Is Home Depot shafting customers?

[Nancy Laird]

Interesting article on MSN today:

http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Investing/Extra/HomeDepotShaftingShoppers.aspx?GT1=9215&wa=wsignin1.0

I personally won't go to Home Depot unless they have something I can't find elsewhere. Still can't figure out why their parking lots are always so full.

Nancy

[Steve Schoene]

More important to me than finding store personnel, is what they do to the quality of the merchandise. Two by's where 75% of the stack contain the pith and aren't suitable for building dog houses. Plumbing figures where quality inards are swapped out for "just as good" but cheaper by the factories who what the business. Plate joiners with different motors than the OEM uses for the rest of his production. I think at one time lower prices could come from efficiencies in purchasing and stocking the stores, now it comes from making the products cheaper--in the perjorative sense of that term. Oh, well. But at least in my neck of the woods (Connecticut) the really high quality lumber yard is opening new locations.

[Robert McGowen]

I started to look to see if I had actually written the article after reading it! I spend probably an hour a week total waiting for someone to cut plywood on the panel saw there. (Several trips a week) The only reason to go to Home Depot is if you want the cheapest price (and sometimes product) and are retired with nothing to do but stand around. I started buying a trailer load of plywood at a time from a regional lumber yard (McCoy's). It costs about $.60 per sheet more, but I figure I make 10 times that in personal time savings.

[Joe Pelonio]

I'll still go there now and then, but I also go during the week by about 7am, before it's busy. Rarely do I have to wait in line to pay. Now at that hour you'd better not have a question or need something cut because it will be really hard to find help.

Our Lowe's is no better on customer service unless you are buying a washer fridge, or stove. They always seem to have people there, but not in plumbing or lumber.

[Glenn Clabo]

Still can't figure out why their parking lots are always so full. Nancy
Nancy,
After the Challenger tragedy there was a phrase use to explain these kinds of things. It's called "Normalization of Deviance". It happens in many industries these days...and mine is not excluded.:eek: :mad:
It happens when over a long term individuals or teams (and then customers?) repeatedly accept a lower standard of performance until that lower standard becomes the “norm”. It begins when the acceptance of the lower standard because the individual/team is under pressure (budget, schedule, etc.) perceives it will be too difficult to hold to the expected standard. Their intention may be to revert back to the higher standard later but because they get away with it they then fail to see their actions as deviant.
We see this in many areas of our lives...mostly customer service...but mostly...like HD...it's just an aggravation. Think about what's happening behind the scenes in important areas. Was that bridge you're about to cross designed based on cost and schedule? :eek: Is that plane maintained based on need or schedule? :eek: Scary isn't it...

[David G Baker]

If I owned any stock in HD I would get rid of it as soon as possible. What you experience at the bottom of the food chain is generally reflected all the way up to the top. Example: Wards! Approximately 10 or so years ago I spent a couple of hours waiting at Wards for a truck to be unloaded that had a special order of mine. In that time I observed several Ward employees and how they treated the customers they came into contact with. It reminded me of stories that I have read about Russia. Also the inefficiency of their system, it was pathetic. Within a few months Wards was out of business.
My experiences with HD for the past 10 years have been very similar. There are exceptions in some cities but the 5 or so HDs that I have shopped at rate very poorly in employee behavior, stocking, poor quality of goods and overall attitude.
Commercial customers have had to wait over an hour to get a forklift operator to load their large purchases. Time is big money for them.
Two weeks ago a Menard's opened up approximately two miles from HD and the HD parking lot is no longer so heavily populated with customer cars. Should be an interesting to watch over the next several months.
David B

[Matt Meiser]

Sounds like all of my interactions with Home Depot over the past few years. We bought windows and doors there about 1-1/2 years ago. I probably spent 10-15 hours on that before everything was made right. Since then I've shopped there maybe 2-3 times. Most recently I was in the store 45 minutes to get a 32" piece of pipe (Lowes was out of what I needed.)

[Mark Cothren]

The problem with the HD in my town is that the items on the shelves are never organized worth a flip. It is impossible most times to find what you are looking for (even for the employees). And the most important thing to me is that the I have yet to talk to but one person (an elderly gentleman who only worked there a short time) who knew anything about what I asked (I had lots of electrical and lighting questions when I was building my shop).

They have about 8-10 registers to check out customers, but I have never seen more than 2 - and most of the time 1 - of them in use. So you ALWAYS have to wait in line to pay and get out.

Our Lowe's is a MUCH better store!

