The Home Depot — Local services in Elgin

DO NOT use The Home Depot for your kitchen remodel project.

I went through the Elgin IL store to get their assistance with changing the footprint of my kitchen because I assumed they would be experts who could coordinate the various contractors involved with the project and I was willing to pay extra going through them because it would save time and hassle.

Starting out with the designer, I explained that I only had the ability to go up to the maximum for their project loan to cover the cabinets, counters, construction, plumbing and electrical and only $6k outside of that for appliances, flooring, backsplash, window dressing and light fixtures. I said that I needed to know if we could do the project within that budget or if I should wait a year to save up more money. She discussed it with her construction contractor for a few days and then came back to tell me that she was happy to say we could fit it all within the budget.

Construction then began, with my walls ripped open and all cabinets removed, when they told me that the order was missing $9,750 for electrical items, even though I'd paid $12k already for electrical as part of the order. The things missed were all of the lighting locations and they said they needed to charge for removing existing electrical outlets in the area that the new kitchen was being installed and for adding power to the microwave they had in my floorplan. Shortly afterwards, they identified that they were missing all of the plumbing for my sink and that would be another $4k!

I ended up having to put $10k on my Home Depot charge and they covered $4k for the sink, but this caused me to have an extra $500 a month in expenses for the next 2 years, if I wanted to pay that amount off with the 24 month free financing they offered. I also had no money left for all of the other things the $6k was budgeted for, including no money for a floor.

Talking to store managers and the corporate resolution line, they lead me on for 2 months that they would find a way to help me and that they were working to give me money back for some of the electrical since a peer reviewer and the construction company allegedly reviewed the order before it was placed, but they were just stalling for the rest of the project to finish and then said they weren't giving any compensation for anything.

I also spent 40 hours of my time following up with their construction contractor trying to get things scheduled. The cabinets were installed Nov 12th, but today is January 29th and they still haven't even scheduled when they'll come out to install the hardware pulls on the drawers.

Another selling point the kitchen designer used was that, "we're not the cheapest, but we're also not the most expensive and we'll leave your house clean after working." This couldn't be further from the truth because their contractors left all of the sawdust on my garage floor each night they left, tore open a wall in an adjacent room that wasn't part of the project because it was easier to fix their plumbing mistake and left spackle all over the floor in that room after repairing it. They put up plastic sheets around the rooms they were working in, but when they left there was a fine layer of dust over everything, including the floor and counters. I had to wipe the entire kitchen down from top to bottom after they finished installing the cabinets.

Do yourself a favor and don't make the same mistake I made in trusting these guys. Try Lowe's or private...

I’d like to share my first serious shopping experience with this store — and unfortunately, it was a huge disappointment. Here’s my story. I initially came in to buy a refrigerator because there were great discounts. I ended up deciding to also purchase a dishwasher and a gas stove. The sales associate was very polite and everything went smoothly at first. But on the delivery day, things went downhill fast. The refrigerator was delivered with obvious mechanical damage. When I asked why it wasn’t inspected before delivery, they couldn’t give me a clear answer. They also said they couldn’t replace it the same day because they supposedly had no connection to The Home Depot warehouse — which is just one mile from my house. We had to reschedule the delivery for two weeks later. During the dishwasher installation, the installer refused to proceed, claiming that I hadn’t shut off the water — which was untrue. This led to an argument between me, the installer, and the dispatcher. Both of them tried to pressure me into canceling the installation and hiring a plumber to replace a valve. I ended up grabbing my own tools, shutting off the water, and proving it to them. The installer, clearly irritated, began the installation while scratching the walls of my home in the process. The dispatcher promised a discount — which I never received. Another week passed and they brought a different refrigerator. The delivery person entered, looked at the existing fridge, and told me installation wasn’t possible because the wall was too close and the door wouldn’t open properly. When I asked why this wasn’t mentioned during the first delivery, he just looked surprised. They left without doing anything. I went back to the store to choose a different model, but the discounts were gone and the price was higher. At that point, my card limit wasn’t enough to cover the new amount — so I left empty-handed. It’s been five days since then. No one has contacted me, I haven’t received any notifications, and I still haven’t gotten my money back. Buying from The Home Depot means you’re left to deal with all the problems on your own. They take your money immediately, but their contractors don’t care about the customer at all. It’s ridiculous — buying a refrigerator is turning into a process that takes weeks,...

I am SO disappointed with Home Depot. Do NOT buy any water heaters from here. I was trying to help a friend get her tank replaced that was under warranty as it was 5 years old. Contacted Rheem and they let me know Home Depot will give a credit for the tank and whatever the price difference is you will have to pay for it. I said okay great, thinking maybe $50-100 difference. Nope, we got a credit for $348!! The new tank was $519 before tax. I have me and another guy replacing the water heater free of charge for a customer because she is strapped for cash and has very little money. I asked the customer service at Home Depot if they would take off ANY sort of money to try to help this customer out who is very in need of help. I offered to pay with my Home Depot Credit Card and I am a Pro Member as well. ALSO I grabbed the tank with the box that was completely ripped up and destroyed in hope they would help even a little bit. They did not take off a single DOLLAR except for the credit from the tank warranty. In my opinion, this customer was COMPLETELY taken advantage of by both Home Depot and Rheem. Shame on both of them for not direct swapping the tank as they should…. This is the most upsetting thing I have ever seen from Home Depot and it is completely unacceptable. I’ve never been so disappointed.

Please do yourself a favor and purchase a water heater from a reputable HVAC or Plumbing business that can purchase a tank for you from a plumbing supply house. Those warranties are direct swaps and their is no “credit” for the tank which doesn’t even come close to replacing the tank with a new one. Hopefully someone will reach out to me and try to get this customer a Home Depot gift card or something over this poor service. I am a huge fan of Home Depot, but this is not how you conduct business with...