The Home Depot — Local services in Winder

In short: The store's refusal to refund a shipping charge for delivering damaged items has left me extremely dissatisfied and frustrated.

The items I received were in terrible condition. It was clear that they had been mishandled during shipping resulting in significant damage to at least 9 of the 8’ cedar boards I ordered. I ended up returning 35 boards total (26 of the 6’ boards and 9 of the 8’) due to their overall quality. Some boards were thicker/thinner than others, small splits, rot, what looked like mold, discoloration, etc.

I usually go to the store and purchase these boards in person. I pick through the pallet of boards and avoid ones that are damaged. However, the 8’ boards I needed for my customer’s project were not available at the Winder store, or any store within a 50 mile radius of me, according to the Home Depot website. The only option I had was to schedule delivery and pay the $79 delivery fee.

On July 12th, I loaded up all the damaged items and drove them to the Winder store, which is the store closest to my home. The associate who was handling my return advised that I needed to speak to “.com” about the delivery fee as the store cannot do anything. I received a refund for the items I returned and left. I called Home Depot customer service to request a refund for the associated shipping charge, but the representative I spoke to told me since this order was shipped from a store, I’d have to go to the store to get a refund for the shipping. Total runaround.

I drive back to the Winder store and relay that “.com” contradicted what I was told initially, but the store manager adamantly refused to refund the shipping charge. Michael told me, and I quote, “You can go cry about it to corporate. I’m not refunding you $79 because 9 of your boards were damaged”.

I asked if I was being treated this way because I’m young. He threw his hands up and said, “I’m not doing this with you. Get out of my store.” Just like that. I called him a piece of sh*t (poor choice of words, I know) and was told that he was calling the police because I cursed at him. I waited outside while on the phone with my wife for about 15 minutes for the police to arrive. They never did. I walked back in the store just enough to ask if they were on the way (I was standing in between the two sets of double doors). The manager rolled his eyes and said, “I don’t know, buddy.” I said, “OK well I’m waiting outside and it’s hot. Did they give you an eta?” He replied with, “You can wait outside all day for all I care.” And then started to approach me.

I asked him not to step closer to me and backed up a few feet. He ignored me and followed me outside into the parking lot. I asked him again to get out of my face to which he responded with, “What are you going to do? Hit me? Hit me! Hit me!”. A grown man. A store manager. This is unacceptable and honestly a bit unbelievable. If you can’t interact with customers without escalating situations or without antagonizing them, you shouldn’t hold that position. I’ve never in my life been talked down to, mocked, and threatened like this. All over $79 when I’ve spent THOUSANDS on my Home Depot credit card since 2014.

Luckily for me, Home Depot extends their return policy to a year for purchases made on their credit card. I’ve been able to gather roughly $500 in product (including tools and hardware) from the past year to return. Funnily enough, I had zero problems closing my credit card over the phone. That department didn’t even care to ask why!

In conclusion, I strongly advise against shopping at Home Depot - especially the Home Depot in Winder. Save yourself the headache and shop where your satisfaction is valued. Also, be sure to steer clear of Michael Emeneker who will throw a temper tantrum like a 4-year-old and misuse emergency services the second you have any kind of...

Home Depot at Carl Bethlehem “was” my go to store due to convenience and previously positive experiences. But, after my last interaction with this store I will no longer shop here and waste my time.

On August 22, a relative purchased a Home Depot gift card for me for my birthday. The balance on the gift card was $100. I later went to Carl Bethlehem store site to redeem my gift card. Like normal did my shopping collected all of my items and put them in the basket. I went to the register with my gift card to make my purchase. But, the pin number was not on the back of the card. I was sent to customer service where one of the employees called to retrieve the pin number. She said that this has been a reoccurring issue. She asked if I wanted to Continue shopping and wait for a response for the pin. I was in a hurry that day, so I put my belongings back that I was ready to purchase. She told Me to leave my number with her and would call me later with the pin number. All this occurred on August 25.

Today September 13, I returned back to the store with the pin number that the previous employee had given me on August 25. I went around, did all my shopping and made my way to the register. Surprisingly, the card had been used and had a zero balance. After investigating, it appears that someone used the card with an online purchase on September 5.

(Now I’m not an expert when it comes to gift cards, but I do know that you have to have the pin number and the card number in order to use the card)

Feeling relieved I saw the same lady that helped me the first time with my pin number. When she saw me, she said hey, I remember you. I explained to her what was going on and surprisingly she rattled off the pin number to the card. I replied yeah that’s it. She said that The only reason she remembered the information was because she had the picture of the card and the pin number still in her phone and that she had just deleted it.

The main store manager came over to assist. I explained to the store manager all the events that occurred leading up to this point. That I had not used the card. His words that he chose to use were, “Well the money is no longer there and I don’t know if you used it or not”, which to me implies that I am lying about the situation. WOW! Very poor choice of words coming from the “Store Manager”. He then offered to apply a $50 discount to my purchase and said I can meet you halfway. Which to me felt like you spit in my face by implying that I was lying and then said hey let me help you wipe that spit off with a napkin. I declined the offer for obvious reasons.

The fact is there was only three parties that had the card number and the pin. Two of those parties worked for Home Depot. The third-party was myself. At the end of the day, I will take that situation on the chin and chalk it up to a loss. This was a very poor experience and misuse of trust. $100 is $100 no biggie. I still had a great birthday. I just didn’t like how the situation was handled and I would advise my fellow consumers to be careful with gift card purchases especially if something genuinely goes wrong this is how it could be handled. The store manager may imply that you’re a thief or a liar and you’re...

Heartless! Heartless! Heartless! Today, I had a very off-putting experience at my local Home Depot (Winder #6979). First, a little back story: some years ago, when shopping at the same store in the garden center, a little old lady told me her secret about buying dirt for her vegetable garden each year. I asked the cashier about it, and she confirmed it was so. If you find bags were busted open or ripped open, they will give a discount of 50% per bag. So, for the past three years at Spring, I have been buying them at my local store in Winder and other locations near my home, with last weekend being the first time this year. However, when I returned to the Winder location today to pick up a few bags to top off my raised bed garden, an employee approached me and asked me what I was doing. I told him I was picking up the busted bags of dirt to purchase them at a discount, some of which were sitting to the side of the pallets where customers had placed them, not wanting to buy an open bag. He asked me who told me that, and when I told him that the cashier had a long time ago, in a tone that sounded as if he owned the store, he said to me that this was the last day I would be allowed to buy them and that he will no longer be selling busted bags at all. So, I asked him who he thought would pay the full price for a bag that was not full in some cases and had the contents spilling out, but he gave me no reply. As I continued my hunt for bags down the rows, I overheard him tell one of the employees that after today, they would no longer be allowed to sell open busted bags at a discount and that, from this point on, they were to throw all the bags away that had ripped or tears in them. Since I was within hearing distance of him loudly pronouncing this while I was still there, I asked him why waste something that could be used and why it would not be better to make some money as opposed to losing money by throwing it away as no one wanted to pay full price for them. He responded that he decided to make it. After he walked away, I spoke with the employee to ask who he was, seeing that he never introduced himself. She told me he was the manager ( Mike) but did not know how long he had worked there. She even found it peculiarly strange that he reacted the way he did and felt it was a waste of something that could have been used. What is the corporate policy on discounting damaged products, or is this just the manager's discretion? In times like this, when inflation is eating us all alive, I hope to grow a little of my food to help get by. How does it look that you would rather throw supplies away that I could Purchase and use to help feed my family? I hold two Home Depot credit cards and have used them a lot, but after this experience, I will use my...