[Vanity]Request Input on Dealing with Difficulty Returning a Purchase To Home Depot

me | 6/29/2015 | me

[Roos_Girl]

So we bought a shed from Home Depot. I really despise Home Depot, but the price was right (next shed size up with a door wide enough to meet our needs is 30% more expensive at any shed supply store we looked at) and it was locally available and had a 10 year warranty. The shed we bought was advertised on the HD website as having a 64" wide door opening, which we knew would be tight, but would work for our mower. We bought the shed and material for the foundation with cash. My husband worked for 2 days preparing the foundation and putting the shed together. It is one of the resin ones that kind of snap together. It's a nice enough shed, but after spending the weekend building everything he discovered that the door opening was less than the 64" advertised and the mower won't fit. I called the store and explained everything and the assistant manager told us to take it apart and return it. Well, the snap together stuff doesn't just snap apart. My husband feels that if he tries to take it apart that many of the plastic snaps will be damaged. I could tell I was getting nowhere with the assistant manager and asked to speak to the manager. She never returned my call so I call corporate customer service.

Corporate customer service has basically been a liaison between me and the local store manager. I initially asked that the local store send someone to disassemble the shed. When it was clear I was going to get the runaround I told them I wanted someone to come out and disassemble the shed, an appropriate size shed delivered at no additional cost plus the cost of materials for a larger foundation to fit the bigger shed, figuring that we would negotiate down to some reasonable middle ground. I requested that local come out and inspect the shed, take their own measurements, etc. but they said they could not do that.

It has now been a week of back and forth with the corporate liaison and the store is still at "return the shed in the condition it was purchased". Which means, if we attempt to take it apart and it does indeed break like my husband believes it will we're out a shed and out the money the store should refund us. I spoke with corporate this afternoon and told her I wanted the district manager involved and I felt my next step was file in small claims court, that I hoped it would not have to come to that, but in light of their false advertising and putting all responsibility on us to disassemble a product that was not meant to be disassembled I felt there was not much choice left.

I then offered that we would keep the shed and put it to other use, buy another shed (not from them) and requested they cover the cost of materials for the foundation of the new shed. This is what corporate said she would discuss with the district manager.

Anyone have any good advice or input on how to fairly resolve this?

[cqnc]

The snap together pieces may come apart easily with the direct application of heat from a blow dryer.