[Jeffrey Fusaro]

i am really starting to resent america's love affair with the "big box" mentality.

it doesn't matter if it's building materials, electronics, or whatever. they are all the same.

unless you know EXACTLY what you need when you enter, you are done for.

intelligent, meaningful assistance is virtually gone.

i used to be a big orange fan. not so much anymore.

the store here in town was usually filthy and the shelves were in a dis-array.

the local red box is better. but, you still need to know what you are doing before you enter.

i find that more often than not, i know more about "how" and "what" than the person i am asking for assistance.

so my questions usually start with "where is..."

another thing that i have noticed about big orange is the ridiculous number of stores that they have opened in the last several years.

are they trying to compete with seven-eleven, or what?


in contrast....

a few years back, i was on a two week business trip in mexico. while there, i needed to rework a few plywood shipping crates that a local vendor provided.

i asked one of my co-workers to take me to the lumber yard to get some 2 x 4's so we could reinforce the containers.

when we got to the lumber yard i was totally blown away by the fact that they had NO dimensional lumber.

EVERYTHING was rough cut planks, ranging from 2" thick and up.

the sawyer MADE us a few dozen 2 x 4's by cutting down and planing 2" x 14" x 20' rough-cut planks.

i forget what we paid for them, but they weren't very expensive.


a few months back, one of the guys from our plant in mexico came to the u.s. for a visit.

while we were driving around, we drove past big orange.

he pointed and told me that big orange had just opened a store in his town in mexico.

D-OH! :eek:

[J D Thomas]

This is my method of dealing with Home Cheapo and Lowes. Get there early, and get out. I call it 'stealth shopping'. The few times I do need to ask for assistance, I can usually find it. But I too agree 100% with the tone and content of the article. And it's not just the borgs. It's everywhere.

[John Hain]

I used to go to home depot for 2 things: Plants/Flowers and Wood.

Their wood selection is so damn poor lately (over the past 2 years) that I only go for one thing.

My advice would be to actually stock wood on the shelves that can be used for something besides framing.

I'm probably in the minority of their customers.

[Mike Circo]

On the positive side, American capitalism allows an option. When one business falters, usually another can succeed.

My local Menards is great. Stopped by with a friend just to look at laminate flooring. We gawked at selection for a few minutes when a young kid (looked high school to 20ish at best) came over to check on us. My lady friend started grilling him with questions. I fully expected a deer in the headlights look from this young buck. BUT HE CAME THROUGH. He answered every question with confidience, clarity and obvious knowledge. Gave us handouts on manufacturers, installers and warrenties. What a pleasure.

The store is clean, bright and well organized. The people always are available and seem nice. Returns are quick and pleasant. I NEVER to to Home Depot any longer even though Menards is 4 miles further away.

[Carroll Courtney]

I don't care for them and be glad when they go bankrupt:o The quality is cheap w/above prices. Exp. I purchase a door skin that was 24"X70" I think,well it was at 19.00.About a yr. ago it was 8.00.Well I went back later and walk past hollow core doors and the doors were 30.00 Birch ply is at 37.00 or so warp and layer will seprate.I would pay 45.00 for birch if it was of good quality like they use to carry about 5yrs ago.Plywood fro china(CHEAP and it shows)

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

Plumbing figures where quality inards are swapped out for "just as good" but cheaper by the factories who what the business. [...] Plate joiners with different motors than the OEM uses for the rest of his production.


Is this true??

[Nancy Laird]

We've had issues with our local HD - we have three or four of them. We also have three or four Lowe's. HD and Lowe's are about a mile apart but 5 miles from our house. We always go to Lowe's; their customer service is better. For example. About a month ago we decided to replace all of our locksets in the house for levers rather than knobs. We had done some of them about a year ago, but wanted everything keyed alike. Went to Lowe's, spent $900.00 (!) on new locksets - levers, deadbolts, passage sets, and privacy sets. The local Lowe's was short a couple of deadbolts, so they sent to one of the other stores for the shortage, and had them all keyed alike inside of two hours.

On the other hand, I've run into problems in the tool department at Lowe's with "attendants" not knowing what's in stock. It's the big box mentality - the people who work there are just attendants, not helpers. WalMart, CostCo, Sam's, HD, Lowe's--they are all the same.

Nancy

[Nancy Laird]

We've had issues with our local HD - we have three or four of them. We also have three or four Lowe's. HD and Lowe's are about a mile apart but 5 miles from our house. We always go to Lowe's; their customer service is better. For example. About a month ago we decided to replace all of our locksets in the house for levers rather than knobs. We had done some of them about a year ago, but wanted everything keyed alike. Went to Lowe's, spent $900.00 (!) on new locksets - levers, deadbolts, passage sets, and privacy sets. The local Lowe's was short a couple of deadbolts, so they sent to one of the other stores for the shortage, and had them all keyed alike inside of two hours.

On the other hand, I've run into problems in the tool department at Lowe's with "attendants" not knowing what's in stock. It's the big box mentality - the people who work there are just attendants, not helpers. WalMart, CostCo, Sam's, HD, Lowe's--they are all the same.

Nancy