Right From there own web sight , get the rubber boots on and read



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rider89 wrote:
it always amazes me when companies talk about how they can't hire
people. if you pay decent wages, you'll get people. simple economics.
to hear them tell it, you'd think they were required by law to limit
wages.

Employers are, in fact, limited by law as to what they can pay.

I've had employees, even recently, that were not even worth $1.00/hour but I
had to pay them over five times that! Then I had to kick in 6% for their
Social Security, plus Medicare. I had to accrue vacation, sick time, and
holiday pay.

And I couldn't fire them for being doofuses because my overall unemployment
insurance would jump from 2% to 16% for FIVE YEARS (I learned that one the
hard way).

So, you just have to get rid of them creatively.

Write 'em up a couple of times - over their objections, of course - for
acting drunk on the job. Then, with witnesses, find a half-bottle of Four
Roses in their desk drawer.

So, yeah, employers are required, by law, to limit wages.

Doug Kanter wrote:
"SeaKan" wrote in message
...
i work at an hd. just an associate. what are your biggest pet
peeves about hd? anything in particular?



1) Are you experienced with any kind of home repair at all? Gardening?
Anything? If not, then all you can really do is tell people where
things are, right?

2) Arrive at work 15-30 minutes early, and tell your boss to leave
you alone while you slowly wander the store, getting to know where
things are. There's nothing more annoying than asking an associate
where to find a product, only to have the associate say "I think it's
aisle 14 - let's look", and take you for a walk. I don't need to take
a walk with someone else who doesn't know where something is. I can
walk alone, and probably faster.

Experts agree the best merchandising practice is to take the inquiring
customer to the object of his desires and put the product in his hand. If
you don't like that technique, simply tell the clerk: "Just tell me where it
is, I don't want people to think you and I have a, you know, 'special
relationship' ."

The Chinook Bookstore (somewhere in Colorado) used to have two signs hanging
from the ceiling. One was large, yellow, and said "The Big Yellow Sign." The
other was similar, but green. When a customer asked if the store had a copy
of "Collecting Locomotives For Fun & Profit," or "Toilet Tissue Origami,"
the clerk would nod, point, and reply: "It's just to the left of 'The Big
Yellow Sign.'

While amusing, I'm not sure the customers liked the plan and, for sure, the
Chinook Bookstore never sold a single copy of either book.

Jeff Wisnia writes:

But, sometimes you get lucky and the questioner is a yummy mummy and you
can kill time by running some of your pet tool using fantasies in your
"minds eye" while you're watching and listening.

Just where is this well-staffed store located?

Percival P. Cassidy wrote:

I also object to DIY checkouts because they are designed to put even
more people out of work. Checkout jobs aren't something that can be
exported to India or Mexico or China, so instead we'll replace them by
machines made in India or Mexico or China.

Complaints about not enough checkers. Complaints about mechanical check-out.
Has it occurred to anyone that both complaints can be eliminated by just
stealing the stuff.


Decades ago they told us that automation and computerization would
mean a greatly reduced working week,

Nobody ever said that. They said productivity would go up, not that hours
would go down.

but what has happened is that maybe
the average working week has declined, but with people in
"third-world" countries working well over 40 hrs a week and many of
the formerly-employed in the West working ZERO hours a week. Aren't
averages wonderful?

Sigh. Unemployment in the US, even WITH the Katrina displacements, is at or
below 5% (13% in France, 10% in Germany). Productivity is up. GDP is WAY up
(4+% compared to 1.1% in Germany). Tax receipts to all levels of government
are through the roof.

Meanwhile, small children in Bangladesh are learning the wonders of the
capitalist system. Win-win all around.

2. Too few open checkout lanes. I've left a full shopping cart and
walked out more than once.

I see this in more than one post to my amusement. I just cannot imagine
filling up a full shopping cart for over an hour and then walking out and
leaving it there. What a waste of time and effort!

"Collecting Locomotives For Fun & Profit,"

I'd buy that one!

Tomes wrote:

2. Too few open checkout lanes. I've left a full shopping cart and
walked out more than once.


I see this in more than one post to my amusement. I just cannot imagine
filling up a full shopping cart for over an hour and then walking out and
leaving it there. What a waste of time and effort!


