Decrease in Home Depot Customer Service

[Carol Al-Ajroush]

Has anyone else noticed a decrease in Home Depot's customer service recently? My husband and I noticed that within the past 6 weeks there has been a steady downfall of service. For example, yesterday we went to swap out our propane tank and had to wait 20 minutes before someone came to assist. Last week my husband said that he asked 3 different individuals to assist him in locating some products and he left feeling like the staff simply did not want to bothered. He's also had a few other similar experiences.

We left Home Depot's and went to Loew's and by comparison we had all of our questions answered patiently and competently by one of the staff.

We've decided that if we need something fast and know exactly what to get, we'd probably go to Home Depot for the convenience to our home but on any other home issues, we now favor going to Loew's.

[T8erman]

I have a good friend who works there and they are having serious problems hiring/keeping employees. He said alot of perspective hires balk when it comes to taking a drug test.

[Wick]

Unemployment is low in the county. Home Depot is probably having trouble competing for competent employees.

[vacliff]

I think Home Depot did what a lot of the major chains do. When they first open, they bring in a lot of experienced employees from other stores to get things up and running. The problem occurs when they return to their home stores and we are left with an inexperienced, understaffed store.

[OP_dude]

It's been like that more than 6 weeks. I began hating that store almost a year ago. They usually only have one cashier working. The staff is indifferent, un knowledgeable and not helpful at all. Last time I did a tank swap it took about 30 minutes. After waiting 20 minutes I found the manager. He at first tried to ignore me. I chased him down and asked if he could get the tank for me. He stated "Just look for someone out front". Finally the cashier came out and opened the cage. She had to abandon 6 people who were waiting in line since she was the only one on duty. What a joke that place is.

[boomertsfx]

Our home depot sucks, unfortunately (don't carry as much, or no stock on some stuff).... I stick to Lowes (preferref) and the Cascades HD if neccesary.

[Carol Al-Ajroush]

I went to HD's web site and did send a message to their corporate customer service about our experiences. It'll be interesting to see whether I receive a response.

However, my husband did try the HD in Leesburg yesterday since we needed sod and most places around here were out. He said the difference between the HD's was night and day. As he was walking down an aisle with his cart, someone actually came to him and wanted to know if he needed assistance. He said overall it was a very pleasant experience at the Leesburg store and reminded him of what we initially had vis-a-vis service here in Ashburn.

[hornerjo]

I've had the opposite at Home Depot, CS has been pretty good. Bought a pressure washer a few weeks ago, HDs website had it listed for about $30-40 cheaper than in-store. Manager just had me print out a copy of the online price and bring it in. Clerk verified it with the manager, and rang it up without a problem.

Had a few keys made a couple months ago. They did one set wrong, went back and they fixed it in a couple minutes fo waiting.

Beyond that, I've found that it takes forever to get a propane tank exchanged anywhere. Food Lion, believe it or not, has been the fastest yet.

---------------
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[Dwarflord]

I also find that lowes has better pricing and more selection than our HD. I agree, if im in a rush and only need 1 or 2 things, Ill go to HD. But if I need a lot of something or something specific, Ill go to lowes. I just hate gettin in and out of that lowes parking lot....what a joke!

DwArFlOrD

[brim]

Don't go to HD if you're in a hurry. :)

[mdcrim]

I walked out of Home Depot a week and a half ago, WITHOUT my purchase. I had parked and come in the garden area. Finally found what I was looking for (large deck box). Put it in a cart and went to check out. In the meantime they had closed off the garden register. So I had to meander my way (with large deck box) all the way to the other end of the store. 2 registers open, 6-7 people in each line. I decided that the deck box wasn't that important and left. Even if I had bought it, I still would have had to hike it all the way back across the parking lot to get to my car. Not worth the hassle if you ask me. Oh, and since Safeway also has it's own situation going on, I ended up getting a better looking deck box there for $30 less.

