Overall, I am very satisfied with Home Depot. Everything is easy to find (once you learn the layout of the store) and they almost always have what you want in stock. I buy all my major appliances there because they are sure to have plenty of replacement parts for years to come. For example, I tuned up my lawn mower recently and had no problem getting the right spark plug and air filter, etc., even though I bought the grill about 7 years ago!
The employees there are always pleasant. Maybe not as friendly as Wal-Mart but then again, the Home Depot people have it much tougher because customers are more demanding and have many more questions to ask about a specific product than at Wal-Mart.
I should also mention that during the winter, I bought a sump pump that was defective. I used the sump pump for nearly two weeks before the defect became apparent (the motor burned out). When I brought it to Home Depot for exchange, I figured they would give me a hard time about it being that I used it for two weeks and they might even accuse me of running it dry. But no questions asked. They gave me a brand new pump right away.
You're lucky you got good service. But in essence you were using a manned check out line.
Don't get me wrong, I'm upset because I have spent many hours and thousands of dollars at HD and I hate to see it going to the dogs.
Maybe that's why my grill won't light -- no spark plug! Just razzin' you.