That's an indication of how extreme the problem with HD can be.

--
The e-mail address in our reply-to line is reversed in an attempt to
minimize spam. Our true address is of the form .

1) I used to rent a Rug Doctor regularly at the local (Illinois) HD and
they would consistently charge sales tax when there should have been no
tax at all. I had a debate with a headquarters person on this. IMHO it
should be simple enough to program the systems to not invoke sales tax on
certain SKU's and not require the "associate" to hit an extra key. HQ
person insisted it was purely unintentional as any money collected would
just get shipped off to the state. I said I agreed it wasn't deliberate
but she was wrong when she said they didn't profit by it because of the
way the Illinois tax form works (At least when I was familiar with
Illinois' form one did not report tax collected; one reported gross sales
then backed out non-taxable amounts. So excess tax they collected was
indeed theirs to keep.)

2) As others have said "associate" is a stupid term. Nothing wrong with
being called an employee.

3) I vaguely remember some issue I had with drywall screw packaging. I
think it was that they boxes weren't clearly marked what type of drive
and length and I wasted lots of time judging them through the windows or
looking at boxes others had opened. Menards (the nearest competitive big
box home center) has them much more clearly marked and even color coded.
Something they need (needed) to work out with their vendor.

---

Here's a question that could warrant a new thread:

For all the complaints about HD...what large national chain store whether
in the home center field or other area like electronics or office
supplies etc. do you have the least complaints about / like the best?
What store really has its act together in terms of selection, pricing,
staffing, policies or are they all bad?

Well I don't know about were your at but in the US there is no BX anymore
the old BX with that tiny bare ground wire was out lawed and replaced with
MC cable which has a real ground conductor .

"Calvin Henry-Cotnam" wrote in message
news:1134225097.ad59ec9b7f1e3b6cb0056bc3b478a676@r oc.usenetexchange.com...
Kyle Boatright ) said...

"SeaKan" wrote in message
...
i work at an hd. just an associate. what are your biggest pet peeves
about hd? anything in particular?

Most of my peeves come when I either can't find an associate, which is
usually a staffing issue,

I find that one often enough. If I need the associate to get something
from an upper shelf, I find that if I start to move one of those stairs
on wheels, someone usually comes pretty quickly! ;-)

or when I do find one and s/he doesn't know enough
about the product(s) or have enough how-to knowledge to help me...

While I have run into associates who are lacking in the product knowledge
area (I recently needed a cut piece of 14/2 BX cable -- when I asked for
3 metres of 14/2 BX he responded, "BX?" -- not a good sign!), my bigger
peeve is quite the opposite.

I usually just need someone to get something from an upper shelf (see
my solution above!). Since HD prides itself in hiring associates with
trade knowledge, every idiot who can't spend an hour reading a book or
looking on web pages or in Usenet have to monopolize associates' time
with questions that are answered in books usually on display within a
few yards of where they are asking the questions.

I just need a ladder-climber, sometimes one with a little strength.

But I have to wait for Mr. Idiot to ask his 423 questions to the
associate (if I'm lucky -- usually there are five Mr. Idiots with just
as many questions ahead of me!).

--
Calvin Henry-Cotnam
"Never ascribe to malice what can equally be explained by incompetence."
- Napoleon
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
NOTE: if replying by email, remove "remove." and ".invalid"

J.D.wrote:

Well I don't know about were your at but in the US there is no BX
anymore the old BX with that tiny bare ground wire was out lawed and
replaced with MC cable which has a real ground conductor.

That might not have been necessary if someone had come up with a good
connector that made a solid, reliable connection to the armor. Is EMT
still a proper ground or is that going to fall by the wayside at some point
as well?

"CJT" wrote in message
...
m Ransley wrote:

The other day I was looking a light bulbs, the guy dropped a box and I
pulled out a bulb off a display that was broke, He would not respond to
my stating this and when I found A 4 pack of floodlights misspriced he
ignored me. Oh well we all have bad days it happens everywhere..
Get some doughnuts for the Free coffee.
Yours has free coffee?