[Carol Al-Ajroush]

I wonder if we bought the same deck box? We were pleasantly surprised to see this nice wooden deck box at Safeway and reasonably priced as well ( I think it was around $50).

Funny...one of our poor experiences with HD was in the garden department. My husband is not an American and not as familar with some of the deck decorations that we have here. He was intrigued by the tiki torches but did not understand how they worked. I was not with him during this visit so he (finally) found a sales person to ask them about the oil and upkeep of them...the sales person was very flippant and made fun that he did not know what they were and actually laughed and walked off. Needless to say, although my husband had some other purchases in his cart, he walked out after that.

quote:Originally posted by mdcrim

I walked out of Home Depot a week and a half ago, WITHOUT my purchase. I had parked and come in the garden area. Finally found what I was looking for (large deck box). Put it in a cart and went to check out. In the meantime they had closed off the garden register. So I had to meander my way (with large deck box) all the way to the other end of the store. 2 registers open, 6-7 people in each line. I decided that the deck box wasn't that important and left. Even if I had bought it, I still would have had to hike it all the way back across the parking lot to get to my car. Not worth the hassle if you ask me. Oh, and since Safeway also has it's own situation going on, I ended up getting a better looking deck box there for $30 less.

[Dutchml]

quote:Originally posted by vacliff

I think Home Depot did what a lot of the major chains do. When they first open, they bring in a lot of experienced employees from other stores to get things up and running. The problem occurs when they return to their home stores and we are left with an inexperienced, understaffed store.

That's been Home Depot's modus operandi from day one. It's how they ran Hechinger and every other Mom and Pop hardware store out of business- by putting in all the experts in their stores to draw the business away from the little guys. When all the other hardware stores were gone, so were HD's "experts".

[SK8R]

Actually, I think this is just One Bad Home Depot.
I have been several times to the Home Depot in Leesburg. It is nothing like this one. Everyone is friendly and helpful.
I always leave happy.
The Home Depot in Sterling is sporatic in customer service. I don't go there much.
Lowes is fairly consistant. I was there last week and waited in line f.o.r.e.v.e.r. They only had one checker open. It was just plain awful.
This Home Depot, however, I have not had a good experience there... lately (past 6 months or so).

They pay minimum wage at these places and it isn't a great job if you don't have enough staff behind you.
My daughter had a cushy, far better paying summer job working for a bunch of eye doctors. She would have never considered working at Home Depot. My other daughter babysat all summer making $8-10/hour... beats Home Depot.

[Carol Al-Ajroush]

I have heard that HD starting pay is about $12/hour whereas Lowe's is several dollars more per hour. Hence why Lowe's overall may have better customer service. Don't know about Lowe's but HD at least requires sporadic drug tests.

I wonder if the frustrations with HD customer service are solely with individual consumers like ourselves or if any of the builders and other contractors have similar issues?

[Wick]

Can't disagree with anything that's been said.

However, my mindset is to use the Ashburn HD anyway. I would like local businesses to succeed and will generally give my business to Ashburn businesses even if there is a similar store in a different town that may be better. Personally, I would hate to the Ashburn HD shut down. I think it would reflect poorly on the Ashburn area and have greater ramifications than me having to wait an extra 10 minutes in line on a Saturday afternoon. But, that's just me.

[Zansu]

We've had some trouble with Lowes as well. We spent almost 2 hours in there trying to order a new front door (the one Van Metre put in has leaked for the 5 years we've been in the house). I finally went to the front desk asked for the manager and rapidly got response. He also recognized me the next time I was in there and asked how the service was.

I will say, however, that it was not unwillingness or ineptitude on the part of the staff, just too much work and not enough staff to handle it (BTW, this was mid-morning on a week day, not prime time).

