Customer service is a foriegn word at Home Depot

[Ken Garlock]

About 2 weeks ago a circle-line fixture in our utility room quit working. I removed the plastic shade and noted that the two bulbs were looking rather long in the tooth with black areas in and around the connectors. Ah Ha, I will just get a couple new bulbs. I trotted down to HD and purchased Philip's replacements. I installed them and still no go.

I took down the fixture and found that the ballast had let the smoke out of one end. I search the internet and found Atlanta Light Bulbs had the needed ballast. I ordered it. After a week it hadn't arrived, so I called ALB and found that they had to order the ballast from the maker and that it would be in Atlanta Thursday or Friday. Well, by luck, it arrived this afternoon by UPS. I installed the ballast with the new bulbs and the bulbs still would not work correctly. The problem was that the larger 40W circle-line would not fire up. I installed the old bulb and everything worked as one would expect.

Off it went to the same HD where I bought the bulbs. The young lady at the returns counter asked if I had a receipt for the bulb I was returning. I said I did not, but would be happy to do a simple swap. She told me that the new manager of the electrical department will not accept returned bulbs without a receipt. I asked her to call electrical and check again; she go the same answer, not ticky, no bulby. I told her that I would take the bad bulb and never step foot in a HD again, in terms requiring an R rating.

As far as I am concerned, HD called me a liar and thief all in one easy statement. I don't need that, and I can do without those people of unknown male parentage.

Currently there is a new Loew's under construction across the street.

[Mike Null]

I think stores everywhere are clamping down on their return policies. Some because competition is so limited and some because shoplifting is rampant and out of control.

In the case of lightbulbs even I would have a hard time accepting returns without a receipt. How are they to know that the bulbs aren't old and burned out.

Even so, I've found the borgs to be fairly liberal on returns and surprise surprise, the last time I went into HD salespeople were practically tripping over each other and more courteous than I can remember.

[Bonnie Campbell]

A good thing to do is climb the chain of command complaining about the service. A threat of posting lousy service might not mean much to the checker, but the managers know what it means.

Only way I got Walmart to take back a bad tv was to threaten to broadcast all over the net about their lousy service. (Of course threatening to track down the local manager and throw that tv AT him probably didn't hurt lol)

[Russ Filtz]

Where have you been for the last 20-yrs? It's all downsizing, efficiency, etc. these days. Do "more" with less! (pissing everyone off in the process)

[insert rant]
Corporations these days need to have better morality. I was taught in business school that in addition to making money, a businesses primary goal/function is to create jobs. Without jobs there will be no one around to buy anything, so who cares what a great product you made cheaply overseas!

If companies were 100% efficient, with cheap labor, we'd only have a few multi-billionaires and everyone else would be SOL. WAIT, we're almost there already! We're no better off today than 150 years ago with the monopolies of Rockefeller, etc. Just different names/industries (insert Bill Gates, etc.)

Try to tell that to the Wall Street mongers that punish companies that make money, but just miss their projections by a fraction.

[Scott Coffelt]

I know they are definitely clamping down on returns, I was in line and heard them tell a person they could not take anymore returns from him without a receipt. I suspect they get a lot of thefts, then the person takes it to a different store and wants store credit. They keep track of how often you return stuff and without a receipt. Now, usually if you paid via CC, they will just check the card for it. Bulbs, that's tricky especially if it's been more than a day or two. I am sure they think must folks will retunr immediately. I'd call the MFR and tell them that you want it replaced, most have a warranty.... then again, they probably will want the receipt too

[Ken Fitzgerald]

I had a person whom I know tell me they had company coming....went to HD ....bought a carpet cleaner.....used it......returned it since they weren't happy with it......got their money back......Little wonder companies are clamping down on their returns..........

[Ken Garlock]

As a foot note, I had never had a problem returning anything to this specific store. If I didn't have a receipt, they would give me a store refund credit card or just swap out the item there at the returns counter. It seems that the electrical department is being the fly in the ointment.

Basically, it is not my problem that someone is scamming HD. I had an honest request for a return, and strongly object to being treated as a criminal.

[John Shuk]

HD may have to crack down on the return policy. They were shoving the costs of the returns down the vendors throats. Even though most of this stuff should not have been accepted.