The Lowes here does...

--
The e-mail address in our reply-to line is reversed in an attempt to
minimize spam. Our true address is of the form .

Frank Boettcher wrote:
On Sat, 10 Dec 2005 08:08:54 -0500, "SeaKan"
wrote:

i work at an hd. just an associate. what are your biggest pet peeves about
hd? anything in particular?


My pet peeve has been eliminated. Your empoloyer just installed self
check out lanes in the HD nearest to me. Halleluiah! Nobody else
seems to want to use them. I'm in and out in a flash.

I thought the same thing when they went in at my local store a while
back. Stick around. They are absolutely not faster. It's a cost
saving measure - they get to have one clerk for four registers. When
something won't scan that one clerk has to handle it, and it happens
all too frequently. I stopped using them after standing there for ten
minutes one night.

R

Steve Kraus wrote:

1) I used to rent a Rug Doctor regularly at the local (Illinois) HD and
they would consistently charge sales tax when there should have been no
tax at all. I had a debate with a headquarters person on this. IMHO it
should be simple enough to program the systems to not invoke sales tax on
certain SKU's and not require the "associate" to hit an extra key. HQ
person insisted it was purely unintentional as any money collected would
just get shipped off to the state. I said I agreed it wasn't deliberate
but she was wrong when she said they didn't profit by it because of the
way the Illinois tax form works (At least when I was familiar with
Illinois' form one did not report tax collected; one reported gross sales
then backed out non-taxable amounts. So excess tax they collected was
indeed theirs to keep.)

2) As others have said "associate" is a stupid term. Nothing wrong with
being called an employee.

3) I vaguely remember some issue I had with drywall screw packaging. I
think it was that they boxes weren't clearly marked what type of drive
and length and I wasted lots of time judging them through the windows or
looking at boxes others had opened. Menards (the nearest competitive big
box home center) has them much more clearly marked and even color coded.
Something they need (needed) to work out with their vendor.

---

Here's a question that could warrant a new thread:

For all the complaints about HD...what large national chain store whether
in the home center field or other area like electronics or office
supplies etc. do you have the least complaints about / like the best?
What store really has its act together in terms of selection, pricing,
staffing, policies or are they all bad?

NTB for tires.

--
The e-mail address in our reply-to line is reversed in an attempt to
minimize spam. Our true address is of the form .

"HeyBub" wrote in message

And I couldn't fire them for being doofuses because my overall
unemployment insurance would jump from 2% to 16% for FIVE YEARS (I learned
that one the hard way).

So, you just have to get rid of them creatively.


Never a problem in MA where I work. I hire people with a 90 day trial
period. They can be canned for any reason and it does not affect our rates.
Your state may vary. Of course, after 90 days, it can be a problem is the
good worker decides to not be so good after the trial period.

"HeyBub" wrote in message
Decades ago they told us that automation and computerization would
mean a greatly reduced working week,

Nobody ever said that. They said productivity would go up, not that hours
would go down.

Yes, they did. I recall reading about it many years ago. Some economists
were predicting the four day work week. Here I am, 50 years later still
working 5 days a week and I'm ****ed off about it!

"Tomes" wrote in message

I see this in more than one post to my amusement. I just cannot imagine
filling up a full shopping cart for over an hour and then walking out and
leaving it there. What a waste of time and effort!

Nah, you get a lot of satisfaction from it when you are really PO'd

"Christian Fox" wrote in message
...
In article t,

says...
I see this in more than one post to my amusement. I just cannot imagine
filling up a full shopping cart for over an hour and then walking out and
leaving it there. What a waste of time and effort!

An "average" customer will wait no longer than five minutes in a checkout
line. After
five minutes, many customers will just walk out rather than wait longer to
get their
items paid for.

Sure, five minutes isn't a long time, but it sure FEELS like a long time
when you're
standing in a lineup.

Well, I have often thought of it, while waiting and waiting. Then I thought
about having to do it all over again....

I tend to think that it is the un-average customer that has the gumption to
actually leave it.

