Home Depot — You can do it; we can’t he
byhammerandhand
| Posted in General Discussion on
An interesting post that came up over on Breaktime.
http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Investing/Extra/HomeDepotCEOWeLetYouDown.aspx?GT1=9145
Be sure to follow the links for some interesting reading.
Replies
Hah! The funniest part is the new CEO.
Up here (snowy north), the service is less than abysmal, and I'm told the service is the (positive) model HD aspires to in the US (god help you all).
I bought a ceiling fan there. They don't stock the special lights for it. Only they sell the fan, nobody carries the special lights.
Anyhow, they are paying the former CEO2x what they have committed to improving customer service. Tells yousomething, don't it?
You should try to find the sanding drums to fit the Ridgid spindle sander! I have never seen them in any HD in Canada, and I've been in a bunch of them! You have to buy the full set of spindle discs for the Ryobi sander and, if I remember correctly, that set is missing one of the standard Ridgid. I worked in the hardware section of my local HD for about 18 months and we weren't even able to find the number to order them. I was also told by one of the division marketing types that we wouldn't order them because we had no records of them selling in acceptable quantities. Chicken or egg, right?
Thanks byhammerandhand for the post. Interesting reading. I am, however, afraid that no matter what the new Home Depot CEO is able to accomplish, it will probably not get me back into one of his stores.
I spent a good part of the last three years working full time on renovating our house. There is a HD conveniently located three miles away. There is nothing convenient about waiting in long checkout lines because only one or two of umpteen lines are open; or trying to find nonexistent help in locating an item; or calling ahead to make sure a certain specific item is in stock, only to discover upon arrival that it is the wrong item.
Early on in my project, I went to HD to special order new cabinets for my kitchen. After waiting an extended amount of time while the only salesperson in the area sat at a desk absorbed in a personal phone call, I was finely asked if I needed help. I told the salesperson that I wanted to order kitchen cabinets. Instead of asking me what I wanted to order, she asked me what my budget was. I told her I was not working under a budget and that I just wanted to place an order. She told me that I should go home, figure out how much I could afford to spend, and then come back and talk to her. As I left with my unplaced $7000 order in hand, she was busy getting back on the phone. Now that is customer service!
Woodworking and home improvement projects are something from which I derive great pleasure. Shopping at places like Home Depot (and Lowes….) takes a big chunk of the fun out of it. I’ll gladly trade the convenience of “one stop shopping” for the local lumberyards and specialty shops that generally have what I need and appreciate my patronage.
I am not sure why anyone would be surprised by the quality of HD service.They are a big box store, that business model means thin margins, sketchy quality, underpaid staff, and all that goes with it.To be honest, I wouldn't buy plywood from them, let alone kitchen cabinets. You are better off buying fewer cabinets from a professional shop and getting quality stuff, than trying to stretch your dollar at HD.Glaucon
If you don't think too good, then don't think too much...
Hello Glaucon!
You are certianly correct. I ended up getting my cabinets from a custom shop. It took a long time, and cost twice the price, but was well worth it. However, the best part of it was pi**ing me off enought so I would start shopping somewhere else.
-Nazard
I don't know about that. They used to be amazing, at least up here. You'd have a guy who was a qualified electrician in electrical, a plumber in plumbing, etc.. Now, if anybody is in those departments they are more likely than not a clueless student or bitter adult (equally clueless).
I don't know about your local hardware stores down there, but up here they don't carry much, and a lot of 'local lumber yards' look at non-contractors like something they just stepped in.
Up here, Rona was a 'big box' competitor to HD used to be as bad as HD in customer service as HD is now. Except, I suspect they only hired actual #### as checkout people. Anyhow, I figured the old HD would smoke them, but these guys learned a lesson. Now Rona has excellent customer service, lots of helpful staff, no damned self checkout lines, lots of cashiers, and so on. The only problem they have is they carry a lot of Rona brand merchandise, which is garbage.
I don't think service and size are mutually exclusive. Having good service and a company run by a CEO who is compensated on the basis of quarterly profit, rather than long term company performance, is. And man o man did failure work out for that dude. It always does.
There are all sorts of interesting statistics about "what it costs to keep a customer vs. what it costs to get a customer" and "if you are happy you will tell x people; if you are unhappy you will tell y people." (x<<y)A great example is my local cable company. I got high-speed internet from them. In the three months I had it, I was without service three times for approximately a week each. (I should note that I run a significant part of my business via internet.) The last straw was after waiting four days, a guy comes out, hooks up a meter and says, "Yep, your box is fried. You'll have to call customer service to have someone come out and replace it. They're scheduling into Wednesday next week." "Do you mean you can't replace it?""No, I normally just work on the lines, I don't carry them with me?"
Me: ("Do you mean they sent you out here without any capability to fix common problems???!!!!")"Can I go to the service center (two miles away) and swap one out?""Nope.""Is there anywhere I can go to get one?""You can get one at the billing offices."Call billing office 8 miles away, they say they have them, make a special trip, wait for lady to get off the phone from a personal call."We don't have those, we've never had those."Hello, phone company, can you set me up with a DSL?Also on my PSL for bad service is Sears and Grizzly.you said:
"I am, however, afraid that no matter what the new Home Depot CEO is able to accomplish, it will probably not get me back into one of his stores."
Edited 7/3/2007 5:59 pm ET by byhammerandhand
Great story!
" Also on my PSL for bad service is Sears and Grizzly."
I have not had a single problem with Sears in over 27 years. That's how long its been since I shopped in one.
