Wierd Home Depot exp

[thestinker]

Well went to go pick up tile and electrical stuff for the addition last night and planned on buying around 500 to 800 dollars worth of stuff. Got to thinking about all the other stuff I had bought over the past few weeks ( a couple of grand worth of stuff) and wonderd over to the service desk and inquired about getting 10 % off my purchace. Something I had done once before when I was remodeling the kitchen. The sales lady was very nice and said she couldn't do it. So, I asked if there was a manager here could approve it? She picked up the phone, called on over, I gave him the spiel and showed him some of the card recipts from the past few weeks and he also said no. I just told him that seemed kind of strage because on large purchaces in the past home deopt and lowes had done this. He, very politely, said, "well we dont...if Lowes will perhaps you should go there." ....... "You actualy want me to go to Lowes and spend several hundred dollars in 1 prucahce rather than spend it in your store?" The manerger replied, "I guess so." Kind of befuddled I wondered over a few feet, called the Lowes that was a couple of miles down the road, asked them the same question and they said " come on down and I'm sure we can work something like that out no problem." So 2 hrs later I checked out from Lowes spending almost 700.00$$ I told the cashier what the people at Home Depot had said and they couldn't believe that they let a customer walk out of the store under those conditions...that they will just about always know 10% off at the register just for the customer asking....especialy if they are spending over 2 or 3 hundered dollars. I'm not mad at the home depot, I will be going there today to pick up a Ryobi impact driver, I just thought that was kind of wierd.

Stinker

[Stormbringer]

Thanks for posting the experience Stink. Never thought to just ask. Usually on large purchases I futz around with expired moving coupons.

BTW, have you posted any pictures showing the kitchen remodel. We'll be doing the same in about a year or so and I'm in the gathering info stage.

Thanks,
Greg

[crokett]

I think I'd call the district manager for HD and tell your story. That manager shouldn't be a manger if customers aren't important.

[mschrank]

With the way Home Depot treats it's customers as of late, I wouldn't necessarily classify this as a "wierd experience." More like "business as usual."

I'm about to start a kitchen remodel, and have vowed to purchase items from Home Depot only as my very last resort (i.e, product is not available anywhere else).

I live in a small town, the nearest HD is about a half-hour drive away. When they opened up, I decided I wouldn't go there unless they could beat the local lumberyard/hardware stores by 10-15%. Most times they can't...and they've never had anywhere near as good customer service.

[TheRic]

I think I'd call the district manager for HD and tell your story. That manager shouldn't be a manger if customers aren't important.

Plus one on that. If you are treating customers like that now, what will be next?!

[cabinetman]

When I go to HD, I usually wear full combat gear and ask for a discount. If I'm in street clothes, and don't get the discount, I'll stand about 2' from the counter and hold up some products and yell "rape".



"I'M NEVER WRONG - BUT I'M NOT ALWAYS RIGHT"

[thestinker]

Stormbringer- No I havent posted any, but I can dig some up in the next few days. I did that remodel a couple of years ago. My wife said she was going to write a letter listing what we bought, and what the aprox total was just to let them know about the sale they missed.

Riley

[SHADOWFOX]

I think I'd call the district manager for HD and tell your story. That manager shouldn't be a manger if customers aren't important.

I agree 100%. I was in a similar situation a couple of years ago with different retail stores (officemax and staples) I called the district manager and got a $100.00 complementary gift card in the mail from officemax. Although I had to fax a copy of the receipt of what I spent at Staples.

[WoodButcher26]

I think I'd call the district manager for HD and tell your story. That manager shouldn't be a manger if customers aren't important.

Been there, done that. They really don't care, either. Got a nice little canned reply that basically said "Thank you for your business, if we can do anything to assist you in the future, don't hesitate to call." ...where do you think district managers come from? They're just managers who didn't make any waves.

Now, about $2000 later, haven't returned to a BORG since and will be buying all the supplies for my upcoming remodeling project somewhere else. I hope that a BORG management member is reading this about now and cringeing. I mourn the death of customer service.

[thestinker]

Update

Well went to a different HD today to pick up the ryobi impact driver, bateries, charger ect...and asked them what their policy was as far as someone making a large purchace and getting a % off. The lady was real nice but said she didn't know. She called someone and they said no, but call the pro desk and ask them. They also said no. I told here about 2 years ago, I bought about 2000.00 buck worth of stuff for my kitchen and they gave me a 10% off coupon out of their smock like it was no big deal at all. She said she had only worked there 9 months, but she had never seen or heard of the coupon book I spoke of, but she urged me to take the online survey on the bottom of my recipt, and voice that on the survey. She was real nice about it...and she didn't understand why a % off for purchaces such as mine was not given, and she couldn't believe that when I mentioned lowes why it even went further...its 10% vs the bonus the store gets, and the sale and all the wonderful stuff that goes along with selling stuff. Plus it keps me as a happy customer who will not only come back HD, but back to that store. Any way, Lowes is rapidly becoming my favorite of the 2 stores, and if they ever get rid of the ryobi line, I will have very little reason to go there anymore.

Riley

[Ed62]

A few years ago, I built a 16X27' addition to out home. I bought framing material from a local lumber yard instead of the big box places because of better quality material. The first time I went in to talk to them, they told me they would give me 10% off, without my even asking. I think this brought the price down lower than what I would have paid at the big box places.

As far as discounts goes, I have not had a reason to ask for a discount at the big box places. In our area, we have Lowes, Home Depot, and Menards. Of the three, I've found that Home Depot has the most knoweldgeable people working the aisles. Menards and Lowes are *very* lacking in this part of customer service. Half the time, I wonder if they can even read a tape measure!

Ed

[scorrpio]

More people are going DIY route, meaning HD's get more and more customers - cause that's where DIYers go. So they try to maximize profit. However, as DIYers get smarter, they look for alternaives, and turn to pro supply houses - including online ones. And supply houses seem to be getting friendlier to the smaller guy. Especially if this guy has a large project and wants to buy in bulk.