[Carol Al-Ajroush]

I also would not want the HD here to shut down. I started this thread just to determine if what my spouse and I have experienced were isolated incidents or not. However, in an efforts towards improving the service of HD, I've made our dissatisfaction known to the management. If and when we see noteable improvements, we will also be sure to be the first to give credit where it's due too.

Hopefully others who are experiencing the unsatisfactory service at HD will do the same so we can get the kind of service that should come naturally to return sooner!

quote:Originally posted by Wick

Can't disagree with anything that's been said.

However, my mindset is to use the Ashburn HD anyway. I would like local businesses to succeed and will generally give my business to Ashburn businesses even if there is a similar store in a different town that may be better. Personally, I would hate to the Ashburn HD shut down. I think it would reflect poorly on the Ashburn area and have greater ramifications than me having to wait an extra 10 minutes in line on a Saturday afternoon. But, that's just me.

[boomertsfx]

I'm complaining straight to Tony Stewart! He'll get things done!

[wahoogeek]

I gotta say that as a new home owner which means that I visit HD or Lowes daily that the HD has done better in customer service. More than once I have Lowes associates answer "I dunno, this is not my department..." HD folks have generally gone the extra step to make sure I've found what I need. Then again, I have not been there during Saturday rush hours.

Just tonight I guy in HD lumber helped me find and then cut some lumber and then he marked it all as scrap for a grand total of 51 cents.

[neilz]

quote:Originally posted by wahoogeek


Just tonight I guy in HD lumber helped me find and then cut some lumber and then he marked it all as scrap for a grand total of 51 cents.


I hope I didn't just read that this quy stiffed his company out of their normal price? If I were his boss, he wouldn't be working for me much longer !!



Neil Z.
Resident since 1999

[Carol Al-Ajroush]

Well, I got a response from Home Depot consumer affairs last night in response to my initial message to their corporate office. It was a lot of the canned talk one might expect at how HD strives to provide the best customer service and satisfaction and thanks for bringing the issue to their attention. Since I then had an email address I went ahead and had this thread sent to the email address in the hopes that someone from HD will read it and find out the issues are not as isolated to one or two customers. If anyone else cares to send a line directly to HD, the email address I have is: hdconsumeraffairs@homedepot.com The customer affairs official is Dee P. (no last name given).

[Carol Al-Ajroush]

okay...bear with me as I am not known to be all that technically literate [:o)] but I managed to figure out how to cut and paste the response I received from HD as well as my initial message:


Begin quoted messages:
Thank you for contacting Home Depot Customer Care. We appreciate your
feedback.

We appreciate you taking the time to forward your concerns regarding
the level of customer service at the Ashburn Home Depot store. We
apologize for not meeting your expectations.

Our goal is to provide every customer with an exceptional experience
every time they come into our stores.

We appreciate you taking the time to forward your concerns about one of
our associates. We apologize for not meeting your expectations.

Home Depot strives to hire, train and retain the best people-
associates who will exceed customer's expectations.

If you would like to speak with a Customer Care professional, please
call us at 1-800-553-3199 (U.S.) or 1-800-668-2266 (Canada). We would be
happy to assist you.

Sincerely,

Dee P.
homedepot.com
Customer Care Department

Original Message Follows:
------------------------
delhi4cats@yahoo.com

"Contact Us" Form Message From: Carol Fleming Al-Ajroush
Submitted: Sun, Aug 29, 2004 12:22:26 PM
Zip/Postal Code: 20148
Subject: Store Customer Service
Store Locator: Ashburn, Virginia
Service Number:
Comments:
I'd like to bring to your attention that we have noticed a steady
decrease in customer service at the Home Depot store located in Ashburn, VA.
For example, yesterday we were kept waiting for 20 minutes before a
representative (who had been paged) arrived to exchange our gas grill
propane gas tank. Additionally, as new homeowners, my husband has made
several trips in the last 6 weeks to the shop to purchase products but
also requiring some guidance and clarification. He came away feeling that
the staff simply did not want to be bothered with his queries. I guess
what really has made us reconsider on patronizing Home Depot was when
my spouse (who is not American born) was asking some questions on the
use of some lawn and deck equipment and the store representative made fun
of his accent and questions. We found this kind of attitude totally
unacceptable. I do hope that some kind of action and investigation will
be taken as a result of this message. We have decided that we'd
likely use Home Depot for items we need quickly and know that we have
no questions on what to get, but overall, we will likely use Loew's
which is only about 5 minutes farther away from us than Home Depot.
END Quoted Messages

