"Yeah, I've done some crappy work but then I've also had to pay for some crappy work to contactors who drive fancy new detailed F-350s. I suspect these contractors knew I didn't have the time or cash to chase them down with lawyers to get the job done right. "
You uncovered the second part to this Home Depot nation.
It isn't only homeowners that have come to believe they can do anything, now there is a large number of pickup truck, contractors that know about as much as a handy weekender (they shop at Home Depot too).
I have come to hate Home Depot and the cheap materials, and short cut, do it yourself methods.
One of the things I notice is tile work, compare tile work in tract homes from 1980 back to whenever it originated, then look at modern DIY tile jobs.
As a contractor and a hater of Home Depot you will probably enjoy this story. I hired a guy to build an enclosed porch for me. He wanted me to buy the windows from some place (prehaps a friend or relative) that would have cost me four times as much per window, and only came in double hung style. The rest of my house had the sliding type and I wanted the porch to match the rest of the house. Further, I knew the porch would get very very cold in the winter and very humid in the summer. I wanted the windows to hold up in all temperatures. I explained all this and the contractor just threw up his hands offering no alternatives. I insisted. I had to get the windows myself (yes from Home Depot) and they've worked great ever since. Further, they match the house. This didn't keep the contractor from whining about the windows the entire time he worked on the job. Poor baby. I don't know what his motive was but that guy hated Home Depot too which is fine but he offered me no alternatives to doing what he said "had to be done" at four times the cost which clearly didn't have to be done. A little less insistence that best is best for everyone and a little more customer service can go just as far if not farther than so-called "expert" contracting knowledge.