-Nazard
LOL. I had a similar Sears hiatus but a couple of years ago I decided it was time to give them another try (besides, I needed staples for an old Craftsman staple gun). It took me about three trips. I have a really long fuse.
I bought a Rigid saw at the local HD several months ago. A couple of weeks a go I finally decided to go in to get a zero clearance insert and a dado blade insert. Couldn't find one. The person working in the tool department had absolutely no idea what I was talking about so he spent ten minutes looking for his manager. The manager told me Rigid won't allow them to sell them. I had to go to their web sight.
Fortunately I'm a marginally skilled and equipt wood worker. So I made my own.
ChuckN and I have nothing of value to add to this discussion.
Chuck,
All right man! Way to go.
Now what have you got for a splitter? Drill a hole for a dowell that's just slightly lees width than the blade.
Someone should come up with a riving knife. Where's Sarge when we need him? I'll betcha he can come up with it and make fortune sellin 'em too! Then he can retire and spend more time in da shop. I'll bet that's what he really wants to do.
t's all good you know.Bob @ Kidderville Acres
A Woodworkers mind should be the sharpest tool in the shop!
Our local lumberyard, which has been in business for 97 years, seems to be doing well even with a Home Depot several miles away. The quality of their lumber is noticeably better than HD, the salespeople know what they are talking about, the yard help is courteous, and delivery is free, including on Saturdays. They have built substantial business in cabinets and window and doors. One change in the last couple of years is periodic special sales on Saturdays for cash and credit card accounts (no accounts). What I don't understand is why so many local folks insist on going to HD; it seems to be a herd mentatility.
A close family friend owns the local ACE hardware store. We live in a community of @ 15,000, with the nearest "city" (150,000) being 40 minutes away. When Home Depot came in, he was very concerned, as there was no real competition before that. 2 years later his profits are up almost a full point (they averaged about 5 percent, so that's a big increase). He says that people get fed up with clueless HD workers and convert over. He said that having them and wal mart in town taught him how to buy smarter than he would ever have had to without them, and that because of their overall dismal customer service and crappy products, he will retire much wealthier than he would have with out them having moved to town.As the rule of business goes: There are 3 divisions in a business. customer service, product quality, and low prices. The most you can have is two of the three.HD and walmart get by on one.
You've got it right there. I live in the middle of Iowa where all we have is Menards for anything that is closer than 2 hours away. I hate going in there only to find someone that actually knows something about the tools and products they are supposed to be selling. You can't beat the prices at the cookie "cutter stores". But I believe that you can beat the service.
I must be living on a different planet...........As far as customer service is concerned, my experience with HD over the years has been good, and occasionally outstanding. Menards also runs a flock of stores in this area, and the story there is very different. They are okay in fixing problems, but trying to find anyone with minimal product knowledge is a real struggle. The greater issue with HD, I think, is their pricing strategy. They are competitive on commodity items, but on the smaller stuff, they are way on the high side. For instance, we have a light fixture that takes a specialty bulb which I can buy from Menards for about $1.80. That same bulb at HD is $3.60.********************************************************
"It is what we learn after we think we know it all, that counts."
John Wooden 1910-
Home Depot, and the other "big box" stores fill a niche that most lumber yards and specialty stores do not fill: business hours that fit my schedule. A majority of my woodworking and other projects are done later in the evenings, Saturday afternoons, and on Sundays. If I need something during those hours, I visit one of those stores.
I agree that most of the employees are not that knowledgeable, especially in the newer stores, but I don't go into those stores looking for advice. However, if it's 7:30 on a Saturday evening, and I need three 2x4s or a length of 1x3 oak to finish a project, I'll gladly run there and give them my money.
HD has suffered from the typical short-sightedness of high-level management that is too distanced from the day to day operations to grasp the real problems. Over the years, as floor personnel were cut to the level of Endangered Species, I was frequently frustrated at trying to find anyone to ask questions. And like the majority of people (I believe) I didn't complain to the store manager - I just started shopping elsewhere.
The subject of hiring informed, expierenced staff is the epitome of myopic "bottom line" thinking. "Jeez...we can't pay people the few extra dollors to attract qualified staff. It would bump up our operating costs!!!!" They see the tangible evidence of higher costs, but don't see the loss of business that happens slowly over the long term.
I too have wondered about their not stocking of Rigid parts - like the hook pads for the ROS. They have Porter Cable, but not Rigid. Maybe it's Rigid policy, not theirs...I don't know.
I usually get Kreg screws at Menards but I stopped at HD to get some. When I didn't find them I asked a guy on the tool dept. and he told "Oh, the guys just use drywall screws instead. They're cheaper." Well. they ARE cheaper, but they just don't work - it's easy to drive them too far and pop out the wood over the hole. Maybe that's too arcane for a BORG employee to know, but it did remiond me of the "qualified personnel" issue.
I wonder how many of the top 100 executives at HD have ever swung a hammer, run wire, or sweated tubing, etc. for pay.
Edited 7/4/2007 10:21 am ET by smslaw
Here is the deep south we tend to have HD's right across the street from each Lowes. Customer service is not great at either one in town, knowledge of the materiial is variable depending on who you get, but the hours and prices are great. If I want knowledge I go online, if I want decent lumber I drive several hundred miles, or just go locally with low expectations. Local lumber people don't carry any hardwood but will order it from the same place I can drive to, and local people treat you like dirt unless you are a big contractor.
The local HD people may be dumb as dirt, but at least they all say hello to me when I walk in. I go in with low expectations so when I do get good service I am pleasantly surprised!
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