HOME DEPOT HELL

National Review Online - The Corner ^ | April 20, 2004 | John Derbyshire

[Cincinatus' Wife]

This darn place is going to the dogs. As if the aisle-closing business wasn't bad enough, I have now encountered a new annoyance.

The Home Depot has introduced self-check-out stations. Fair enough, and a convenience, if you have just small items & no complications. However, there are now situations -- I just encountered my second -- where Home Depot employees apparently feel that the self-check-out business relieves them of the need to man check-out stations altogether. If for some reason you can't check yourself out, there may be no regular check-out stations manned. (Personned, whatever.)

I gotta stop using this store.

[Cincinatus' Wife]

[BigSkyFreeper]

Or really confuse the self-check out customers at the home improvement store with the Computer Associates guy that repeats "How much software do you wanna buy?"

[oceanperch]

Despite the influx of the meth heads and transients to our little town I am pretty damn lucky. How many people can say that their UPS man is the husband to the owner of the Local Steak House whose daughters serve me on my respite day out a good grilled steak, I don't cook beef at home I don't like my cooking anymore, unfortunetly the downside is there Gramma/mother in law died in the ICUnit adjacent to KV's unit but it brought us all even more together after that happened.

We are very fortunate to have small family businesses established in our community, everyone is intertwined.

If my plummer has a non plumming problem he calls someone else in the circle who can be trusted.

I guess that is where I choose to spend my money, I don't wear expensive jewelry or do the nails ect.

The other day the plummer came by to fix the guts of a toilet being on a well I can't waste water, we had the machines going and didn't hear him he got worried yelling through the bedroom door with no response, so he went around to the back door of the bedroom to make sure we were ok.

Guinuinly a good guy always waves in town and my son dated his daughter once way back in high school.

[BigSkyFreeper]

HAHA! Woo hoo! Yeah Bush! It's all your fault I got a big tax break'a'coming, my small business is booming, and my wallet is morbidly obese!!

[mewzilla]

I understand why consumers like big box stores. I shop at them, too. But I prefer to use the local folks whenever I can. Though it's getting harder to do. You're right about that circle of trust. And our plumber is worth his weight in gold. And thanks to Algore, his business is overflowing :)

[glock rocks]

Tony Stewart is deeply saddened.

Oh, I know, but with Ward, it would be so much more entertaining to watch the uninitiated...

WARD: Possa stuff thather tray.

CUSTOMER: Huh?

WARD: Possa stuff thather tray.

CUSTOMER: Whaa?

WARD: Yerdun n masha dunbunton.

CUSTOMER: You talking to me?

[Glenn]

You're killing me!

[oceanperch]

Just going thru this thread I have to say we are very fortunate.

In one hour I have to get KV up to go on the road over the mountain range to the big cities and down to EUGENE OREGON! That is little Berkley Colledge town for those not in the know. Can't get a custom made Wheel Chair seating system on the coast or decent health care for that matter.

Everyone travels to the valley for serious health care or hosp. stays.

[oceanperch]

No silly not tin foil the stuff that insulates things with shiny tin foil.

[Jaysun]

I've not been to a Lowe's or Home Depot in my life that has more than 2 people working the registers at any one time. I don't know why in the hell they put 60 of them at the from of the store if they're only going to have two open. If you want decent service you have to get creative. I usually just fake a seizure to draw them in close to me - then I pull out my mace and scare them into checking me out.

[BigSkyFreeper]

Sounds alot like the way the health care system is around here. The nearest decent health care or hospital stay facility is 360 miles away. I swear, as close as I am, and no offense to Canada, with the triple digit mileages to "points of interest", one would get the impression I'm on the edge of the Earth.

[mhking]

Lowe's is not in your market?

They're just across the road from HD in many places around here. Their stores are cleaner, their staff is friendlier/more knowledgable, their stock is (in many cases) more competitively priced...

I prefer them to HD 99% of the time.

[Fighting Irish]

If you'll notice, there's always an cashier ready to assist in the self checkout area.

Also, the self checkout has reduced hours to the store resulting in lower prices to the consumer.

....now stop yer stinkin' belly aching!

[oceanperch]

Yeah and I looked at the orange flapper thing that my plummer put in
and then looked at the ones in Wally World, boy what a piece of crap.

My plummer put in a big beefy real rubber one and the ones at wally world were thin little wafers of cheap plastic/rubber.

Thats not going to do the job.

[Samizdat]

I have a relative who just started working at a Home Depot. This person says they do have help for self checkout but that person is in charge of 4 stations so if someone gets stuck and they start helping them, then the other people have to wait. This person is appalled at the procedures they use even at the in-person checkout. If they accumulate a certain amount at the register, they have to stop right there and send it up to a vault. The customers have to wait while they fill out the proper paperwork. It is very cumbersome and this person is wondering if they want to stay with this company at all.

[isthisnickcool]

The "self-checkout" machines are cool! It means that instead of three people checking you out like they usually do they have three people to help you "self-chekout".

Home Depot has taken this "employee saving" concept even further! Now, they let me restock the shelves and I've been able to water some of the plants in the outdoor area. And it's all free!

I undertand that they will be allowing customers to run various departments soon and even will be giving us keys to the doors so we can open up the store in the morning! It's called "eventual zero employees" plan.

Gotta go! My local Home Depot is having "cutomer's paint stripes on the parking lot spaces day". I don't want to miss that!

[Sloth]

They need to have an option where you can select from a variety of voices, such as the Mr. T voice: "Place the item in the bag, fool! Now git your change! I pity the fool who shops at Lowes!"

I would pay extra for that option.

[TMSuchman]

This why I go to my local hometown hardware store! I may pay a little more, but my money stays local. It also keeps my neighbors in business.

[Michael81Dus]

Ha Ha Ha. :-)

[oceanperch]

The big global companies I have complained to for Med. supplies ect. when my vendor shrugs me off actually keep track of my complaints and how often I complain they told me so and then got ticked at the one vendor for not following up on my complaint.

When I call webtv/msn for dial up problems they also mention if I am a repeat complianer or a legit once in awhile needs service complainer.

So they say, but they do act on complaints if they are legit. In the one instance there was a shortage for the inhalation therapy water that adapts to the mist/02 concentrators.

The Global Company was snippy with me insisting on knowing why were not getting our supply literrally only had four days worth left for weeks at a time. Then the hosp. RPT told me on the sly that I had stirred up the pot pretty good all the way down the ladder, and she said they did get a response there was a contamination issue so they got behind on supply and demand.