Positive HD Rant

[David G Baker]

Visited HD today to purchase some electrical items and was very surprised to find that the man in charge of the department was a licensed electrician with volumes of information and advice. This was the first professional that I have met in years working at HD. It looks like the HD in my area may actually be turning over a new leaf. Now if they would only keep their shelves stocked. This may also be taking place because several times I ran into several employees taking inventory in different areas of the store, something I have not seen in the past.
I also found some tempered Masonite that someone was looking for in another thread.

[Perry Schmidt]

There was an article I read in...Dallas morning New maybe? Anyway, it basically said that so many years ago they 'changed their philosophy' and got rid of a lot of their experts in the store. Didn't think they were worth the cost. They have sense realized that they screwed up and are now trying to hire trade experts back as store staff.

So it seems to be accurate about the experts coming back. I hope our local store catches up soon.

Perry

[Don Bullock]

I had the same experience in the electrical department at my local Lowe's. Unfortunately these "experts" aren't there all most of the time and many of the employees that are there all the time don't know anything. It's sort of "hit and miss."

[Ken Fitzgerald]

The past few months I've had better experiences at our local HD. I think the atmosphere at the stores is a reflection of the local management. I acutually had one employee that was laid off a couple of years ago and after the change in upper level management and philosophy change this spring....management seeked this guy out and hired him back...We'll see....time will tell......

[Matt Meiser]

I've noticed the change in ours too--at the store that got me to vow to never shop Home Depot again unless I couldn't find what I was looking for elsewhere. We went in because I couldn't find Hardibacker board for our tile floor at Lowes (turns out it was around the corner) or the other local home improvement store. I actually got a ton of help. At the register, the lines were kind of long and a manager escorted us to the contractor desk for quicker checkout. Then it turned out we had stacked the backer so the barcodes were face down and put about 250lbs of thinset and grout on top. The manager quickly came over to help move it. They suggested buying extra materials and returning what we didn't use. No problems with that either. I also needed a filter for my Ridgid vac I bought a few years ago. It was out of stock--they took one out of the display and sold it to me. Before it was hard to get them to do anything that involved any effort--like when I was told they wouldn't sell me some plywood that was up high until they ran out of what was below (and was not the same stuff.)

[Glenn Clabo]

I see the same thing...like when you leave the store a kid follows you if you have items you may need help with. This weekend the kid helped me load a trunk full of trim...talked about the weather and the Red Sox...and took my cart with a smile! Now THAT's somein'!

[Greg Crawford]

Hope the trend makes it to the Houston area. So far, the employees are still stretched so thin hardly anyone can get help. Bad for customers and not fair to the employees.

[David G Baker]

Visited HD today to purchase some electrical items and was very surprised to find that the man in charge of the department was a licensed electrician with volumes of information and advice. This was the first professional that I have met in years working at HD. It looks like the HD in my area may actually be turning over a new leaf. Now if they would only keep their shelves stocked. This may also be taking place because several times I ran into several employees taking inventory in different areas of the store, something I have not seen in the past.
I also found some tempered Masonite that someone was looking for in another thread.

Rant re-visited. Went to HD today and the "MASTER ELECTRICIAN" was still on duty. I let him know that some folks thought that he visited the store on occasion and I was lucky to catch him the first time I talked to him. He told me that HD has hired him full time and that they are paying him a comparable salary to what he would make on the out side as a master electrician. It looks like the local HD has finally gotten the message.

[Art Mulder]

Well, I see Home Depot and Rona (Canadian chain, similar) as DIY places - I don't usually expect a lot of help when I go there, so if I get it I'm pleasantly surprised.

However, one thing that I have determined is that you need to choose when to go. Go during a weekday, and the store is emptier, and the help has more time for you. If you must go on an evening, try Mon/Tue/Wed, NOT Friday. If you must go on a weekend, since you don't have time other days, then get up early and get in the story at 8am on Saturday. If you go on a Saturday afternoon when the place is crowded beyond belief, then you can't really expect a lot of extra help, IMHO.

But then, I feel the same about just about every store out there, from the grocery store, to the Office store, to the Furniture store... Go when everyone else doesn't, and you get better service.

[jeremy levine]

I got some good help at my local HD. The faced and unfaced insulation was stacked sky high. In fact I was sure they were out of the unfaced. A young employee attacked the stack and found me what I needed

[Ken Fitzgerald]

I agree with Art during the "slow" hours you stand a chance of getting better service..........but last night, at the last moment, the LOML decided we needed a "firepit" so friends could warm their hands Saturday night. We shopped at the local HD then the local Albertson's grocery...then back to HD. At 15 minutes 'til closing....lots of shoppers...lots of help.....everyone of the help we passes said "Hi!....Have a good evening".....maybe things are actually changing...