The Home Depot — Local services in Flagstaff

Customer service was bad today, it seems to be getting worse over the years. In years past, employees would greet you, and offer to help you, now they avoid contact with customers. This homedepot seems to treat things differently than the westside homedepot when it comes to returning items, they tend to give you a hard time about it. I only go to this store, because it seems to have a larger variety of items, and they tend to be in stock more often than the Westside. They always have new employees here, and they are usually not very friendly, they don't greet you, and tend to avoid you if you need help finding something. I highly recommend homeco, they have good customer service. Specifically today, I was returning some items, and one door hinge had the plastic wrapper torn open on it, Alexander told me that he would not be returning that item, because it was open. Alexander who was rude to me and mocked me when I told him that I spend over $20k a year at homedepot, he told me that he is told this often, and lectured me on their return policy. I told him that if he is told this often, he isn't treating customers right. I checked their return policy later on, and it does not say that you cannot return an opened item, it says that most opened items can be returned, and lists specific items that cannot be returned, which this item is not listed. I asked to speak with a manager, because I have never been told that I could not return an opened item at homedepot. Before the manager came, Alexander kept trying to argue with me, he was getting more and more aggressive and mad, and I told him to just stop talking to me, and I would wait for the manager. While I was speaking with his manager, Alexander was staring directly at me, and was shaking his head at me in disapproval of the manager returning the item. Before the manager came, Alexander was getting visibly angry and aggressive with me, and I felt like he would try to escalate things physically with me, based on the look he was giving me, and his body language. The manager Will was professional, and handled the situation respectfully. Will told me that he appreciated my business, and he hoped to see me in the future. I have no clue why an employee would get so upset over a longtime customer returning an item, a $3-$4 item that can be resold, vs. me spending $20k+ per year at homedepot, why risk losing valuable customers over this? Get upset with people who steal from your store, not paying customers!

Update: The manager told me that Alexander or Alex came to their store 8 months ago, and has PTSD, that they are trying to work with him, and that he has had issues like this before, he said that they removed him from the counter right afterward. The manager said that they contacted HR, and were working on this issue. I saw another review from a lady stating that he was also rude to her as well. I came in today and he's still working behind the customer service return desk. I believe this shows that they don't plan on removing their customer...

Consistently Home Depot, one can count on things being what's always been and expected in the products, prices, variety, choices, volume, quality and trained customer service associates. UPDATE: 2024 October 2-October 7 Store# 421 Marketplace Drive, Flagstaff, AZ I went into HD this morning to exchange ratchet straps, once again it's the classic Home Depot customer service that always gets this store five stars. Many Home Depot stores are great, but this store is fantastic. The gentleman at the return/exchange counter WILL B. along with his coworker Jessi both gave what every customer wants to see/interact with....a well-groomed, smiley-faced, personable, efficient and knowledgeable human being on the other side of the counter. WILL B., know that i appreciate the time you took to explain the difference between a ratchet strap and a tie-down. I'm an East coaster but NOT very mechanically inclined, thank you for not making me feel clueless. Also, the young man BRYCE who proudly wore his orange apron that i met in the specialty hardware department was so well groomed, knowledgeable, smiling and a fine representative of this store. KELLY in the self-checkout area, you have such a great customer service personality, it's a gift, sometimes youth is wasted on the young, but your polished presence proves that working amongst a multigenerational group of employees often lends a hand to lasting impressions, thank you for being such a great spirit. Finally, MATILYN W., the Millwork Specialist who has the knowledge, approach and confidence to interact with anyone who's craving good ol' fashioned customer service served up with a helping of soft toned education meets conversation! Thank you for meeting me today, Matilyn, you were a peach from a distance and just as kind when finally meeting you. To all of you listed, I'm glad that you found your way to my Google review page and read my thoughts of you put into words. It's visits like these that convince me more and more that this store is always the correct one to shop at. Hats off to your manager Tammy Jo Baggett !!! Bravo⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Big, clean parking lot with ADA compliant entry ways, clearly marked handicapped parking spots, wide aisles, clean restrooms, quick checkout process, and a really sweet return/exchange policy. I've never run into a customer service problem nor have i ever had an employee who didn't seem happy to help, people notice these things and I'm glad that home depot keeps their employees from the east coast to the west coast on the same standard of practice page. Good...

Update: HomeDepot has apparently changed their policy and have changed their $400/year discount to the former flat-out 10% discount, just like it was before. Consequently, I'm going to change their rating from 1-star back to 5-stars.

However, I will leave my original feedback to provide a historical perspective, just in case things change again.

This review is primarily for their veteran's discount program. This company has been one of the few major corporations that has put their money where their mouth is regarding veteran appreciation, that is until recently. They have given veterans a 10% discount on most items for as long as I can remember. Even their employees were trained to say: "Thank you for your service," when you checked out. It's not as though their words were meaningless rhetoric as their dedication to giving Veterans a discount was unsurpassed. They even created a capability to place online orders with your military discount deducted. Normally, you could only get a discount in the store. Then, suddenly, the pendulum on their veteran discount program swung to the opposite extreme as they capped the veteran discount at $400 per year! That is a complete departure from their previous policy and is an insult to veterans. They would have done better to just cancel the discount program all together, as their general customers save far more than $400/year through sales and promotions. Couple this policy change with their unjustified price increases on every product and their serious lack of inventory and Home Depot has fallen from...