The Home Depot — Local services in Minneapolis

You know those customer surveys you never fill out? I just filled out mine. They asked how they could improve, and here's what I wrote.

How to improve: Find a friendlier and more human way to deal with shoplifters Teach your people how to be genuinely helpful

Let me paint a picture: It's getting dark as I pull into the parking lot about 6pm. I've got my wife and our 5 little kids with me. We're pulling the trailer because we need to get some plywood. The first thing we see in the parking lot is the ominous, glowing lights and eyes of the mobile surveillance unit. I comment to my wife, "Doesn't feel warm and fuzzy, does it?" I haven't even put the car in park when a police cruiser glides by in front of us, the cop looking around intently. I start to wonder if we've come to the wrong part of town.

Inside, there's a guy who helps me find the hammer drill I'm looking for. Of course it's under lock and key, because shoplifters. He unlocks it, then asks me if I'm ready to check out. No, I still have things to look for. He's apologetic -- can't give me the drill, because shoplifters. I ask him if the problem is really that bad. He says, oh, it's bad everywhere. He tells me he'll leave the drill with the cashier.

As I go on to shop, I notice the uniformed Minneapolis cop seated on a high seat overlooking the cash registers, presumably because shoplifters. I start to think about how much extra I'm paying for my items to cover all this security...

Over in lumber, it doesn't take terribly long to find a guy to help me load 6 pieces of plywood onto a cart. They're not heavy, but I've got the baby on my back. I ask him if there's any chance he can help me load them into the trailer in the parking lot. "Oh just ask at the register and they'll get someone to help you," he answers confidently.

At the cash register I surprise myself by remembering that I came to buy a hammer drill. I ask the cashier. He has no idea what I'm talking about. He waits patiently while I go walk around to find the cashier who was entrusted with the drill. The 5 kids are not so patient. Then I ask the cashier if someone can help me in the parking lot. "Sure," and he calls on the intercom.

I step to the side and wait with my 6 sheets of plywood and 5 kids. Two minutes, three minutes... kids are pretty antsy. I ask the cashier how long it might take. He gives me a look of resignation, "Oh they usually don't come when we call."

Given that, I go on out to the parking lot. My 8 year old is pretty sturdy and happy to help me load. Even with no gloves for either of us and a baby on my back, we finish with no splinters.

All in all,...

We ordered our cabinets here after sitting down with a “kitchen specialist.” We were told they would take about a month to come in from the vendor and were given a promise date for delivery to the store. I could see the order online and that is was pending for weeks which seemed fishy to me, so I called and asked about that and was just told they would arrive on the delivery date. On that day we came to the store and no one could tell us where our cabinets were and we were sent home with no answers. The following day I made about 15 phone calls to this location because I was being transferred from person to person and being given no answers and even hung up on so finally I demanded to speak with the general manager. He then informed me that our order was cancelled by the vendor and we were never contacted. This negligence set our project back over a month and although we were told we would be given other options and it would be fixed, we never were and ended up purchasing them elsewhere. I was given so much attitude by multiple staff members that were treating me like I was just crazy, when in fact our order had never even been filled. I was told multiple times through this entire process that someone would follow up with me and no one ever did, except for the GM to tell me the order was never filled from the beginning. I was also told by that same “kitchen specialist” that Home Depot does not sell butcher block counter tops, when in fact they do. During the time we thought our cabinets were on the way, we also ordered butcher block countertops online and had them delivered to our home. They did arrive but all three pieces had cracks and chunks missing from them. We have repaired them ourself and didn’t even bother trying to complain or return them at this point because we know nothing will be done on Home Depot’s end. All around their customer service is non existent and their staff members are extremely undertrained and misinformed! We refuse to shop at Home Depot anymore and have found other great locally owned places to help us with our renovation. They are just another massive corporation that cares about...

Less than zero. Do not special order any product whatsoever from this company. We special ordered an exterior door back in August 2021 - IT'S STILL NOT INSTALLED as of May 19, 2022. After numerous promises of delivery only to be delayed weeks and months every time we inquired, they finally called to say the door was ready for installation on April 26, 2022. With bated breath we awaited the arrival of the installer with our new door. We disassembled parts from our old door to re-use elsewhere the morning installation was scheduled. Yay! Installer arrived with the door on April 26, finally! HOWEVER, after mulling for a half hour he informed us that the opening had been measured wrong and parts were not going to fit. Mind you, WE HAD HOME DEPOT PERFORM THE ORIGINAL MEASURMENTS to make sure it was done properly to order the custom door. Back to the store went our new door. I specifically verified with the installer that he was going to relay the information to the proper people at Home Depot to get the proper sill plate on order, which was the issue. THREE MORE WEEKS went by and we didn't hear from anyone about rescheduling the installation. So I called the store - NOBODY KNEW ANYTHING. I had to wait two more days for someone to call me back only to tell me that they just that day, May 19, had ordered the replacement sill plate - not three weeks prior when the installer had taken my door back to the store. We've been given a new installation date of the end of June, two months short of when we ordered the door. I received ZERO acceptable explanation as to why the sill plate wasn't ordered when the installer took the door back to the store. If it had been ordered at that point, we could have possibly had a door installed by now. I requested to be refunded the entire cost of the door - over $1000 - so we could find a reputable company to order from and install a new door. They will not refund our money and will not discuss any kind of monetary compensation until AFTER the door is installed, which at this point may be NEVER.

MASSIVE FAILURE ON...