The Home Depot — Local services in Town of Cicero

One Star – Corporate Exploitation and Personal Injury Cover-Up

Home Depot has some serious problems, both at the corporate level and right inside the store.

First, the corporate issue: Home Depot continues to pay its employees wages that are below what it takes to live independently in this country. Someone working 40 hours a week here can’t afford basic necessities like rent, a car, and modest expenses without government assistance or help from others. Meanwhile, corporate executives and shareholders rake in billions. It’s modern-day exploitation — relying on cheap labor, then pocketing the profits. Store managers, who actually do the hiring, are complicit in this systemic issue.

Now for the store-level incident: I picked up a product that had been placed in a box with the bottom barely taped shut. The item — heavy — fell through the bottom and landed on my foot, breaking a bone. I couldn't walk. I stood there in pain asking for help. Staff eventually showed up, put the item back in the box, and took my information. I asked again — twice — for help exiting the store because I couldn’t walk, and nobody offered anything beyond a clipboard.

They said they’d file an incident report, and eventually, I heard from their third-party insurer, Sedgwick — a company known for dodging claims. Sedgwick pretended they had no idea what happened, said the store hadn’t given them any information, and told me to reconstruct the entire event, down to the second, so they could maybe consider looking at the store cameras. I refused. The store has cameras. The store filed the report. I was injured in their aisle. Yet Sedgwick denied my claim — not because it wasn’t valid, but because I wouldn’t play into their scam.

Home Depot won't take responsibility for causing an injury. They won't pay for time lost at work, medical expenses, or anything else — even when the fault is clearly theirs.

So I’ll be back to the store with invoices — medical bills, lost wages, everything. If Home Depot won’t deal with me through basic decency and accountability, then I’ll find a way to recoup my loss — merchandise for damages.

You don’t treat...

What's the point of being a supplier for local contractors when they refuse to help or even consider an exception to their ridiculous rules? I use the Utica store 95% of the time. I'm in there 2-3 X per day sometimes and I know almost everyone in there. I have a big order to place for a huge reno job and one item is not available online and only the Cicero store has it in stock. I called to see if they could pull the item and offered to pay for it over the phone since my ProXtra credit card is on file. They are supposed to accept phone orders for pros IF there card is on file. They refused to pull the item because, "unfortunately we don't do phone orders". Well, that depends on who answers the phone. I asked if they could at least pull the item for will call so I could pick it up and pay for it when I got there. I didn't want to risk losing the tile I need for the job. She just repeated, that they don't pull phone orders and I could come down and pay for it in person, and THEN they'd pull it for me! I can get it myself if I have to drive down to pay for it. I live over almost hour from that location and wanted to pick it up the next day. Apparently a better client approached her while refusing to help me because she started talking to him while still in the phone with me. Then repeated no phone orders and hung up. I've only ever had to go to the Cicero store once or twice before, thankfully because it was a nightmare then, too. That location is awful! Once I rearrange my day for the 2-hr drive and get my client's material, I won't EVER go to the Cicero store again. Utica is a better store but the lack of consistency within the company is unacceptable. Do better for your pros and customers in...

5/11/19 - UPDATE: I Went to Lowe's AGAIN! Waited in line at the outside garden register to buy 40 bags of mulch. The woman in front of me was solicited by the cashier to open a home depot charge card so she could save $25 on her purchase and she agreed. The cashier then asked for her license as she was going to process the credit application right at the register as the rest of us waited in line. COMPLETELY UNACCEPTABLE! The customer asked if she would holding up the line and the cashier told her not to worry as the other register was open and we (the customers in her line) could go over there. My blood pressure skyrocketed as I went into the other line to begin my waiting process all over again. When I finally reached the cashier and told him how many bags of mulch I wanted he asked me if I already had them loaded on a cart and I told him no, I'm going to load up in the parking lot. He then proceeded to tell me the bags of mulch I wanted were not in the parking lot and located in the back of the garden center and would have to be brought up. I was out of time and patience so I left and went to Lowe's. I was paid, loaded by to associates, and on my way home in 15 min.

Store is a cluttered mess making it a royal pain to navigate with a lumber cart. Looks like a going out of business rummage sale with merchandise piled up on the floor. Went around the...