The Home Depot — Local services in Maine Township

I recently placed an online order through Home Depot, and when it was delivered to my home, I received the wrong items. I contacted customer service and was told to return the items at my local store. I said ok and thought it would be simple, until I got there.

That’s when I had the unfortunate experience of dealing with the store manager, Darryl. Instead of processing the return, he told me that because the items came from different stores, I would have to drive to another town, probably 45 minutes in traffic to return part of my order. Seriously? How is that my problem? The funny part was the items that were delivered to me were even more expensive than what I ordered.

I explained that I would not drive all the way to a different store for something they messed up on. I asked what would happen if I didn’t have a car, or I rode the bus to this store, or if I were disabled? He essentially said it wasn’t his issue. Mind you, I didn’t order from two stores, I ordered online through the Home Depot app. I shouldn’t have to track down where each item came from like I’m on a scavenger hunt. The error was on Home Depot’s end, not mine.

The only reason he finally processed the return was because I got corporate customer service on the phone, who were shocked and said they had never heard of a store refusing an online return. When hearing them on speakerphone say they will call the store did Darryl instantly find a way to do what he should have done from the start. When I asked why I had to go through all of this, and why he said he couldn’t do anything about it, but all of a sudden could? He had no answer.

What made it worse is watching other people return used or damaged items with no issue, while I was being grilled for simply returning something I didn’t even order. What should have taken a few minutes, took a half hour of my time. Darryl’s attitude was dismissive, unhelpful, and just plain rude. Easily one of the worst customer service experiences I’ve ever had. If this is how store managers treat loyal customers, I’ll be shopping elsewhere...

Really disappointed in the tool rental department. Management needs to have a conversation with them. I called in today around 1 p.m. 7/1/20 and was put on hold for a couple minutes and then hung up on, then called back and was put on hold for 20 minutes, finally I hung up and called in as a last effort and someone answered in the rental department. I asked about needing a rental of 2 - 6 foot rolling scaffolding units for approx. 3 days or so. I was told they were in stock, first come first serve. I was told it would be about $150 per unit for the week. I told him we would have a tech on their way to come rent and pick it up soon. They would have made $300 on our rental should it have worked out. However, upon arrival (2 hours later or less) our tech was told oh it's over there and they pointed to basically a stack of disassembled metal bars and parts etc. with no direction. Our tech basically asked what parts, how many etc. and asked for assembly instructions. The rental dept. said they had no idea and again pointed at the stack of materials with no direction. This is unacceptable and horrible customer service! If they didn't know, they need to call someone. How are we supposed to know without direction? What a waste of time and energy. Called a different supplier about a rental and they answered right away, were super helpful and had everything ready for us. Home Depot Rental Department - you really dropped the ball and management needs to hold you...

Pro tip. ONLINE ORDERS

If you order online. Know this... Your order is usually on the sales floor and NOT "picked" by the store's online-sales staff as soon as you hit the enter button confirming your purchase. Call ahead and get someone in "online department" to confirm your item is still available and ask them kindly if they can "pull it" off the sales floor right away and tell them you are on your way to pick it up. Use exact item numbers not a general descriptions, as some products are very similar but have a few different features, (ie patio umbrella, forest green with Led lights built in vs no Led lights (my mistake) boxes looked identical at quick glance) Understanding, that a random customer roaming the floor may grab the item off the shelf before you get there is a possibility. (Its a tough position to put a big box stores in; selling products online that are currently on the sales floor is risky. but its easy to understand that home depot cannot simply place all of their online inventory on shelves in the back warehouse - waiting to be procured.. carrying all that "hope someone orders" inventory is not a feasible business model.. this would simply put the company out of business. Be proactive and communicate with the location (this is important) that has your item. Do not expect a "call center" associate to understand the local store's inventory patterns. This will cause you to...