Day of Reckoning

I knew that this day would come. I have been waiting for it for years, literally. A few years ago, as some of you may know, I helped build a shed for my Mom and Dad in their front yard. It is a nice shed with sturdy walls and a shingle roof. It has a laminate floor. Most of the floor was purchased on clearance from the True Value hardware store, but there was not enough to finish it. So I went to the Home depot to try and match the floor. I was in luck. The exact style was available for special order. To my delight, I was informed that the flooring was in stock at a Home Depot in Lancaster. If I picked it up, I would be able to finish the floor before the Christmas break was over. So Dad and I drove 80 miles or so to get there. We arrived only to find out that the flooring was not in stock, but that we had been given a generic product code for special order floors. We faced defeat, but decided to return to the store in Ridgecrest and order the flooring.

One box was all we needed to finish the job. It cost about $40.00. I charged it to my Home Depot credit card. We were told it would arrive in two weeks. A few days later I returned to BYU. Dad agreed to install the remainder of the floor. A month went by. My credit card bill was due very soon but the flooring had not arrived. I called Home Depot Credit Services to inform them that I desired not to pay my bill until the flooring arrived. They agreed and said there would be no late charges. Another month went by. A bill came through the mail; there were late charges for not paying on time. I called the operator assured me the charges would be taken off. Another month went by, no flooring. Another bill, another call, another argument, another promise. Finally, almost four months after the original order, the flooring showed up. I admit I was livid. I called Home Depot and made a complaint never before experienced in the history of Home Depot. The Home Depot representative apologized for my trouble. I told him that was not good enough. He told me there was nothing he could do. We argued. He said the order was not big enough, not enough money was spent, there was nothing he could do. Since that day, with few exceptions, I have not been a customer at Home Depot. I will always go to Lowes, True Value, and Ace before going to Home Depot.

I am now the Assistant Director of Engineering at the Hyatt Regency Phoenix. Its not the most important position, but our hotel has 700 rooms and has almost 800,000 square feet of space. We spend hundreds of thousands of dollars a year on parts. I was in my office today when two gentlemen entered. Both wore polo shirts with logos that read “HD Supply” (Home Depot's Maintenance Parts Division). I smiled when I saw them, sweet vengeance was on the horizon. They probably wondered why I was so happy to see them. I invited them to sit down and they began their pitch. I mentioned that we purchased our parts from other suppliers, and that I was not currently buying from HD. They asked why, and I gave them the usual answers, that I was happy with the price and service of other suppliers, etc. And then I mentioned that I had a personal problem with purchasing anything from Home Depot. I told them the story. They were horrified. They could not believe the poor service that I had received. I couldn’t tell if it was an act. They said it was typical service from the retail division. They said their service is better and that they are no longer associated with Home Depot. I let them finish. We scheduled to meet another time. They said they could provide me with some sort of compensation for my past troubles. I declined, saying that would not be appropriate or necessary. After they left, I looked up HD Supply on Google Finance. Home Depot sold this division in 2007 when the economy slowed. It was true, they were no longer affiliated in any way. There was no recourse to follow. The day of reckoning had come, two years too late. I still refuse to shop at Home Depot. The End.