On Sat, 10 Dec 2005 08:08:54 -0500, "SeaKan"
wrote:

:i work at an hd. just an associate. what are your biggest pet peeves about
:hd? anything in particular?
:
What's an "associate?"

Pet peeves, let's see:
-------------------------
Sometimes the music, but mostly it doesn't bother me as much as, say,
Orchard Supply.

Many times I can't tell what the price of an item is - you just can't
tell unless you get someone to scan it, and finding someone to do that
usually isn't easy.

Many times the person you can find to ask a question doesn't know the
answer.

They don't carry as big a selection of a lot of items as a big dedicated
hardware store.

My local HD for a while had a policy where they wouldn't let me in the
store with a backpack. I guess they had serious stock loss problems due
to shoplifting. This was a PITA for me, who usually goes on a bicycle.
It wouldn't have bugged me except for the fact that they wouldn't check
my pack! Every other store I've ever gone to that wouldn't let me roam
the store with my backpack will let me check it.

Many times their prices aren't the best, but you can say the same for
any store, in my experience.

In any case, HD is definitely my favorite source of home repair
supplies.

Mark D wrote:
One thing I hate about the HD we have in our town, is once you finally
succeed in finding what you are looking for, then try to check out, you
can't get out of the place.

There's numerous checkout lanes, with only 1 staffed. It's getting like
that everywhere though unfortunately. When a company/business looks to
cut overhead costs, and increase its profits, it seems it always points
its finger to the employees. Mark


But they won't change as long as you (and others) keep on patronizing
the stores.

On Sun, 11 Dec 2005 00:07:32 GMT, "Tomes"
wrote:

2. Too few open checkout lanes. I've left a full shopping cart and
walked out more than once.

I see this in more than one post to my amusement. I just cannot imagine
filling up a full shopping cart for over an hour and then walking out and
leaving it there. What a waste of time and effort!

I never said I spent an hour filling it up. Once it was full of
buckets of drywall mud. Took two minutes to fill it up.

Another peeve: I was in line on day watching the "movement" in the
adjacent line. The customer had some plastic doo-dad, a piece of trim
for rain gutters I think. (I didn't know anyone in Tucson installed
rain gutters but I digress)

Anyway, there was no SKU on it and the cashier was pleading on the
intercom for a price check, while 10+ people stood in line fuming.
The thing couldn't have cost more than 20 cents and I was tempted to
shout, "Put the damned thing in the bag and move on."

SeaKan wrote:
i work at an hd. just an associate. what are your biggest pet peeves about
hd? anything in particular?

when I went there, the manager followed me out of the store, walked me
to the car and asked me was there anything else he could help me with.

what can I say

Lowes is alright, it all depends on which one you're at (mostly)

I think Lowes has been beat down by the public. (sorta)

numbnutz coming in asking where the hammers are.

Do you folk have a store map, or does that defeat the compulsive
shopper.

"Dan_Musicant" wrote in message
They don't carry as big a selection of a lot of items as a big dedicated
hardware store.


They carry about 500,000 items but don't have what you need. I'm fortunate
to have a local hardware store that carries few items, but seems to always
have what I need for a repair.

On Sat, 10 Dec 2005 08:08:54 -0500, "SeaKan"
scribbled this interesting note:

i work at an hd. just an associate. what are your biggest pet peeves about
hd? anything in particular?


Having read the entire thread thus far, I have to say most of the
problems with HD have been discussed.

However...

You knew there was a "However", didn't you?

As a general rule, if you feel the need to ask a question while at HD,
a question that involves more than the usual "Where is it?" kind of
question, the customer (being me in this instance) is almost always
better off simply leaving and patronizing a real supplier for whatever
parts or materials.

Here's the most drastic example I've experienced.

Needing some valve seats for a faucet one day, I go to HD expecting to
find a bin full of various seats. I expect to be able to look through
them and find the one I need, pick out two, pay for them, and leave
happy. I knew there was a problem when I felt the need to ask even the
simple "Where is it?" question. I ask an employee in an orange vest
where are the valve seats? He directs me to a small display on the end
of the aisle. I look, and I see miserable display. I ask him where are
the rest of them? He, very self- assuredly, responds that there are
only two or three different valve seats.

