The Home Depot — Local services in Leesburg

I'm writing this review in leiu of a customer service survey because of an incident that I witnessed today (10/31/2020). A few years ago, I was unfairly demoted because of Karens behaving like this, and I don't want to see it happen to anyone else who works in customer service.

Today I was at the customer service desk, picking up two seperate orders of cans of paint. In spite of Covid, the line was fairly short and it was obvious that the employees were working hard to meet customer demands.

ENTER KAREN. This short, brown haired woman has the look of someone who has never been told no in her life- those of you who live in this area know what I'm talking about- the stay at home mom with the rich husband who hasn't worked in 20 years, much less in customer service. She's in front of me, and I honestly didn't notice her until she started snapping at an employee (Natasha) except for the fact that she stepped BEHIND the plastic divider meant for employees safety to show her the transaction on her phone.

I stepped up to my own register to be greeted by Jaimie, who saw my pictures of my godkids on my phone and immediately started gushing with me about them while also getting things handled on my order while chatting with me with a smile on her face (absoulte jem, 5 stars just from her alone). At some point during my conversation with Jaimie, Assistant Manager Ariel has been summoned (classic Karen, demanding to see the manager) and she's slowly raising her voice about a card error. It's now clear enough that I can hear what is going on- and it's an error I have seen before. The card has incorrectly charged the woman's credit card a second time. The manager is trying to explain to her that, based on their receipt and the record of the transaction on the computer, Karen was only charged once. She's demanding a full refund of the item, waving her phone and a piece of paper around. Ariel calmly explains to her that this is not an issue with their system, it's an issue with her bank, and that calling them should be able to get it resolved. Karen then proceeds to slam her purse back onto the countertop, snapping at the two people trying to help her that she's been through this before with the bank (proof to me that the issue is with her bank and NOT with HD), and that her last refund took 6 months to get, and it's all because of a mistake YOU PEOPLE MADE. To my relief, Ariel defends Natasha, saying outright "No ma'am, it is not not." She then starts in on the "This will be the last time I shop here" rant and proceeds to storm out, with Ariel calling after her without a shred of malice in his voice to have a wonderful day.

I want to commend Ariel on his behavior here. Employees are at their honest to God best when they feel supported and, to some degree, protected by a manager, particularly when they have done nothing wrong themselves. I don't know what the home depot policy is on this, but it is also important to me as a customer that Ariel hung around long enough to help out where he could. It demonstrates excellent leadership and is a commendable quality in a manager. If this is how HD teaches the management to treat their employees, it has ensured that I will return as a customer.

I also want to commend Natasha for not loosing her mind, and going right back to work as though nothing had happened, and not seeming even remotely frustrated by the next customer that approached her. After an incident like that, I won't lie, I would have needed a moment or two just to process the sheer stupidity of what had just happened, and maybe smack a pillow. But she handled it like a pro, waving the next customer up without a thought. I'm sure this is normal in customer service to some degree, but I believe that it is worth mentioning when it is witnessed, because it demonstrates a strength of character that few people possess.

Five stars specifically to Jaimie, Natasha and...

My husband and me love Home Depot and we recently moved to Leesburg and to our surprise Home Depot Leesburg turns out to be NOT THE BEST option. We are just homeowners, not contractors, but every time we go (afternoons, evenings), there is no people attending, very few staff or different reasons that has lead my husband to say "l hate this HD".

Last Thursday l went to buy paint for my street light and l specified to NAHID (Middle-east looking lady at paint department) that l needed a paint or spray for metal that gave a smooth look to the metal instead of a sandy look, so she gave me Behr spray and she stated that if it looked sandy l would just have to paint 2-3 layers. WELL, EXACTLY OPPOSITE TO WHAT SHE SAID, the spray looked all sandy, NO SMOOTH AT ALL and l painted 3-4 times. Since this was a street light, I was ok with it.

On Friday, l came back again to HD to buy paint but this time for my mailbox, there was a 50-ish gentleman and he again suggested Behr and a specific brush. HORRIBLE! ...Yesterday evening l painted just one side of my mailbox, the brush was terrible and the paint strokes were so visible, brushes marks and l decided just to stop and come back today to return the paint and brush.

This morning l went to HD to return the paint and a very kind latino guy told me that although the paint is not returnable, the staff at Paint Department could authorize it. So NAHID was there, l explained it and the she changed her attitude after my explanation and she said "Read it, this is not returnable", so l again explained what the guy in Returns said, so she goes " I am not going to authorize anything it is not returnable..." l immediately interrupted her and asked for a Manager, so she replies "You go and look for him". She was beyond nasty and rude. I ran into 3 gentlemen and one of them, Cesar was the Manager, l explained the situation and he was so kind and apologetic about Nahid attitude, he then wrote a note for Returns department authorizing the refund, l walked by the Paint (l had to) section and from far away l showed the authorization to this lady Nahid so she yells at me "something" and l whispered, "no worries, l reported you already" and here she goes again yelling "THANK YOU!".

Really? Is this the way you expect an associate to talk to a customer? And specially from a lady that looks 50 ish or 60 ish? she is not a kid! but she acts like one! Is this really what we need nowadays with some much going on in the world?

I GIVE UP! NO MORE HOME DEPOT LEESBURG.

Now l...

TERRIBLE ANDERSEN & HOME DEPOT PARTNERSHIP EXPERIENCE!!!!!

When I filled out the "Get a Quote" wizard, on Andersen Windows/Doors Website it matched me with Home Depot as my only option for what I needed. However, going through Andersen's find a dealer zip code search, click what i'm looking for and I'm offered 84 lumber and other retailer/installers as options all providing sales/service and certified Andersen installers. I didn't know any better initially so when I was matched with HD, I contacted them as the impression given was that HD is an exclusive residential installer. WHAT A FREAKING NIGHTMARE! what I discussed with Nate on the HD/Anderson partnership team in GREAT detail and sent pictures of is not what the measuring tech was sent out to measure for. Steve came out to measure only to tell me HD can't sell me an Anderson Door, only a storm door. WHAT?!? I paid HD $40 non refundable fee, usable toward my purchase and now they can't give me what Nate and I discussed AT LENGTH. Steve says this happens all the time, the sales team he says are bufoons and even told me to tell Nate he should change careers to being a hair dresser. Nice. Yet, the only choice given was HD to work with and now I can't get my damn $40 back. It's only $40 but still, It's the principal and time waste now. I had hoped for professional guidance, expertise and installation but what I got was deceit with an attempt at bait-n-switch in a team that obviously cannot communicate. Why HD is clearly favored by Andersen on its website over all other retailer/installers is mind bending....