The Home Depot — Attraction in Shoreline

First of all I called ahead to make sure that someone would be there and available to unload a very heavy item for a return.The lady assured me that yes they would have someone.i got there,called from my car and the same lady came that I had spoke with over the phone.she points to this young man and says as soon as he is done he can help you.i didn't think much of it until he came over and I could assess that he was not going to be able to handle this job. He proceeds to try and gets the item have way hanging out my car,then begins to leave to walk away to get help,when I quickly said you can't leave that like that! It could fall out(and break a $600 toilet) Finally he finds someone to help and the manage to get it on the cart and get it only to find out I was at the wrong store(that part was my fault) but by this time the box has been severely compromised. A girl begins to attempt using a tape with a roller on it and it was clear it must have been her first time ever doing it and she was messing it up pretty bad. Then after it was finally taped(had she done it right a couple times around the base would have sufficed,instead of 6 or 7)it was time to get it loaded back in so they said we will call somebody,here comes the same scrawny kid again and I said you will need to have 2 people for this job and I was meant with well he is our only "loader" I sat there for 20 minutes waiting for them to get someone only to find this guy was even smaller than the other guy. So anyhow it ends up somehow that there are 2 small employees trying yo get this in as a larger employee walks right up and just stand there watching, I said hey can you give these guys a hand,at which time he shakes his head no and keeps on just standing there.one of the other guys says he is not a "loader". Anyhow before the whole ordeal was over almost an hour has been spent and the box was destroyed because the just crammed it in my car in suchba way that the seam of box seam busted almost to the top. My only problem is you can go into a home depot,any really,and find employees standing round doing absolutely NOTHING and guarantee if you ask them where something is instead of looking up on the little box thing they carry they will direct to towards a different employees that know equally the same. Why doesn't home depot hire more or perhaps train qualified people and if you are hiring a "loader" make sure it is a person of just average to ample size to do a job like that instead of a high schooler who is coming in at a buck twenty to do this physical job. I know it's not the kids fault,he is just trying to do his job but somewhere along the line the competence is compromised. And one other time I had a heavy item I wanted help with loading into my car at the bitterlake home depot and I called the customer service after I waited at my car for sometime and the girl who answered literally did not know north from south! I told her I am at the very farthest south entice and she didn't know which one that one was,I asked so you don't know n from south and she said no I don't, I just found that astounding and not in a good way. Who ever in charge of hiring needs to go for quality not quantity for these places workers. I like to play this game when I go to home depot I will ask the same question to each employee and see how many I gobthrough before I find someone who will actually know or do there job of helping me locate,it's always a high number. Try...

It's a shame there isn't a NO star option to match the service... with the weather increasing we were looking to get a portable ac unit. Checking their website we found one that would fit our needs and it was listed as 21 available - in store for pick up.

When we arrived at the store we asked a few employees if they knew where it was a couple said they had no idea and had to ask other employees until one of them said it probably is in the back and not out on the floor yet. Then we asked if it's in the back would they be able to grab it. I kid you not the employees response was "it's probably in receiving it's a mess back there I dont want to get it." - okay, you dont want to do your job 👌

Next we go over to customer service which took 30 minutes just to talk to someone at the desk and told them what happened and what we were looking for. They said if it's not out on the floor then it's in the back "in receiving" and hasn't been sorted yet and they wouldn't be able to get it to us. I showed them on their website that it was in stock and available for pick up, I asked so if I bought it right now on your website you wouldn't bring it out for me because it says it's available to be picked up right now. The rep then said they would send someone to look for it in the back. The first person to go look said they would be back shortly, as we waited at the customer service desk 30 minutes later we see the same guy who said they were going to look for it hanging out at the painting section... so the lady at the desk asks another person to go look for it, he said he was already in the middle of helping another person but would get on it after he was done. We waited another 45 minutes with the lady saying it wont be much longer so we decided to give up. Nearly 2 hours wasted!

With Costco being in the same lot we gave them a call asked if they had portable ac for sale they said they did and mentioned how many they had in stock. We walked the store and didn't see any out. We asked an employee if they had them and they said it was in the back and not out yet and would have one brought out to us. Within 10 minutes of entering we were able to get in and out with what we wanted... Something Home Depot couldn't accomplish in 2 hours....

I recently went to Home Depot in Shoreline, WA with the intention of purchasing a $600 air conditioning unit. These units were secured near the customer service area, which I understood, but the customer service representative informed me that it would take a considerable amount of time to unlock one. They even suggested I might be better off buying the unit elsewhere. Taking their advice, I decided to go to Best Buy instead.

At Best Buy, the experience was markedly different. The staff were incredibly helpful, promptly assisting me with my purchase. They carried the unit to the checkout counter and even loaded it into my vehicle.

In contrast, Home Depot lost a $600 sale simply because they couldn't spare the time to unlock the item for me.

I understand that you likely didn't intend for your customer service representative to respond the way she did. As a business owner myself, I know that employees sometimes act independently.

I regret that your business missed out on a $600 sale simply because no one was available to unlock the item. In stark contrast, the Best Buy near your store had the item readily accessible and provided exceptional assistance. Their staff was incredibly helpful, unlike my experience at Home Depot.

I want to assure you that I will continue to shop at Home Depot; you have not lost a customer. However, I won't be purchasing any locked items in the future. I don't want to risk waiting 15 minutes in line only to be informed that unlocking the item isn't possible.

Thank you for your attention to this matter. I believe that with a commitment to improving customer service and addressing these small but significant issues, Home Depot has the potential to provide an even better shopping experience for all its customers. Let's work together to make every visit a...