I'm serious. He seemed to believe what he said. Only two or three
different plumbing valve seats found in typical homes.

I leave. My next stop was a real plumbing supplier. It is a fair
distance away, but that one stop at HD for a couple of valve seats
taught me to spend my time wisely. Don't go to HD for something if
there is even the slightest chance they may not have it, since if
there is that chance, rest assured it will happen. Rather than drive
all over looking for plumbing parts at HD or Lowes, or even the local
hardware stores, I go to a real plumbing supplier who I know will have
the parts, even though it means I can't get those parts on a weekend
and it means extra miles. Even with those considerations, time is
saved by going to a real supplier instead of an overly generalized
"Home Center".

Others have mentioned the crappy wood they carry. HD will sell an item
like a lawn mower, yet not carry things like blades (another
experience I've had first hand.)

Others have mentioned a lack of any help at the stores. My (at the
time) seventy year old father once got into an argument with no less
than two "associates" about a canvas, weatherproof tarp. He asked
(that fatal mistake, again) where they were as they were not where
they were the last time he needed one. The first "associate" couldn't
find it, so he asked another, who said they have never had them. My
father, with these two numb-skulls watching, finally finds a box of
them on an upper shelf, he looks around for a ladder, and not seeing
any, proceeds to climb the shelf to retrieve one himself since no help
was forthcoming from the two obviously impaired "associates."

I had to perform a similar routine when buying a chain saw, except
there were no "associates" to be found at all, much less a ladder.
Climb the shelf to obtain what I'm looking for.

The biggest problem with Big-Box Stores? They come into a market, make
a big splash by having good prices and stocking lots of items, drive
smaller, dedicated suppliers out of business, and then proceed to tell
their customers how and what to buy. This is why I try to buy lumber
from a real lumber yard, plumbing parts and supplies from a real
plumbing supplier, roofing materials from a real roofing supplier,
etc., etc., etc. In each and every one of these cases, I spend less
money, less time, have knowledgeable employees to ask any questions I
need to ask, and in many cases (lumber and roofing in particular) they
will expertly load my truck, which is something the fork lift drivers
at HD never seem to be able to learn how to do.

Good luck with your new trade. You're gonna' need it.


--
John Willis

(Remove the Primes before e-mailing me)

On Sun, 11 Dec 2005 05:55:12 GMT, "Tomes"
wrote:


"Christian Fox" wrote in message
m...
In article t,

says...
I see this in more than one post to my amusement. I just cannot imagine
filling up a full shopping cart for over an hour and then walking out and
leaving it there. What a waste of time and effort!

An "average" customer will wait no longer than five minutes in a checkout
line. After
five minutes, many customers will just walk out rather than wait longer to
get their
items paid for.

Sure, five minutes isn't a long time, but it sure FEELS like a long time
when you're
standing in a lineup.

Well, I have often thought of it, while waiting and waiting. Then I thought
about having to do it all over again....

I tend to think that it is the un-average customer that has the gumption to
actually leave it.


I actually have walked out because of long waits.
--
14 days until the winter solstice celebration

Mark Lloyd
http://notstupid.laughingsquid.com

"Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what
to have for lunch. Liberty is a well armed lamb
contesting the vote." - Benjamin Franklin

On Sun, 11 Dec 2005 07:49:00 -0700, Wes Stewart
wrote:

On Sun, 11 Dec 2005 00:07:32 GMT, "Tomes"
wrote:

2. Too few open checkout lanes. I've left a full shopping cart and
walked out more than once.

I see this in more than one post to my amusement. I just cannot imagine
filling up a full shopping cart for over an hour and then walking out and
leaving it there. What a waste of time and effort!

I never said I spent an hour filling it up. Once it was full of
buckets of drywall mud. Took two minutes to fill it up.

Another peeve: I was in line on day watching the "movement" in the
adjacent line. The customer had some plastic doo-dad, a piece of trim
for rain gutters I think. (I didn't know anyone in Tucson installed
rain gutters but I digress)

Anyway, there was no SKU on it and the cashier was pleading on the
intercom for a price check, while 10+ people stood in line fuming.
The thing couldn't have cost more than 20 cents and I was tempted to
shout, "Put the damned thing in the bag and move on."


