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Decrease in Home Depot Customer Service

Discussion in 'Homeowners Corner' started by Carol Al-Ajroush, Aug 29, 2004.

  1. neilz

    neilz New Member

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    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
     
  2. Carol Al-Ajroush

    Carol Al-Ajroush New Member

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    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).
     
  3. Carol Al-Ajroush

    Carol Al-Ajroush New Member

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    okay...bear with me as I am not known to be all that technically literate [:eek:)] 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
     
  4. MD_boy

    MD_boy New Member

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    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.
     
  5. SarasMom

    SarasMom Member

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    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.
     
  6. Carol Al-Ajroush

    Carol Al-Ajroush New Member

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    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]

     
  7. boomertsfx

    boomertsfx Booyakasha!

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

    Carol Al-Ajroush New Member

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    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.
     
  9. Wick

    Wick New Member

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    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.
     
  10. Carol Al-Ajroush

    Carol Al-Ajroush New Member

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    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.
     

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