me cash. Went to Home Depot and
actually had to pay more to get the newest upgrade (they had sold out of
that exact model) with no damage inside or out, still in the box. (I
actually had to wait about a week for it to be delivered and swapped out
with my old one.) No hassle there, and the saleswoman was outstanding,
making it expensive, but worth the trip.
About a week later I again visited Lowes, since it's about a mile from
my house, for other items, and there was the same dishwasher now discounted
over a hundred and fifty bucks, on the "get rid of this **** now" part of
the store. I looked closely at it and yup, the bent frame was still there,
and there was a small wrinkle in the front face metal from the hand truck.
Glad I didn't get it, you couldn't see the scratch on the face easily as
there was a film over it. The fellow that dropped it twice was still there,
carrying the same dumb look. I hope the manager and him had a long chat.

I have high expectation from businesses. They compete for my dollar and
when they hire folks who are idiots with no sense of the source of their
paycheck (me!) I will quickly make a big deal of it. I've gotten checks,
coupons, and free merchandise from Lowes, Church's Fried Chicken, McDonalds
(many times, that's a no brainer!) and whoever that place was that used to
rent out trailers for moving, plus a number of places that escape me now.
I won't even tolerate that punk at McDonald's who has to turn his hat
sideways while handing my un-inventoried food out to me. McDonald's prides
itself on a clean, comfortable store, selling good food at a good price, and
they generally do a great job. I remind the managers of that as I chew them
out for letting such poor attitude go unchecked. They pass out piles of
coupons there quickly just to shut me up, but they usually get my point.
When you go to visit the manager of the store, spend some time
discussing the basics of customer service, compared to the expectations they
set, and then explain how they failed miserably. If it's a product that's
bad, keep in mind that it isn't their responsibility directly, however, when
vendors stock the parts racks and the bins are a mixed up mess, then I will
crawl over them for expecting so little from their vendor, who is also
competing with other vendors for the right to stock their store and receive
their paycheck. It all boils down to the source of their paycheck, which is
you, holding the ultimate power, only if you exercise it.