Once, when I was buying such an item, the clerk couldn't find the
price and just said "have a nice day". Of course, that was at a small
store, not anything like Home Depot.
--
14 days until the winter solstice celebration

Mark Lloyd
http://notstupid.laughingsquid.com

"Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what
to have for lunch. Liberty is a well armed lamb
contesting the vote." - Benjamin Franklin

"HeyBub" wrote in message
...
Doug Kanter wrote:
"SeaKan" wrote in message
...
i work at an hd. just an associate. what are your biggest pet
peeves about hd? anything in particular?



1) Are you experienced with any kind of home repair at all? Gardening?
Anything? If not, then all you can really do is tell people where
things are, right?

2) Arrive at work 15-30 minutes early, and tell your boss to leave
you alone while you slowly wander the store, getting to know where
things are. There's nothing more annoying than asking an associate
where to find a product, only to have the associate say "I think it's
aisle 14 - let's look", and take you for a walk. I don't need to take
a walk with someone else who doesn't know where something is. I can
walk alone, and probably faster.

Experts agree the best merchandising practice is to take the inquiring
customer to the object of his desires and put the product in his hand. If
you don't like that technique, simply tell the clerk: "Just tell me where
it is, I don't want people to think you and I have a, you know, 'special
relationship' ."

You're right. It's best to take the customer to the product. And, that's
actually company policy at HD, and other places, like Bed Bath & Beyond
(where, for some reason, the employees really DO know where things are). My
point was that too many associates at HD will wander aimlessly with you
because they have absolutely no clue where things are, nor do they have even
a logical guess as to where they should be.

I think the thing that ****es me off the most about the whole Home
Depot phenom is that people actually get mad about it. Simple rule of
capitalism, something people don't quite remember once they leave their
six-figure job for the week - YOU GET EXACTLY WHAT YOU PAY FOR. If
you're going to pay someone (frequently people with less-than-stellar
skills and abilities) minimum wage to do a job, you're not going to get
much out of them. I often see associates (I lay tile part-time) on the
phone, hanging around in groups, and generally being unhelpful.
Doesn't bother me at all when I realize that they're being paid minimum
wage. If you want people to be great at their jobs, give them a reason
to do them well. But that brings us back to the roots of capitalism
once again . . .
Also, you can't rightly complain about the quailty/tier of merchandise.
It's like Wal-Mart. If you want high-quality goods, go somewhere that
actually takes pride in the product over the profits.
Aside from all that stuff, I don't like the way HD's are laid out. The
plywood aisles are too narrow - they should just take the middle 3 or 4
rows of the store and blow them out to all lumber. That would be
amazing. Lumber, underlayments, ductwork, major plumbing pieces right
in the middle with an express lane or two to round it out.
I guess they'd need to put some profits toward improving the actual
company, though . . .

On 2005/12/11 11:05 AM, "John Willis" wrote:



As a general rule, if you feel the need to ask a question while at HD,
a question that involves more than the usual "Where is it?" kind of
question, the customer (being me in this instance) is almost always
better off simply leaving and patronizing a real supplier for whatever
parts or materials.

In many ways, it is a matter of expectations. That is why I am rarely
disappointed at HD. I don't expect much. In a couple of areas - paints and
tools - there are several older guys who are pretty knowledgeable and
helpful And it has resulted in some major purchases (table saw, air
compressor, nail guns). In other areas, I know not to ask anything beyond
"do you carry xyz?"

For anything beyond commodities in the electrical and plumbing areas, I got
to specialty stores. The same for more specialized woodworking
tools/supplies and any wood products other than "2 by" lumber and plywood.


Needing some valve seats for a faucet one day, I go to HD expecting to
find a bin full of various seats. I expect to be able to look through
them and find the one I need, pick out two, pay for them, and leave
happy. I knew there was a problem when I felt the need to ask even the
simple "Where is it?" question. I ask an employee in an orange vest
where are the valve seats? He directs me to a small display on the end
of the aisle. I look, and I see miserable display. I ask him where are
the rest of them? He, very self- assuredly, responds that there are
only two or three different valve seats.