[Steven Triggs]

Basically, it is not my problem that someone is scamming HD. I had an honest request for a return, and strongly object to being treated as a criminal.

I think that is missing the point a bit. It is ALL of our problem when people scam HD, or any other store. A retailer can't just ignore reality, nor do they have any way to know you from the people who are dishonest. I understand that it is a pain, but it seems kind of silly to be offended, as though they were making a statement about you.

Also, your original post refers to the fact that you dropped a bunch of cuss words on the employee, and you said something negative about the employees' parentage. So you are upset about how they treated you, and your response is to cuss someone out, and to make judgements on people and their parents simply because they are doing their jobs? 99% of the employees that you deal with don't make the policy, they just have to do what they are told.

[Al Willits]

Well, ya it is your problem Ken, people scam retail stores all the time and the way companies try to eliminate it is by tightening their policies, which effects all of us that shop.

Gonna make a few enimies here, but what seems like a major part of the people who are PO'd are partly at fault also, no reciept, not the card holder, wrong part bought, are a few I think.

I have a friend who's wife works at Target, she says the amount of fraud and theft for just the store she works at would supprise you, the stores are trying to keep this down and if it means I have to keep reciept and such to help keep costs down, so be it.

I wonder how many of us would give unlimited returns if we started to lose money at it, not many I'd think.

Doesn't excuse poor salespeople, but might explain policy...imho

Al

[Bill Lewis]

When HD first opened their doors in our area they would take returns on anything, with or without a reciept. Cash refunds were no problem. No explanations were required or even asked. It didn't take long for that to change. Contractors were using HD as a free tool rental business. Big ticket items like pressure washers, and airless paint spray machines were consistantly seen parked around the return counter. It took a few years for them to tighten up their policies, and I really can't blame them for that. If I retrun something without a reciept, I now get a store credit instead of cash.

I did return some light bulbs once. A 3 pack of expensive flood bulbs. Every bulb in the pack was dead from the get-go. I made sure I had my reciept for that return.

[Glenn Clabo]

I agree with you Al... My deceased wife was a head cashier at a newly opened HD many years ago. She, about the nicest person you could ever know, would come home so frustrated with how people treated her and how dishonest people were. She thought she was real good at judging people until she took on that job. The "nicest" people turned out to be the worst...they used it as a ploy. For some reason people think it's OK to scam/steal/con big companies...and that only hurts those who are honest. We should be mad at those who steal...not those who enforce the rules.

As a side note...I have seen a huge improvement at our local HD. We even have a roving parking lot attendent who walks around helping people load thier cars. Remember the old days when kids used to bring your grocery bags to your car????

[Michael Morgan]

Ken, I think it's just like everything else. Some people ruin things for everyone else. A few years ago I was at a Lowes store that I do the snow removal for. We had a ice / snow storm and lots of people lost power. People were lined up outside the door before they opened to buy generators. They sold everyone they had in a half hour. By noon that same day about 60% were returned (after the lights came back on ) People actually buy string trimmers and mowers in the spring and try to return them in the fall. Truly pathetic.

[Matt Meiser]

Regardless of the number of dishonest people they see, when they assume you are trying to rip them off from the minute you walk into the door, that's a problem. I'm talking attitude, not policy.

[Dennis Peacock]

I agree with you Al... My deceased wife was a head cashier at a newly opened HD many years ago. She, about the nicest person you could ever know, would come home so frustrated with how people treated her and how dishonest people were. She thought she was real good at judging people until she took on that job. The "nicest" people turned out to be the worst...they used it as a ploy. For some reason people think it's OK to scam/steal/con big companies...and that only hurts those who are honest. We should be mad at those who steal...not those who enforce the rules.

As a side note...I have seen a huge improvement at our local HD. We even have a roving parking lot attendent who walks around helping people load thier cars. Remember the old days when kids used to bring your grocery bags to your car????

Very well said Glenn. It would be hard for me to be a HD employee as I've seen the treatment some of them have gotten over the years.
Remember the days....bring your groceries to your car?? Yup, shore-do...I was one of'em....at least for 2 weeks I was, then got moved to the Produce Department...went from farming for ourselves to farming for everybody that walked in the store. Note: That is when I "really" saw how people steal from stores, it was an every day thing at the grocery store.