Guess it's my time to trash the NEW HD!

[Bruce Shiverdecker]

Hd had an ad for 34W 4' CW Fluorescent lamps at .99 ea in case lots of 30. Decent deal and name brand, so, believing the Post here from HD BIGWIG, I decided to give it a try. (All the way across town - Passed Lowe's and Menard's to get there)

Went to the Lamp department looked for the 30 lamp cases.................................only found 1 partial case....................Hmmmm.

This is the first day after the flyer arrived. I would expect that they would have a pallet load, at least (fifty Cases). Finally found an employee in the area. Asked if she could help. Told her what I was looking for and how surprised I was that they didn't have more. She didn't know about the sale, but when I showed it to her in the flyer, she tried to help me, but couldn't.

I decided to go to the service desk and ask the store manager why they didn't have the lamps. He said that he thought they had a WHOLE 4 cases. He looked, but couldn't find them either.

At that point he asked if I would take 6 ten packs at the same total price. Hey, I thought, Finally someone with some smarts!!!!!!!! WRONG>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

It took him about five minutes to figure out how to sell them to me at the sale price. After THAT was done, he told to just take the re-pricing ticket to checkout (AT THE OTHER END OF THE BUILDING) and they would handle it.

After waiting while the only cashier takes care of three customers ahead of me, The lad takes my paperwork and studies it. I told him it was an authorization by the manager to sell me this SKU number at the special price. He gets on the phone and verifies that I'm not lying and starts to process the sale. He picks up the phone again, waits, says something, hangs up and waits. Puzzled, I ask him what the problem was. He proceeds to tell me that the MANAGER HAS TO APPROVE THE SALE IN THE COMPUTER!......................................... .................................................. ................WHAT. WHY in BLA BLA BLA, didn't he come to the cashier with me?

I told the cashier to tell the MANAGER exactly where he could stuff the lamps - sideways and walked out.

IF I EVER ENTER THAT PLACE AGAIN, I DESERVE TO BE LOBOTOMIZED for stupidity!!!!!!

Bruce

[Bernie Weishapl]

I have found the same thing Bruce. It is a bummer when they come out with a ad and don't have the stuff in stock. Drives me nuts. I haven't been in HD for a year now and will never go back.

[paul wiser]

i work for hd in the electrical dept. i know only too well what you are talking about. customer service sucks. the only help they can get is people who don't give a darn and are just interested in the check at the end of the week. the ones like me who have experience are few and far between. i'm semi retired now, but still work pt. am constantly frustrated by their out of stocks and not stocking the things they should

[Dick Durbin]

That's a really common story with the Home Depots around here. A few weeks ago they had an ad for a Ryobi tool set. If you buy the set, you get a free tool. The cashier knew nothing about it. I told him to look at his ad. He hadn't seen the ad and didn't have one at the cash register. I had to go to the service desk to get a copy of the ad.

They don't deserve my business. Plus, I own stock in Lowes and I can't stand Tony Stewart.

[Perry Holbrook]

I for one have always been very satisfied with my local HD. The store opened at least 10 years ago. In that time I've spent probably $40,000 there in about 700 purchases. As far as I can remember, I have never had a problem.

A lot of the employees have been there for years and most are knowledgable to a point about their area.

I guess it's like any other mass retailer, store management makes all the difference.

Perry

[James Stokes]

Good help is hard to find in any business.

[Chuck Wintle]

Its a sign of the times. These big stores don't care if they lose the occasional customer as new customers are walking in all the time.

[Tyler Howell]

As stated in one of the other threads. If you want borg prices you have to play the borg game. I'm surprised by some of the horror stories.
I pray it's a regional mamagement thing because we get very good service here in the mid west.
I've see of what you speak in the south and on the east coast.
Gotta go with the mind set that your not going to get any help and already schooled on the subject matter. Customers have started to help each other with lifting and tech questions at HD when there is no staff around to help. You can often tell by attire and selected items if they know what they are talking about.
I have found some rare jems in plumbing and electrical in the MN borgs but they won't last long at the rate they are being "spread thin and used up".
On the other hand I get serviced to death at my local ACE hardware store. Sometimes I just want to be left alone to problem solve on my own.

[Chuck Wintle]

I was in a Borg once and asked the employee in the hardware section if they had any Metric screws and nuts. He responded that he did not carry them. later while looking around myself I found exactly what I needed. Borg's must lose a lot of business because of lazy and unknowledgable staff!

[Matt Meiser]

On the other hand I get serviced to death at my local ACE hardware store. Sometimes I just want to be left alone to problem solve on my own.

Minneapolis is the only place a small hardware store has ever sent me TO the BORG. I asked if there was an electrical supply house nearby since they didn't have what I needed and they actually said my best bet would be to go to Menards or HD.

[Mike Wilkins]

These stores are all the same. I used to work at Home Quarters/Hechingers in Raleigh in the tool dept. The story was always the same. Sale fliers in the local paper; customer comes in looking for the item; not in stock.
Or my favorite one is there was never enough stock shipped to the store to handle the high demand.
No wonder they went out of business.

[Bill Boehme]

Our HD is actually quite good, but I still don't go there unless absolutely necessary. The traffic jams around the store are terrible and sometimes the checkout lines are long. On the positive side, they are very helpful and have spent a lot of time in helping me even for low cost items. I needed some specialty clips to hold a sink to a granite counter top (not very expensive, but necessary) and the person spent a long time searching catalogs until he located a supplier with just the right clips to fit my particular needs and then placed a special order. It was sent directly to me without shipping charges added and only took about two days. I have also had similar experiences in the electrical department in finding what I need. They have even referred me to to competitors when they knew that what I was looking for could be found there. I have never noticed a time when they advertised something and it was not available, but like I said, I am not a regular shopper there.

Bill

[Al Willits]

Minneapolis is the only place a small hardware store has ever sent me TO the BORG. I asked if there was an electrical supply house nearby since they didn't have what I needed and they actually said my best bet would be to go to Menards or HD.

I'll echo what Tyler says, most HD here are acceptable, and a few are very good for what they are.

I'm thinking the sales are put on by the main office and there's probably a lack of communication between the main office and each store, maybe?
Not good I agree.

At least they tried to offer the bulbs at the sale price, many other stores seem to have a higher priced alternative, can we say bait and switch, boys and girls???

What does seem evident here is the lack of consistency between stores nation wide though.

Al

[John Shuk]

As stated in one of the other threads. If you want borg prices you have to play the borg game. I'm surprised by some of the horror stories.
I pray it's a regional mamagement thing because we get very good service here in the mid west.
I've see of what you speak in the south and on the east coast.
Gotta go with the mind set that your not going to get any help and already schooled on the subject matter. Customers have started to help each other with lifting and tech questions at HD when there is no staff around to help. You can often tell by attire and selected items if they know what they are talking about.
I have found some rare jems in plumbing and electrical in the MN borgs but they won't last long at the rate they are being "spread thin and used up".
On the other hand I get serviced to death at my local ACE hardware store. Sometimes I just want to be left alone to problem solve on my own.

The funny thing is that I don't find BORG prices to that great. There are sometimes deals to be had but nothing earth shattering.

[Steven Triggs]

Umm, let's see. So because they were out of stock, the manager offered to sell you something comparable for the same price. Yes, I would be mad too

Oh, wait, it's the fact that it took him a few minutes to figure out how to do it. Yes, someone not knowing everything and having to figure out how to do something warrants you telling the employee to tell the manager to "shove it" or whichever words you used.

I mean come on! They tried to make up for being out of stock, but it took a few minutes. Compared to many experiences people run into, I'm just not sure what you're complaining about?