What bothers me is that they don't support the product liens that they sell.
I was in HD recently looking for replacements washers for a Delta faucet. I
bought the faucet from them a few years ago. They still carry a similar
product. But when I couldn't find the replacement washers among a wall of
faucet repair items, the assistant told me that they don't stock Delta parts
and I should order it from Delta's web site.


The biggest problem with Big-Box Stores? They come into a market, make
a big splash by having good prices and stocking lots of items, drive
smaller, dedicated suppliers out of business, and then proceed to tell
their customers how and what to buy.

I agree, but I don't think that is is so much tell customers what to buy as
it is that they focus so intensely on immediate profit. If a product line is
not moving, it is off the shelves very quickly.

Kyle Boatright wrote:

Most of my peeves come when I either can't find an associate, which is
usually a staffing issue, or when I do find one and s/he doesn't know enough
about the product(s) or have enough how-to knowledge to help me...

sounds more like a payscale problem

"Mark Lloyd" wrote in message
...
I actually have walked out because of long waits.
--
14 days until the winter solstice celebration

Mark Lloyd

I salute you indeed.

Tomes wrote:
"Christian Fox" wrote in message
...

In article t,



says...

I see this in more than one post to my amusement. I just cannot imagine
filling up a full shopping cart for over an hour and then walking out and
leaving it there. What a waste of time and effort!

An "average" customer will wait no longer than five minutes in a checkout

line. After

five minutes, many customers will just walk out rather than wait longer to

get their

items paid for.

Sure, five minutes isn't a long time, but it sure FEELS like a long time

when you're

standing in a lineup.


Well, I have often thought of it, while waiting and waiting. Then I thought
about having to do it all over again....

I tend to think that it is the un-average customer that has the gumption to
actually leave it.


Will the average customer return for more of the same? That probably
depends on the availability of alternatives. Thank heavens for Lowes.

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Wes Stewart wrote:

On Sun, 11 Dec 2005 00:07:32 GMT, "Tomes"
wrote:


2. Too few open checkout lanes. I've left a full shopping cart and
walked out more than once.


I see this in more than one post to my amusement. I just cannot imagine
filling up a full shopping cart for over an hour and then walking out and
leaving it there. What a waste of time and effort!


I never said I spent an hour filling it up. Once it was full of
buckets of drywall mud. Took two minutes to fill it up.

Another peeve: I was in line on day watching the "movement" in the
adjacent line. The customer had some plastic doo-dad, a piece of trim
for rain gutters I think. (I didn't know anyone in Tucson installed
rain gutters but I digress)

Anyway, there was no SKU on it and the cashier was pleading on the
intercom for a price check, while 10+ people stood in line fuming.
The thing couldn't have cost more than 20 cents and I was tempted to
shout, "Put the damned thing in the bag and move on."


I had a pragmatic cashier actually do that once. I had a bunch of
plumbing fittings, and one was missing the SKU. In the bag it went.

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Can't get a shopping basket down the aisle account of all the cardboard "pop
up ads" in the aisles.

Not all that impressed with the cement floors, but I realize that's
necessary for a hardware store.

--

Christopher A. Young
Do good work.
It's longer in the short run
but shorter in the long run.
..
..


"dadiOH" wrote in message
news:F_Amf.1985$Jz6.1415@trnddc06...
SeaKan wrote:
i work at an hd. just an associate. what are your biggest pet
peeves about hd? anything in particular?

Ditto Boatright's complaint plus aisles filled with "stuff".

--
dadiOH
____________________________

dadiOH's dandies v3.06...
....a help file of info about MP3s, recording from
LP/cassette and tips & tricks on this and that.
Get it at http://mysite.verizon.net/xico

Anyone else notice that the store that sells nails and screws has plastic
shopping bags that are so thin they won't hold weight.

--

Christopher A. Young
Do good work.
It's longer in the short run
but shorter in the long run.
..
..