[OP_dude]

quote:[i]
Begin quoted messages:
Thank you for contacting Home Depot Customer Care. We appreciate your
feedback.

We appreciate you taking the time to forward your concerns regarding
the level of customer service at the Ashburn Home Depot store. We
apologize for not meeting your expectations.

Our goal is to provide every customer with an exceptional experience
every time they come into our stores.

We appreciate you taking the time to forward your concerns about one of
our associates. We apologize for not meeting your expectations.

Home Depot strives to hire, train and retain the best people-
associates who will exceed customer's expectations.

If you would like to speak with a Customer Care professional, please
call us at 1-800-553-3199 (U.S.) or 1-800-668-2266 (Canada). We would be
happy to assist you.

Sincerely,

Dee P.
homedepot.com
Customer Care Department


Wow! Talk about blow off!
Seeing that kind of response from the corporate level it's no wonder it's so bad at the store level.

[SarasMom]

That response from them is pretty lame. Sounds like a canned response.

When I had an issue with Lowe's earlier this year regarding a lumber delivery, I got an email from their customer service center and a phone call from the District Manager. They also credited me back my delivery fee.

[Carol Al-Ajroush]

Yeah; I found the response pretty disappointing. It does not make me encouraged that there will be much "behind the scene" activity towards rectifying the problems. C'est la vie. [:p]

quote:Originally posted by SarasMom

That response from them is pretty lame. Sounds like a canned response.

When I had an issue with Lowe's earlier this year regarding a lumber delivery, I got an email from their customer service center and a phone call from the District Manager. They also credited me back my delivery fee.

[boomertsfx]

You never get anywhere in customer service unless you bypass the first 2 tiers of phone/email monkeys =) Escalation is key.

[Carol Al-Ajroush]

Just wanted to advise that my spouse and I went to HD on Saturday near later afternoon. We actually had a very pleasant experience. The staff readily helped us find what we were looking for and there was no wait in line. Additionally, there was even a guy with an apron out front just waiting for folks who wanted to swap out their propane tanks.

[Wick]

quote:Originally posted by Carol Al-Ajroush

Just wanted to advise that my spouse and I went to HD on Saturday near later afternoon. We actually had a very pleasant experience. The staff readily helped us find what we were looking for and there was no wait in line. Additionally, there was even a guy with an apron out front just waiting for folks who wanted to swap out their propane tanks.


That's good news.

Ironically, I made a few trips to Lowe's in Sterling over the extended weekend (they had some stuff that HD didn't have in stock). My experience was generally okay; but it wasn't that much better than the Ashburn HD. In fact, on Sunday afternoon, I could have sworn that I was actually in the Ashburn HD -- the Lowe's only had two cash registers open!! On a Sunday afternoon. Needless to say, I had to wait 15 minutes in line.

After my weekend Lowe's experience, I'm certain that I won't be going there on a regular basis unless they carry something that HD doesn't carry.

[Carol Al-Ajroush]

I think unless a service becomes simply intolerable after repeated experiences, we all will ultimately go where it is the most convenient!

But I do think that I have found unexpected bargains at Lowe's that I've not found yet at Home Depot. For example, last winter Lowe's had sets of lamps for less than $60 which were quite nice and very functional. Additionally, compared between Lowe's, Target and WalMart, I think Lowe's had a better selection (in quantity, cost and durability) of yard/deck furniture and accessories.