About 100 years ago, I got a package of drill bits that was actually flat. I
used it in my tool box for ages. Bought antoher one. Now I need more drill
bits. and the smallest bit box (13 bits) is about two inches th ick, six
inches long, and four inches wide.

What's the idea? It doesn't need the size of a loaf of bread to plastic pack
13 drill bits. And I don't have the room in my tool box to go along with the
hammer, screw drivers, extrabulator, volt ohm miliameter, and so on.

--

Christopher A. Young
Do good work.
It's longer in the short run
but shorter in the long run.
..
..


"Wes Stewart" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 10 Dec 2005 08:08:54 -0500, "SeaKan"
wrote:

8. I want to buy nails and screws by the pound or each. I don't need
a box or blister pack.

On Sat, 10 Dec 2005 08:08:54 -0500, "SeaKan"
wrote:

i work at an hd. just an associate. what are your biggest pet peeves about
hd? anything in particular?


Prices are too high and you dont carry alot of common stuff. Too much
catering to high end fancy stuff. For example, I wanted some common
replacement wood frame barn windows. All HD had were costly vinyl
windows with all sorts of features that I did not need.

I find Menards much more to my liking, much more geared to the average
farmer or homeowner, and better priced too.

Mark

"Stormin Mormon" wrote in message
...
About 100 years ago, I got a package of drill bits that was actually flat.
I
used it in my tool box for ages. Bought antoher one. Now I need more drill
bits. and the smallest bit box (13 bits) is about two inches th ick, six
inches long, and four inches wide.

What's the idea? It doesn't need the size of a loaf of bread to plastic
pack
13 drill bits. And I don't have the room in my tool box to go along with
the
hammer, screw drivers, extrabulator, volt ohm miliameter, and so on.

--

Christopher A. Young
Probably has something to do with what will and won't fit easily into the
pocket of a shoplifter...

Tom.

SeaKan wrote:

i work at an hd. just an associate. what are your biggest pet peeves about
hd? anything in particular?


An "associate" is an entry-level attorney with a median salary of
$100,000 - they don't know how to use caps either.

On to some peeves:

Does some monkey always have to always have to close off the *only*
aisle that has what I drove all the way here to buy with those silly
toddler gates "for my safety"?

And when I asked about the common size Shop-Vac bags that were out of
stock, the guy checked the computer and found they weren't even on
order. It seems, he said, that corporate decides how many of certain
items a store needs, so they have too much of some stuff, not enough of
others.

All the tools, hardware, and gadgets you sell come in BOXES, right?

So why not a stack of empty boxes here and there so I can package all
the small items I need like caulk and pipe fittings and other stuff that
rolls off the bottom shelf of the lumber cart I'm transporting 2x10s to
the checkout with?

HD is set up for either large items that fit the lumber carts, or small
shopping cart stuff - but I always buy BOTH at the same time!

And speaking of all those boxes that undoubtedly get consigned to the
crusher, how about recycling a few at the checkout - joist hangers are
the natural enemy of those useless plastic bags you people try to pack
them in.

Mark D wrote:
One thing I hate about the HD we have in our town, is once you finally
succeed in finding what you are looking for, then try to check out, you
can't get out of the place.

There's numerous checkout lanes, with only 1 staffed. It's getting like
that everywhere though unfortunately. When a company/business looks to
cut overhead costs, and increase its profits, it seems it always points
its finger to the employees. Mark


Hang on Mark, things may get better at your HD in the future. The three
HDs I useshop at here around Red Sox Country, depending on where I
happen to be at the time, have at least a half dozen "self checkout"
stations and one "Associate" located there to give shoppers a hand with
stuff too large to slide over the scanner stations or other checkout
problems.

I held off trying them for a few months, then used one when the lines at
the open regular checkouts were atrociously long. I was pleasantly
satisfied to see how easy and fast it was. Wot the hay, If I'm going to
be my own clerk in a "self service" store, I might as well take it all
the way.

Jeff (Who remembers when department stores all had "floorwalkers".)

--
Jeffry Wisnia

(W1BSV + Brass Rat '57 EE)

"Truth exists; only falsehood has to be invented."